Layer and Line

In my last post I shouted out that my 2017 SAQA Benefit Auction piece was included in the very first selection of quilts to be offered -- the week of September 18.  I've no idea how the coordinators of the Auction decide which pieces go into which section; for all I know, the selections are entirely random.

What's not random, however, is the selection of six of the pieces for a "Dream Collection".  I really enjoy seeing what others have curated for their online collections and for the past few years have had fun creating my very own.

This year I've entitled my selection Layer and Line, and have stated my inspiration thus:

For the past several months I've been exploring abstraction and dabbling in surface design -- ideas and techniques that took me by surprise.  This collection is composed of pieces that have drawn me to them by their creators' use of layering (or the appearance thereof) and line in abstract images.

Here they are...in order of the artist, listed alphabetically:

To see larger views of these pieces -- and all the others that will be part of this year's Auction -- just visit the SAQA Benefit Auction site and click on the image to enlarge.

Oh...and you can see other Dream Collections HERE.  Maybe you'll be inspired to make your own!  😊

Herding Cats

I find I'm restless and unsettled these days.  Likely, it's due in part to the fact I'm paying far too much attention to what's happening (or not happening) Down South.

Then there have been a couple of recent deaths locally -- or connected locally -- young people in late teens and early twenties, one by her own hand.

Our priest is retiring at the end of this month and there's no one in sight to replace her -- at least, not that I know of.  Our Parish needs to update it's profile, discern changing needs, that sort of thing, before it will be ready to consider applicants for the post.

I continue to wait of news about the two exhibit entries I've put out...

And the weather is turning at last...longer days but very windy; snow is unpredictable, as is ice, on the roads.

Topping that is my online studying which is challenging my late-developing Artist's Brain to stretch and move in very different directions.

I feel like I've been hired to take charge of a 'herd' of cats!

There are some finishes and near-finishes to be pleased about.  The little dress I made for Baby Adina (who turns 1 year today) is in the mail.  Alas...I've discovered that while I thought about taking a photo of it -- I actually didn't.  :-(

The cowl I'm making for a shop sample is more than 1/2 done and will be finished tomorrow at The Shop.

Gina's Harry Potter House Socks are proceeding apace -- I'm well down the leg of the second sock of the pair...and

I've just sent off another $163 and change -- divided equally -- to the JDRF and Diabetes Canada (formerly the Canadian Diabetes Association) from sales of Mark on the Body (see the link in the side-bar for an online preview if you like.)  That brings the total so far to very close to $620 -- for which I am truly thankful!

And...there are some up-coming exhibit opportunities...such as the invitation from a quilt guild in Camrose to do a talk and trunk show at their meeting in mid-April, and a possibility of reprising that talk for the LQS in Stettler in June...

So this post is really about a follow up to my previous one!  (GRIN)

I got the "Windows" piece sewn together and tried it on with EB over at the Academy of Quilting -- with four different rotations.  Can you guess which one she liked best?  ;-)

Which one do you like best?

And...I've been working away in Lyric's "Abstract-a-licious" class, turning those thumbnails into colour and then into a motif I could translate to fabric.

First, my favourite motif (the one on the far left HERE), in colour -- two complimentary colours plus 'white', but done with differing values in coloured marker and crayon:

My favourite of these is the top left one -- here's a close-up:

Lyric liked the one on the very bottom, but it was too close to "Christmas colours" for me!

Today I began to work on this as a piece in fabric -- quite a good size, really...aiming for about 16" x 20" finished.  First, I pieced the background (with the sample on paper inset):

Then I took aim at the white, curvy overlay.  I decided that rather than fuse it, I would needle-turn it...but first I had to draw it out.  I cut a piece of white Kona cotton about the same size as the back ground fabric, and laid it over top of said background on the design wall.  Then...I literally took a mechanical pencil and drew the shape, matching the beginnings and endings of each curve with the stripes of the background, just as it was in the sample...but adding a bit extra fabric for turning under.

Then I tried it on in two different orientations...

First, like the sample

Next, in reverse

Believe it or not, I'm kinda favouring the second one...

Any thoughts?

While you ponder that, and get back to me, I'm linking up with WIP Wednesday on the Needle and Thread Network, and preparing to drive into town for the Ash Wednesday Service.  Maybe that will help me herd some of those cats!

About Windows...

No, not MS Windows which, blessedly is working just fine on my computer (I have Windows 8.1).

Rather, for my "Mod Meets Improv" class, I'm struggling with creating a piece that has "windows" or window-like shapes as its motif.

As I reported when I posted my attempts to EB on the Academy of Quilting classroom for "Mod Meets Improv", I enjoyed making my last piece so much -- using a ruler rather than free-cutting -- that I decided to use the ruler again.

Hmmmm.  Somehow, instead of it making my work easier, I found the more precise cutting influenced the way I looked at the pieces, and that I was beginning to fuss over them.  I should say here that unlike "Off the Rails", I wasn't creating blocks this time.  Rather, I've been making free-sized pieces and trying to fit them together, like a puzzle -- some rectangles, some squares...that sort of thing.  It's made for a higher level of frustration than I experienced with the Rails piece.

Still, I've managed to come up with two designs which you can clearly see aren't stitched down yet.  NOTE: the background is actually more purple than you might see on your screen.  :-)

"Through Any Window" - V. 1

"Through Any Window" - V. 2

I prefer V. 2...but E.B.'s opinion is that it has 'too much' going on.  I can see where she's coming from so have replied that I will likely settle for something in between.  :-)

From there, it will be on to Lesson Four which deals with taking what EB calls 'motifs' and turning them in to quilt art.  This dovetails beautifully with the other class I'm taking...

To whit...

In my "Abstract-a-licious" class with Lyric Kinard, we've also been looking through windows -- using a small 'viewer' cut in paper to look at our environment and then make thumbnail drawings of what we see.

It began with lines...

Thumbnails 1

Thumbnails 2

We were then to use shades of black and grey to add values -- but not colour -- to our three favourite thumbnails:

Thumbnails with Value Added

My very favourite of the three above is the one on the far left...but making it in fabric would be a definite challenge.  Do-able...but a challenge.  This weekend I am working on adding hues (colour) and values thereof with a thought to translating this to a fabric sample.  Looking at them as I write this post, I just might try it with all three thumbnails...so stay tuned!  :-)

Meanwhile, I'm linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  This week she's talking about negative space which -- as you can tell from my recent posts -- is of great interest to me as a key component of what I've been studying in my two current online classes.  Nina Marie enjoys working with it, and you can see it in her work.  I, on the other hand, would like to get better at using negative space but have to admit that I usually have trouble separating the trees from the forest...

On that note...have a good rest of the weekend!

Up and Down

For the past couple of weeks the temps around here have surpassed their usual, pleasant early July pattern (mid-twenties Celsius) and soared up to 30 C or more (with humidex).  When there's been a breeze, it's been fine for being outdoors.  Work on my kitchen cabinet painting project has progressed.  All nine doors up above the counter have been finished -- and of course, what was taken down had to be put up again:

First Doors Up

Now I am working lower down, below the counter.  You can get a glimpse of before and after all at once:

What a difference between old (L) and new (R)!

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Most of Wednesday was too hot for this project, so I spent hours researching abstract painters for my online class, "Abstract Art for Quilters" with the wonderful Elizabeth Barton through the Academy of Quilting.   I found a gem guaranteed to inspire and buoy me up when I'm down in the doldrums, as I have been much of this summer.  Her name was Agnes Martin (1912 - 2004), born and raised in Saskatchewan, who studied and lived most of her life in the art mecca that is New Mexico.  Some of her wisdom re: art and life:

Do what you were born to do.  That is the way to be happy.

Art is the concrete representation  of our most subtle feelings.

 Music is the highest form of art.  It's completely abstract.

Although I don't believe there's any relation, her paintings remind me of the work of one of my textile art heroes, Judith (Judy) Martin of Ontario. to wit:

The Islands - Agnes Martin
72" b 72" - acrylic and graphite on canvas

paradise is what lies beyond the horizon (one)
 Judith e Martin - 2012
19" x 19" - domestic linen, acrylic paint, thread, paper

You can follow Judy Martin on her blog HERE, and from there follow links to her work.  Agnes Martin's work is still being exhibited by the Pace Gallery.  You can listen to wonderful discussions of her work as related to that of other abstract artists, and to an interview with Agnes herself on You Tube - "Agnes Martin on Not Thinking".

(NOTE: the clip is preceded by an advertisement.)

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Art making -- doing anything with my hands, really -- anything rhythmic and colourful -- is soothing.  It lifts me up out of the world, up out of the griefs and sorrows -- the 'slings and arrows of outrageous fortune' (Shakespeare - Hamlet) -- that conspire to keep our spirits down.  Like Agnes Martin, I'd like to train myself to stop thinking...to have "...a clear mind, so that when something comes into it, you can see it" and take it from there.

(For SAQA members, there are a couple of recent conversations underway on the  SAQA Yahoo Group about art making while living as we do in the midst of personal and global tragedy, violence and unrest...)

And that's whats off my wall today, so I might as well link this up to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday...and see what the others think (and what they're up to)!