Well, my ambitious and well meaning Craft Book Challenge must be put aside for now. Getting sidetracked seems to be a running theme with some artists and I have fallen into that trap. But I refuse to lament over it and will resume posting asap. I am committed to continuing and completing the challenge in the near future.
Creative wonderlust has captured my psyche once again. UGH.
I thought it would be an appropriate time to post my next quilt in the color study series. Red symbolizes love, desire and passion. It exudes vibrant energy and power.
Enjoy your day!
This is a mini quilt. It is 9″ X 11 1/4.”
It’s a new year! I have a new company name! It is now eclectic cloth. I have been honing my art brand and it has graduated into a more fun design style. Textile collage displaying various themes from love and spirit to pure whimsy fits my all over the place way of creating much better than my previous scheme.
Procrastination will take a back seat this year. Well, that’s the intention anyway. I also intend to make posting on my little art journal blog a priority.
I am ending my posting hiatus by continuing my exploration into color and featuring some monochromatic studies in the form of various textile pieces.
This first piece is a study in white. White symbolizes purity and innocence and is considered a cool color due to it’s relation to snow and ice. There are many shades of white. Snow, pearl, cream, antique white just to name a few. Even beige is actually a shade of white. I have attempted to display some of the soft and beautiful versatility of white in the art quilt below.
I named the quilt wish in white because it’s a big bowl of ice cream and I don’t eat much dairy anymore — I miss vanilla ice cream so much. It is 11 1/2″ x 13 1/2.”
I had been on quite a lengthy quest to develop my art brand. What I mean by that is coming up with a signature style so that when the viewer looks at a piece they will know that it is actually my work. Needless to say this is not an easy task especially since my tastes change like the weather. A couple of things that have stayed true with me have been my love of fabric and collage.
Some artists use the same color thread or the same basic materials and color palettes. A running theme regarding subject matter is even part of some artist’s signature style. Me — I like anything and everything so narrowing down elements has been quite the challenge.
Ultimately, I decided to go with mixed-media fabric collage with a spiritual touch; noting particular constants and basic themes. We’ll see how that goes.
I am fully sprung for Spring! As I stepped outside, the beauty of some little purple flowers growing beside my house captured me. Purple is one of my favorite colors. I intend to interpret my photo as a quilt.
During the process of reinventing my ways of creating, I discovered fun again. Simply working from my heart rather than spending a lot of time researching color trends or focusing on impressionism because “it’s what sells,” has been so liberating. Making art should be freedom personified.
One of the reasons I love mixed-media is because it’s so forgiving. Anything and everything goes — I had forgotten that. Treating my supplies with a tentative preciousness. Keeping everything neat and sedate rather than just diving in, making mistakes and making an artistic mess, all the while learning and creating heartfelt pieces of art.
It’s a good thing mixed-media fiber art is not all about perfection. I’m the Jackson Pollock of stitching. But I like haphazard lines and raw edges. The handmade look carries with it an authenticity which I aspire to.
I haven’t posted for a while. Feels good to be writing again.
It’s the first day of Spring!
This image is from Vintage Printables. They have a beautiful of selection of public domain pics. I photoshopped this one to give it the rainbow sun.
Okay, so I love sports and I have an admission. My lengthy creative block has turned me into a procrastinating sports blogger. Yes, I have been commiserating with knowledgeable and amusing blog posters rather than creating meaningful art. And yes, I have dabbled in my supplies and experimented with various fabric scraps but nothing that I feel is good enough for anything more than a sample piece has emerged. What little colorful musings my mind has been generating has gone into typing words about my favorite team.
Although my block seems to be dissipating, I still don’t feel there yet. I must spend more time splashing colors on canvas and stitching my beautiful cloth. Creative juices only flow when they are poured. Maybe a little meditation is in order as well.
A little post for the season. I will get back to my project and mixed-media hijinks soon.
Okay. So my home sale hiatus is officially over. No excuses. I have resumed creating–making bags and things, refreshing my soldering skills, etc. I also applied to a local show. I haven’t heard back from them but I’m hopeful that no news is good news.
Collage looks easy because it seems like a jumble of stuff put together randomly without rhyme or reason but making the various elements make sense is a process. It is a fun process though. Fabric collage is an especially good time for me because I get to dabble and play with all of that beautifully designed cloth with little fear of making a mistake. And if I feel I have made a mistake, it’s okay because fabric art is fixable using an old standby called “mixed-media.” A little (or a lot) of gesso and some paint is all it takes to start anew. Thank goodness for paint.
The daymare of selling my home is almost over… for now. The contract with my, let me say “eccentric” real estate agent is up on August 7 and I am more than happy about that–not so happy about not having sold the house yet. I have tried just about everything within my budget to get this circa 1911 cape staged and sold and nothing seems to work. I think it’s partly the artsy old vintage roofline closets but I can’t afford to change them. So, I’ve decided to blame the agent, do some more repairs while it’s off the market, restage, get a new agent, hike up the selling price and get this baby sold!
I am determined to start making things again very soon and posting again and getting sane again (not necessarily in that order–then again maybe in that exact order).
A little mantis came to visit. Good luck perhaps?
