WIP...The Kiss

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I pulled this print on organza out last week. It's about 2 years old. Michael and Jenn  married in June, 2012. This ipic is of them at the wedding. I manipulated the it in befunky.com into a cartoony image. 

The squares are 2" sewn with Kaffe Fassett's shot cottons. 

I plan to add circles to the squares with the lighter color fabric to mimic the dots on the print. 

I am loving the way this is moving along. 

Julie, of Red-Dog Enterprises printed the image for me. 

Spent a couple days at Julie's house this weekend. Her son was home on break. We all just hung out, knitted, crocheted, mono printed while Robbie worked tirelessly on homework! We watched  movies on Netflix. Such a great respite. Good for the soul. 

Jenn is teaching herself to knit!  She's made a scarf for herself and a hat for Maddi. I am cleaning out and sending her some yarn stash. 

Massage tomorrow. Diana Radley, on e main  St in Batavia is excellent if you thinking about getting or giving a gift to someone. 

 

I have learned:

1.  I miss knitting. Made a skinny scarf this weekend from a skein of yarn. 

2.  This Ferguson, MO. debacle is just a shameful commentary on race relations. 

3.  I want a Dons of Anarchy hoodie. Saw woman wearing one this weekend. 

4.  Mela is a tornado!

5.  Maddi is rolling over, right on target. 

6.  Season finale of " Homeland" season finale was a heartbreaker. 

7. Look up Annie Lennox's version of "I Put a Spell on You".  Great rendition. 

Challenge 99: Ambience

Challenge Hostess: Susan Slesinger

Title: Ambience

Theme: Creating atmosphere

Technique: Use of color to achieve atmosphere/ambiance

Due Date: Dec. 6, 2014

Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary provides five definitions of the noun “atmosphere.”  The fifth definition is pertinent to this challenge:

                        5a “the overall aesthetic effect of a work of art”

                        5b “a dominant emotional aesthetic or emotional effect or appeal”

It defines “ambience” as “a surrounding or pervading atmosphere”

This month’s challenge is to try to create an “atmosphere” or ambience using color to suggest a season, time of day, or mood without making obvious references to it.  You may want to give yourself a “sub” challenge to use a palette which is different to your normal repertoire.  For example, if you usually use bright, bold colors, try using a pastel, soft palette instead.  If you want an analogy for what you are trying to create, think about film scores.  Music is often used to create the scene in a non-verbal manner, such as the shower scene in Hitchcock’s Psycho.  I encourage you to try to listen to some instrumental film music without watching the film.

To get yourself in the mood for creating an atmospheric piece, you might choose to listen to some “classical” music which is trying to set a scene through non-representational means.  If you have access to a streaming music site you will get much better recordings, but if not, these You-tube videos will give you a taste of atmospheric/descriptive music.  (I recommend listening without watching the picture!)

Resources:

Vivaldi The Four Seasons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRxofEmo3HA

Ligeti’s Atmosphere https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI0P1NnUFxc  

Penderecki Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima

Examples:

How painters have created ambience:

Marc Chagall

·          Over the Town http://www.wikiart.org/en/marc-chagall/over-the-town-1918

·          Over Vitebsk http://www.ago.net/marc-chagall

JMW Turner watercolors:

 http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2009/jan/13/jmw-turner-watercolours

Willard Leroy Metcalf Winter’s Festival http://art.famsf.org/willard-leroy-metcalf/winters-festival-4753

Joseph Raphael Spring Winds http://art.famsf.org/joseph-raphael/spring-winds-41765

This article from the Chicago Art Institute illustrates how Monet created different atmospheres in his  Stack of Wheat series through subtle changes in color and style. http://www.artic.edu/aic/resources/resource/380

In the quilt world, these are some examples of different ways of expressing ambience:

Barbara Oliver Hartman:  

·          Fallscape  http://www.barbaraoliverhartman.com/individual_quilt_pages/fallscape.htm

·          Ground  http://www.barbaraoliverhartman.com/individual_quilt_pages/ground.htm

·          Ground Work http://www.barbaraoliverhartman.com/individual_quilt_pages/ground_work.htm

Ruth Powers

·          Drifted http://www.ruthpowersartquilts.com/gallery-detail.php?ID=20

·          Konza Prairie Spring http://www.ruthpowersartquilts.com/gallery-detail.php?ID=3

·          In the Bleak Midwinter http://www.ruthpowersartquilts.com/gallery-detail.php?ID=13

Patty Hawkins

·          Colorado Gold http://www.pattyhawkins.com/Pages/Gallery1.html  (part way down page).  Also At Dusk and At Sunrise (nearer bottom of page)

Cat Larrea

·          Frost http://larreac.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1173242

Sue Benner

·          Prairie Wall Series and Walking in Time http://www.suebenner.com/Pages/GalleryRecentWork.html

Get out of your comfort zone and have some fun with this -- even if you have to work small!

Flower Garden

   13" x 20"

I'm generally a vegetable gardener, but that was simply too many letters!  I liked that "flower" had the same number of letters as "garden" so that each flower letter could grow out of a garden letter.  I pulled out various of my floral and leafy fabrics for the letters and put them against a couple brown earthy fabrics. I mount my pieces on foam core, with the fabric wrapped around to the back, actually stitching through the foam core (it's not hard, just use a thin needle!), and used pebble beads to avoid the dimples that otherwise form in the fabric, and regular beads in the upper part.

I'm just a bit later than usual this time!  Comments welcome.

Fall

My word is a simple one, "Fall,"  but it means many things.  Here in the Northeast it is not just a season but it is leaves falling to the ground, cool clear skies, oranges, reds and yellows.  I wanted the word to be both spelled out and integral to the picture.

Ticia