I have spent a good deal of time this week just looking into water.
Such a wonderful pastime! There is something magical and calming about being by a body of water, looking down through your feet to moving water, seeing its patterns and movements as you feel it wash over part of you.
Creating a section about 24” x 30” with water patterns has been an experimental activity. I have in mind I’d like to develop up some whole cloth works with more emphasis on painting. For this week, the water panel is a first-step experiment.
It did not go at all in the direction I had expected. But as I kept adding layers, I liked what I got. Here’s the current status:
Take a moment to look down into the water. Can you identify the layers – working backwards to figure out the steps to get to this point? (It started as a background of a plain natural color muslin.) Here’s a close-up look.
I created a second panel, which I had planned to put with the water. But – well – I just don’t think it’s going to work. (My vision was a section of trees, to function as an above-ground complement to the below-ground section of water.) But the character of the section just isn’t fitting with the water. It’s like two different landscapes.
Then this afternoon as I was driving home from a swim in the springs, I came up with a different idea. I’ll spend some time with my sketchbook this evening to see if I can bring it to fruition. If so, I’ll thank the water of the springs for the inspiration.
I’ve included elements of water in lots of my quilts. It’s a favorite element.
This one, Looking Below the Surface, contrasts a photograph of water (I transferred it to muslin) with the life of water and sunlight I imagined to be below the water.
This one is Revealing the Invisible, which also contrasts a photographic image with other non-photo surface design elements.
The above-and-below theme is the basis for Nor Could our Hands Catch Them.
I did not use any photographic elements in this one. The underwater section is a single whole cloth panel, monoprinted in yellow-golds, then overpainted with transparent blue-green with the fish shapes blocked out in stenciled wheat paste resist. I enjoy the sense of light in the water.
This week I hope you find pleasing waters, pleasing pastimes, joyful splashes and maybe some inspiration to fill your week.
. . . .
And here is an invitation:
I am happy to have a quilt in the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) Florida Region Exhibit, “Awakening” which opens May 13 at Visual Arts Center in Punta Gorda. If you are near that part of Florida, I hope you’ll visit this interesting and thought-provoking exhibit of work by Florida artists.
For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating
Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
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