The Colour Purple

I had an entirely different idea when I sat down with this last Sunday, but that went south really fast, so Monday morning I started painting the fabric and Tyvek.  Tuesday I had it on the frame, and late Tuesday started the beading.  It  has been quite awhile ( years) since I did a Tyvek piece and I had forgotten how elegant they can be.  The fused glass cabochon was commissioned from a local glass worker, June Derksen, for an entirely different design, but works very well here.  The beads include fresh water pearls and amethyst, as well as a variety of glass beads, and even a couple of sequins.

Purple because of its symbolism as being rich and rare.  I chose an analogous colour scheme, and painted in Seta-Color Parma Purple, Fuschia, and Cobalt Blue.  I generally use a cool palette, and analogous schemes are my preference.  But when the painting was done, I really felt I had to add the gold, which turned this into a split complement.  The piece will be mounted and framed

Challenge 93: The Colour Purple

Host: Pat Findlay

Title: The Colour Purple

Theme: Exploring colour theory

Technique: Use of the Colour Wheel

Due date: May 31, 2014

Did you know that purple was the colour chosen to represent the Suffragette Movement?  Or that Feminism adopted purple, as a theme colour, in honour of that association? 

The challenge will be to create a piece that uses the colour purple in a symbolic way. 

Technique:  use the colour wheel to create a specific colour arrangement,( i.e.complementary. analogous, split complement etc.) one  that must  include the colour purple.  Tell us a bit of how you decided which colours to use, and how the symbolism associated with the colour purple influenced your choice.

Resources:

Symbolism and psychology surrounding the colour purple. Everything  you ever wanted to know about the colour purple, and more:  http://tinyurl.com/FFFC93-1 or  http://www.sensationalcolor.com/color-meaning/color-meaning-symbolism-psychology/all-about-the-color-purple-4329#.UrObEPRDsw4         

The Color Purple: Understand Its Hidden Meaning for Art & Design: http://tinyurl.com/FFFC93-2 or www.finearttips.com/2010/09the-color-purple-understand-its-hidden-meaning-for-art-design

A quick reference of the use of purple in fashion and art since the Renaissance: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/purple#the_middle_ages_and-the-renaissance 

Symbolism associated with the colour purple:  www.colormatters.com/purple 

How to use a colour wheel: http://tinyurl.com/FFFC93-3 or tympanus.net/codrops/2012/02/28/principles-of-color-and-the-color-wheel

The Many Meanings of Violet / Purple: http://www.color-wheel-artist.com/meanings-of-violet.html

Examples of purple in art work:

Monet: http://tinyurl.com/FFFC93-4 or http://fineartamerica.com/featured/a-pathway-in-monets-garden-giverny-claude-monet.html

The Purple Cat -- quilted art work: http://stegart.blogspot.com/2010/07/purple-cat.html

Quilts and Color: http://tinyurl.com/FFFC93-5 or http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/quilts-and-color?gclid=COWzj_nuv74CFdF9OgodsSYAOA

And one more thing: have fun with this! :)

Acceptance

I missed the part about 3 colors, but this is my entry...I hope it fits this month's theme.

Acceptance

A bit of back story here..skip if you want, but I felt it had to be included snce it is a very large part of this quilt.

After 4 yrs of a very dark period in my life (3 dear friends and my Mother dying within months of each during 2010..among other things) when I was emotionally unable to do any quilting, I began dabbling in various other forms of art a couple of years ago, but my heart has always wanted to go back to quilt art. I did the book cover challenge and not much (if any) before and none after, and was determined to do more but there was a block. I have many sketches for work and I would often pull fabric for one, only to put it all away when it just wouldn't inspire me.

My daughter is giving birth to another grandson for me in June though and I HAD to make a quilt for him, so that got me actually creating new work. But still I couldn't do anything for myself..until this one.

When I read the challenge I went through my sketches and noticed I have a lot with these curvy shapes in them, so I picked one that fit this month's theme and went to work. I enlarged the sketch, chose the fabrics, figured placement and fused them all down in one afternoon. The block is gone! I have 12 more enlarged sketches waiting for me after the baby quilt is done.

"Acceptance" is large, 25"x33" and is done with fusible applique and represents a simple but true message:
"Don't try and copy what others wear or how they act. That often leads to a dark hole of depression. Be yourself and soon they will begin to accept you for the wonderful, unique individual that you are."

And to me personally it represents the end of a long depressed period and the joy of returning to doing what I love!! Also a reminder that I may not always be happy, and am not perfect, my work may not be museum quality or worth thousands of dollars, but it represents ME, who I am, what I aspire to be, and I just need to enjoy the process and not stress out so much :-D

A Nurturing Grandmother

A Nurturing Grandmother

As I await the birth of my first grandchild any day now, I aspire to be as nurturing as my own grandmother who sacrificed a lot and taught me so much. Most family and friends have told me having grandchildren is much more fun than having kids. I cannot wait to take on my new role as a loving grandmother!

Materials and Techniques

Heart body, head, arms and lips designed in Make the Cut software and cut with my electronic cutter and embellished with lock washers for the eyes.

The background: acrylic and metallic paints, gold mica flakes, glass bead gel on canvas

ORDER OUT OF CHAOS

Even though I may aspire to be many things as an artist, the one thing that seems to overshadow everything is my desire for order in my life.  Constant frustration at not being able to find that fabric, that pattern, that tool!   So, here it is.  I’m sorry I didn’t limit my palette.   The more I worked on it, the more I saw that my stash is a large part of my discontent.  And,  I was at a retreat with nothing more than a sack of fabric and some fusible.