Art Every Day, Saturday, February 16th, 2013
Good Morning,
Here is today's new piece. It is very different from what I've been doing the past few days. It began with the dark gray, dye painted Antimacassar (isn't that a weird thing to call a doily?). I really liked it against the red velvet. I threw in some hand stamped black and white and added the pale yellow batting and bright yellow silk noil for some added zing (as if it needed it). With the exception of the red circles on the yellow silk, I kept the quilting to a simple minimum and let the fabrics do the work for me. After it was all stitched I realized that it was so heavy on the right hand side that I needed to add some red to the left hand side. I ripped a strip of red cotton hand dye, twisted it and couched it on. It sort of saved the day, but I'm still not sure that I like the piece. It's a lot to take in, in such a small piece. It's got a real modern feel crossed with a little Native American influence. It's boldness seems a bit brash - sort of like mine!
Till tomorrow,
Heather
2 comments:
Oooh, that's batting at the back? I guess I don't see the lighter colors too often, it's just buttery delicious, isn't it?
I always read your narrative on a piece while I look at it larger, the visual helps me. And I really see how that thin, twisted strip of red on the left balances everything out!
The right is heavy with the dark red and blue, but the left has so much visual texture with the black and white- the horizontal strip and the bright yellow spanning both sides is really good. But that small strip provides the balance.
You will be proud to know that I am already to the point where I don't look at any piece of art anymore and immediately think whether I like it or not. As a result, I actually like many more pieces because they appeal to me for different reasons than just "like" or "dislike".
You have truly taught me to LOOK and see how the artist composed the piece- maybe even why they did what they did. Okay, I need a lot more practice in that one, but I am getting there!
An antimacassar is a fabric or lace doily specifically made to cover the backs of chairs where men's heads would rest. They were developed to protect chairs from the overuse of "macassar" hair oil during Victorian and Edwardian times (the ladies of the house would design them to fit specifically on their chairs where the men sat).
I feel that I have added something to the discussion.
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