tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12107595140362560822024-03-17T20:02:53.609-07:00Art and Quilts, cogitations thereonElizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.comBlogger730125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-63579081729829820542021-09-02T11:28:00.000-07:002021-09-02T11:28:24.934-07:00Quilt recycling!Does this ever happen to you? You work and work and work on a piece and feel sure it's just right...and go to all the trouble of quilting and binding and sleeves and all the rest of it...only to then realise when it's been hanging on the wall for a few days...that it's a complete DUD!!! Or that you don't need it any more...it was a piece on the way to something better and bigger.
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So...What do you do with the quilt?
You can just roll them up in the cupboard of course! And I did that for many years...but...the pandemic has lead to an epidemic (!) of death cleaning in my house!
And I found several pieces that I really wasn't very happy with at all...but then I had the idea of making pillows - and they came out GREAT!! what was ugly as a quilt, when chopped up into a pillow became strong, dynamic, intriguing.
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Now maybe I should have just divided the quilts into interesting small pieces....well perhaps....but I think the pillows are so neat they'll make wonderful presents.
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So far I've chopped up 4 quilts....so I'll show you before and after:
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The finished quilt was called Legacy and was in Quilt National a few years ago...and has long since gone into a collection....but I had a small study piece where I worked on the idea...to see if I liked it...and also if the stitching would work...this little piece is now a pillow!!
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The next quilt - Forcefield - was one of two...the idea was great...but the colors all together...well TOO MUCH!
But divided into two large pillows.......
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The more colorful quilt is Brief Encounter - which just won me a prize at the local art show...the version in neutrals was my study piece, much smaller...but big enough to make a nice pillow....I'll show you both sides:
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The last quilt was fairly large - so far I've just made a couple of big pillows...but I have enough for two more......or....maybe the half that is left might be a good quilt? Hmm....time will tell!!!!
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Hope you find the idea inspiring! maybe we'll have a pillow epidemic !!!! My christmas presents this year? pillows and chocolate to enjoy while lying back!!!and why not?
And, if you have been...thanks for reading. also please note if any of you are on feedburner, they're closing it down. So please just check back from time to time to see if I've written anything - I don't write often these days...or you can email me - there's a link on the side bar. and thank you! All best wishes for a nice pillowy future! Elizabeth
Elizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-8723053256837775192021-07-12T09:02:00.000-07:002021-07-12T09:02:12.475-07:00Time management for artistsTime Management for Artists
<p>Like everyone, I never seem to have enough time to do all the things I want to do.
So I’ve come up with a Time Management checklist for myself so see if I can’t just squeeze a little more juice out of those 24 hours!!
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1. I definitely have to have a diary/planner/appointment book. This is especially helpful for combining appointments and errands since I notice that leaving home even for something as small as picking up more supplies somehow seems to waste a whole morning. If I can combine my art supplies, office supplies, shipping, library and dentist appointments etc into one journey....then I’ve saved 4 mornings!
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2. I like to plan out the next day the night before – a nice to do list with items ripe for crossing off! I used to write it out at breakfast time but found I was waking up the night before thinking oh! I must remember to do so and so, and thus, and such and the whirling mind would lead to a whirling bod, wakefulness, finally dropping off to sleep just before dawn, sleeping in and wasting half a morning! Whereas now I can just drop off into dreamland knowing that the next day is taken care of.
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3. Like a lot of people, I’m great at displacement activity – if there’s something I don’t want to do I fritter away time on inconsequentials while I work up to the Dreaded Deed! So now I put the thing I least want to do as Number One on the to do list, once that’s done and checked off, the rest of the day’s tasks seem easy by comparison. Checking off items on the to do list is also very satisfying.
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4. I’m very aware of Initial Inertia – I used to drive an old Rover 75 (1948!); it took about a gallon of gas to get it moving, but once it was rolling it was a great ride – very stately!! So I’ve found that if I can just make myself do that very First Step, I’ll often get rolling along quite nicely (not necessarily stately!). When making a quilt I outline the quilt I’m going to make on the design wall with ripped off selvedges - just those first four lines: the top, bottom and sides...with an empty middle hoping to be filled! If painting, I'll lay out the paper, the inspiration, the value sketch, paints brushes etc….
<p>if it’s a phone call I don’t want to make, I've discovered that saying to myself:"all you have to do is look up the phone number"...somehow gets me over that inertia.
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5. I also try to notice where I’m losing time each day– which is one reason why, when quilt making, I like to plan out a color scheme and have all my fabric pulled from the outset. I used to start with a couple of pieces then hunt through the stash for a third and so on, creating a veritable tornado of fabric by I was done. Then it all has to be folded and put away – another time waster.
<p> with a painting...deciding which inspiration photo to work from, printing that one out, and not having a great pile of "possibles" saves me a lot of time.
When teaching workshops, I've sometimes seen people taking a whole day to decide which photo is the one to start from.....
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Another time waster is Looking for a particular tool: if you find yourself more than a couple of times taking time to find a basic tool, buy some more of them! I have scissors Everywhere! – then I don’t waste time looking for a pair. I also fill about a dozen bobbins at a time and just have 3 bobbin colors: light, medium and dark. In the garden I have a spade and a trowel and gloves waiting for me in each area of the garden.
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6. I really try to avoid other people wasting my time – politely of course! If it’s a nuisance call, obviously one just puts the phone down and lets them prattle on to thin air; if a friend or relative, I say “well I mustn’t keep you…” (translates as “I’m afraid I’m NOT going to let you keep me”!).
<p> A great way of avoiding them wasting time is to combine social time with exercise – makes the exercise easier and makes double use of the time.
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7. I try to use distractions as reinforcements: e.g. checking for emails only AFTER so many minutes on task! Studies have shown that office workers spend almost a third of their time on emails, social media etc!!
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8. Simple filing systems help to organize papers etc so they don't get lost - I have spent hours looking for a vital piece of paper!
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9. Talking of paper,try to handle each piece of paper once only. If you write to me you may well get your card or letter back with something scrawled on it! If you email me, I tend to reply straightaway so then I don’t take the time to read it twice – quicker to hit reply while what you’ve said is still in my mind. Of course some friends hate me doing this!!!
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10. And of course, it’s important not to do that which does not need to be done!! Such as ironing all the fabric….just iron the bits you are going to work with…yes I know ironing is lovely…smoothing out the wrinkles of the world..but it does take time! Tidying up the studio – do you really need to have everything arranged just so? I must admit I don’t understand the drive to have the perfect studio…do we really need to know who has the biggest one?
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11. I try to set goals well ahead of time with the Big Task split into many little ones and something accomplished towards it each day…like writing a book or an online course – 30 minutes a day is, I find, much more possible, than larger chunks of time which take a lot of working up to.
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12. When I write a blog, I try to make it relevant to something I need to do – like manage my time more wisely! Having said that, I’m off to make a cup of tea – a very wise use of my time!
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So, if you have been, thanks for reading…and I do hope you found it a good use of your time! Do share any time management tips that you have too….we all would love a couple more hours of creative time per day! Elizabeth
Elizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-68379824184394420472021-06-13T08:58:00.002-07:002021-06-23T04:14:33.687-07:00I've been vlogged!<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--dHvArHpJgQ/YMYn9AY43EI/AAAAAAAAUNo/tqpTM2USkBQMyNI4tBiGjIyG3ukVlU9fgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_3624.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--dHvArHpJgQ/YMYn9AY43EI/AAAAAAAAUNo/tqpTM2USkBQMyNI4tBiGjIyG3ukVlU9fgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/IMG_3624.JPG"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H4nOcelRVCg/YMYoLWveV2I/AAAAAAAAUNw/3_W22eYOW6ocN3ZhOAzrKcBaaRxEm9L3ACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_3639.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H4nOcelRVCg/YMYoLWveV2I/AAAAAAAAUNw/3_W22eYOW6ocN3ZhOAzrKcBaaRxEm9L3ACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/IMG_3639.JPG"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dLsS1Ug_6so/YMYpIdE6SjI/AAAAAAAAUN8/GIAPcSwWEk4EQp62naq3XXo65BELq5KOgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/library%2Bquilts.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dLsS1Ug_6so/YMYpIdE6SjI/AAAAAAAAUN8/GIAPcSwWEk4EQp62naq3XXo65BELq5KOgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/library%2Bquilts.jpg"/></a></div>
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Above are some of the many photos I shared with popular French Vlogger Liana Voia....also there's a long interview with yours truly! You can see my new covid hair do (i.e. nothing done except washed!), and Power points of many quilts and watercolors and photographs over the years.
The top photo is a book a friend and I self published back in the '80s!!!!
Next is one of many local newspaper clippings.....
the third one is to commemorate me donated the two quilts hanging behind us to the public library....they are they to this day...and I added a third. So much better than malingering in a cupboard!
and the last photo is of the member of AQN(NY) at least 20 years ago...you'll recognize some famous faces I'm sure!WE did have one male member - Michael James, but he went on to bigger things!!
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Please do go and look and the vlog! and let me know what you think!
Here's the link:
<a href="https://vimeo.com/561805092"> Elizabeth Barton</a>
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/561805092" target="_blank">
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/561805092" target="_blank"></a>
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or, if the above doesn't work, please copy and paste:
https://vimeo.com/561805092
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All good wishes....ElizabethElizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-65595559636312981482021-05-14T06:23:00.000-07:002021-05-14T06:23:02.590-07:00Sewing Therapy<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4mlTt3NmkrE/YJ510mKTnyI/AAAAAAAAUEc/XO5KFMZMYTQZWxXakF_OIvFbbGzfxqxOQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_2750%2Bcopy%2B2.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4mlTt3NmkrE/YJ510mKTnyI/AAAAAAAAUEc/XO5KFMZMYTQZWxXakF_OIvFbbGzfxqxOQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/IMG_2750%2Bcopy%2B2.jpg"/></a></div>
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Recently I was hospitalized with a disorder caused (or at least aggravated) by stress....and when I got home I decided to add in several more stress relievers to my day (as well as the damned pills <i>they</i> prescribed!!! And I discovered that giving myself 30 minutes of time to do NOTHING but sew, no tv, radio, podcast or (most importantly!) people! Just me and the cloth and the scissors, pins, needles and sewing machine. I discovered that this was the most calming thing of all...
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The important thing is not to feel guilty for taking time for yourself, nor to have any sense of "having to " reach a certain goal or certain time frame. I know a lot of people use yoga for this, but that never worked for me. Instead just calmly cutting and sewing and not feeling like I need to get anywhere or justify the activity to anyone at all, getting totally into the flow of sewing movements and focussing only on those, seeing it as an important activity for health. Breathing into it... This is what works.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VFwCr5NWzb0/YJ54cmJ-4fI/AAAAAAAAUEk/fQJLKttaZFAeKN0ELC9IH94UlhObCWNjgCLcBGAsYHQ/s800/barton%2Bcityofwillows.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="800" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VFwCr5NWzb0/YJ54cmJ-4fI/AAAAAAAAUEk/fQJLKttaZFAeKN0ELC9IH94UlhObCWNjgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/barton%2Bcityofwillows.jpg"/></a></div>
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Now I know it would not be calming if you couldn't sew! you'd just get frustrated...but I'm sure everyone that reads this blog is a sewer..oops I don't mean a drain!!! No! but the calming quiet contemplative activity WILL drain away your tension. Don't see this activity as an excuse, but rather a very important medicine for your life!
Try it! A full 30 minutes, at a particular time each day, with NO pressure, completely quiet, your space, your time...nobody can interrupt. Feel your tangled thoughts smooth out, your heart rate drop, your breathing become calm and rhythmic...
AND let me know how this works for you! I'm sure hoping this will keep me out of hospital!
<p> And, if you have been, thanks for reading. ElizabethElizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-24524585013351812862021-04-29T06:56:00.001-07:002021-04-29T06:56:53.050-07:00Designing art quilts with line - two problems - SOLVED!While in art quilts our main medium is shape, pieces of cloth cut into shapes, most of us usually design using line. And this can often be misleading, because our lines simply delineate the edges of the shapes!
to me, this creates two difficulties...
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First, we're designing one thing...but making another! So it's really hard to see what the quilt will look like finished. so many times people say to me - but I know what I want in my head, but what comes out is nothing like it!! I know we've all felt that. My answer is that if you want your quilt to be a beautiful and exciting arrangement of shapes, then DESIGN with shapes! cut out the shapes in paper - or in cloth - and arrange and rearrange on a background that resembles (in value at least, also texture) the background of your finished quilt.
You don't need to glue them down...just take a photo of every arrangement you come up with and then look at the different ideas simultaneously on your computer...you'll easily see the best one.
<p>
Second, we're missing an opportunity to create a design featuring LINE itself...and these can be very beautiful and elegant. Not so easy to reproduce in fabric, you say? ACtually not so difficult as you would think...cut fairly narrow strips - as narrow as you can comfortably work with...but sew very wide seams thus reducing the width of the narrow strips considerably. As I did in this quilt below.
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<p>
When considering a linear design, begin with a sketch - which obviously you'll design by drawing lines on a piece of paper! If your design is based on a photo or some similar inspiration, then, one you have your sketch, take the photo away! Just focus on the sketch. This is your blueprint. Now: are there any lines you can remove and still retain the idea that inspired you? Get rid of those first. They are surplus to purpose!
<p> Then, see if you can extend, or add, or augment your lines. For example: drawing strong lines that go through much of the design and create a basic structure. Remember that horizontal lines suggest a peaceful scene, vertical ones strength and stability, and diagonal ones (my favorite!) are dynamic. Don't have just one kind of line, but do have a PREPONDERANCE of one kind. If you use diagonals, be sure to have a few that go in the opposite direction...otherwise you'll have all your viewers leaning to one side......!!!
<p>
Next...think about the quality of the lines: sharp pointy ones give a feeling of energy, perhaps anger!
smooth undulating ones are calm, tender, loving. Short bold ones are dramatic, fine whispy ones are smokey, suggestive and tentative. What mood do you want to create? Use your lines!
<p>
Some lines should be avoided - because they are boring, or affect the balance of the design. These are lines that are exactly parallel to the edges, or lines that bisect a corner, or "cut" the design into two equal halves. You don't want your quilt to be really predictable...like elevator music!
<p>
Use the fact that our eyes tend to follow a line to direct your viewer's gaze: towards a focal area...or around the piece...whatever you want!
<p>
And, if you have been, thanks for reading!!! I do hope you'll try some of these ideas ...let me know if they are helpful! And I love comments...and will always reply! So please..feel free! ElizabethElizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-56950219079385894692021-04-11T05:31:00.000-07:002021-04-11T05:31:15.967-07:00A change of subject.....<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GVzHOwVGUJc/YHLoZxesBTI/AAAAAAAAUB0/WEQdM9JFHOceyAJJ_p7a-fJxdKXH8rpSACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/blue%2Band%2Blime%2Bspring.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GVzHOwVGUJc/YHLoZxesBTI/AAAAAAAAUB0/WEQdM9JFHOceyAJJ_p7a-fJxdKXH8rpSACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/blue%2Band%2Blime%2Bspring.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>A friend asked me yesterday why she wasn't getting into local art shows when her paintings were actually much better than several that had been accepted.
I went down to the show...and realised that the juror just didn't like traditional landscapes...everything she had chosen was about rawness, ugliness and distortion. Protest was another major theme. In fact she even expressed surprise in her remarks in the catalogue that landscapes were still being painted!!!
<p>So I advised my friend that if she wanted to get in, she would need to change her subject matter. BUT, I felt strongly...that one should always make work (in whatever medium you use) about what is in your heart, what makes YOU glow or shimmer or weep or jump for joy.
<p>And then I started thinking about my own work. when I first made art quilts, I was still a fairly new immigrant to the USA and still visiting my home town (York, UK) regularly and again walking and dreaming in the old Roman city with its medieval houses. It wasn't surprising that that became the subject of my quilts.
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<p>But ...this is not what is in my heart now.....now I live in a beautiful green oasis, a large garden, two lovely and intriguing parks close by, a university that prides itself on its landscaping....every window looks out onto amazing beautiful natural patterns of tree branches and leaves and sky. And it is so inspiring and uplifting...
So....my art forthcoming will be about the trees, I want to make a quilt and several paintings of the photo at the head of this blog...and for the first time in ages...I can't wait to begin!!!
<p>Follow your heart, said Joseph Campbell, many years ago....and he was right.
Jurors who prefer the ugly - bedamned!!!
<p> If you have been, thanks for reading! and do please comment! Oh yes! I will respond! and now my desires lead me to a nice cuppa tea....ElizabethElizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-73995092420300221692021-02-28T11:42:00.000-08:002021-02-28T11:42:09.341-08:00Lockdown diary and dubious "accomplishments" plus a project!<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P8u7Ie1QaX8/YDf4GbNnXSI/AAAAAAAAT_8/67u1nCAykMo5GUSGBA4NiO54_aWAEYIdwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/farne%2Bislands.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="1662" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P8u7Ie1QaX8/YDf4GbNnXSI/AAAAAAAAT_8/67u1nCAykMo5GUSGBA4NiO54_aWAEYIdwCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/farne%2Bislands.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ReVjTQGrgu0/YDf4Fmy99RI/AAAAAAAAT_4/OUXkgBS-MGotAHZbbzqTr1jqFO-CXQZNgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/2013-09-19%2B22.15.42.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="1356" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ReVjTQGrgu0/YDf4Fmy99RI/AAAAAAAAT_4/OUXkgBS-MGotAHZbbzqTr1jqFO-CXQZNgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/2013-09-19%2B22.15.42.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>
I keep reading about all the amazing things people are accomplishing during this time of isolation - like teaching your children to tap dance! Well I don't have the oomph for that! or the child who wants to learn...but I have got quite a few things done.
<p>
Decided to try to learn spanish ....again!!! it is much easier than English...but I can't get out of the habit of pronouncing words the french way - sort of high in the back of the palate!
<p>
exercise! what to do ? As a swimmer I was a bit stuck with the pool closed, hard to swim on dry land after all! but I did discover a couple of parks very close and duly masked have perambulated through mud and leaves in the hope of achieving "fitness"!!! (not yet! but still hoping!). In the park I saw people trying to play tennis on small courts with little paddles and whiffle balls! Turns out it's a new sport called pickling!!! So I'm trying to pickle!! Not very good at it and my first teacher gave up on me cos I wouldn't take it seriously and kept laughing...!!! I mean PICKLE! of course you should laugh!
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<p>
Getting into "death cleaning" as the Scandinavians call it - i.e. clearing out all the clutter, those bulging cupboards of stuff that "might come in" some day!! has lead to several projects - 2 summer bed quilts made from scraps of Liberty fabric I brought to the USA with me when I emigrated years and years ago...a big pink scrap art "window" quilt for a friend which nicely used up all the pink fabric I have never ever wanted to use in any quilt!! It's funny how there's one color you avoid! I am just not a pink person!! I also sorted out all my knitting yarn and now have it divided into neat piles with a specific pattern or idea and the right size needles...I only allow myself 4 rows a night of knitting (arthritis) but it's surprising how quickly you can make something with just that little amount. I often use 3 strands together and that works up very quickly. it's also a great way to make something unified that could be very bitty.You take one yarn that you have a lot of ...which is usually a boring dreary color that was on sale! and then you add in all the fun stuff...the boring yarn holds it all together visually and the bits of fun..give it pzazz!
<p>
So then my death cleaning got into my class notes and power points...I've taught a lot of classes over the years....and working with them, I updated a couple of my www.academyofquilting.com classes.... the Art Quilt from Start to Finish, formerly Inspired to Design, and Abstract Art for Quiltmakers.
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<p>
I usually work from a rough sketch (like below), sometimes from a watercolor, but the most fun - and useful I think - is from a collage.
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<p>
Working from a collage is a lot of fun....you can use plain paper in just 3 values...or....
Cut out images, or parts of them, from magazines - NOT quilting magazines! - just from the adverts in an ordinary news magazine....and try to make little compositions with them...fitting them together onto card and glueing them down...or you can use those sticky sheets you get in photo albums - if anyone still has them!
I like to take apart old christmas and greeting cards and just keep the blank bits...or glue the cuttings over the existing images...
make a few of these...and you'll begin to be able to get a sense of what makes a good composition.
then take the best one...and make a quilt based on them!!! Send the others off for birthdays etc!
have fun...and let me know how this worked for you...it definitely shifts you into working another way and thinking along different lines...which I love.
And, if you have been, thanks for reading! Elizabeth
ps. please comment! also look out for my article in the upcoming issue of Quilting Moderne.
Elizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-84515809205809577162021-02-12T11:09:00.005-08:002021-02-12T11:09:52.708-08:00Getting started on new work after a hiatus...don't set deadlines on creativity!<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kZ5Y8gkE25E/YCbNvByFjtI/AAAAAAAAT-0/y1jNntfYQ7UtQs0Hkljsou7EWOCzLthxwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/edge%2Bof%2Blight%2B300.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="1234" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kZ5Y8gkE25E/YCbNvByFjtI/AAAAAAAAT-0/y1jNntfYQ7UtQs0Hkljsou7EWOCzLthxwCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/edge%2Bof%2Blight%2B300.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>
d'you find it really hard to start work again after you've been away from the studio for a few weeks? I know I do...I futz around tidying fabric, getting the scissors lined up, picking up pins, replacing thread and so on...but once you start refolding fabric from the bottom of the pile...you know you're stalling!!!
Time to get some action going!
<p>
In order to be creative you need to be experimenting, playing, having fun, trying out possibilities in between major pieces...this is what leads to discovery.
Looking at art - preferably very good art that has stood the test of time...and then thinking...hmm how could I play with that idea? Please don't feel that you have to have something ready for the next show, the next challenge etc. don't set deadlines on creativity.
Become a curious person! No!!! not to others...!! but to yourself...being curious about whether you can arrange eleven triangles and one square to indicate comfort....or alienation! Can you look out of the window and "discover" 6 new design ideas? Exercise your curiosity each day...and it will grow stronger, just like muscles!!!
<p>
don't switch off your artist mind when you leave the studio or sewing room, be your artist self all the time...seeing the beauty and wonder everywhere...plus possibilities for new quilts or new paintings!!! So many people seem to repeat the same old thing over and over...don't be one of them!!!
<p>
pull out your notebooks...is there anything that you didn't follow up on?
look at the photos on the phone...should any be sent to your printer for further manipulation?
Take the first likely possibility and start playing - whatever your preferred method is...I like to trace or sketch and then layer and collage...just with 3 values of paper. But everyone has their own preferred technique.
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<p>
think of all the different ways you can manipulate the ideas you find: smaller, larger, different proportions, details, upside down and inside out, values reversed, straight lines curved and curved straight, everything in dots ...or dashes! all lines going all the way to the edge, everything slanted, try out all the filters on your photo imaging program!
The quilt on the left? I cut into 6 vertical strips and rearranged them!!! Try that!
<p>
pin up the best possibilities on the wall, and consider which could be refined...
<p>
Be aware that you are improving and let that encourage you and lead you forward!! it will, honestly!!!
and while you're encouraging yourself, consider reaching out and encouraging others too....there's nothing so energizing as having a friend exclaim in delight over something you've made!!
"Motivation is in the
world around us. We have an infinite amount of material at our
disposal, in the lives of those we meet, in what we see, feel
and discuss." (Pablo Picasso)
and, let me know how you do!!!!
<p>
if you have been, thanks for reading!!! ElizabethElizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-28505599078482462372021-01-29T10:43:00.006-08:002021-01-29T11:04:01.318-08:00Give yourself a art show! <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VCrMJOq0LUQ/YBRSNOCRj9I/AAAAAAAAT-g/vk14JgSWaqkIMX3Ojs-tEE8lxboz7b_VgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/wall%2Bof%2Bwatercolors.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VCrMJOq0LUQ/YBRSNOCRj9I/AAAAAAAAT-g/vk14JgSWaqkIMX3Ojs-tEE8lxboz7b_VgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/wall%2Bof%2Bwatercolors.JPG"/></a></div>
<p>
When it comes to dispaying art quilts at home, it's impossible to get a really good idea of them as you'd need a huge house to put them all up on one wall.
I've loved it when I've had a solo show in a gallery somewhere, because that's what it takes to really get a sense of where you are going with your work.
But alas, at present, gallery opportunities are not available!
<p>
However, it struck me that I could clear a wall in my basement studio and hang my paintings. First I had to mat them - well the mats got hung up with covid! But eventually arrived....so that took several weeks. Then I ordered frames - I have tried a number of different ones, including some surprisingly pleasant looking and inexpensive ones ...but made in plastic and purchased from That Store we ladies do not patronize! Finally I decided if a painting is worth hanging it's worth a decent frame...and you can order the elegant simple Neilson metal ones from several places on line. The paintings now chosen (all from 2020), matted and framed...the next job was to clear all the junk off the wall!
<p>
This accomplished, I decided on a salon style of hanging which is a fancy way of saying hang as many as you can in one space!!!
And so, you can see the result in the photo! Room for more too....which is great gives me an incentive to get to work.
<p>
The best thing is that seeing a body of work at one go you can really get a sense of your direction, your style, your focus, where you might challenge yourself next. I do have one or two "odd" ones in the mix where I tried something else...but I love the impact of a number of works based on one idea. And you can ask yourself when you see a whole show like this: is my work any good? is it strong? Am I moving forward, or just repeating yesterday's ideas? Am I learning? Am I alive?
<p>
e.e. cummings:
“…It is Art because it is alive. It proves that, if you and I are to create at all, we must create with today and let all the Art schools and Medicis in the universe go hang themselves with yesterday’s rope. It teaches us that we have made a profound error in trying to learn Art, since whatever Art stands for is whatever cannot be learned. Indeed, the Artist is no other than he who unlearns what he has learned, in order to know himself; and the agony of the Artist, far from being the result of the world’s failure to discover and appreciate him, arises from his own personal struggle to discover, to appreciate and finally to express himself….
…“to become an Artist” means nothing: whereas to become alive, or one’s self, means everything. …
<p>
What d'you think? Dare you give yourself an art show? I recommend it!
<p>
And, if you have been, thanks for reading....
Please comment!!!! I will read AND reply....but now for a nice cuppa tea......Polly! put the kettle on! would you, dear?
Elizabeth
<p>
PS to see the paintings individually please check the watercolor page on <a href="https://elizabethbarton.com/" target="_blank">my website</a>.
Elizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-18950589594611756402021-01-07T06:35:00.001-08:002021-01-07T06:36:42.456-08:00Taking Classes....I've always loved screen printing...it's such magic when you lift the screen up ...very slowly....and see what's happened!!
<p>REcently I came across some images of prints I'd made in my first surface design class which was on screen printing....in those days(35+ years ago) I used textile paint rather than thickened dye, but either works.
<p>
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<p>
You can learn screen printing with dye (thickened) and many other surface design techniques in my <a href="http://academyofquilting.com" target="_blank">www.academyofquilting.com</a> class Dyeing to Design. The class covers simple dyeing, arashi (storm!) shibori, and several types of screen printing including deconstructed. It's really a taste of all the different surface design techniques I know.
Taking a class can change your life - it has mine - many times! In the Uk I took screen printing...and judo...and pottery...and watercolour.
In the USA I've done a lot more surface design and watercolor, and my very first quilting class...when I came to Georgia in 1984. And what an adventure that lead to!!!
Meanwhile I also did lots of different kinds of dancing, and aikido and water aerobics and swimming, and pickleball and French and Spanish and and and....
<p>
Learning something new opens up your whole life!
<p>
So...if you have been, thank you for reading..! Do comment and tell me what classes have changed your life.
oh, and while you're perusing the offerings at the academyofquilting, check out all my other classes including the new one: Simple Secret to good design - easy guidelines for strong designs.
<p>
What can we do when we can't socialize? we can learn!!!!
<p>
Take care everyone...masks hide a multitude of wrinkles!!!! Elizabeth
Elizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-63664454264068190282020-12-26T11:15:00.000-08:002020-12-26T11:15:17.607-08:00The Values of WinterWinter is such a great time to see values...white and black and silvery grey...and all the subtly greyed colors...
but actually you don't need to make all that detailed of a value sketch..
<p> Here's a photograph:
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<p>
Next I convert it to black and white - then I'm not distracted by the color.
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<p>
I make a quick sketch of the darks only with a fat felt tip pen.
If they make an interesting pattern..I'll follow that in my art work. If the pattern of darks is boring...then I'll tweak it a little.
You can also see see if there are any major mistakes with balance, or rhythm.
I find the position of the lights much less important...the weight is with the darks even if they're not all that apparent when the piece is finished.
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Finally, I print out the photo and the value sketch - whether for a quilt or a painting -
<p>
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<p>
and now I'm ready to make art!!!
Stay safe and healthy - making art is not dangerous and you don't even need to wear a mask!!
And, if you have been, thanks for reading...and please comment and tell me your working method...I'd love to know.
elizabeth
Elizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-8632355267330627392020-12-09T07:14:00.006-08:002020-12-11T06:46:18.702-08:00My blog is NOT moving..........after all!
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<p> I made a new website with Go daddy. <a href="https://elizabethbarton.com" target="_blank">www.elizabethbarton.com</a>
<p>It's fun! there are some new features that were easy to use, after a bit of wrangling...and I'm quite happy with it...or will be when I learn how resize images! And no it's not just a case of uploading smaller ones...alas. <\p>
<p>A few kind readers of this blog suggested I add a blog to the website...great idea...and website builder says that's very possible...BUT you can only manage comments through a third party company whose wishes and desires you have to agree to!
I checked on the internetfor reviews of this company...and I don't want somebody monitoring my blog or the comments...so in the end decided to simply put a link to THIS blog on the website.<\p>
<p> so often these days, things are not what they seem. There is a commercial element underlying nearly everything. But art and music can still be enjoyed relatively free! Most of the big museums of the world have nearly all of their collection on line, photographed in hi res, lots and lots of music is available on you tube....do have a book or magazine to prop up in front of the screen though to read when the ads come!! or close your eyes and ears for a few moments calming meditation and slow breathing...<\p>
<p> And we can create art ourselves! We can draw and paint and cut and sew and sing and dance!! And nobody can charge us for doing that, or require us to watch adverts while we're doing it, or monitor it in any way. <\P>
<p> So...to Art we will go!!! to Art we will go. Hey Ho the merry o to Art we will go!! <\P>
<p> So, if you have been, thanks for reading! And you can comment here...quite safely...and you won't be deluged with adverts if you do!!! Thank you. ElizabethElizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-10758790608235238362020-12-05T06:47:00.006-08:002020-12-10T10:14:52.710-08:00New Website<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uizcap1y4H4/X8ubQMgGUKI/AAAAAAAAT64/ckyg6vohkO4gpYebbfnX7OHi0JATrA6VQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1800/echoesinthememory%2Bcopy.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1645" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uizcap1y4H4/X8ubQMgGUKI/AAAAAAAAT64/ckyg6vohkO4gpYebbfnX7OHi0JATrA6VQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/echoesinthememory%2Bcopy.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>My new website is live! A few months ago I noticed the old website was frozen, couldn't update it. Several phone calls later to the provider revealed that they had completely redone the whole website creation program and I had to totally rebuild! since I made the previous one at least 20 years ago, maybe more! I was in considerable trepidation.....but..."with a little bit of help from my friends" (the Beatles always had the right lines!) I made it.
Sure there is lots of polishing to do...but it's up!<p\>
<p>Please go and visit...then come back here and tell me what you think!!!
Try this link: <a href="https://www.elizabethbarton.com" target="_blank">https://www.elizabethbarton.com</a>
<p>I have made about 300 quilts, obviously too boring for me and for you!! to upload them all, so I put up some of the ones I still have for sale, and several of my long time favorites, most of which are long gone! I hope they are someone else's favorites now!<p\>
<p>I've also put up many watercolors...since I am spending more time on that these days...
I've always made art work based on my daily life, and currently it's all about nature. Like everyone else, I'm not travelling to cities...but out in the park and the garden exploring nature. Watercolor is a medium exquisitely appropriate for nature being so uncontrollable!!!<p\>
S<p>o please look...and feel free to make critical comments too...especially if you have the solution!!!!<p\>
<p>If you have been, thanks for reading. Elizabeth<p\>
Elizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-38703974183230611952020-11-25T06:32:00.000-08:002020-11-25T06:32:35.760-08:00Social isolation getting to you??? But there are so many things to do!!!Social isolation getting to you???
I know it is to a lot of people, I've had emails from all over the world....but in a weird way I'm kinda enjoying this time.
No social obligations! No trying to decide between this restaurant and that, whether or not to go to a concert, or a dance.
or join a group. Instead...looking around at home and finding that...
.... there are so many things to do!!!
Like many people, I thought this is a wonderful opportunity to do some cleaning, sorting, throwing away.
But first...being now "free" to do it, as it were (!), I thought I'll wash all my bras at once!! Something you can only do when you don't have to go out - and don't expect "company"!!
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Then I started looking through my clothes and fabrics to see what could go to the thrift store....I used to live in an area that produced a lot of textiles especially the wonderful Liberty of London fabric...and it's definitely "too good to throw away" !!!! don't you just remember your mother telling you that???
so I gathered a big pile of old Liberty cotton lawn clothes:
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I cut them apart, ironed the pieces of fabric, and started cutting simple shapes...then got a bit carried away!!! changing this and that and generally just having fun...
like all creative people I'm plagued with the wotifitis! Now what if I cut this this way...or what if I rearrange things that way....or what if I add this other fabric....
and so I cut and sewed....and arranged...and then discovered I had enough for a nice quilt for the piano!! (or a bed!).
The quilt looked so pretty...interesting AND intriguing...so I retraced some of my steps to make several short videos and put those together into a little class to upload to the <a href="www.academyofquilting.com" target="_blank">Academy of Quilting</a>, a great website that hosts all my online classes (for individual coaching apply direcly to me personally at elizabethmasterclass AT gmail.com). The new class will be available very soon, but you can sign up now if you've a mind to! It's short and inexpensive.
The main thing is...take this time to look around you and become more aware of all the wonderful things that we DO have: all of nature...and all our own innate creativity.
Begin by asking....What if I......?
And do write and tell me where that led you!!!
If you have been, thanks for reading.... Elizabeth
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Elizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-4851399401286891312020-11-03T06:12:00.001-08:002020-11-03T06:12:51.132-08:00Being creative in uncreative times<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j_Z4hiMq7VE/X6FizOH0PgI/AAAAAAAAT5A/l46dLmcbpJcO_tMjt3X_q2VBW56tpcwOQCLcBGAsYHQ/s797/may%2Bcopy%2B2.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="797" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j_Z4hiMq7VE/X6FizOH0PgI/AAAAAAAAT5A/l46dLmcbpJcO_tMjt3X_q2VBW56tpcwOQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/may%2Bcopy%2B2.JPG"/></a></div>
You know, being isolated and at home a LOT more! gives one time to sort things out and look back at old work.
I came across the quilt above that I made years and years ago, quite possibly in another century!
I decided that it needed a little improvement! so using photoshop elements (could have used GIMP a free download and very good, or any of a number of photo imaging programs, but just happened to have PSE and be familiar with it - the key!), I decided it looked a little murky, so upped the color saturation. also increased the contrast. Then I felt that it was really the wrong shape...I love horizontal views of trees...like you see out of clerestory windows....so I altered the shape too.
and came up with this:
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Those 3 little alternations make ALL the difference in how it looks. I don't think it needs any more.
Though...it would be interesting to see it in black and white...like birch trees in a winter forest:
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hmm!!! I'm quite inspired!!!
you know it's impossible to be creative looking at a blank sheet of paper/screen/design wall!
Start with something from way way in the past...and just play with the image as I have. I didn't get into extracting details, that would be another interesting step...hmm...now I think I might just make a cuppa tea and then see what details I can find....
And, of you have been! Thanks for reading...and remember, there's a wealth of possibility sitting right there in your photo album.
Comments!!! please!!! thank you!
ElizabethElizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-87974077907520394262020-10-17T06:05:00.002-07:002020-10-17T06:06:10.913-07:00Value studies can be fun!Value studies - the easy way
I really like making several different value studies when I have decided upon a sketch, but I must admit it is a little tedious to shade them in by hand. So, I like to do them on the computer.....
First you have to have a nice clean copy where all the lines join up (no gaps! the colors would bleed through)
Then scan this sketch into your computer.
Here's a series of steps from a simple sketch through to variations.
I open the sketch into Photoshop Elements (this is a fairly inexpensive photo imaging program that many people like). There is also GIMP, a free download. And I'm sure several others that I don't know - but if you do and can recommend! please...write a comment!
Then I click on the two little squares right down at the bottom on the left hand side that show the foreground and background colors, and I select a dark value. I don't care what color is it, I usually get as close as I can to a neutral grey. I find it easier to begin with the darkest value, and I never use more than 4 different values: 3 is fine too: white, black and one or two greys.
Then I click on the little paint bucket - it's about 6 little icons up from the bottom of that left hand side group of tools.
Then over to the sketch with my bucket now full of black paint! and I click where I want the image to be dark:
Hmmm or would it look more interesting if I inverted (Ctrl-I, command-I) those values:
Actually that does look pretty sharp...but I'll save it and maybe even print it out to look at more later...but I think I'll go back to where I was and add some medium lights:
.....and then some medium darks....
....
maybe more?
No, I think I went too far...let's try again...hmm quite like this one!
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See how addictive it is??? and how much fun....and a perfect way to design a quilt, not only in values...but easily translated into color too.
My Dyeing to Design class (<a href="www.academyofquilting.com">academyofquilting.com</a>) begins by explaining how to dye a greyscale...and then make a small quilt just using values from white to black. The assignment teaches so much about the importance of value.
The class also covers low water immersion dyeing, gradation dyeing, arashi shibori and several different kinds of screen printing.
The class is organized around the five elements of design that we use in art quilts: value, color, texture, shape and line.
Love to have comments!!! Do please step in with your favorite way of shading your value studies.
And, if you have been, thanks for reading......Elizabeth
Elizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-74586142638196234222020-10-05T06:16:00.000-07:002020-10-05T06:16:06.007-07:00Space in Quilts.
Space? Not outer space! Space in your quilt designs. It's fascinating how using deep space versus shallow space can vastly alter the image.
Many 20th century painters explored varying space...David Hockney in particular enjoyed flattening and deepening and even reversing!
Traditional paintings (prior to the late 19th Century) usually portrayed a sense of depth or 3-dimensionality – foreground, middle ground and background. Once cameras were invented, painters began to explore ideas other than the reproduction (however beautiful) of a specific person or scene. Many painters chose to flatten the space in the picture as they wanted to emphasize the idea that a painting was just that: a painting. It does seem ironic that after the struggles of painters in the Middle Ages and Renaissance to develop depth in their work, just a few centuries later artists would be eschewing such pictorial ideas!! In fact, some of them even pushing in the other direction with reverse perspective such as David Hockney has played with.
Most traditional quilt patterns don’t involve ideas of depth: their abstract designs were well ahead of abstraction in the fine art world! (Which, of course, the Whitney eventually realized with their show of the Gees Bend Quilts a few years ago!). So for art quilt designers today there is a choice – shallow space or deep? Do we want to convey the illusion of deep space or not? If we do, there are a number of devices by which this can be done.
People ask me about perspective; I personally rarely use it to indicate space – but I do, however, think it’s important not to get perspective wrong unintentionally. Quilts that have a lot of perspective drawing are of a much more controlled style than I am interested in. If you look at books on linear perspective drawing, all the illustrations look like blueprints rather than art. However I do think it’s worthwhile to read a couple of articles or books on the subject and work a few examples, so you have a sense of the different kinds of perspective (one point, two point etc), how it’s indicated in a reproduction, where the horizon or eyeline is and what effect that might have upon various 3D objects in your design.
Apart from actually using perspective there are a number of tools you can use to indicate depth - and these are the ones that most artists do use.
Overlapping: if we see a picture of an apple in front of a box…we “know” the apple is in front, we don’t think that the apple is behind the box which has an apple-shaped hole cut in it! The same for a man in front of a wall. or a tree in front of a lake. Overlapping is one of the major ways by which we judge depth. Think about it when you’re driving around town!
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L1WIB72Vfn0/X3sbsCA_wyI/AAAAAAAAT20/utBYiYpn5sYkqkv13xnNNulu_1iP6W_OQCLcBGAsYHQ/s353/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-05%2Bat%2B9.10.22%2BAM.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="217" data-original-width="353" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L1WIB72Vfn0/X3sbsCA_wyI/AAAAAAAAT20/utBYiYpn5sYkqkv13xnNNulu_1iP6W_OQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-05%2Bat%2B9.10.22%2BAM.png"/></a></div>
Edge of Light
In this quilt, “Edge of Light”, I’ve used overlapping to indicate the rows of cottages being in front of the water and the distant hills. I haven’t really used any other devices as my interest was in the way the far group of cottages caught the light, rather than distance or other concerns.
Size: if we see a tree in the distance, it actually looks much smaller than a man right in front of us standing on our feet!! we don’t think we have a giant right next to us and a bonsai in the distance…our brains automatically compute – smaller therefore further away.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y7QAmOzaz-k/X3sb86iIt8I/AAAAAAAAT28/FdV8DelhTFUGC5N7WFU8MH0Ql_Nx6fx1QCLcBGAsYHQ/s424/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-05%2Bat%2B9.10.36%2BAM.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="406" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y7QAmOzaz-k/X3sb86iIt8I/AAAAAAAAT28/FdV8DelhTFUGC5N7WFU8MH0Ql_Nx6fx1QCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-05%2Bat%2B9.10.36%2BAM.png"/></a></div>
Ferry Bridge
In the quilt on the right, Ferrybridge, I don’t mean to indicate that the terrace houses at the bottom of the quilt are larger than the cooling towers at the top, rather that they are a lot nearer – so they are bigger.
This quilt also uses placement on the picture plane to indicate depth – the lower an item is on the quilt, the nearer it is to us, the higher it is, the more we read it as being further away.
That's obvious, because if something is small and far away it's not going to be visible behind everything anyway. Our brains soon get used to figuring these things out.
Interestingly, it is the brain's experience that does figure it out - it's not built in. If your brain was deprived of distant views from infancy, it would be much harder for you to see and understand this kind of depth.
Colour can be described in 4 different ways: hue, value, intensity and temperature. Each of these can be used to indicate distance or closeness. Things that are further away tend to be bluer (as we are looking at them through all the moisture and dust in the atmosphere), the colours are less intense, the values are lighter, and the temperature is cooler (towards blue, closer things being toward red). You can see some of these colour changes in the quilt below (Overlook):
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The amount of contrast and detail you put into an area can also indicate distance: more contrast, more detail..nearer the foreground – less contrast, less detail…the background.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ulw5sjUdzZY/X3scUI-wIEI/AAAAAAAAT3I/IjxCYhzyFGsRpCjdBbNmDQCPQg3eqa4cQCLcBGAsYHQ/s399/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-05%2Bat%2B9.10.59%2BAM.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="297" data-original-width="399" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ulw5sjUdzZY/X3scUI-wIEI/AAAAAAAAT3I/IjxCYhzyFGsRpCjdBbNmDQCPQg3eqa4cQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-05%2Bat%2B9.10.59%2BAM.png"/></a></div>
In Greenhouses, the trees in the front are more detailed. The foreground of houses and trees is much more detailed and with a lot more contrast, than the middle ground of darker more amorphous shapes, and the distance of soft hills has very little contrast or detail.
Of course in real life and in designing life, you wouldn’t just choose or use one device alone to assess distance, usually there are combinations. And, as you can see from above, you don’t always have to follow all the rules!!
If you want to experiment with designing with space – consider foreground, middle ground and background: 3 distinct levels of space. Starting with the furthest point in the landscape and building forwards..developing more contrast etc.
And, if you have been, thanks for reading! Now for some space!
ElizabethElizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-58793184012298961722020-09-17T09:11:00.004-07:002020-09-17T12:12:26.842-07:00There ARE advantages!! Finding joy.<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KQneAjEh_HI/X2OHJFHcSrI/AAAAAAAAT14/qWEj7QwCIFoj8REh8_QHCyfRzg9lWlUKgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_2518.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1592" height="448" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KQneAjEh_HI/X2OHJFHcSrI/AAAAAAAAT14/qWEj7QwCIFoj8REh8_QHCyfRzg9lWlUKgCLcBGAsYHQ/w349-h448/IMG_2518.jpg" width="349" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><b>Life is very different </b>right now...and it can be very frustrating...especially if you listen/watch/read the news!!! Between the virus, elections and climate change it seems hard to find joy.</p><p>Therefore, I suggest you turn your eyes away from those topics! And consider the huge amount that can be learned online. I found a lovely little tutorial on a piano piece I'm struggling to learn by myself:</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MCQ5hpkQZM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MCQ5hpkQZM</a></p><p>And there are you tubes on just about Everything!!</p><p>Here's one based on a lecture I gave at the local library:</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihQDn9f-Qqw">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihQDn9f-Qqw</a></p><p>and one on that very pleasant activity - ironing!</p><p><a class="style-scope ytcp-video-info" href="https://youtu.be/-kUEGpEHAYQ" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; font-family: Roboto, Noto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: nowrap;" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/-kUEGpEHAYQ</a></p><p>I'm using a program called Filmic Pro to make the videos for my online classes - and there are some really neat little videos about how to use it. </p><p>But you know...there are actual advantages to being so restricted in one's life!!!</p><p>Both my daughters had horrible commutes to work (one in New York, one in Atlanta - cities notorious for traffic) - and now they're working from home and have two extra hours to the day...as well as less stress.</p><p>Cities are realizing that outdoor dining is much safer than indoor...and very popular! anyone who's visited Paris know that the outdoor cafes are immensely popular and busy everywhere...and so much better for people watching.</p><p>I used to work in a big health Center, they built a new one..I said make sure the windows open - oh no ,they said, the architects don't like that!!! much better to have controlled air!! ha!! now they know that the safest air of all is....outside air! </p><p>Another advantage: we're eating much more healthily, we get local produce (including mushrooms) delivered from local farms. Fast food is DEATH!!! And as a Vegan I could rarely find anything palatable at the local restaurants anyway. </p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YjRb59hEnes/X2OJ0lmUF7I/AAAAAAAAT2U/UW9wp96Cqgg3H-jG9rATa7TcwmOLCz_2ACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_2839.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YjRb59hEnes/X2OJ0lmUF7I/AAAAAAAAT2U/UW9wp96Cqgg3H-jG9rATa7TcwmOLCz_2ACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/IMG_2839.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even the mushrooms are Socially distanced in the park!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">I really missed dancing...but then discovered it is perfectly possible to dance at home. Plus I get to choose the music! No more hackneyed Country and Western for me, I never have to listen to that awful Possum song again!! No more tired swing tunes from the 40s - you can swing to anything!</span></div><p>In fact, I've discovered the very best music to dance to is........ Bach. Try it!!! </p><p>I was missing people....so I took my Bach to the Park! and a group of us...8 feet apart...now dance to Bach every wednesday morning - you are welcome to come and join us! If you hold your breath and ask them to hold theirs...you can even get a quick hug too! Bach and hugs!!! This is bliss!</p><p>I have ten online classes right now with <a href="http://www.academyofquilting.com">www.academyofquilting.com</a> - I asked the Dean to make them all available, you don't have to wait to join a class. </p><p>Also, while playing around with the fabric I had at home (although I did sin a bit with online ordering from Mood fabrics in New York!) I came up with a really neat idea for a bed quilt. Ever so easy, but..it also illustrates all the basic design principles. I'm filming it now...will let ya'll know when it's done. It will just be a short fun class, maybe 3 lessons.</p><p>So very many ways to find joy.</p><p>Please write and tell me what you have discovered...the positive side of our trying times.</p><p>And, if you have been, thanks for reading!!</p><p>Elizabeth</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><br /></p>Elizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-38513404613591266962020-09-04T07:35:00.003-07:002020-09-04T07:38:27.111-07:00decluttering in the time of the plague<p> oh my Lord are you fed up with decluttering??? I know I am!</p><p>at first i thought...stay home and stay safe ...what a wonderful chance to do the death cleaning I've always wanted to achieve!</p><p>BUT that was before I tried to tackle the clutter in a house where 4-6 people have lived and collected and collected and stored and stored for 31 years!! A house with not only at least two large closets in every room, but also masses of roof space!!</p><p>However, sometimes amidst the clutter you come across things you'd forgotten about!</p><p>i found all the antique quilt tops I'd collected many years ago...I do want to finish one of them! it's a raucous orange!! which will look wonderful in my blue North facing bedroom...</p><p>the best way to judge the age of an old quilt top is by the fabric...I think this one will be mid 20th century</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tol00IgEflM/X06fdOLFOOI/AAAAAAAATzE/ooyryhLJMZM7wqoZrFFWwN6vpvEQUvc_wCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_2721.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tol00IgEflM/X06fdOLFOOI/AAAAAAAATzE/ooyryhLJMZM7wqoZrFFWwN6vpvEQUvc_wCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_2721.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />.but that leaves me with about 5 I'd like to sell...plus a couple of dozen feed sacks...and a stack of blocks!!!<p></p><p>Making clothes and quilts from feed sacks became popular in the depression era...here's a good article about it: <a href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2017/07/how-depression-era-women-made-dresses-out-of-chicken-feed.html">https://slate.com/human-interest/2017/07/how-depression-era-women-made-dresses-out-of-chicken-feed.html</a></p><p>The top below, however, is made from old shirts cut up...another way for women to be creative even though their resources were extremely limited...</p><p>I like the little funky mixes of fabric.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JhtHUj05ck4/X06fsM1izFI/AAAAAAAATzI/9LrY3K1c2JUtMdv7SQf8WufvQFT2q170ACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_2723.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JhtHUj05ck4/X06fsM1izFI/AAAAAAAATzI/9LrY3K1c2JUtMdv7SQf8WufvQFT2q170ACLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_2723.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0BwhYYhUbSU/X06fsHHOatI/AAAAAAAATzM/eJRw2MJy508uSEUZBA-Ca0-UlabwoEbuwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_2724.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0BwhYYhUbSU/X06fsHHOatI/AAAAAAAATzM/eJRw2MJy508uSEUZBA-Ca0-UlabwoEbuwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_2724.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>The tops are laid out on a queen size bed by the way...my new air bed!!! LOVE air beds! I shall never buy a mattress again...apart from anything else you can move these so easily. and about a tenth of the cost...however..don't invite your daughter and her partner and her large dog to play and sleep on one all together!!!! pffffffffffff..........</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WtBbY9h5_OM/X1JL-LsOJJI/AAAAAAAAT0M/75cZZ7UiFtQLlKoCb9bJEeDLupmg5L3fwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_2872.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WtBbY9h5_OM/X1JL-LsOJJI/AAAAAAAAT0M/75cZZ7UiFtQLlKoCb9bJEeDLupmg5L3fwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_2872.JPG" /></a></div><div><br /></div>An old grandmother's flower garden pattern...many of the flowers are feed sack material...these are hand stitched...<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dsW8k9zwbgk/X1JNiSE-sJI/AAAAAAAAT04/dZtnxJfwCvw-oBeZbiHGzq9WAOz1Z6qcQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_2871.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dsW8k9zwbgk/X1JNiSE-sJI/AAAAAAAAT04/dZtnxJfwCvw-oBeZbiHGzq9WAOz1Z6qcQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_2871.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IbSI7AMLzjY/X1JNye8sGMI/AAAAAAAAT1A/LKg0hJj1rFoTCu-Cyj47lAqVCuMUPZrHwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_2873.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IbSI7AMLzjY/X1JNye8sGMI/AAAAAAAAT1A/LKg0hJj1rFoTCu-Cyj47lAqVCuMUPZrHwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_2873.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here's another really lively one...I love the way the rather severe blocks seem to float on the flowers!!!</div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--NrGrRVBekY/X1JL7iqYFMI/AAAAAAAAT0E/7VKLWR2aXsIcFMJ2RJg5ztJ0rqZ4b7NzwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_2869.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--NrGrRVBekY/X1JL7iqYFMI/AAAAAAAAT0E/7VKLWR2aXsIcFMJ2RJg5ztJ0rqZ4b7NzwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_2869.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nGE_a5JCCJk/X1JL71jGYqI/AAAAAAAAT0I/ZNjoIr3fnu4JW3E4D1RIikyX6In2HRw6wCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_2870.JPG" style="text-align: left;" /><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HZqLz29qchY/X1JL7mmpyGI/AAAAAAAAT0A/hZPcoCfcnmQCQVty5Licif3Prha1DISZACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_2868.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HZqLz29qchY/X1JL7mmpyGI/AAAAAAAAT0A/hZPcoCfcnmQCQVty5Licif3Prha1DISZACLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_2868.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>The one below is small but very elegant in its crispness...probably a little older.just one little hole though...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KX7uoUkNhKM/X1JL5fFygGI/AAAAAAAATz8/FsGA3TExpuQDSbHXkg5NGxLav7gnI3-uQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_2865.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KX7uoUkNhKM/X1JL5fFygGI/AAAAAAAATz8/FsGA3TExpuQDSbHXkg5NGxLav7gnI3-uQCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_2865.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YPx7z9_N-rA/X1JL4wX_B2I/AAAAAAAATz0/CKUHPqURzK0jkVaa9kncKHgJUteFWLkPQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_2864.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YPx7z9_N-rA/X1JL4wX_B2I/AAAAAAAATz0/CKUHPqURzK0jkVaa9kncKHgJUteFWLkPQCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_2864.JPG" width="640" /></a><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mJ-MVXmGtTM/X1JL5EJXbCI/AAAAAAAATz4/HB7x3EEdzEUwIj7MO_2FvDsq-9qnqUYUgCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_2866.JPG" style="text-align: left;" /></div><div><br /></div><div>And this one never got finished!! it would have been huge! but I kinda like the fact that the center is now off center!!!!</div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l9LNuHEa2n0/X1JL3ZdzgCI/AAAAAAAATzs/Tv3J4imLTzgI485_kb6x4JWPcCpR4gmegCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_2863.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l9LNuHEa2n0/X1JL3ZdzgCI/AAAAAAAATzs/Tv3J4imLTzgI485_kb6x4JWPcCpR4gmegCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_2863.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>So if you're interested, contact me at elizabethyork100 AT yahoo dot com...</div><div>but also please comment on what you have done with these fascinating old tops..and also if you know what the feedsacks and old blocks actually sell for right now....I'd be most curious.</div><div>and what you found when you were at home de-cluttering thanks to the virus!!</div><div><br /></div><div>and so...back to death cleaning!!!!not that I'm planning on dying imminently!</div><div><br /></div><div>and, if you have been, thanks for reading...</div><div>take care!! but remember to have fun too....</div><div>Elizabeth<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p></div>Elizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-78728258566945659562020-08-23T07:19:00.000-07:002020-08-23T07:19:08.348-07:00Critiqueing one's own work<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dn7VBEgHGmU/V5DZxP7IZeI/AAAAAAAAO80/XevAfxQd3XA4N6PgSenarGZKGaISbwrngCLcB/s1600/hunter%2Boct%2B03%2Btoilet.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dn7VBEgHGmU/V5DZxP7IZeI/AAAAAAAAO80/XevAfxQd3XA4N6PgSenarGZKGaISbwrngCLcB/s640/hunter%2Boct%2B03%2Btoilet.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">Unexpectedness is a great way to attract attention!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />The last time I taught a class I asked for suggestions for an upcoming blog. When later I read through the suggestions I was surprised by how many people mentioned self-evaluation as being important. <br /><br />As a first step, I'd suggest really training your eye by critiquing other people's work. The problem with critiquing your own is that it's really hard to be objective. When we look at the piece on the wall we see not only the actual pattern of shapes in cloth but also all our hopes, beliefs, intentions, inspirations etc. It's very difficult to shut off those. Especially if you're learning how to evaluate the strength of a piece.<br /><br /> Therefore, I suggest getting together with friends and bringing examples to the get-togethers of Truly awful work (in your opinion) and fabulously brilliant work. Take images from the internet, or from books or magazines. You're not going to be publishing these, your comments will go nowhere but the group! So don't worry about that...but when you show the others the work and make your comments you have to totally justify and say why you think the piece is Awful, or boring, or exciting or fabulous. Gradually you'll learn ways of expressing these things...and you are training your eye...it's like wine tasting!! you've got to have the wine!<br /><br />The most important thing about a work of art - which you'll notice immediately you go out surfing on the 'net - is whether or not it attracts your attention. D'you want to look at it for more than the standard 3 second glance that most images create? d'you lean forward, and hit Ctrl + to see it better? D'you want to "pin it" or save it in some way? D'you want to come back to it later to look at it again? These are the key hallmarks to a successful piece.<br /><br />All the rest is the nitty gritty of how the artist achieved a successful work...those "principles" we've all heard about? They are the means by which the artist caught and held our attention. They've been derived by critics and teachers looking at artwork that has stood the test of time figuring out what characteristics those artworks have in common.<br /><br />Some are technical: unity/harmony, variety/tension, rhythm/movement, balance/proportion, economy. <br />Some are more emotional: does the work make us feel? Is an emotion created within us? whether it's delight, or despair - does the work affect us? what is the artist communicating? <br />or is the emotion we sense one of boredom? this piece is boring, it's empty, it's been seen before. As human beings we are definitely hard wired to be attracted by something novel. If the quilt or painting or piece of music is the 17th, or 70th or 700th iteration of something we've seen/heard before, it's not going to have much effect on us.<br /><br />If the piece is interesting but somehow doesn't feel quite right, the problem is likely to be something technical.<br />If the piece is boring, the problem is likely to be that the artist is not able to communicate something to us...possibly because they have nothing to communicate...or that they are so inarticulate that they have failed to do so but more likely the former.<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 3pt;"><br /></div>Once you've developed your critiquing skills on other people's work, it becomes easier to see your own and judge it. BUT to aid the transition, put your work into the same format as that which you used for others' work. ie. if you looked at all the images on line - on your computer monitor, then put your work up there. If you printed it out...then print it out. Also I strongly recommend having more than one piece to look at at a time...at least 3 is good. And that has the added benefit of having you make more work!! More work is always one of the best ways of improving in anything.<br /><br /><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span><br />And now I shall go and make yet another cup of tea, I'm sure it will be better than the last one!<br />If you have been, thanks for reading!<br />And do - please! - comment! ElizabethElizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-87637322727221096982020-08-07T13:56:00.008-07:002020-08-10T06:31:39.446-07:00How to be creative in stressful times<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cMr-vMqcEA4/Xy1cbJnLSAI/AAAAAAAATyU/Lc08LCPgCmMyNB77EIasPHBbx5ZQqGynQCLcBGAsYHQ/s763/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-11-18%2Bat%2B8.17.14%2BAM.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="763" data-original-width="698" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cMr-vMqcEA4/Xy1cbJnLSAI/AAAAAAAATyU/Lc08LCPgCmMyNB77EIasPHBbx5ZQqGynQCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-11-18%2Bat%2B8.17.14%2BAM.png" /></a></p><p>A reader asked a very good question in response to my last blog...and, as i think many of us are experiencing similar problems, I decided to write an open letter in response.</p><p>She wrote:</p><p><span face="" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #202020;">I</span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">'m having difficulties I don't remember having before the pandemic. <br />I</span></i></span><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> am paralyzed by too much time, too many choices.<br /></span></i><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I feel untethered and aimless.<br /> </span></i><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Even when I have all the supplies for a project, I still can't get going. <br /></span></i><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">In the evening I feel excited about what I'll do in the morning, but come the morning, I just don't have the creative energy.</span></i><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">This isn't like me. </span></i></p><p>Reading this I had a lot of different thoughts. Some of the problems described often occur occasionally, but many of us are experiencing something like this now as a result of the situation we are all living in right now, especially here in the USA.</p><p>We are all under a great deal of stress: the result both of fear of the virus, the uncertainty of the future, and frustration with "them" - i.e. those who could do something about it, and don't...or won't... Other countries have shown the way, we know what to do to alleviate the problem...but we're not doing it. Actually, I find this creates more tension in me than the virus itself. We're not all acting together for the benefit of all, but rather infighting.</p><p>I think <b>the first step</b> is to address the very real threat of disease and sickness and assure yourself that you are doing all YOU can to be safe...and for your loved ones. Then say to yourself: I am doing ALL I can, therefore I need to stop reading the news, watching tv or listening to the radio about the virus or politics or global warming etc etc!!</p><p>This kind of hot air news with more and more people saying the same thing, but nobody actually doing it is very depressing and it gradually gets you down. Research has definitely shown that listening to bad news is depressing!</p><p><b>Second</b>, be sure you're getting enough exercise, when we're at home or close to home all the time, it's difficult...but lack of exercise definitely affects mood and drive. Again, research shows exercise - any kind - here's me dancing by myself!!! - improves mood. </p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7aV7E8hmfSU/Xy1cahWRG9I/AAAAAAAATyM/F0reoW5p6E4wi6iO-sZw53gTCoGnFGeuwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_1972.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7aV7E8hmfSU/Xy1cahWRG9I/AAAAAAAATyM/F0reoW5p6E4wi6iO-sZw53gTCoGnFGeuwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_1972.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><b>Third</b>...having eschewed all bad news and started exercising...be sure to do some good deep relaxation each day. It's suggested that right after lunch is a good time. You can call it deep relaxation, or meditation, or mindfulness...they all involve totally relaxing your body and mind.....ten to thirty minutes. (the cat is optional!)<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A5UM3zhdm4c/Xy1caZq2znI/AAAAAAAATyI/bL1Psb_QHecat0L9X6w8NFAwjePOV0G9QCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_4800.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A5UM3zhdm4c/Xy1caZq2znI/AAAAAAAATyI/bL1Psb_QHecat0L9X6w8NFAwjePOV0G9QCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_4800.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Don't let yourself feel useless and tiny at the mercy of powerful forces! Within our own spheres, there's a lot we can do to ensure happiness, creativity and productivity. (yes that's me on his hand!)<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hezoMJ-sjQs/Xy1caxcS_9I/AAAAAAAATyQ/WWEMoRo9aSoAokPRfUSmFFZrSh35Jj_lgCLcBGAsYHQ/s491/m%2Bhand%2Be.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="354" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hezoMJ-sjQs/Xy1caxcS_9I/AAAAAAAATyQ/WWEMoRo9aSoAokPRfUSmFFZrSh35Jj_lgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/m%2Bhand%2Be.jpeg" /></a></div><b>Four:</b> More research suggests that getting out into nature is very helpful...now it's rare that we'll have a chance to have a view like this!! (Maine)...but most of us will have access to some quiet and beautiful natural area.<div><br /></div><div><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U3TEiT1QtGE/Xy1cbAMdrdI/AAAAAAAATyY/SVPhELoD3aYioPJiowLn2MkTTG3CWPOTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/DSC_0145.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1356" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U3TEiT1QtGE/Xy1cbAMdrdI/AAAAAAAATyY/SVPhELoD3aYioPJiowLn2MkTTG3CWPOTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/DSC_0145.jpg" width="640" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Five Social distancing</b> doesn't have to mean social isolation; we need other people.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">And we can meet with others, one or two at a time, a little distance apart, outside....my friend and I meet to paint and critique in our carport which has a wonderful through breeze.....</div><p><b>Six.</b> <b>Initial inertia</b>. So having take all those steps to feel happier and more balanced...how does one overcome that initial inertia of getting moving in the studio? Well, starting to move, overcoming the weight of the inertia requires a little more push than usual..a little more gas!</p><p> Don't make the mistake of feeling that you have to wait for excitement and intuition etc etc to carry you gloriously into the task!! many many creative people have written/spoken about how sometimes it's very difficult and uncomfortable to get started. So don't worry about thinking you have to feel tremendous excitement! Also don't ever feel that everything you do has to be a masterpiece.</p><p>A good first step is to set a goal, it can be very small, in fact it's better if it is small.</p><p>Some writers aim for so many hundred words, composers so many bars (sorry! not drinks...but measures!), or so much harmonization.</p><p>A painter might say - I'm going to paint a very small painting every day...and take a full size sheet of paper and divide it up into little squares or rectangles, one for each day. A choreographer - some steps to the first few bars of a classical piece.</p><p>As a quilter, I would decide on a project: say a small abstract piece, 16 x 10 made from no more than 12 different shapes fitted together. I would say: okay at 10 am (after the early morning exercise!), I will be in the studio without internet access!! I will roughly sketch out 12 different possible designs and pin them up on the wall, and then I'll have a cup of tea.</p><p><b>yes, you have to push yourself a little</b> to get going...but once you're rolling...you'll usually stick with it.</p><p>I would say to myself (when in the middle of constructing a piece pinned out on the design wall): okay, elizabeth, you have to get just one piece sewn into place...you can stop after that, or keep going, but you HAVE to do that one....often (not always of course, but often enough) I'd find I was onto the 3rd piece before I realised.</p><p><b>Seven. The use of time. </b>Many of us are used to schedules and many different activities and for some of us that structure has fallen away because it was externally applied...so now is the time to build one's own structure or time table. It is very helpful to spell it out. When you get up, go to bed, eat. When you exercise, when you meet with a friend - zooming or car port! or gazebo! Time on emails and internet activities. Relaxation time. Studio time. Nature time. Draw out your schedule, try it for a couple of days, then you can adjust it as necessary. The most creative people have the most discipline and structure.</p><p><b>Eight. Accountability. </b>I find this helps a lot - having a critique session with a friend or friends - that's something you can do on Zoom and would be fun, or joining a class where there is a weekly requirement, promising to send somebody a piece for their anniversary.</p><p><b>Coda</b></p><p>I hope these ideas help. Remember you are not alone, many of us are feeling this...but there is a lot we can do. I'd love people to write in Comments and describe their own ideas or experience!</p><p>if i get more useful cogitations (it does happen from time to time!), I'll add them and put revised at the top so you know I did!</p><p>If you have been, thanks for reading!!! Elizabeth</p><p><br /></p><p>PS</p><p>From my readers...some extra possibilities:</p><p>1. Start with something easy, like following a pattern...that will help to grease the wheels!</p><p>2. Divide the day into segments, so you're flowing forwards always.</p><p>3. Leave what you're working on at an enticing point, so you're dying to get back to it!</p><p>4. Tell yourself you HAVE to stick with it 20 minutes, or so, before giving up!</p><p>5. Maintain your social contacts, albeit digitally, with frequent emails and "mini challenges", sharing ideas and work.</p><p>6. Say to yourself: now I have the time to sit back and appreciate small things - particularly in nature.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thank you!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Elizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-48271342708906389082020-07-31T11:31:00.004-07:002020-07-31T11:32:40.377-07:00Isolation pursuits....Learning<div><font face="times"><br /></font></div><div><font face="times"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font face="times">I know many of us are staying close to home these days...and this may go on for a long time...so...instead of constantly reviewing the dire numbers...compulsively watching people spouting hot air on tv, or worriedly eating and drinking and stacking piles of toilet paper (for who know when it might be in short supply again!)...let's figure out what benefits there are to our situation. For one thing, think of all those dreary appointments and visits that you don't have to make!!! There's so many things we do that really don't have much point to them, or, even worse, much enjoyment!</font></div></blockquote><div><font face="times"><br /></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="times"><br /></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="times">And there are so many things for artists and cogitators to enjoy....making art, observing nature, watching dvds about making art, taking on line art lessons (there are a lot of those!*), reading and learning.</font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="times">Slow cooking, slow pursuits like embroidery....the quilt below is covered in little stitches in the windows....one of my favorite quilts to make, and to look at too.</font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="times">Reading, going through old photographs and making digital copies before they fade any further, but thinking about the people and places and times depicted.</font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="times">And learning learning learning.... improving and exercising those "little grey cells"!!!!</font></div></div><font face="times"><br /></font><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JsnI_cnJ2RI/XyReJEBQqLI/AAAAAAAATw8/iJZM__hCyFYf48C6XUKPKrwyKC4fNkBNQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/strength%2Bof%2Bquiet%2Bwindows.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><font face="times"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1558" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JsnI_cnJ2RI/XyReJEBQqLI/AAAAAAAATw8/iJZM__hCyFYf48C6XUKPKrwyKC4fNkBNQCLcBGAsYHQ/w486-h640/strength%2Bof%2Bquiet%2Bwindows.jpg" title="Quilt: The Strength of Quiet Windows" width="486" /></font></a></div><div><font face="times"><br /></font></div><div><font face="times"><br /></font></div><div><font face="times"> I love taking lessons so much - especially one on one..but any lessons really - from a good teacher...not one of those frustrating ones that tell you everything you do is wonderful - I'm sure we've all been in workshops like that...at first it feels good, then you think "I'm not getting anything out of this!"</font></div><div><font face="times">Some, but not all, online classes have good feedback from the teacher. I make a point of answering all questions from students very carefully and I can also work with you one on one if you so desire **.</font></div><font face="times"><br />Thinking about why learning is so good I realise I really enjoy learning new things, or - even more - learning how to do/make those things I already do, better and stronger. I love learning more about art, and music, and more about learning itself. I'm particularly interested in finding out the best ways to learn. Robert Bjork is very interesting on this - he's made lots of You Tubes.</font><div><font face="times"><br />And, yes, there's the 10,000 hours idea...but this number has been challenged on many levels.<br />If you haven't heard of it, a popular science writer summarized a number of findings on learning - (particularly with respect to music) and concluded that 10,000 hours of practice would make you an expert.However, many researchers dispute this e.g. Macnamara et al (2014) examined all the relevant research and concluded:<br /> <br /><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">" deliberate practice explained 26% of the variance in performance for games, 21% for music, 18% for sports, 4% for education, and less than 1% for professions. We conclude that deliberate practice is important, but not as important as has been argued."</span></i><br /><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><br /></span></i><span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">The original research was carried out by Ericsson, Krampe and </span><span style="color: #333333;">Tesch-Römer in 1993 on violin students in Berlin. They noted that the best students had practiced around 10,000 hours by the time they were 20. However to conclude from that research (as has been done) that 10,000 hours is both a necessary and a sufficient amount of time to become an expert is invalid. </span></span><br /></font><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><font face="times"><span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In 2017, Ericsson and Pool wrote a book about the limitations to the 10,000 hours idea **. (by the way there are a lot of negative reviews of this book too!). One of the big problems with the 10g hours theory is that </span><span>the variation of the number of hours the students had practiced was great, some of the better ones had done less than 10g, some more...10 g was only the average. </span><span>And, t</span>here are other studies suggest that it takes 10 years rather than 10k hours...to achieve a good level of mastery of whatever craft/acitivity you wish to learn.</span><br /><span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And what does "practice" actually mean? Making or doing the same old same old just doesn't cut it. Everyone does agree that you need to push yourself further, take risks, make the tasks progressively harder, get lots of feedback about mistakes or weaknesses and then devise specific strategies to work on those. As the athletes do.</span><br /></font><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333;"><font face="times">People who are very honest with themselves about their work, and who gain good feedback - even if difficult to hear - (and believe me I've been through that!) - do improve faster than those that keep repeating the same stuff. Often it's when you hit that brick wall and struggle and struggle and really think about what you have to do to overcome it that you make the most progress.</font></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9vOAMlGFv8k/XyRjY_114FI/AAAAAAAATxM/6hOQMLsOEbMbugofY6SEeSkQt43tLNyKACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_2518.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1592" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9vOAMlGFv8k/XyRjY_114FI/AAAAAAAATxM/6hOQMLsOEbMbugofY6SEeSkQt43tLNyKACLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_2518.jpg" /></a></div><font face="times"><br />The research on so-called brain games also suggests that it's not just using our brains that makes the differences, it's taking on ever more difficult tasks. So, if you want to get anywhere, it's probably not going to be easy. But then...you are in good company! If you learn a new brain game and then just settle into playing it over and over, the brain begins to make things automatic. That doesn't lead to more cognitive strength. which is why most "brain games" are completely pointless once you've got the hang of it.</font></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><font face="times">NOW...we have the time to learn...no excuses! No dashing around on all that mindless stuff!</font></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><font face="times">We have the time to learn, to listen, to look, to absorb...let's celebrate that instead of bemoaning what we have lost.</font></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><font face="times">So ...what do you think? Is there a way to consider Isolation positively?</font></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><font face="times">Please comment!!</font></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><font face="times">And, if you have been, thanks for reading. Elizabeth</font></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><font face="times">*I have ten different online workshops with <a href="www.academyofquilting.com" target="_blank">the academy of quilting</a> - reasonably priced...and low numbers in the classes so you can get plenty of attention!</font></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><font face="times">** I do private tutoring too. Please write me: elizabethyork100 AT yahoo.com for more details.</font></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><font face="times"><br /></font></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><font face="times"><br /></font></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><font face="times"><br /></font></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><font face="times"><br /></font></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><font face="times"><br /></font></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><font face="times"><br /></font></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><font face="times"><br /></font></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><font face="times"><br /></font></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div></div></div>Elizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-72793128199707376312020-07-17T11:55:00.004-07:002020-07-17T11:59:34.084-07:00Lockdown projectsLockdown can actually be good!!! Believe it or not....<br />
though it can be tedious...and sadly, no dancing!, it is a great opportunity for new projects!<br />
And for this one, you don't need a pattern, or a drawn design, simply......a closet full of old clothes!<br />
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Stuck at home with a sewing machine and no chance to go fabric shopping...hmm time for a little death cleaning!<br />
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okay, now "death cleaning" doesn't mean getting rid of the bodies! well except for the squashed long dead cockroaches I keep finding (we live in the woods)...<br />
....it's actually a very positive thing.<br />
It involves getting rid of all that STUFF you thought might come in useful one day, or has sentimental value that has diminished over time. And somebody else would have to clear it out for you if you died without doing it!!!!<br />
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The term is translated from ?Swedish where apparently death cleaning is a national pastime!!<br />
Now if you live in Sweden, you can correct me if I'm wrong!<br />
But the spare Nordic look is only achieved by minimizing accumulation!<br />
Not accumulating minimalization.......<br />
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So ...staying at home...I'm not even grocery shopping, though I'm very glad our local pool is open to little old ladies trying to keep fit!......staying at home, I decided to tackle The Cupboard in the Study!!!<br />
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This bulging closet has had "might come in one day" stuff shoved into it for years....<br />
my first find was a huge box of garments made from Liberty fabric. When I was in England, I lived near the mills that produced Liberty fabrics and bought yards and yards. These fabrics are renowned all over the world for their classic tiny flower designs. They were printed onto regular cotton, onto fine lawn and onto a beautiful fine wool.<br />
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Thanks to changes in fashion, to say nothing of changes in shape!, and a much warmer climate, I don't need any of these garments......here are just a few of them....<br />
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I cut off collars and cuffs and elastic waists etc etc...and ended up with some good chunks!! different rectangles of many different colors....together with my friend who is just learning about quilts, I then sewed these chunks together to make a summer quilt...just one layer of fine wool, enough for the middle of the night when it cools a little and you're sleeping under the fan....<br />
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and here is the result....<br />
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The big red piece was one huge gathered skirt...I must have looked like a giant potato sack in it!!<br />
Did contemplate cutting it up - but then I decided I like the bold statement it made, and I could arrange the other fabrics around it.<br />
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We were really pleased with the result...something both beautiful and functional out of a box of old garments that even the thrift store wouldn't want, and out of Liberty Laine fabric, probably impossibly expensive now...<br />
and all thanks to being stuck at home!!!!<br />
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Now I'm embarked on another summer quilt - this time we're going to use all the fine lawns ... smaller pieces...this is going to be fun!!! Sure hope the virus keeps us at home a bit longer!!!<br />
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oh, and the quilt on the wall behind??? I made it a while back, I was intrigued by the illusion of basket weaving...it's a lot of half-sewn seams if you want to know the technique.<br />
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If you have been, thanks for reading!<br />
and do write and tell me about your lockdown projects....<br />
<br />
Elizabeth<br />
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<br />Elizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-45248382420394321572020-07-04T11:43:00.001-07:002020-07-04T11:47:09.822-07:00Art Changes Your Brain! Coping with Stress in our new pandemic world.<br />
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Have you ever noticed how energized you feel after making art? While at the same time being relaxed and calm, there is an excitement underneath?<br />
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And, in these times, the "new normal" as everyone is calling it, we need energy to adapt to our new way of life and also calmness to cope with the many anxieties.<br />
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Other countries are going back to the "before"...but we are surging ahead with the need to be separate from each other.<br />
Socializing (except within the bubble) is probably going to be a thing of the past.<br />
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So...how can we make this work for us? How can we actually GAIN from this rather than lamenting what we have lost?<br />
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The question is:<br />
Can we use art to learn to be less stressed?<br />
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Instead of going back to our old ways, can we actually gain from spending more time making art and less time running around town, shopping, socializing, see the latest shows, attending lectures and concerts and dances...?<br />
Surfing around the 'net, I came across a fascinating a<a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0101035" target="_blank">rticle</a> that was published in 2014 by Bolwerk et al called <i><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">How Art Changes Your Brain: Differential Effects of Visual Art Production and Cognitive Art Evaluation on Functional Brain Connectivity.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span></i><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">In the Introduction, they point out that research has largely focussed on the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> psychological and physiological effects of making art in clinical populations i.e. the basis for art therapy in psychiatric hospitals.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Making art has consistently been shown to help to reduce stress, increase thoughtfulness and miindfulness, and also to help to bring heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol levels towards normal.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">It's not known, however, if these effects are lasting...can art </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">affect the functional neuroanatomy of the healthy human brain. also does this work for everyone as well as for people in hospital.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">So this is what they set out to study. It is clear that art is </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> a powerful resource for mental and physical well-being, but there's very little known about </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">the underlying effects at a neural level.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> They took 28 normal people of retirement age and divided them into two groups. The control group attended art appreciation lessons in a local museum. (not sure where this was, but the authors names suggest Holland or Belgium).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">The experimental group attended art lessons where they were encouraged to make art.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">The study lasted 10 weeks with the subjects going once a week to museum or art class.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Before and after the experience, they were given various cognitive tests and MRIs.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Both the tests and the MRIs showed that <b>the subjects who actually made art demonstrated great ability to cope with physical and psychological stress.</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">By the way, I also found that another strategy for stress reduction is engaging with nature....as you can see from the images I've posted...I've been walking in the woods AND making art!!!</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Just some thoughts.....and, if you have been, thanks for reading!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Please comment!!! Elizabeth</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">PS do check out other <a href="https://blog.feedspot.com/fiber_art_blogs/" target="_blank">fiberart blogs</a>: and then - go make art!</span><br />
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Elizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-16310523739593738992020-06-19T07:20:00.000-07:002020-06-19T07:23:49.976-07:00Errors with color"I'm terrible with color!"<br />
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How often have you heard someone say that? And you can see when you look at their work, whether it be an art quilt aka a fiber painting aka fiber collage....or a watercolor....<br />
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And yet, following a few simple guidelines, color is probably the easiest thing to fix!!<br />
And there is so much that we CANNOT fix...so you can feel really good about finding something you CAN fix!!<br />
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Here are some of the major errors I see with color:<br />
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<b>Problem:</b> <b>Too many different colors</b>! oh my!! In Yorkshire (from whence come I many moons ago!) we call such work "cor blimey" pieces!!! Literally "cor blimey" means God Blind Me!!! and frequently those mixes of colors do. I'd love to go surfing on the 'net and find examples but with my luck it would be a piece by somebody really famous and litigious that I would pick! BUT I would encourage you to go and look!<br />
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<b>Solution: choose a color scheme at the outset! </b>There are several different ways to choose a color scheme and it's always best to do these BEFORE you begin making your art in color - I'm presuming of course you have a value sketch to follow!!!<br />
<b><br /></b><b>Problem: art looks drab and mousy.</b><br />
<b>Solution:</b> Almost certainly you don't have a good range of values...check to see if everything is medium value. Much commercial cloth is mid value. Best way to check is to take a photo and then convert to grey scale....<br />
<b><br /></b><b>Problem: Art looks messy and confusing, no real direction.</b><br />
<b>Solution: </b>Again it's most likely you've got too many different colors and there's no real color theme to the work. It's really helpful to have one basic color and then build on that. count up how many different colors you have!!!<br />
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<b>Problem: colors don't look good together.</b><br />
<b>Solution: </b>Colors, like people!, interact and have an effect upon each other. Adjacent colors can dim or brighten the partnership!<br />
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<b>Problem: Everything appears to be of equal importance, no focal point.</b><br />
<b>Solution: </b>If all the fabrics are equally saturated in color, then nothing will stand out - whether the level of intensity is great or minor...<br />
The best way to indicate focal areas is by the use of contrast - of one or more of the properties of color: hue, value, saturation and temperature.<br />
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<b>Problem: no sense of ambience or atmosphere.</b><br />
<b>Solution: </b>Two things will help with this: one is having a dominant color, i.e. one that there is more of than any other color...doesn't have to Dominate!....but does have to have a significant presence.<br />
The other thing would be to choose an analogous color scheme, or a monochromatic one, rather than a complementary one.<br />
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You're probably wondering - why no pictures!!!!<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fKWL4ITRj3I/XuzIymikX2I/AAAAAAAATu8/MMm75u5YI2QFdpr3BfTykwcbNRLdBJGnwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-06-19%2Bat%2B10.15.49%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="782" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fKWL4ITRj3I/XuzIymikX2I/AAAAAAAATu8/MMm75u5YI2QFdpr3BfTykwcbNRLdBJGnwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-06-19%2Bat%2B10.15.49%2BAM.png" width="234" /></a></div>
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Well - while I'd love to explore and find all kinds of egregious examples...it wouldn't be too polite!!!<br />
But if you want to contact me about coaching etc...I'm happy to look at your color issues....<br />
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okay! here's a picture too....<br />
I wanted to show the feeling of coolness and greenness as you come down our heavily forested and twisting driveway...<br />
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And, if you have been, Thanks for reading!!!<br />
Elizabeth<br />
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PS: There's an interesting selection of fiber art blogs to be found here:<br />
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<a href="https://blog.feedspot.com/fiber_art_blogs/">https://blog.feedspot.com/fiber_art_blogs/</a>Elizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.com2