In my studio now is a work-in-progress that’s emotionally autobiographical. It does not depict an actual event. It does depict remembered states of being. (A few weeks ago I posted about the drawing I had made of a young girl’s face. That drawing is part of the work in progress.)

When I work on storytelling pieces, it helps sometimes to go back over previous works I’ve created that explore similar territory. I see connecting threads. I remember how I worked out ideas.

So, this weekend I have been looking again at “We Keep Our Homes Inside Us,” a quilt I created several years ago.

A few things that that I am seeing.

Family memories are complex. To deal with them in a visual storytelling work, there needs to be some visual complexity.

This quilt had a large photo transfer of a bird’s nest. It is about as complicated an image as I can imagine; Parts physical intertwine with one another.

MOVEMENT I felt that this work succeeded in having a sense of movement.

The nest stayed in house number one. The branch connects to house number two. The houses are slightly askew: movement, as opposed to stability. The diagonal horizon line also suggests direction.

Subtle connections are important

The background yellow sky is filled with very faint leaf shapes. Being printed on sheer fabric adds to the watercolor-like effect. Leaf shapes are also evident inside the windows of house number one. Even if not consciously, I believe the viewer sees the pattern in both places and connects the parts to each other.

Color counts

This work is built on a basic primary palette: red-yellow-blue. But none of the colors are pure. I mixed all the colors for this work (as I do for all my textile works) and used a raw umber as a constant in each hue. The blue background in the lower half is an out-of-the-jar blue hue mixed with some raw umber. The yellow background in the top half is a yellow-from-the-jar mixed with raw umber. And all of the read and orange tones have some raw umber mixed in. This is a very strong palette, but – to me – it also feels unified.

Seeing things over time

It is especially interesting to me to look at this one several years after I created it. The work itself is like a memory to me, in addition to having subject matter built on memory. I see things I did not see before. It’s my hope that when someone invites one of my artworks into their home they find new things in it to discover over time.

If you would like more information about this work, it’s on my website HERE.

I have another large work that is also built around a bird’s nest that you might enjoy seeing: “Because That’s Where It All Begins.” The two pieces have some things in common, but are also quite different. It’s on my website HERE.

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

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