Living This Creative Life

I have two favorite quotes. The first one is by Emile Zola, "If you asked me what I came into this world to do, I would tell you that I came to live out loud". I don't know who the second one is by, but it goes like this, "If you're not living on the edge then you might as well jump". Both of these sentiments sum up my personal philosophy of this experience we call life on earth. Enjoy!

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Art Every Day, Saturday, January 27, 2013

Good Afternoon,

I took the rare opportunity this morning to sleep in.  It was nice not rolling out of bed till 9:00.  But it sure does make it hard to fit in everything you want to do on your day off when you get started two hours later than usual!
Here is today's new piece.  It's all about texture.  I'm always sorry that you all don't get to see the rough edges in these pieces.  Seeing them squared up like in the photo above isn't nearly as good.  Well, anyway, I began this piece with some dyed painted batting that I layered up with two different colors of cheesecloth along with three different dyed, crumpled fabrics, some cotton ribbon, wool fibers and a strip of velvet. Everything is stitched down rather loosely and bone beads were added at the end. 
I risked mayhem by adding so many different mediums so I kept the color way very simple with mostly red  violets and yellow orange (gold),  Before adding the bone beads and the dark strip of velvet, there were no focal point or counterpoint, just a bunch a texture strewn about the surface.  I like how the hard, round and triangular beads move your eye across the surface and with the help of the ribbons/fibers/velvet drive the eye as though going through a maze. This is one of my favorite color ways but I think it ended up a little heavy on the red violet and doesn't have enough of the gold.
Making it felt a bit like making one of my sculpted quilts. Plus it was a lot of fun using so many of my hand dyed products.  All in all, a great way to start the day.  Now, a bit of housekeeping, then a movie with my man.
Till tomorrow,
Heather

1 comment:

me said...

I looked at this photo larger so that I could better appreciate the textures and physical depth of this piece.

This is one of those that I love to see in person and TOUCH. (not that I ever touch anyone's work without permission!) But this texture begs to be experienced with the fingertips as well as the eyes!

The piece does move the eye through as though in a maze, that's so fun! I love the little quilting surprises- the flowers- in unexpected places, and the colors make it look alive, yet not overpowering.

I love that it looks completely different with just a quarter turn. If I turn it to the right- then I see a bird in a nest. If I turn it to the left, I see a smiling fish and surreal underwater scene.

Something like this would be perfect to hang in a show, especially since there are so many ways to "see" it and try and figure out the story behind the creation. There would be a lot of stories on this one!