Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
Summary: response to dream creative prompt
I know I showed this quilt on Saturday, but I realized that I am dreaming of flowers and the beach and of all things cheerful. After the Pamela Allen class, I really want to make a larger piece using her techniques. I wish I was at Asilomar with her and could work on it under her guidance. Someday.
Summary: This post talks more about how the Pamela Allen class with CQFA will inform the Tarts Come to Tea.
I find that a good class will inform my work in a way that other experiences don’t. I don’t see quiltmaking in a vacuum. I see it related to other art and that is one of the benefits of taking a class from Pamela Allen. She really brings her training in art to the quiltmaking/fabric collage world. Her comments about artists in other media really enrich my quiltmaking experience.
After sleeping on my class experiences I went up this morning to look at the Tarts. There are things I like about it and things that really need improvement. I actually wonder if I should just start over and make the piece in the style I worked in over the past couple of days? I am loathe just to toss all the work I have done, so I came up with a different solution.
When working with Pamela, she suggests putting a background down (which has already been layered with a back and batt) quickly and then cutting pieces to put on top of the background. One of the things that I liked about this method is the layering. I have had layering and the way it creates textures on my mind lately and the class experience solidified some of what I was thinking about.
With the Tarts, I think I will finish my plan so that I have a solid top. Instead of, then, sending it out to be quilted, I will put some kind of stabilizer, or additional stabilizer on it and then add another layer of fabric to the top in the Pamela Allen style. I think that will add movement to the piece and make it more interesting.
I have always wanted to add some stitching and embellishments and will do that after I get the piece quilted.
The Tarts, as they are now, reflect my A type personality and I want to move the piece beyond that buttoned up feel to the piece. The motifs are interesting and the fabrics are fun, but it really needs movement. I took another photo of the entire Tarts and plan to print it out. Once I do that I can take notes on how I want to add layers.
I have been in class for the past two days with Pamela Allen. Pamela is much more than a quilt teacher. She is truly an art teacher who works and encourages work in fabric. I had THE Aha moment in her class today and it really thrilled me. I could feel the difference in my work after that moment.
As you may have read, or noticed, I felt crappy all week. Barely any blogging got done even though I have a pile of sticky notes with reminders of things to tell you. My house is a wreck and my to-do list is still long. A cold was really beating me down and I was doing everything I could to conserve energy so I could go to class. A good move on my part was to take Thursday off of work rather than working straight through and then going directly to class.
I have taken several classes with Pamela. The first one I took was in Richmond, Virginia at Quilting Adventures. I actually took two different classes in one weekend. The first was a self portrait class and the second was on composition. I started one piece in each class.
Pamela also came to California in 2008 to teach at EBHQ. I took her class there as well. I don’t think I ever wrote a blog post about that one, but Julie wrote one, which is probably what I would have written anyway. 😉
The quiltlet, House and Garden, that I did at EBHQ has been worked on more since the class and I am almost finished with it. Maureen sent me a link to facing directions from Jeri Riggs site and I plan to use them to make a faced edging as soon as I finish the beading.
I brought all three of these pieces to the workshop with the intention of working on them and not starting anything new.
The first exercise was a monochromatic exercise. I didn’t do it. Don’t worry! I warned Pamela that I was planning to bring projects from previous classes. I did enjoy the pieces that others in the class made.
I worked and made progress on the Garden. I am actually ready to handstitch on it, though I do still have a bit of piecing to add. I am really pleased with the work I did on the Garden. I think it looks very different from what it was when I started. I also think it looks a lot better.
I am really pleased with the petals that I added. I wanted to create a little more interest in the space where the blue petals are now.
In the bottom part of the piece, the flowers were all middle ground. Pamela helped me create a foreground by putting some darker blue behind the red flower with the petals. I also created a little bit of a different foreground with the flower in the bottom right hand corner. I was thinking of it as kind of a coneflower, but some people said that it also looked like the petals had dropped off. I have a little work to do on the bottom. During the critique, Pamela and the other students suggested that I extend some of the stems to the bottom of the piece and make the bottom of the piece longer as well. They also like the brown border. That brown is currently the back, but I will cut it off and add it to the new front, but only on a couple of sides.
I didn’t succeed in doing my own thing. Pamela is such an engaging teacher that it just wasn’t possible for me to ignore her completely. She did help me with the projects I was trying to work on, though.
After a quick litle quiltlet exercise (15 min), she gave us a piece of fabric and we had to make something with it. My piece was brown. No other colors. None of my colors. Bleah!
The exercise was about accentuating or extending existing lines in the fabric she gave us. I liked the idea of the exercise.
This is the piece that came out of it. The colors aren’t me, and you can see that I injected quite a lot of blue into the surface.
Today, we worked on critiques and one piece using stripes and prints to create movement.
This piece brought the AHA moment for me. The AHA moment was a point where I finally got all that I have been learning from Pamela. I finally understood about the background and how to put stripes and prints on the piece in different ways in order to achieve movement and the illusion of something. I am really pleased with this piece and think it is very strong.
I can see how some of what I learned today will help me with the Tarts. I am going to use some of the techniques and thoughts to get that piece finished.
Thanks, Pamela!
What do you think about Orange? Orange is the creative prompt for this week.
Orange is a color.
Pat Sloan recently did an orange retreat on her blog/FB page.
Orange is a fruit and juice.
Many cleaning supplies claim to have orange properties. Color or fruit?
See the Creative Prompt page if you have questions about this project.
Post the URL where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted in the comments area of this post. It is a good way to keep all the artwork together.
There is more information on the Creative Prompt Page.
This week’s creative prompt is dream.
Day dreams.
Dreams of the future.
What did you dream last night?
See the Creative Prompt page if you have questions about this project.
Post the URL where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted in the comments area of this post. It is a good way to keep all the artwork together.
There is more information on the Creative Prompt Page.
I saw this and thought it would be a good response to the Air Creative Prompt. I think that was a hard one as there haven’t been many responses. I am jsut behind, which is why I haven’t posted my response either. Here it is!
The Creative Prompt for this week is bold.
Be bold.
Act boldly.
Bold fonts.
See the Creative Prompt page if you have questions about this project.
Post the URL where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted in the comments area of this post. It is a good way to keep all the artwork together.
There is more information on the Creative Prompt Page.
Create a piece of art of craft, a doodle or an oil painting on the thoughts evoked by the word ‘air.’
See the Creative Prompt page if you have questions about this project.
Post the URL where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted in the comments area of this post. It is a good way to keep all the artwork together.
The Creative Prompt Page, which has been updated, has a lot of information about resources, past prompts (all in one place!!!), and reviews of other creative sites.
Spring has sprung! Spring is the creative prompt of the week.
The season of spring.
Grass can be springy.
Little coils of metal are also called springs.
Spring green.
See the Creative Prompt page if you have questions about this project.
Post the URL where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted in the comments area of this post. It is a good way to keep all the artwork together.
There is more information on the Creative Prompt Page.
When I think of kindness, I think of the thoughtful things that people do for each other for no particular reason, except that they want to. This is another drawing in my story of moving the blog. This is the first one inside the studio and shows the welcoming nature of the neighborhood.
This drawing is in response to the creative prompt from March 13 for kindness. Feel free to join in.
This drawing is in response to the Creative Prompt #3: Bubbles, posted on March 6, 2009. I thought of bubbly drinks and continued with my little story. I did buy and try a Sharpie, but I didn’t like the way it blobbed at the end of lines, so I am back to the Uniball Vision Exact. Gabi Campanario over at Seattle Sketcher is now using a Pigma Micron pen. I have one of those, so I may try that.
Where does kindness come from? Does is spread? Is there a limit to how much one has?
See the Creative Prompt page if you have questions about this project.
Post the URL where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted in the comments area of this post. It is a good way to keep all the artwork together.
There is more information on the Creative Prompt Page.
What design do you see when you think of bubbles?
There is more information on the Creative Prompt Page.
Despite the fact that this is supposed to be visual, I find myself wanting to tell a story with the pictures I am drawing. Actually, I am telling a story; I just don’t know where the story is going right now.
I am thinking of trying a thin Sharpie next time.
Use the word ‘excitement’ to create this week’s doodle or art work.
I updated the Creative Prompt page with some additional resources.