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!

Tuesday, June 11, 2013


Art Every Day, Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Good Afternoon, 
Here is today's new piece.  Each time we decide to try something new, something that is different from what we know to be true, we risk things not working out how we think they might.  I perused several modern art books this morning while drinking my morning coffee and I came across several things that I really liked and thought I would try to incorporate into some of my daily pieces.
First, I really liked this colorway of brown negative space with black, white and red on top.  Then, I liked the play of squares and rectangles off of stark lines and finally, I wanted to explore Paul Klee's use of thin dark lines superimposed on top of shape.
So, I did some layering and ironing down of shapes and lines and made my first misstep; I stitched down all of the shapes with black thread rather than switching out thread colors for the individual fabric colors.  If I had done that, then the contrasting thread on the colored shapes wouldn't be competing with the contrasting black line that is stitched on top. Now, I like the the swirl and straight line stitch out that I laid down on top of every thing, except for how it gets confused with the other outlines, however, I wish I had done it with a heavier line. And the final misstep, I wish that I had centered the brown background rectangle instead of off setting it. That way, I could have used the tiny black stipple in the gray/black batting all the way around the piece to add some unity.
All in all, I like the really abstract look and I will play more with the lines on top of shapes idea, but I'll pay better attention next time.
Till then,
Heather

1 comment:

me said...

Wow, this is very complex!

I had to re-read your description about three times before I understood what you meant about the thread. You wished you had stitched down the white and the red in their own color instead of black- correct? So that THOSE stitching shapes didn't compete with the shapes you DID stitch afterward with the black. NOW I get it.

I looked at some of Paul Klee's work too, to get a feel for your intention, and I think you did a good job of it overall. Probably the fact that you pointed out your "mistake" of outlining your shapes in the black made it more obvious to us, when it might not have been otherwise.

To me, your quilted design holds it's own very well, and seeing the outline of the red and white shapes, while a bit distracting maybe, also lends those shapes a bit of transparency. They aren't see-through at all, but when I look at them, they sure seem like they are! It's a cool eye trick.

I am trying to picture what it would look like with the brown centered as opposed to how you placed it. I think the black swaths in the batting and the frayed edges of the black pieces in the interior are similar enough to bring some unity to the piece, as well as the light of the white and the very light gray. But I do understand also how having a symmetrical frame around it all would provide that too.

I like the balance in this, and how it keeps the eye moving around. The spirals do a nice job of providing some interest as well as a place for the eye to rest, while the lines give direction and movement. There is just enough of the bold red, black, and white for everything to get equal attention.

There's good depth here too, with the visual weight anchoring it in the bottom left corner, and then the various layers seeming to float on top of one another for the most part.

Except for the black- I know that they physically lie either on the top in some cases or pretty close to it, but they are so inky black that they look like holes right through the piece! Another very cool eye trick. Very fascinating :)