Friday, May 5, 2017

Do You Work Large or Do You Work Small?

     Do you have a favorite size range in creating art? I usually make pieces that are about 30 x 24 inches. I like the portrait format most. But the pieces I'm creating for my Art Cloth Mastery class are not like that. They are much larger and either more narrow in width compared to the height than I used to do and some are close to being square. None are the usual size or shape I've worked with in the past.
     And while I'm waiting for dye baths to batch or circulating ideas in my head, I've been working on a daily practice of making small fabric collages. Each is about 6 x 4 inches and felt backed. I'm using up pieces of cloth on which I had leftover from the larger artworks. Doing this has given me a better handle on composing better and faster. Also, they've given me the opportunity to audition what stitching I might want to include on the larger ones. Here are six of them. Some have stitching and some don't yet. I'm considering all of them works in progress.
Collage 1
Collage 2
Collage 3

Collage 4
Collage 5

Collage 6

     And while I was doing this, I decided to do the same thing for my auction piece for SAQA. It's 12x12 inches. This one is faced and is Ecofelt-backed with an aluminum slat with holes for hanging.
Across Time

     The leaf in each one is metaphor for change of all types. I dyed all the fabrics and printed on them with thermofax screens and stamps using fabric paints. The pieces are fused with Misty Fuse and then I hand-stitched. This auction piece will be available for purchase in the SAQA online auction  which begins September 15. The money earned goes to SAQA.
     So now, I find myself working large and small. Large to create the major works and small for practice and more immediate satisfaction. I'm finding both to be fulfilling in different ways. I'm linking this to Off The Wall Friday where you can find other art quilt blogs. Please make comments on the artists' posts so that they know you stopped by. Thanks for visiting.