Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Matisse's Rex Begonia

I was fortunate to see a lot of the cut-out works of Matisse in Washington DC with my Mom in about 1977. They had been on my mind again, so in early May I tracked this book down at the public library (ISBN 9783791334738).
Drawing with Scissors book cover
I was thinking that begonias, which I love, could be a good candidate for cutout treatment. I grow other varieties of begonias (there are hundreds), because I always kill Rex Begonias. So I made a quilt!
Rex begonia, from Rhode Island Begonia
I chose the 'Royal' association for purple, and then I used the Pantone app, which is fun, to come up with a split complementary color scheme. It's one I've never consciously worked with, and I'm glad I tried it!
The initial layout was representational - pot at bottom, leaves coming out, and it looked awful. So I pulled the book out and came up with this layout, and the title.
Thanks for looking and for your critiques. - Lisa


2 comments:

fastfriday said...

Love, love, love Matisse. Incredible work, Lisa - as always!

Warmest regards,
Cheryl Casker

Pat .F in Winnipeg said...

Love the way you have moved the begonias into an abstract mode. Nice choice of colour scheme. I am attracted to the yellow green and purple. But something bothered me about the design, and I finally realized that there is no connection between any of the parts. What if some of them touched in some way?
Pat F in Winnipeg