Sunday, August 31, 2008

Alaska Garden

I'm not a gardener. I live in a condo and the flowers are tended by the pros, not me with a purple thumb! So I was on a hunt for a good photo of a garden. Among the 2000 images that I took on a journey to Alaska, I found this shot of ornamental cabbage and petunias that bordered a building at one of the resorts we visited.

The long sumner days in our 49th state help vegetation to grow to enormous proportions. These ornamental cabbages are larger than my head! And of course, the resorts pride themselves in beautiful landscaping.

To try to abstract this image, I wanted to concentrate on the shapes of the cabbages and petunias, as well as the lines in the wood and the sense of perspective.

The background is foundation pieced, the cabbages and petunias are fused and stitched. I'm not crazy about it but its done! Critiques are welcome! I need a class on perspective and shape... any suggestions? Thanks!

9 comments:

Carole said...

Heloo, Wendy!! So glad you COULD do this and so glad you DID do this...... uhm.... its about those lessons, you are giving them when??
Seems to me your line, perspective and abstraction are all there.
Love the background, you always do such a nice job of 'backgrounds'....Quilting is excellent!
Way to go!! and all the best
with the new job.
Great 'nother year' coming up......
Carole

janice pd said...

Hi! This is my first critique here. I love this piece and it makes me think of sunshine. You did a great job of finding the geometric elements in the photo and simplifying the forms. Your perspective is effective. What if you graduated the size of the petunias for more perspective in that row?

Great job!
Janice

Art by Rhoda Forbes said...

Great work Wendy. Love the way the cabbages draw ones eye into the picture, I think if you would have varied the size of the petunias, that you would have got more movement in the piece. Just my thoughts, it is a wonderful abstraction of the original photo.

Art by Rhoda Forbes said...

Great work Wendy. Love the way the cabbages draw ones eye into the picture, I think if you would have varied the size of the petunias, that you would have got more movement in the piece. Just my thoughts, it is a wonderful abstraction of the original photo.

Susan B said...

I think you did a great job with the perspective in your cabbage patch. This piece really worked. It is abstract, using geometric shapes for the cabbages, and the perspective creates movement. The use of color to move ones eye through the piece is well done.

Cherie in Del Mar said...

I just love your 'spiraly' cabbages :-) I tend to agree...I think you could make the petunias diminish in size along with the cabbage plants. It's effective having them become darker, but would be even better if smaller as well.
Cherie

anna k. said...

Wendy,
i think you succeeded with the perspective.
Great cabbages and great background
Anna

Cynthia Ann Morgan said...

Hi Wendy,
I agree, I think the perspective is not bad. Maybe if the circles were less perfectly circular and more oval or ellipical or irregular it would help the persepective? It's a great idea for your piece and nicely executed. My only comment is about the colors. The colors in the photo are very cool in temperature (like Alaska) with the crisp white and the bluish-green cabbage leaves and the vivid fuschia. The only warmth in the photo comes from the wood log cabin. Your abstraction uses warm colors (like Arizona!). Nothing wrong with that, it just has a completely different feel to it.

Good work...glad you could make the challenge
Cynthia

LAQuilts said...

Good job on the perspective - I love your abstracted cabbages.