And this little felt backed coaster was something I made just because I wanted to try sewing this shape and using these fabrics. The outcome is not technically very good and I don't think the fabric choices are the best either, but when I see it, I feel the delight of having satisfied my curiosity - now I know. There are so many directions I could go with my art and sometimes I want to do them all.
This piece continues to grow stitches:
And I was out to my quilt guild's presentation by Martha Cole - an extraordinary artist who is exploring the complexity of nature using digital imagery on fabric, which she adds colour to with pencil crayon, paint and stitch and then quilts. She spoke about how images printed from the camera have a reduced value range compared to what our eyes see and how in adding colour back to the image, she restores what she saw. She also pointed out some shadowing on one image made by berries above leaves and how if she was to render that image without the camera, she might have eliminated the shadow to simplify it, but with the photographed image she captures what is really there. Her pieces have a luminosity that I think reflects the passion she pours into them. Alot of her work is huge - eight foot long pieces of the vast Saskatchewan prairie with detailed stitched grasses and painted skies. She has preserved many grain elevators in her quilts. I have roots in Saskatchewan, too, and know the beauty of that landscape. In fact, my 95 year old grandmother who lives there is also named Martha and I have a rock covered with lichen from my ancestors' graveyard that's situated on a slight rise in the middle of a flat expanse of nowhere, sewn onto one of my quilts. So it seems especially fitting Martha graciously picked this piece to hold up for my camera:
And I have been exploring with a photo collage on fabric I will post once it's further along.
This piece continues to grow stitches: 
And I was out to my quilt guild's presentation by Martha Cole - an extraordinary artist who is exploring the complexity of nature using digital imagery on fabric, which she adds colour to with pencil crayon, paint and stitch and then quilts. She spoke about how images printed from the camera have a reduced value range compared to what our eyes see and how in adding colour back to the image, she restores what she saw. She also pointed out some shadowing on one image made by berries above leaves and how if she was to render that image without the camera, she might have eliminated the shadow to simplify it, but with the photographed image she captures what is really there. Her pieces have a luminosity that I think reflects the passion she pours into them. Alot of her work is huge - eight foot long pieces of the vast Saskatchewan prairie with detailed stitched grasses and painted skies. She has preserved many grain elevators in her quilts. I have roots in Saskatchewan, too, and know the beauty of that landscape. In fact, my 95 year old grandmother who lives there is also named Martha and I have a rock covered with lichen from my ancestors' graveyard that's situated on a slight rise in the middle of a flat expanse of nowhere, sewn onto one of my quilts. So it seems especially fitting Martha graciously picked this piece to hold up for my camera:
And I have been exploring with a photo collage on fabric I will post once it's further along. 
2 comments:
Oh the hexie coaster, was it tough? I love the look of hexie patchwork but have not yet mastered squares! I love the fabrics you used, the polka dots are lush. The bunny embroidery is adorable and that quilt Martha is holding is incredible, loving those spring yellows, it does so look like lichen!
Thanks! The coaster was a bit tricky for me because I sewed it on the machine and it has those 'y' seams and the pieces are quite small - a little bigger than a quarter. Hand sewing it would have given me more control and I would have ended up with a nicer finish - I think.
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