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!

Monday, May 13, 2013

Art Every Day, Monday, May 13, 2013

Good Afternoon,
I got up this morning and immediately started "Spring Cleaning". With all of the moving from one studio to another on the tails of a teaching trip as well as trying to keep up with wholesale orders, my house has been bordering on mayhem for quite some time.  So, I'm spending my two days off from the new gallery/studio, getting my home space in order - it's  really a gross mess!
I threw this piece together first thing then forgot to upload it - so here it is now.  It began with some finger painted/over dyed linen in tones of red violet and orange with some hints of yellow orange.  I topped it with the black square which I had stamped with red violet De-Colourant some months ago.  I played around with adding more black to quiet down the negative space and came up with the placement you see above.  The quilting is somewhat simple, lots of black stitching in the negative space of the stamped design then some decorative stitching with two threads through the needle, one yellow orange and one hot pink. Then some simple wavy lines in the negative spaces with the same two threads and to finish it off I added some knarley knotted up bits of fibers to the center of the stamped square and the lower geometric black shape.  
I'm rather pleased with this little one, I find it fun to work with some of my older exploratory bits and pieces.  There's always a risk when adding stitch in contrasting thread but I think it's working rather well here.
Hope you have a glorious day, till tomorrow,
Heather

1 comment:

me said...

This really appeals to my love for symmetry! Though I have to say, your work is really loosening up my comfort zone in that regard :)

I love this hot color combination also!

Even enlarged, I really can't see much of the black quilting, but I assume it's doing it's job of pushing the black to the back- it's such a lovely silky black, isn't it?

I really like the contrast of the wavy quilting with the more straight background stripes, and the way you echoed the focal point to really emphasize it. Using two different thread colors is very cool and the twisted effect is not only gorgeous but adds another layer of texture and dimension.

The fibers in the offset smaller black shape and in the middle of the focal point add great texture and unity.

The stamped portion is interesting in that it isn't perfectly impressed. I like the crackled effect that it gives, allowing the red and black to mix a little, making us guess- and look harder- which color is where.

The background piece of lighter colored batting is just perfect for this piece with its flecks of darker orange mirroring what's inside, and the lighter color providing a very pretty and subtle border.