Commission — Part 2

Here's the first panel.  I will leave all the rows unsewn until the final weeks of putting everything together since I might move rows around from one panel to another.  Also, I might find a miss-spelling that I will need to correct (yes, this happened before!) There are two words that can't be easily read (gold and Neal) so I will probably replace these and not use pink or tan fabric in any other panels going forward.  On an artistic note, I find it valuable to photograph my work so I can see the value and make any corrections I need before finishing the piece. 

So where was I in my story.  Oh, right.  I promised to tell you about my approach to telling Denver's history.

Initially, I started researching by buying books about Denver's history but soon realized didn't have time to read them all and make the commission deadline.  So, I turned to the Internet (wikipedia) to start with an outline.

But I also wanted to get some information that is not widely known so I contacted a noted historian, Tom Noel, and he graciously offered to help me.  Emboldened, I also contacted Sam Bock, a historian with History Colorado and he gave me some great tips.  I tried to contact Phil Goodstein (who hung up on me!) and that's another story.  But, this project put me in touch with local people I would have never met otherwise.

So.  One panel almost finished and on the second.  I now know how much time I will spend on this project.  I can make 2 rows per day, working 5-6 hours per day.  There is a lot of handwork and stitching in this piece.  So each panel will take a week to get to this stage.  Check in next week to see panel #2!


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