From the window in my studio I often gaze out at my garden path. When Quilting Arts put out the calendar challenge of Celebrating Home, I chose my garden path as the subject of my 12x12 entry. Needless to say, I did not make the finals of the contest, but I do feel that this little quilt deserves to be seen and it really meets the criteria for this challenge. Here is the photo I used for inspiration, and the resulting quilt. 
I tea dyed the background and then used set-a-color pens to draw the wispy lines and add some shading. I played with different patterns for my quilting, and added some flowers which are sadly lacking in my actual garden, (its more of a woods). I made my first attempt at thread painting, and added some beads to accent the flowers. It would be most helpful if I could get some critique as to how this quilt could have been improved to be more competitive.
I am not an expert by any means...These are the things that caught my attention...your path is running through the middle of piece(almost cutting it in to two parts)...it carries my eye out of the piece before I had a chance to look at the rest of the piece...I had to refocus on the flowers to look at them. The flowers seemed to be too big for the path...the flowers are too perfect in their placement..the path rocks are so evenly spaced..perhaps a little more spread out with a variation in shape would add interest...I love the shading that you were able to do with your color choices.
ReplyDeleteI like this. It seems like a zen garden to me, perhaps because the flowers were cut from an Asian themed fabric? I also like how the tree trunks became graceful curved lines. It has nice asymmetrical balance. The bottom left is heavier and anchors my eyes in the picture. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteJoni, I love this piece. The flow of the path and the curve of the burgundy lines are great elements. For me, they bring my eye back to the piece to look for more intriging elements.
ReplyDeleteI think you've done a fine job of 'abstract' art.
Joni, this is so serene, it reminds me of a Japanese garden. The pathway you have there seems like one of those bridges you see in a Japanese garden. Tea anyone?
ReplyDeleteI've never been to Japan, but this is what I see in my minds eye.
I love your abstraction of the pathway. The gentle curves are very nice. You should rework it sometime without the flowers.
ReplyDeleteAll the elements in this are pleasing to me. I like the curves and warm graduated colors of the flowers.
ReplyDeleteJust a stab in the dark how it might be more competitive:
The flowers, path and values seem equally strong.
Perhaps a dominant area of color or shape? A single focal point?
Penny Irwin
I'd love to stroll down your garden path. It is very inviting...love the colors
ReplyDeleteCherie
Hi Joni, This piece is beautifully constructed and gives a lovely, peaceful calm feeling. The down side to all that beauty and calm...it's a bit too perfect and predictable. Maybe more variety in color, size, shape of the elements of the flowers and path stones would help? What I've noticed about the winners of the previous calendar challenges is more of a quirkness in the picture and they tell a story and use strong colors.
ReplyDeleteIt's still a good piece...thanks for showing us!
Cynthia
Joni,
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to say that i love the "feel" of this piece; very serene as some others have said.
great choice of colours.
Anna