Thursday, December 19, 2013

Unseasonably Warm

     I haven't been posting lately because I've been stuck and unable to show what's been on my design wall. I was working on a call for entry and got to a point where the work just got ugly and I didn't know what to do with it. I had a vision for it, but couldn't get it to come out. Meanwhile, at my sketching sessions with my friends, I was sketching a couple of designs for quilts that quickly came out of nowhere and are just what I want, but don't fit any calls for entry. Go figure. (I can't wait to make those quilts, but those will have to wait.)
     So I took the ugly work off the design wall. And I put up a new one for a different call for entry called Florida in Fabric. It's due in January. Since I live in Florida, I've been meaning to enter this one and have just been putting it off until I got the other one done. This new one has been flowing nicely. I had the fabrics already created. I monoprinted them awhile ago when the call came out. I created patterns on the gelatin plate that reminded me of sand, ocean, sky, tides, etc. and used colors that reminded me of walks along a beach.
     Then I assembled the panels of the fabrics collage-style on batting, added image transfers of photos I took, added stitching, appliqué, and other surface techniques (it's still in process). Here are some close-ups of it so far.
bird panel


shell panel


beach grass panel

That's all I can show you so far. But I'm very happy with it.
     As I've been working on it, I'm getting a feel for what went wrong with my other call for entry and am ready to try again. It's not due until February. What I'm learning is to do work that comes from my heart and and if I have to work too hard to make it come out, then it isn't meant to be. This piece about Florida came together very quickly and easily because Florida is a part of me and I could smell and feel the beach as I assembled this quilt. It has been a joy to make.
     If I can immerse myself back into the location where I experienced the other call for entry (it was in Panama where I took the photo that I'm trying to interpret into cloth), then it also will come from the heart and will just flow and be a joy to make. And now that I've stepped away for a bit of time, I think I can start over and do it right. And this time, I think it will just be easy. And if it isn't, then I'll pass on the other call for entry, do the one for Florida, and get busy making the quilts whose designs appear to me out of nowhere. They are the ones that are meant to be for me.
I'm linking this to Off The Wall Friday where you can visit other art quilt blogs. Please make comments on their posts to let them know you stopped by.

17 comments:

  1. Stepping away from something for a while can often provide the answer...

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    1. And I think it helped to work on something else for a bit to meet with success and positive energy to channel that back to the other piece.

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  2. Can't wait to see how you develop this lovely piece.

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  3. Hi, Regina. Very attractive and subtle. I like your grass treatment as well. Have a happy holiday season.
    best, nadia

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    1. Thanks, Nadia. I was going to add a lot of seed heads to the grasses, but then I ended up liking these as they were. Happy Holidays to you, too. I hope things are peaceful for you in Tunisia.

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  4. your soft colors are certainly "misty beachy" Great

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    1. Thanks. I mixed the paints with the beach in mind.

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  5. Working from the heart makes a piece so much more relate-able. I have run into these kinds of roadblocks, and agree time away gives perspective. Luckily you have time before deadline. This piece is beautiful, and captures that moment in Florida, where I grew up. Quiet.
    LeeAnna Paylor
    lapaylor.blogspot.com

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  6. beautiful subtle colors, definitely gives it a certain feel.

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    1. I had fun mixing the colors of the paints to get the feel of the beach.

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  7. Wise choice, Regina. The new piece looks wonderful and feels like you. I am shifting more and more to creating from an idea and then holding for the right call for entry. Always follow your heart. :)

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    1. I'm learning a lot about creativity this past year as I'm working on my body of work. It has been an eye opener and a life changing experience to a degree. A wonderful time.

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  8. Love the subtle colors. Nicely done.

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    1. Thanks. I love to look at the bold colors of other artists, but for me, I seem to like to work with subtle colors on most of my art quilts.

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  9. Replies
    1. Thanks. I was going for soft and subtle since mellow is how I feel when I walk on the beach.

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  10. I like what you said about working from the heart.... yes, good reminder for me as well! Happy Holidays!

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