Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Challenge 52: Passion/Heat


This is a small piece measuring only 5 1/2 X 10 1/2 inches. I began by layering different combinations and patterns of fabric dyes onto a variety of silk scraps to attempt to represent my understanding of color field (ie. I wanted smooth color transitions and a sense of glowing). Once I picked my favorite of the group, I wanted to continue the idea of smooth color transitions using thread painting over the dye base. However, to me, the dye transitions were more successful than the thread overlays, so I decided to leave the piece half thread and half dyes. Lastly, I decided to overlay the silk onto both a black and a white background fabric to try to further the idea of subtle color transitions. Thank you Betty. For me, this was a great challenge educationally and artistically. I appreciate your comments.
Sue in NC

10 comments:

:Diane said...

The dyed base is very beautiful and I like the thread work you have done - I'm glad you decided to stop and not overwhelm the piece with more stitching. The experiment with the black and white underlayment is great. If it's not already connected, I would like to see it with a circle of black on white. The line bothers me a bit as it cuts throught the piece. Although it does add some tension - not a bad thing when the subject is Passion.

:Diane - yarngoddess

janice pd said...

this is very striking, I love that you stopped with the thread painting and left some bare. With your use of black and white underlayment, I see this as an eclipse. Nice job!

Carole said...

This is a very interesting and.. as Janice says, striking piece. the half threadwork detail seems appropriate. I like the loose flow of the piece and the black and white adds a sense of mystery. All this IMHO not fully understanding the concept.

Betty Warner said...

Sue, I love what you have done. Your exploration and willingness to just see where it takes you and then to share that with us is terrific. It does seem to glow. This is a terrific response to the challenge. Great job!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Sue,
I deleted the above comment because I didn't preview it. I really like your use of the silk dyes, they give an ethereal feel to the work. For me, the tension is created by the threadwork and doing more would have detracted from that. I love the way that the layers flow into one another. The colors do speak to passion!

Cynthia Ann Morgan said...

Hi Sue, nice fields of color on this piece! The edges between the colors are fascinating and your threadwork adds to that. Great job!
Cynthia

LAQuilts said...

Fantastic, I do think the thread work works wonders for the bring in the more abstract shaping. Of course the painting does so as well.

fastfriday said...

Great experiments. The thread painting added too much texture for this particular challenge, however, I really like the look of it being half stitched. It appears to be a fire ball that's shooting through space.
Judy Rys

Pam Harris said...

Very nice piece and inspires us to experiment more with textures and dyes. I admire your creativity.