Periwinkle challenge: Berkhamsted 2

The 12 by the Dozen group challenge for this quarter is to make a 8.5' x 11" art quilt, using the colour periwinkle. You can see my contribution below. The hand-dyed cotton used for the sky is a pale version of the periwinkle, and the larger building in the rear is composed of more saturated shades, all dyed specifically for this project. The other two buildings were made using the not-quite-right early attempts at getting to periwinkle.

Berkhamsted 2

Trying to dye to a very specific colour was a new experience for me, and I have to admit that in meeting this challenge, I learned a lot. I also took the opportunity to look for this colour as it is used by other artists, and that was fascinating.

Below is the original photo, taken in Berkhamsted, England this past summer.

If you'd like to see how the other members responded to this challenge, please visit the 12 by the Dozen site. The Big Reveal is scheduled for November 30.

Camera 4 Line Art+

For maybe a year I have had an intriguing app on my phone, but I've rarely played with it. My friend Colleen, who knows everything about this kind of thing, introduced me to it.

Camera 4 Line Art+ allows you to take a photo with your phone, and convert it to a line drawing. There are some controls that help you adjust the amount of black vs. white, or to reverse the image to a negative.

I decided that today was a good day to try it out, as we have had our first real snowfall.










The first image is based on a photo I took with my iPhone of the tracks in the snow on my driveway.

The second image is the negative of the first.

For artists who are inspired by photos, and wish to reduce them to lines and shapes, the potential is intriguing.


To find out more, go to the iTunes app store.

Fibre Art & Conceptualism

Much of the fibre art I see when I go to museums falls into the category of Conceptualism, and viewing it helps me to understand a bit more about my own aesthetic. In other words, sometimes we can define our work by what it is not, as much as by what it is.

Here are two thought-provoking pieces I saw today at the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec.

At right is Knitwork, by Vancouver artist Germaine Koh. The work was begun in 1992, when the artist unravelled a knit garment and re-knit the salvaged wool, using very large needles which can be seen in the foreground. Constantly expanding, Knitwork now is composed of dozens of recycled garments, and lengthens with each new performance by Koh at various presentations. At this point, more than 400 pounds of wool have been incorporated into the piece.

The piece was acquired by the Art Gallery of Ontario with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

At left is Fashion Plaza Nights, by Montreal artist Patrick Bernatchez. The work is composed of musical scores, a sound track, digital files, yarn, reels, a rotating platform, loudspeakers and photographs. It has been produced with financial assistance of the MNBAQ.

Here is the protocol that Bernatchez used to produce his work: "Once a month for a year, from nightfall until morning, Bernatchez took snapshots of the Fashion Plaza building of Montreal, where his studio is located.... He then transformed the photographs into musical scores. Bernatchez has imported here reels of yarn, which wraps itself around the loudspeakers playing these musical compositions. A cocoon will thus slowly form, covering a life to be born again."

My art reflects a preoccupation with form, composition and colour. I want my work to be appreciated for its visual qualities, which I would like to think of as timeless. At the same time, I am aware of the tradition of women's needlework, and its history as a vehicle for women's self-expression. I enjoy being a participant in the contemporary embodiment of this tradition. There is, at least, a kind of irony in using the traditional form of quilting to make modern urban landscapes. Does this make my work conceptual in any sense?

Not according to Wikipedia's definition of Conceptual Art:

Conceptual art, sometimes simply called Conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many works of conceptual art, sometimes called installations, may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions.

textileartist.org

Whether you're a textile artist or an art enthusiast, here is a website with a wealth of information and inspiration.

Clear and well-organized, this site features interviews with top-ranking textile artists, articles on topics of interest (finding venues for your work, for example) and reviews of exhibitions and publications. 

A great find! 

Christmas postcards 2013

Every year I like to make a couple dozen special Christmas cards. Having done this for maybe ten years, it's not always easy to come up with a fresh idea.

This time around, I am doing a variation on last year's cards. I used pearlescent paint to stencil an evergreen tree onto ice-dyed cotton, outlined the tree with metallic silver thread, and added pearls or pink crystals.

These mini-quilts are backed with watercolour paper and sent through the mail bareback. I like to think they bring a special delight to those who find them in their mailbox, and perhaps to the postal workers who handle them. A couple of my friends collect or even frame them, so I know they are appreciated.

To learn more about ice-dyeing, please visit my post of September 9, 2012.

Shari Blaukopf: a drawing a day

One of my daily delights is a subscription to Shari Blaukopf 's blog. I can almost always count on an inventive and well-composed sketch to surprise and inform me.

Shari promised herself two years ago to do a drawing every day, and to post it on-line. She has training in graphic design, but had allowed her drawing skills to go fallow over the years. As a result of that commitment, she became involved with the international group Urban Sketchers, and then became one of their one hundred invited correspondents. The motto of the group is, "We aim to show the world, one drawing at a time."

Shari spoke to the Hudson Artists last year. She is a member of the Lakeshore Artists, a teacher at Vanier College, and organizer of Urban Sketchers: Montreal, a group that meets monthly to sketch the urban environment. All newcomers are welcomed.

When she is pressed for time, Shari will find something in her fridge to sketch. Often she does a simple drawing, at other times a watercolour sketch and sometimes, my favourite, a pen and ink drawing with watercolour added. Occasionally she discusses her materials: paper, brushes, and pigments. If I'm really lucky I'll be able to sign up for a workshop with Shari next summer. Fingers crossed!

Periwinkle and Beyond: Wolf Kahn

The magic formula for periwinkle / lavender has revealed itself. I used 1 part Boysenberry and 3 parts Turquoise with extra-hot water to dye a range of cotton, in an attempt to match the colour of this flower.

This past week Michele and I visited the Jennifer Hornyak show at Galerie de Bellefeuille. (Please see my previous post for examples of her paintings.) We looked carefully to see how she uses periwinkle / lavender in her work, and saw many variations. We were blown away by her accomplished use of colour, the way she juxtaposes warm and cool hues, and her free, loose handling of oil on canvas.

The Sierras Seen from the Nevada Side, Wolf Kahn

While we were there, we studied a number of oils and pastels by Wolf Kahn, a noted American painter and masterful colourist. His work, like Hornyak's, is on the cusp of abstract and figurative imagery. We were especially intrigued to see how he uses the "elusive periwinkle". Often it is paired with a more saturated violet, as above.

Early Spring Tangle, Wolf Kahn

Here, in a pastel, it is paired with yellow-green.

Spring Haze, Wolf Kahn

Blue-green, whether soft and pastel or dark and vivid, often finds itself juxtaposed with periwinkle. When using a pastel palette, there is frequently a trace of pink on the canvas.

Purple Hill, Purple Pond, Wolf Kahn

The periwinkle is often used to indicate sky, or sky reflected in water. Here it is with its complement, a golden yellow.

Lengthwise, Wolf Kahn

And here it is shown with light, medium and dark yellow-green, plus golden yellow: a triad of tertiary colours.

This colour is not difficult to find in the works of Hornyak and Kahn. But though it is used freely by both, it retains its indefinable, ambiguous and ethereal quality.

Getting to Periwinkle: Jennifer Hornyak

By the end of the month, I have to come up with a small quilt that showcases the colour periwinkle. Or is it lavender? This assignment is one of the quarterly challenges of the on-line group 12 by the dozen. Every three months, one of the twelve members chooses a colour, and we all respond with a 8.5 x 11-inch art quilt. This time round, Linda Forey chose a colour from a hibiscus in her garden.

Linda Bilsborrow analyzed the photo of this flower by using some on-line software to help us understand the colour a little better. How much blue? How much violet? Warm or cool?

Because I didn't have any fabric like this on hand, I tried several different MX dyes on cotton, but nothing was quite right. I even sent the photo of the flower to PRO Chemical & Dye company, seeking their advice about which dye or combination of dyes I might use. Their suggestion was Blue-Violet, which you can see below. Others have advised, "Start with turquoise and add magenta", or "Start with boysenberry and add a dash of this and a drop of that".

Gradation dyeing: Blue-Violet

Gradation dyeing: 1 part Blue-Violet, 1 part Indigo

Gradation Dyeing: Eggplant

Gradation Dyeing: 2 parts Ultra-Violet, 1 part Indigo

The result of all this fretting is that I now have all these lovely colours to work with, but I'm still not convinced I've matched the challenge colour. And then I have to decide on the other colours for the piece. A monochromatic range of lights and darks? A buttery-yellow as a complementary?

Until November 12, there's a show at Galerie de Bellefeuille that I hope to see. Montreal artist Jennifer Hornyak is known for her sophisticated palette and her fresh and loose handling of oil paint. Maybe I can borrow some of her inspired sense of colour to help me rise to this Challenge. Have a look at some of her still lifes, below, to see what she does with periwinkle. (Or is it lavender?)

Patchwork with Orange, Jennifer Hornyak, 2013

White Cadence I, Jennifer Hornyak, 2012

Flowers with Ice Blue Stripe, Jennifer Hornyak, 2012

White Flowers with Lavender, Jennifer Hornyak, 2013

Interviews with Fibre Artists

Congratulations to Gareth Bate and Dawne Rudman, the amazing team behind the biennial World of Threads Festival in Toronto.

Every week or two they publish an illustrated interview with an innovative fibre artist, choosing their subjects from around the world. They have now published 100 interviews, and their archive is a thoughtful overview of the variety in the contemporary fibre art scene.

To sample some of the wonderful work being produced,  in Canada and elsewhere, visit their collection of interviews. There you can subscribe to see new interviews as they are published.