Pages

Friday 2 July 2010

Pressure? No Pressure...


I so enjoyed seeing everyone's pieces for Seeing Red, but it was a little intimidating to view all of those great entries when mine was still on the cutting table.

The piece I have made for Seeing Red is a companion piece to my entry in the Ottawa challenge. It is mounted on stretcher bars and ready for a floating frame. I used the same technique of freeform strip piecing from the Jean Wells book, "Intuitive Color and Design". The approach is somewhat similar to the technique taught by Rayna Gillman and used by Linda for her Red Barns of Canada. The colour scheme is actually a bit like Hilary's Red Jacket. The quilting design shows the influence of Nancy Halpern, whose retrospective show at the Vermont Quilt Festival was so fascinating.

This is actually the second piece I made. I had another ready for the June 30 unveiling, but I wasn't really happy with it. It was made from a piece of cloth I had stamped and stencilled at a Rayna Gillman workshop, and then inserted some red hand-dyed strips into it. I didn't like the way that the handwritten word was so central to the image.
One of the best parts of this experience was brainstorming all the possibilities, so I now have many other ideas tucked away for the future.

5 comments:

  1. Congratulations Heather. Not only do you get a piece done in no time, you get 2 done. Pressure is a good motivator for sure! I like your freeform - it has nice movement in it. The second piece is more dramatic, lightening strikes!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely pieces, Heather. As Dianne says one more dramatic that the other. Maybe some more words added will take the focus off just the one.

    ReplyDelete
  3. well done - so different from your red work. i like both very much. love the way you use writing in your work

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ah, Heather, your fabrics are just too wonderful.Like Phil, I was going to suggest you get out the syringe and add some text (not too much) in other spots.

    Love this piece with the red running through it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you Heather - what a treat. I love the daring of setting the red squares so off-centre and succeeding in the first piece, but also the second piece which is dynamic. I agree with the previous suggestions of adding a little more text. If you do decide to work on it please let us share the progress.

    I, too, am enjoying the brain-storming of ideas that these 'themes' have instigated - thanks to the members who have come up with them so far.

    Hilary

    ReplyDelete