Friday, June 03, 2011

Challenge 57 DECOration

DECOration
This was a really fun challenge for me.  I have always loved the Art Deco style, so the hardest part was selecting a single subject.   I recently did an art quilt featuring an Art Deco building, so for this one I decided to focus more on ornament than architecture. One photo that kept catching my attention was this one of the Chrysler Building elevator doors. I selected a complementary color scheme of orange and blue, which seemed to evoke the posters and graphics of that era.

Once again my ideas exceeded my skills.  I quickly had to give up on the curved piecing for the background and fall back on fusing, but as it turned out most of the background seams were covered anyway.  After creating the two-tone background I added decoration using fountain, waterfall and zigzag motifs.   As usual, I still need to add quilting, but I wanted to be on time.  It is 10 " x 17"

Since it's so relevant to the challenge, I hope it's okay to also share my previous Art Deco quilt, "Beacon in the Darkness" which I made for a show here in my  hometown -the theme was local buildings created by the WPA. (A depression era building program). 

I look forward to any and all comments and suggestions.



6 comments:

Betty Donahue said...

Very nice. Great idea.
Betty

Ann In Fallbrook, CA said...

I think this design really speaks to art deco. The lines are crisp and geometric, while the complementary color scheme is perfect. Good job!

fastfriday said...

your use of such high intensity colors reeks art deco. I love your "fountain".

Cherie in Del Mar said...

The blue and orange really pulls from the posters from the Art Deco period. Love the design...both of your pieces in fact! Nice work
Cherie

Pam Harris said...

Very striking composition. The fountain really stands out against the pieced background. Will be interesting to see how you quilt it.

Unknown said...

I really like your bold choice of colors and the subtle pieced background is the perfect backdrop for all of the drama of this piece. It is well balanced and once the quilting is added, I am sure that it will be very dynamic.