Most Recent Art "Struggles"

OMG, I have not been able to blog since dropping my camera but adventures have continued.  With new camera in hand, I am back!  My latest art class was in June at the Oregon Garden Resort in Silverton, Oregon.  What a lovely,peaceful place to concentrate on making art, more drawing to be specific.

Here is one of our exercises that I felt came out the most successful.  We were challenged to draw the draped fabric (sorry bad exposure) showing the value changes that result from light hitting the cloth.  Color aside, the assignment was to capture shadow and highlights.  I was pleased with the results. 

Taking Art Classes

Someone recently asked me if my ocean quilt was being made from a pattern.  I told them that it was from a sketch I made from several inspiration photos.  I'm not sure they understood, or believed me.  

One thing I can say for sure is that I would not be able to do what I'm doing today if I had not taken some basic drawing classes.  Here is a recent exercise that I worked on.  This little fox figurine was set up on a white surface, with a floor lamp off to one side, so there was a strong light source casting shadows.  I did not finish my drawing but I still could, just from this photo.  Here's the result of my one hour of sitting, observing and sketching this cute little guy.

It's not perfect but then I don't think it needs to be.  The purpose is to really look at something and then put what you see down on the sketch pad.  What isn't there is as important as what is there.  Personally, I have found that highlights are more important to a drawing than shadow.  It seems that the lighter spots, in combination with the shadows, are what really make something look like it has rounded or curved areas, thus making it look three-dimensional.

I highly encourage anyone looking to make art of any kind, to take art classes.  Learn basic drawing techniques and art principles to make your work really start to rise to new levels.  Look for an art center or community college class that truly starts at the beginner level.  You'll be surprised at how fast you can advance with just a small amount of practice.

Now the Fun Begins

I'm pretty happy with how the fabrics are working to convey my scene.  I will still fuss over the flowers in the foreground but I couldn't wait to start quilting.  Laying in the texture, that comes from quilting, is my favorite part of a project.  I know many quilters only like the piecing part of the process, sending their finished quilt tops out to be quilted by someone else.  Whether I'm doing traditional piecing, or building a scene like this, I always look forward to putting in the quilting lines most of all.  

It is this texture that really pulls all the elements together, often obscuring where one fabric edge is laid over the top of another.  It's like blending paint and the closest a textile piece comes to being like a painting.  The quilting lines can bury mistakes or pull disparate elements together in a way that is fascinating.  It always makes me wonder how the eye and brain work.  It's like they want to see unity and matching color and the thread, laid on top, helps the brain do just that, even when it isn't quite there.

So, enjoy watching this develop as I continue to quilt the remaining parts.  I think I will tackle the large boulder on the left next.  That should bring it to life!

Keep Your Eye on the Horizon

Well, it's getting there.  As I took this picture I realized I will have to square up the edges by measuring off the straight horizon line.  I had to retake the photos because I made the bottom hang horizontally on my first attempt.  I got a wave of seasickness when I looked at the picture on the screen and realized the horizon was definitely NOT level.

I think I will still tweak the rock on the left a little bit and add another small one in the foreground.  The yellow dandelions still need stems and leaves but I'm pretty pleased with this so far.  My drawing classes have helped tremendously when doing this piece.  I can "see" in my mind where highlights and shadows might fall if I were doing this in paint.  The stitching comes next.  That really pulls everything together and helps the raw edges blend together almost invisibly. 

Don't Mind the Painter's Tape!

Yes, I know, I know, I need a design board so I can pin up works in progress.  One thing most art quilters learn  is that as you work on a piece, you should view it in a vertical position from time to time.  It is truly amazing the differences that appear when you take a project off the flat table and hang it on the wall.  Shape, size, color and perspective can all change in an instant.  Unless you're Jackson Pollock throwing paint around on the floor, most painters work on a vertical canvas for a very good reason.  The eye sees the relationship of all the elements in a more natural plain.  And, color is reflected differently in the vertical orientation as well.  This is true for fabric as well as paint.

So, here is my latest workings, a commission piece, in progress.  I cut up parts and pieces of fabrics where they have the color or texture I'm looking for.  All the pieces are backed with a fusible web (I'm partial to Lite Steam-a-Seam2).  Basically I am trying to "paint" with fabric the way one would use real paint.  At this point I'm working my way from the horizon forward, fusing little bits in place as I go.  Standing back at a distance to check perspective is a definite must in this situation.  So far so good, I think.

Here are a couple of the inspiration photos that were taken along the Oregon coast between the towns of Florence and Yachats.  There are some nice stretches of beach surrounded by rocky outcroppings.  These can create dramatic wave action.  While my scene does not exist exactly, it is a good representation of that stretch of wild coastline.

Back to Gardening, Back to Nature .... Back to Blogging

"SWEET POTATO PIE"

"HAPPY HARVEST"

The weather is warming up a little bit.  At least I feel that way since I seem to be wearing one less layer these days.  I have my raised bed boxes in place and filled with a layer of half decomposed leaves from from last Fall.  The next big step is to have several yards of garden mix dumped in my driveway to fill those boxes.  I'm not looking forward to the wheel barrel loads nearly as much as I'm looking forward to the summer harvest.

Anyway, I had so much fun making "Fresh Vegetables" last year, that I decided to make three individual pieces with the similar theme.  "Fresh Vegetables" has sold so I decided to replace them with these larger individual scenes.  I loved picking out all the fun fabrics.  Mixing checks, plaids, dots, and whatever other texture is in my famous stash gives me that creative rush.  Of course, it leaves my fabric shelves in a huge mess because no pile gets unturned.  Fortunately, there are plenty of rainy days in Oregon to be spent reorganizing.

These three pieces can be seen in a show titled "Back to Nature" at the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral at 147 NW 19th (at Everett), in Portland, Oregon.  The show will be open for viewing until April 27, 2011 and is a show put together by the members of High Fiber Diet art quilt group.

Enjoy the colors of these and enjoy the promise of spring weather and getting outside ... SOON!

"BLOOMIN' ONION"

The Frost is on the Pumpkins

It's that time again.  Crisp turns into cold.  Greens turn into golds.  I love the intensity of colors that the drop in temperature brigs to so many things.  This pumpkin on my doorstep was a real surprise, though.  Oregon weather is relatively mild so I had never seen a pumpkin with frost on it before.  Could it have been touched by a Halloween spirit the night before?  Who knows?  

I took some close-up shots as well.  Could be fun to play with in Photoshop and print out onto fabric.  Guess it's time to get my jackets out so I don't turn into a frosty pumpkin myself.

Workshop Fun

 Taking classes is always fun and a great opportunity to learn something new.  There's nothing like a 5-day workshop, though, to really get the new ideas flowing.

I just recently returned from such a workshop with quilt artist, Sue Benner.  Check out her web site at www.SueBenner.com  (That's her standing at the table in front of the group.)  We had a great time learning how to abstract a design.  Everyone felt like they were struggling but we had some really lovely work come out of the whole group.  With 5 days to delve into the nuts and bolts of abstracting, we all came away with a lot of new skills to draw upon in the future.

Here's a sample of our very first exercise.  Sue randomly handed us a page torn out of a magazine and we were instructed to use 5 fabrics we had on hand to recreate the picture, in 20 minutes!  As you can see, mine is still fairly objectively realistic, but abstracted nevertheless.  It was a really helpful assignment to work the picture down into its basic elements.  I would do this again, with one of my own photos, before I started my next design. Try it.  It's a lot of fun!

Color Theory Beginnings

So, how does one go about learning more about color theory?  It is hard to know where to start.  I recently unpacked three books that I like to use but , believe me, you could walk into any bookstore, go to the art section and find many more possible choices.  These three just happen to be my personal favorites.  

The first title is The Enjoyment and Use of Color by Walter Sarget.  It is a Dover Publications book which are sold in many places.  The other two are Power Color by Caroline Jasper and Color Choices:Making Color Sense Out of Color Theory by Stephen Quiller.  He also has a color wheel that is a little different than what you normally find.  Although the Quiller book is specifically for water colorists, it is still full of glowing, inspirational uses of how to use color in interesting ways.  

One thing to remember if you are a textile artist, is that paint on paper "reflects" color in a more vibrant way than fabric will.  One way to compensate for that is to choose more vibrant, saturated colors when you are picking fabrics for a textile piece.  Or, use that knowledge to achieve a softer look.  You're the boss of what you make!

Always be on the watch for color inspiration all around you.  Once you start thinking about color, interesting combinations show up all around.  For instance here's a combo that just showed up on my cutting table while I was organizing and putting away thread spools.  Neat, huh?

Back to This Again?

Well, so much for posting more often this year.  Moving is quite a disrupting experience.  All the painting I did in the old house was fun and now I get to do it again.  These paint swatches are my latest test strips.

The two largest patches were colors I used in my former house.  They look so different now.  The yellow-green on the left is the Wasabi color that is shown in my previous post on paint colors.  The goldish color on the right was much more green looking in the old house but there was less light coming in the windows.  Also, isn't it interesting how the mint green behind the samples makes them seem even more yellow?

Learning about color is a fascinating study.  Just like any other skill, color perception and understanding can be learned and honed.  Even as a quilt artist, I take color classes whenever I can.  I also have a small library of color theory books for artists.  I often encourage others to learn about color and how they influence each other, and, even how they can influence human moods.  

I'm thinking I like the Wasabi color once again but I won't really know how it looks until the whole wall is painted.  Time of day and how it plays with the plant colors outside the window will be part of the final decision.  Fortunately this is only one small wall.