Seeing the Love in What I Make

The word "Love" in a contemporary beaded art quiltThis is a more cropped version of the full shot that I posted in the last blog of finishing up “Circles of Black, Circles of White 7”. Many of the comments about the blog on on my Facebook page were about being able to see the word “Love” in the section of the quilt shown on the left of the photo. The “L” is in the the harlequin ribbon on the left, the “O” is in the big circle in the Upper middle, the “V” is in the small, open industrial zipper in the middle, and the “E” (a bit of a stretch) is suggested on the right with more of the harlequin ribbon. I wish that I could claim that I had deliberately put that word into the composition, but it was not a conscious effort on my part…..but then in my healing practice, there are no coincidences.

I always find it amusing what other people see in my art work. I am often quite blind to what I’m creating, because I’m so caught up in the process. I’m cutting out shapes, pinning them into place, and then once satisfied with the look, begin with the larger textural elements, such as the bigger buttons, zippers, and metal buckles and stampings. I’ve often said that if it has a hole in it, or can have a hole put in it, then it’s fair game to put on the surface of one of my quilts. The only tiime that I view the quilt at a distance is when I’m pinning the cut-out fabric motifs into place. After that, I rarely see the work more than a foot away from my face, as I have the piece clamped to a small folding table as I sew on the beads. So the inclusion of the word “Love” was not intentional.

…or was it? As I was working on this art quilt, I began a relationship with my 10th grade boyfriend. Connecting back up after 46 years seems quite a bit of a story book tale, so as you can imagine, I’m a bit starry eyed. Who knows what magic was being worked under my fingers as all kinds of fantasies ran through my mind as I sewed. Since I do put a part of my heart and soul into each piece that I do, I think that my nest series will be about hiding the word “Love” into the design composition. Stay tuned to these pages as I start to work on that series.

How have you been surprised by what appears in your art work? What did you do to capitalize on that discovery and make it work for you?

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) and can find me on Google + , Facebook,  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.

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