Award: Members' Choice: Honorable Mention

Artist Name: Hope Wilmarth

City/Town: Spring
State/Province: TX
Country: United States

Materials and Techniques: cotton material fused and machine appliquéd to background ice-dyed by artist. leaves made of non-woven substrate, painted with acrylics, burned with hot knife, fused and machine appliquéd to background.

Artist's Statement: When gentle winds whisper through birch trees, leaves dance through the branches on their way to the forest floor. And if the hiker's ear is attentive, music fills the air. Swaying giants communicate an indomitable spirit, and the woodland becomes alive to all the senses. Hear the voice of the trees. "Verdant Whispers" was inspired by walks through the forest in Central Oregon on summer vacations.

Size: 16" x 16"