Buttons&Beads&Quilts!

In art school, I had all of the traditional classes that an art major requires such as drawing and painting. Each course featured the usual basic design elements such as shading and volume. Color was one of my favorite studies. Now, there’s a design fundamental that I can often almost taste. (I have slight synesthesia and the distinctions between some sensory sensations are often blurred. All the more fun for me!) Probably, the art fundamental that was my least favorite was line. While I admire those who draw well, and I had several college classes in that art medium, I have never felt that I draw well. Therefore, I don’t practice it, and therefore I’m not good at it, so I tend to avoid it…I think you’re getting the picture here.

However, there is no easier away to direct the viewer’s attention than effective use of lines, so I’ve pared my own use down to the most simplistic forms. In the above, peach colored detail of the art quilt, “Afterglow”, I used ribbons and lines of metallic squares to draw the eye away from the explosion of color that is on the right. Ribbons come in a vast array of beautiful colors, fabrics, and surface treatments. The art of creating beautiful ribbons was at its height in France during the 1700s due to its heavy use in clothing embellishment by royalty and those who followed their fashion leads.Since the French Revolution, clothing embellishment with ribbons has gone in and out of vogue, and thus the availability of what’s out there in the marketplace. Sometimes, I’m fortunate to find an old store that has antique ribbons in the backroom and then I’ll scarf up as much as my checkbook will allow. One of my favorite on-line sources, http://www.continentalstitcherytrims.com/ , owned by Rosita Pisarchick, has ribbons that almost make me swoon. Thus, I have a large supply of them in boxes waiting for a project to give them a new life. While it can take a lot of stitches to get the edges of ribbons to lie flat on the surface of an art quilt, especially those with wire edges, the effort is worth it if you’re trying to get your audience’s attention.

In the detail piece on the left of “Diving Deep into the Stream of Love and Connection”, two sheer ribbons were again used to create lines to direct the viewer’s gaze. Here, I used them to symbolize the free fall of two lovers into a deeper sense of understanding and heartfelt connection. The rest of the piece is rather complicated, and quite a contrast to the two lines plunging from the puffy clouds, but I was rather pleased at how the effect turned out. For me, the almost clear, shiny quality of the ribbons spoke to me of unconditional love at its very best and purest.

In the detail shot of “Feathers and Stars, Stars and Feathers” on the left, lines of buttons were sewn vertically to contrast with the swoop of the commercial feather applique. Here the lines aren’t meant so much to direct attention, but to create the background structure for the piece. Feathers themselves have a central shaft or rachis (I love knowing the names of things), and even though they’re not so obvious (especially since I covered part of them with buttons), the suggestion is there of a line. I love pieces to have not only layers of interpretation, but layers of repeating motifs, just changed in scale. Nature also repeats certain fundamental shapes, such as the spirals of a Nautilus shell and the whorl of the center of a daisy. Certain patterns just work because of their efficiency of function as related to their shape. I’ve decided to borrow from one of the best artistic teachers there is, Mother Nature, and repeat designs that work for me, too. So, while lines may not be my most favorite design element, I’ve found delightful ways to incorporate them into my work.

Update – 28 January, 2012 – I found this very eloquent essay on the use of line in this posting by Courtney Jordan from Artist Daily that I think is a must read if you’re interested in the use of lines as a desgn element. She includes some terrific photos of how different artists have used lines over the centuries, which could send you off in all kinds of directions in your use of lines for art quilts.