Step AWAY from the realism!

So, I had a deadline of this past Friday to have some pieces ready for the Floral Show at the Redlands Art Association. I also have been testing some new PFD fabric, and wanted to use what I had dyed to confirm that the new base I’m going to use actually worked, so I needed to use a the deep turquoise and orange/red fabrics. My first try was really nice….but of course, HEAVILY influenced by the website of Jennifer Moore, the designer of monluna! Her little birds were just up the freeform alley I’ve been working towards lately, and I also like her use of a horizontal line.

6  little birds
6 little birds - 10" x 20"

When it was complete, I loved it, and was sad I hadn’t used the contour of the line that was the edge of the fabric I used during the design of 6 little birds. I had enough of the blue fabric to make 2 more pieces the same size as the 1st, so I thought, ok, try to make some floral based stuff. A couple of ideas I’ve been thinking about include taking the circles I use in my baubles and quilting more realistic patterns on top:

Floral Fantasia
Floral Fantasia -10" x 20"

Also, turning ovals into trees, which I used (I think) very successfully in “Home is where the Art is…#2:Home Cabot Trail (44)

House in the Woods copy
House in the Woods - 10" x 20"

So… “meh” is my reaction. These are both too realistic, but yet not realistic enough, if that makes sense. What did I learn from this:

  1. Step away from realism!
  2. I still have a really hard time including too many different hues at once. The colors on these don’t feel cohesive to me.

Did I learn from these?  yes.

Moving on…

Here’s my list of to-do’s:

Item Date Due % Done
Floral quArt 3/20/2009 100%
30 Tie Dye shirts etc…for Elixer 3/20/2009 95%
Design Clutch – Will Tuba 3/26/09 0%
10 Notelets 4/24/09 10%
5 Warm Colors Grab & Go 4/24/09 0%
5 Warm Colors Clutch 4/24/09 0%
30 Going Green Totes 4/24/09 30%
5 Cool Colors Clutch 4/24/09 0%
Cool Colors quArt 4/24/09 0%
Crazy Colors Bags 4/24/09 0%
5 Cool Colors messengers 4/24/09 15%
Candied Fabrics Quilt 4/25/09 0%
Laptop bag for Liz 5/31/09 0%

Not TOO shabby! I’ve now got 5 weeks to do most of that list….so I’m off to design a clutch!

As always, thanks for dropping by!

0 Responses

  1. Hi Candy!
    I’m intrigued by the method of your To-Do list as well as the self-critique of your art. May try the % Done idea. Combining colors is a challenge for me, too. I *think* all you would need to do for cohesiveness is repeat them (or tints/shades of them) three or more times. Just a theory, perhaps too simplistic. The level of realism/abstraction looks perfectly fine to me, very clean and lively.