Not Afraid of Color

"Poodle with a Pearl"  12" X 12" 
Today I am sharing my challenge piece for Art with Fabric Blog hop hosted by Alida at
 ( Art with Fabric Hop )
My quilt was inspired by Vermeer and his painting Girl with a Pearl earring. I saw an exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in DC a few years back. I've done almost 20 STAT quilts (see more here) over the past years, all interpreting a famous painter but in fabric with emphasis on texture.

I start by researching what made that Artist's work so outstanding. I try to learn from each piece I do.

Most of my STAT quilts have a poodle on them, as my muse for this project. This time I studied Vermeer and his capture of light and shadow. I used a photo of my poodle Milo so like the painting to me. Painting his portrait would have been easier! It's so much easier to mix color with paint than fabric.

I built the applique out of tiny shards of fabrics from the scrap bin in blues and blacks. I built it onto shirt tailor stabilizer because it's lightweight yet stable to do the embroidery on before auditioning backgrounds.

To be like Vermeer's painting,
1. I stayed in his color family of black, blue, shade of brown/tan with a strong blue (hat for him, ear in same kind of shape for me)
2. He used layers on layers of transparent paint to achieve shading, and I used layers and layers of different shades of fabric colors
3. I kept to the strong lines in content
4. I had a strong light source

I started on it Friday afternoon, and finished it Sunday afternoon... lots of adding of color and layers of stitching, layers of threads in metallic blue and silver, and black cotton. I added in a tiny bit of white pencil to form contrast of my black fabrics.

I liked how the fussy cut stars looked as eye highlights and hair highlights. I loved the way the blue ear color reflected her hat, and I pulled in bits of blue around him to repeat the color. I liked the challenge of doing it.


I did not like how it photographed, and how there could have been better contrast between shades of black if I'd had access to my whole stash. I tried to capture Milo's sincere little face but am not totally happy with my effort... still.... I love it. I learned, I sewed, I got lost in the process and it was fun.

I had some trouble finding my beads, but the largest pearl is real called a potato pearl for it's shape. The ones on his collar are a mix of real and faux. I made a dangle of the pearl on wire, twisting the top and bottom wire into what I hope is an artistic shape. I left fabric to ravel, and layered it without fusible so that edges would lift up creating more texture.
I loved this batik to represent the window (sliding back door) with it's view of nature and light. I quilted it in straight lines, unevenly placed to remind me of reflection on glass, using silver mylar thread for serious bling you probably can't see.

The floor was a brown hand dye from the scrap bin, so I had to make do with the size scrap and piece it together to have enough for the angular piece
I stitched increasingly farther apart straight lines to indicate a wood floor

In general, I do not draw out a pattern, I sketch rough lines on the stabilizer, and free hand cut shards of fabrics to fill in. I like to work in an additive way. Place fabric, stand back and cut another sliver, add that stitch, step back, repeat.


It all blends well when you see it in person, and my husband said the photos make the blue stand out more than in person... so come on over to see it! Or invite me to your guild for a presentation sometime!
linking to
 design wall Mondays at smallquiltsanddollquilts
lovelaughquilt.mondays 
http://emsscrapbag.                            
oh Scrap Sundays 
sewcanshe Saturdays
off the wall Fridays
can I get a whoop whoop Fridays  
myquiltinfatuation Thursdays
Esther's blog Wednesdays 
  Midweek makers wednesdays
http://tweloquilting.blogspot.com/
sew stitch snap share
 Free motion by the River Tuesdays    

"Poodle in Sunflowers" 12" X 12"

This is my latest STAT quilt interpreting a famous artist's style in fabric with an emphasis on texture.

I am part of Alida's Art with Fabric blog hop. Please visit the others after you've seen mine!



this is my reference photo for Van Gogh's sunflowers. I research my chosen artist and try to decide something to reference. Spirals, bold use of primary color, strong lines and his words were my inspiration.I also have tried to include a poodle in each of these 17 quilts! Just for fun. Just so they reference ME!
I start with a 12" piece of peltex. I wanted to keep it simple and bold, but textured so I first put a cotton background, then added a sheer with glittering spirals on top






to form the background to my composition. I brought the overlay to the back, encasing the cotton, and basted it as I knew I didn't want a binding this time.
I chose fonts and printed three quotes as well as an image of Milo to print onto the printable fabric and cut out

The fabric is pre-mounted for the printer and coated to make it permanent once heat set.







the white fabric was too white, so I dabbed these paints onto the quotes using a sea sponge.




An easy way to soften the look and continue the color palette
Then I start cutting and placing fabric with pins



Quick, free form cutting and layering. Overlap some dark fabric for shadows, take away so many flowers from Milo's mouth.
Go to machine with it held in place with a few pins and start stitching. Some buttonhole, some spirals, some free motion, some echo quilting with straight lines.

stitched in curls on the poodle

Quickly as if I am painting brushstrokes. I know the thread color and weight will add dimension. I want to mimic brushstrokes. The photo fabric is dense to sew through. The sheer is sparkly with glitter that must be contained or will migrate into the machine.

The applique is held on with stitching only, no fusible, allowing it to curl and fray a bit, which I like.
 Immediate, approachable, momentary like a chalk painting on a sidewalk.I think it gives texture and energy to the piece. I could plan, and make a mock up, draw out lines to follow and follow them carefully but what fun is that? It's not my artistic desire to be so careful, it's my goal to enjoy the trip. Careening into the grave with a martini glass in one hand and a sewing machine in the other!

Note the crystals ironed on around the flowers to add a highlight. I might have hand beaded if I'd had more time.

The back holds one more quote, and shows the stitching. I used black bobbin to look more sketch like.

The sunflower print was short so I added a strip of yellow that I wrote the quilt's info onto.






Before quilting, I pressed under the backing edges all the way around and placed it over the edges already turned to the back. This allowed me to keep glitter from migrating to the machine.
A quick hand stitch and edges are finished off.
I think van Gogh would have laughed, and liked this tribute to him. He loved nature, was awed by what he saw, and sought like I do, to capture a bit of it in his art! 


Hope you had fun, please visit the other artists on this blog hop, finding the complete schedule at
 Art with Fabric blog hop
http://www.quiltfabrication.com/
http://www.myquiltinfatuation.com/

Portrait of a Poodle a la Modigliani   (c)LAPaylor  2017

This is another in my STAT series, all 12" square, all based on work of a well known artist, all focusing on texture, most with a poodle. I was inspired to make this one as a part of Alida's Art with Fabric challenge. 

When you leave here, please visit the others as they show their work all week!

 My piece is inspired by Modigliani. At the Nat'l Gallery of Art in Washington DC, I took a photo of his "woman with red hair"
 
and that day I focused on cropping each painting, choosing an element I liked best. You are usually allowed to photograph paintings owned by the National Gallery of Art so it allows for learning as well as enjoyment.

I took a close up of the gesture I liked, the face tilt and hand, and sought to interpret that in fabric. 

Then I sized it according to my design vision, and printed it onto Printed Treasures pre-treated fabric. I used pinking shears to cut that printed image down to the size to suit my composition on a 12" piece. All of my STAT quilts are sized 12" square and on peltex. 
 I chose hand dyed fabrics in blue/tan/ocher. 

I drew a poodle, originally facing the other way (see below) onto a yellow index card, then used that as my pattern for the poodle. 

It will be used in the future I'm sure

Deciding later to have him facing the woman, with the same head angle


I needed to copy the drawing (done on an index card of yellow) mirror image, and use that as my pattern. 


It gave me the long necked silhouette, and a black pencil shaded him enough to give me the face ears and legs. Thread painting with 40 wt black cotton thread helped make it like a drawing in fabric. 
Drawing with thread. 

I loved the mood of that swirly black-on-gray fabric, it reminded me of 1920's wall paper. The gray repeated color in the original painting background, and the poodle.

Modigliani created depth of color for his backgrounds but his compositions were very simple. I tried to capture the sense of that in my piece. He always has long necks, wistful expressions, and deep eyes.

 He surrounded his subjects with nearly white shading around the edge of figures so I went in at the end with white pencil and colored around the poodle. 

It's always a challenge to abstract an idea, to convey a mood or sense of moment without being totally literal. It gives the viewer a chance to engage with the piece, filling in their blanks, making sense of the elements. 

The pinked edge of the photo repeats the line of pinked edge of the poodle


After deciding fabrics,

...I then started creating the pieced checkerboard from the hand-dyes. I had another choice for them in mind at first but after the little half inch blocks were done I decided to make a "screen" as a lot of salons in Paris had painted screens in that era. The color of the screen repeats the red tone in her hair.

Look at the orange seed beads along the floor

All my STAT quilts focus on texture, and the texture here is the pinked free edges of the appliques, the un-quilted panel screen, the complete rug, lined and turned, barely sewn down, the slight fraying on the poodle like hair, visual texture repeat of swirls on wall paper and in the poodle.

Repetition of strong horizontal lines, vertical lines, curve of faces, colors placed to balance the piece were all decisions I had to make. Some fabrics are pieced, some appliqued, some pieced then appliqued.

Making something original takes thought. It requires a lot of decision making and in the middle of the process one doesn't know if they are making the best choice or not. That's just part of the process of making, not a lack of ability. Each of us is capable of making art of some kind, it takes courage and vision.

from pictureframes.com

 I see it in my mind's eye first, then let a piece evolve as I make it. One decision leads to the next, the most important one is to keep going. 

It's a challenge to balance details on small work with simplicity. I did the thread sketching on the poodle before putting on the backing, but there is even quilting throughout, just minimal quilting. The floor has uneven quilted planks. It has facing as I didn't want to introduce another element.
There comes a moment when embellishments are considered. I thought about these elements and liked them, they go with it, but like putting on one too many jewelry pieces they were distracting
In the end they seemed like too much so the only extras were the bugle beads.
I quite love all the STAT quilts and now must have nearly 18. There are other STAT posts  if you're interested.

Thank you for visiting and remember to see what other artists have created at the link HERE
thank you to Alida for encouraging us and hosting the party!

linking to
 Free motion by the River Tuesdays    

"Disco Poodle" by LAPaylor  12" X 12"

my inspiration for this artwork was Matisse's papercuts. My prompt to make this was from  Alida
for the artist's blog hop challenge. 
 Matisse is quoted as saying:
"creativity takes courage"

 "Painting in the style that came to be known as Fauvism, Matisse continued to emphasize the emotional power of sinuous lines, strong brushwork and acid-bright colors in works such as The Joy of Life, a large composition of female nudes in a landscape. Like much of Matisse’s mature work, this scene captured a mood rather than merely trying to depict the world realistically"  http://www.biography.com

The image I used as my current inspiration at the top left of this picture, by Henri Matisse






 I also used the small poodle image I made for the Houston Quilt show SPCA donation (on orange above)
 I made one for myself and donated one.  It was bought off the wall within minutes of handing it to the organizers!!

For the current piece, I drew the poodle again but a bit thinner as the inspiration photo has a thin figure.

I interpreted the painting's diagonal lines by inserting a batik into the sparkly blue background. As usual it was a big decision with repeated auditions of fabric after fabric until I noticed this coral which reminded me of the papercut stars Matisse added to his piece.


To transfer my drawing to black fabric for the poodle, I traced over the image using saral chalk paper next to the black fabric. It transfers a line of chalk that can be brushed away after cutting.
I had to decide whether to keep the image completely inside the lines and after moving him around a bit, decided to engage the border.
All of my STAT quilts interpret famous painters, with an emphasis on texture. The texture here is embellishments. Faceted short bugles on the body, buttons, longer bugle beads and trinkets all add texture. 

We have artistic license to make art our way even if we're inspired by others. Not only license, but an obligation to make it your own.

Which brings up a question of art, inspiration and derivation. It's an ongoing debate among artists, a gray area often handled in a court of law.
This piece is obviously original yet derived, or inspired by, another artist and I give all due credit to the master Matisse whom I respect.
 I have made 16 STAT art inspired quilts, Please visit others  under the label STAT HERE

On to the making of this small work.
I quilted in lines with Sulky halogram mylar reflective thread. Hash marks and straight lines. There is peltex stabalizer instead of batting in all of my STAT quilts. I used rayon thread in coral and yellow to free motion around the batik print.
As for the binding... this creates the frame for my art. It is a very important element and I auditioned several choices finally deciding to insert a three dimensional black and white piping before sewing on the binding.

To reduce bulk I did a single layer of binding, pulling it to the back and folding under raw edges to whipstitch it down. Not double folded as usual, which makes the finish much easier but is quite bulky on a narrow binding.

Embellishments including the thread with little fiber squares, are attached by hand.

What do you think Matisse meant by creativity takes courage?

Unless you make original art, you might not be aware of all the decisions one makes while creating.
Of the need for inspiration, good art supplies, time, perseverance, and courage to put yourself into your work. Artwork is a little peek into a person's psyche.
We make art because we are driven to interpret our thoughts and feelings in a tangible way.
It is so personal and it takes courage to share it with others, leaving one vulnerable to comments and critiques. It takes courage to make your art, and courage to share.
Have courage to be original!

LeeAnna (missing her poodle Cole... play hard in Heaven darling)


complete schedule for artist's blog hop

"Poodle at Daybreak"  12" X 12"

Poodle at Daybreak

 This is the picture before I added shadows with purple tulle.





I realized after taking this picture of the original artwork by Maxfield Parrish next to mine inspired by him, that I needed darker shadowing.

 I was invited by Alida at http://tweloquilting.blogspot.com/  to make an art quilt inspired by a well known artist. I chose Parrish and found this critique:
Few can imitate his actual technique, however. Parrish would painstakingly build up his luminescent colors in layer after layer of transparent glazes. Unlike the old masters who originated this technique, Parrish used a blue and white underpainting, rather then the traditional grissaile or terra verde. If you ever get to see his originals, you wll be struck by the jewel-like quality of his colors, almost like looking through stained glass. Parrish, in fact, collaborated with the famous glass artist Louis Comfort Tiffany on glass mosaic mural called The Dream Garden, which can be seen in the Curtis Center near Independence Hall here in Philadelphia
from http://linesandcolors.com/2007/01/24/maxfield-parrish/
 
This is how my piece started.
I cut my precious personally made hand dye for the background. Whew!

Laid out rough cuts of fabric to become the rocks and poodle.
Gathered sheers to layer on for golden highlights and shadows.






 

Previously, I made a series of 13 quilts inspired by famous artists for a group project called STAT. There is a label on the sidebar that will take you to those posts and show you those quilts.  (Sometime this week I will show you the last one I made based on Georgia O'Keefe)
All of my STAT quilts have a focus on texture of fabric in art so I continued the series with "Poodle at Daybreak" making it in the same size 12" square and with an emphasis on texture. 
I only wish you could see it in person. There are three-d rocks, metallic threads done with free motion, appliqued sheers in layers.
Note the sheers in the sky, the use of prisma color pencil to create a bright yellow glow around the poodle.
And the binding. Done with these hard to handle metallic, ravelly, damasks.
I used the back of the fabric, to give a silver and gold frame to the piece.

It's always a big decision, to bind or not. This seemed to need a frame and I gave it quite a narrow binding frame.






 Most of my STAT quilts have a poodle in them, as a common thread. Cole my standard poodle is my muse, and ever sweet and interesting. I used his image in each art quilt, and enjoyed working in series to explore another artist's style while entertaining myself. He posts here on Wednesdays, and he's quite a character.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this. Please look at my other STAT quilts at your leisure starting HERE!

The week long party of everyone's art quilts can be seen here:   http://tweloquilting.blogspot.com/

view one of my previous ones my Klimt   HERE

Thanks for coming! Please leave a comment or email me.