In January I participated in an on-line class with Elizabeth Barton, offered by quiltuniversity.com, called "Inspired to Design". Elizabeth is a great teacher, and the format allows for lots of feedback from her and from the other class participants, from all over the world. We get to post to a discussion board and also to individual galleries. Though I had already started to use my photos of cities as a basis for fibre pieces, this class showed me a way to use value studies to improve the design, and to introduce coloured and patterned fabric into the compositions.
I am now enrolled in another of her on-line courses, "Working in a Series". For me, it's about focusing, "finding my voice", and creating a consistent body of work. I have encouraged a few friends to sign up too, which will be fun. Of course if you want to optimize the experience, you have to do the assignments, and the first week is quite demanding. Mostly, we are looking for themes in content or form in our past work and in the art we are most drawn to.
"Bento Box"
"Amanda's Quilt"
One of the common threads I see in my work is the "Square in a Square" motif. Above are two examples, both from 2006. Interesting to see how this form evolves. Below are a couple of examples from 2011. The first measures 8" square, the second 90" square!
"Insomnia"
"It's All That"
I think that the Cityscapes pieces are related to these square-in-a-square motifs, and it will be interesting to explore that relationship and its possibilities over the next few weeks. What's next?
1 comment:
Interesting to see that you have already explored this series a bit. And I'm curious to see how you will combine it with your architecture series.
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