I’m in the beginning stages of a new work. This will be a good opportunity to talk through how things begin.
THE CONCEPT I know I am interested in creating a work that involves a trip – real or metaphorical – back to a home. I know I want it to be a large work. (I’m aiming for about 44-48”H x 60”W) So, just to get things rolling, I’ve created photo transfers of a generic little house, and a gate through which we must pass.
What to do with the rest of the space?
THE VISION I am becoming increasingly interested in painting on the surface of quilts after they are almost all constructed.
I’ve always created works from fabric pieces that I paint or print with paints myself. No change there. But now I want to do more on the surface at the finished stage.
And I am not interested in a realistic, representational space. My hope is for this to be more abstract.
So—I’ve been saving up some scraps with this project in mind. Some are already interesting with a mix of patterns. Some are intentionally more like blank spaces, so I have someplace to add more content and pattern at the end.
Here was my next mockup on my easel.
At this stage, pieces are loosely pinned or taped in place just to see if what I’ve picked will work. I picked what I liked from this and collaged pieces in place.
I’ve spent a LOT of time this week at the sewing machine, doing the quilting of the pieces. (I have divided the final work into six pieces so I can handle them easily in my small machine. Then I will sew them back together to create the final.)
Already it is beginning to feel to me like what I’m hoping for.
But I need to keep telling myself: this is not it. It’s going to change a lot. My hope is to create a number of painted layers on top, pushing back sections, bringing forward some sections, and creating a feel of looking through layers.)
But I can’t start that yet. One more panel of sewing to go first!
. . .
A thought for our times: Tomorrow is the national holiday created to honor Dr. Martin Luther King. It comes at a strange and unsettling time in our country. When Dr. King was leading crowds, and then when he was killed, I was a young teenager. I felt stirred up. But I did not know much. I knew my parents were both afraid of him and hated him.
Now, here we are when everything that I came to believe in about civil rights and progress as a country feels like it is standing on its head. Or being attacked outright. Or both.
None of this will be solved tomorrow, or the next day. But, perhaps what each of us can do tomorrow is take time to think through deeply how we feel about the relationships between differing peoples in our country today. And let the thoughts be the basis for whatever actions come next.
My best to you. Celebrate an honoring Martin Luther King Day.
. . .
For all of us: focus each day on the good that needs to be done in the world.
Be part of doing it.
Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
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