Archive for Geometric Quilts

“Opulence – Asymmetrical Green Circle”

"Opulence - Asymmetrical Green Circle" - a contemporary hand appliqued, hand quilted art quiltThe contents of a trash can spilled on to the floor being used as the inspiration for an art quilt is a little unusual. Yet that’s exactly how “Opulence – Asymmetrical Green Circle” (43”W x 46”T or 109,5 cm x 117 cm) began. I emptied out my trash can onto the floor at the school where I was teaching (a dangerous prospect when teaching 7th graders!) Rather than making a mess for the custodian, it actually had an educational purpose. The lesson was about how future archaeologists might view our culture by examining the remains of what we had left behind. The kids came up with some innovative ideas, such as the plastic sandwich bags might have been portable breathing devices, given that the air was so polluted back then. Another cool idea that was a used pen might be a combination writing and hunting device.

The lesson had been so much fun that I decided to use the experience as inspiration for the image for this art quilt. The traditional, industrial green school trash can is represented by the big, green circle in the upper right. All of the myriad, colorful shapes are a composite of what might be disposed of on any given day in a classroom. I wanted it to look as if the trash can had accidently been spilled and the contents had billowed out on to the floor.

Detail of "Asymmetrical Green Circle" -  a hand appliqued, hand quilted contemporary art quiltThis detail photo gives some of the sense of the sideways motion of how the pieces could have slid out of a trash can. I spoke before in a previous posting about how my turning under the edges when I hand appliqued became “consistently inconsistent”, and these pieces show that imprecise stitching. I did extensive hand quilting with dark green thread, but looking at this photo, I think if I were doing the piece now, I would have made more of an effort to have the background quilting support and mimic outlines of the appliqued shapes rather than just filling up the background. The actual quilting was done by Mrs. Henry Herschberger, an Amish woman who did hand quilting for artists that Nancy Crow had recommended. Mrs. Herschberger expertly did the quilting on lines that I had drawn in pencil, so it’s not her fault that my quilting did not work so well in this composition. An interesting note, she charged by the number of spools of thread that she used in the quilting.

Detail of "Asymmetrical Green Circle" -  a hand appliqued, hand quilted contemporary art quiltIn this central area of the quilt, the circular quilting does repeat some of the circular, appliqued shapes in that area. The fabrics that I liked to use at the time also are well represented here. Of course, I used a number of solid colors, but then I would choose small print ginghams whose motifs stood out from the background. I liked prints that had at least 3 colors in them, as that allowed me to then to have several solid colors to use around the prints to help tie the composition together, color-wise. As I look at this photo, I notice how easy it is to naturally make images out of the shapes that are there, such as the pointed green triangle with the black circle above it in the middle of the photo, when isolated like this, looks like a clown’s hat with a black pom-pom. Certainly not my intention, but I think that it’s natural for people to see images in geometric shapes.

This piece is actually one of two that used the same shapes. The story of the symmetrical version will be ina future posting, but I thought you might like to hear about this one first, since it more aptly depicts the concept of the spilled trash can inspiration.

What’s your most unusual inspiration for a piece of art work. How did you execute that idea and did it end up looking much like the original concept?

Why not leave a comment as to your thoughts on this posting. Please take a minute, fill out the form below or by clicking on the “comments/no comments link” at the top of the posting, and then share your ideas with the rest of us. We all grow when we share our thoughts and impressions, so why not join our growing community of those who appreciate art quilts and textile arts. We’d love to hear from you!… and PLEASE tell like minded souls about this blog! The more readers and contributors, the more I write.

You can see more of my art work on my web site at www.fiberfantasies.com (be patient as it loads; it’s worth it), my healing work at www.hearthealing.net and can find me on Google + , Facebook (for Transition Portals) Facebook (for Fiber Fantasies),  and Twitter.

To find out how to buy my art work, please check out “How to Buy my Art Work” in the “Pages” section to the right of this blog.

A Processional Banner for an Ethnic Parade

A hand appliqued and quilted banner, "A Processional Banner for an Ethnic Parade"In a recent blog, the ethnic group I briefly considered starting, the NeMaS people, was written about. The whole, short campaign was in response to a number of gallery owners saying my work was too ethnic. (This was when I was first beginning as a professional art quilter, back in the early 80s.) Having designed a few wearables, I then figured that I needed a way to kick-off a promotional campaign, so what better way than to have a parade. Everybody loves a parade. right? So as I envisioned a mighty throng of fellow artistic lovers of bright colors, symbols, and bold patterns, I thought that the front of the parade would need some sort of banner. Thus, “A Processional Banner for and Ethnic Parade” was created.

Measuring about 40.5″ or 103 cm total width, and 56″ or 142 cm total height, the banner was hand appliqued and quilted. I wanted it to be lightweight enough that it could actually be carried along a several mile long parade route if need be. The dangles and streamers on the right side in the photo above just seemed fitting to add, so that they would flutter in a slight breeze.

Detail of "A Processional Banner for an Ethnic Parade"All of the small motifs were made of cotton and cotton blend fabrics and were hand appliqued onto the background. I was still using some of what would be considered traditional quilting ginghams. During my geometric period, if I used prints, they were small scale, and had a strong contrast with the main color. I then would pick up some of the detail colors and use solid fabric in as close of a match as I could. That way, when you were up close, there would be tiny bits of color that repeated the larger areas, just on a different scale. In this particular piece, I used commercial cotton piping to make a small rolled edge, as you can see in the orange edging around the gold band that holds the letters. That very small edging repeated the much wider gold fabric edging around the outside of the whole piece that you can see in the first photo.

Detail photo of hand appliqued and quilted art quilt, "A Processional Banner for an Ethnic Parade"Here is central motif that appeared in the middle of the banner. In an article that I had published about this piece back in the 80s, I spoke about how I thought about coming up with some symbolism for the various shapes, such as ovals symbolizing life and rectangles standing for the horizon. In reality, I used motifs that pleased my eye, and I wanted shapes that added to a big, bold composition. Looking at the entire piece, over 30 years later, I can see how much I needed to learn about composition. Still, I had great, good fun composing the piece, even though it only hung in my studio, and never made it to that intended parade.

I can also see now how my work was described as ethnic. At the time, I was just making pieces that pleased my eye. I suppose I could have listened to those gallery owners and made work that was more commercially viable. However, I have always had the good fortune to make work that makes my heart sing, and the buyers come as they will. My art feeds my soul and my heart knows what it needs.

NOTE: This posting was scheduled before Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast of the USA with full force. More postings will follow as electricity prevails.

How have you dealt with artistic criticism. What is your balance of creating from your heart and creating work to sell?

Why not leave a comment as to your thoughts on this posting. Please take a minute, fill out the form below or by clicking on the “comments/no comments link” at the top of the posting, and then share your ideas with the rest of us. We all grow when we share our thoughts and impressions, so why not join our growing community of those who appreciate art quilts and textile arts. We’d love to hear from you!

You can see more of my art work on my web site at www.fiberfantasies.com (be patient as it loads; it’s worth it), my healing work at www.hearthealing.net and can find me on Google + , Facebook (for Transition Portals) Facebook (for Fiber Fantasies),  and Twitter.

To find out how to buy my art work, please check out “How to Buy my Art Work” in the “Pages” section to the right of this blog.