Cindi Handy

My latest painting is called Nostalgia. After creating my spool paintings last year, I had many people tell me how the paintings reminded them of their mothers and grandmothers. Keeping with that theme, I decided to paint my grandmother’s afghan. This afghan, along with a quilt, was made by my grandmother for my wedding. I’m sure this image is a familiar one for many people. Even my college roommate had one of these. The bright, sometimes gaudy, colored centers are surrounded by black crocheting. This pattern is called a granny square and has been around since 1885. The original square design was called the Phelps square, invented by a Mrs. Phelps. Granny squares are one of the easiest patterns to crochet. (Or so I’ve been told, my attempts to knit and crochet with my grandmother were not pretty!) Granny squares are also very economical, as crocheters can use up any scraps of yarn they had available. Hence some of the very unusual color combinations!

On a very cold, but sunny, day in December, I set up the afghan outside and took numerous photographs trying to create an interesting composition. I started this painting a little differently. Normally I draw out the entire design, but in this case, it was way too confusing! I opted to draw just the colored center squares and wait on the black crocheting, so I wouldn’t lose my place constantly as I was painting. I’m so glad I did, as this painting was very confusing to paint! My grandmother’s afhgan was also stretched into irregular patterns and no two squares are alike.

I worked from the center, left to right, spinning the painting as I worked each section. This was to prevent any unwanted dripping onto the finished areas. Usually, I use a limited color pallet to make the painting more cohesive, but in this case, I used every color paint I had. I mixed Sepia and Prussian Blue to create my black color and followed it up with washes of Ultramarine Blue to make the black crocheting. This painting took me approximately 180 hours to paint, but I very much enjoyed the challenge.

Click on the slide show below to see the painting from start to finish. I’ve also included photos of an individual square and each of the eight layers of paint I used to create each square.

Here is the nine-step process I created, to paint each individual square. I started with a light wash finding the basic shapes. Then I sketched in the outline of the yarn. Next, I softened all the edges. This step is very important to maintain the soft look of yarn.

I filled in the black background, defining the edges. Next comes the details. Using a 00 brush, I painted the threads of each strand of yarn. I then added shadows to make it look three dimensional.

I glazed each strand with multiple light washes, to get the color perfect. For the most part, I tried to match the colors of the original afghan to keep it looking authentic. I then returned to my 00 brush and added the darkest shadows. Lastly, I painted in the black negative space.