Art Every Day, Monday, March 25, 2013
Good Morning,
Before getting started with today's piece, I just wanted to introduce you all the Christa. She is a student, friend, faithful blog follower and fellow outsider artist. Each day before I add my new blog entry I always go back and read her comment from the day before and I am consistently pleased with how she both sees and talks about each new work. She, along with the rest of you who post comments, help me to understand how different eyes view artwork. This process of daily art has been such an eye opener for me and I thank all or you who are joining in whether you comment or not, your participation in this journey is very, very appreciated.
As for today's new piece, I began, and thought that I would end, with a simple grid of hand dyed, discharged and stamped rectangles of fabrics placed on a white ground which was placed on black batting. I stitched the rectangles down with dark brown thread, following the grid. My intent was that was all I was going to do, but when I looked at the "finished" piece it was too simple and lacked interest.
So, I stitched the swirls on. I started with the big one on the upper left and that is where I should have stopped. But I was sticking hard and fast to the balance rules and that yellow green swirl along with the one, yellow green rectangle made just two yellow green things and I was just sure that I needed a third. Well, I should have left well enough alone because after the third I wasn't pleased either and ended up with a total of 5. Now, it's just over crowded with things that you can't really see clearly and as a result it is visually confusing.
Sometimes art making is like picking at a scab, it's hard to leave it alone.
Until tomorrow,
Heather
1 comment:
I hope you know Heather, how very much I am enjoying this series of yours and can't thank you enough for your generosity in sharing this with us. Because I have learned through your classes to SEE things more objectively, I have been able to really learn from each and every piece.
I do find the pieces you aren't as pleased with more challenging to comment on than the ones you like- mostly because you are more knowledgeable about color and design and I tend to trust your critique more than my own.
That being said, I feel that when you are continually critiquing your own work, especially with the intention of helping all the rest of us as you learn yourself, you may miss things- good things- that we see.
When I view this in small form, I can't see the swirls at all, and the piece is just a nice grid made using a soothing, mostly neutral palette.
When I view it full size, I don't see confusion at all.
Most of the pieces of the grid have circles, curved lines, or wavy lines in them, which are echoed in the green swirls.
The swirls are a nice soft yellow green which doesn't overpower anything and in fact seems to bring the layers together, since there is that nice yellow green in the grid.
The stitching adds not only visual, but tactile texture to the foreground and I like the way they move my eye around the piece. I find myself looking for the repeat everywhere. The swirls tie the squares together in a way that just the white space between them can't, and it seems to soften the white space.
The black border and stitching between the squares is a good solid frame that suits the fabric tiles and brings out the black accents in some of the pieces.
I find this very pleasing to look at. And I hope you know how nervous it makes me to say all of this stuff out loud!
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