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Sunday, 30 November 2014

GAVRINIS



  For twenty years I have been fascinated by the 5-6,000 year old carvings at the neolithic site of Gavrinis in the Morbihan, Brittany. I finally got to see them for real last year and in the last two years I have filled a sketchbook and a half with prints developed from a couple of the motifs, which I then printed on fabrics. I had done a few samples, but then come to a standstill, with too many ideas as how to use them swirling in my head. Some of my fabric samples were printed on a turquoise background, so I decided to use those, starting three quiltlets. This one was finished first and is my favourite as it seems to say what I wanted to say best of all and has given me a clearer idea of how to continue. I'll show the others when I've finished them. It was printed with fabric paints and machine quilted. If you are interested in finding out about Gavrinis, you can see the carvings at  


http://www.culture.gouv.fr/fr/arcnat/megalithes/en/index_en.html


 

9 comments:

  1. Fascinating, Jinnie. I think you have captured the essence of those ancient times.
    I followed your link and had no idea there were all these really fantastically carved neolithic stones in Brittany. They are much better than the ones I have seen in Ireland. I can see why you are drawn to them. My goodness you have a lifetime of inspiration there - and better still you can actually go and see them and touch them!

    Hilary

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  2. Beautiful piece, Jinnie. This warm/cool colour contrast was used by most of the group, and is very clearly a major part of your contribution too.

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  3. What a wealth of inspiration. Thank you for the link. You have captured the idea of the design so well in your piece and I like the simplicity of pairing the two colours - although each fabric is rich with it's own use of colour. I'm looking forward to seeing more in this series.

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  4. You have captured the spirit of this ancient place with a richness of texture and colour. Beautiful.

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  5. Beautiful, simple and elegant. Wonderful use of colour.

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  6. What more can I say.... beautifully executed.

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  7. I love the feeling of the turquoise colour, makes me think of copper verdigris. The stitching works extremely well too.

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  8. i love this interpretation and the colors
    i may have used a more gradual gradation from the turquoise to the orange but not knowing much about the subject perhaps the very definite change has some meaning
    very rich and textured
    a gorgeous piece

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  9. Rather like the stones themselves this piece takes a lot of looking at! Thanks for the link, I've only seen the Carnac stones which lack the ornament of those at Gavrinis.

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