Reclamation and Dogs

I never thought I'd come to it - but I'm going to post a picture of one of my dogs!

I was surfing around – as you do! And came across Cathy Kleeman’s blog about Reclamation. She wrote “Do you have old works that you no longer want on display? Or something more recent that just didn't work very well and is never going to get out of the closet? What do you do with them?”
And it reminded me of a class idea I’d suggested to a quilt group last year – I called it

Extreme Doggie Makeover!

I thought it was a great workshop possibility!!

I described it thus: “Bring your “dogs” in for a makeover!! Many quilts just don’t seem to have the strength and pzazzz that you pictured when you first had the idea. In this “clinic” we take a look at what is not working – and why – suggestions are given for strengthening the composition, clarifying the color scheme, constructing the unconstructable or deconstructing the over-constructed!

Learn how to finish the unfinished….or how to learn from them – and then leave them!

This workshop aims to give you ways to solve problems in design and composition, in colour and in construction.

Bring an open mind and lots of problems – the more the merrier!”

Now, that particular guild must, I think, have been made of very superior ("superi-ahhhhhh") quilters because they just sort of shuddered and rejected my idea!! But I had based the workshop plans on a workshop I’d done for another guild – about 30 folk each presented a piece and we talked about how to evaluate it, how to strengthen it, reduce the weak spots etc (as above). Many of the people later followed the suggestions that were made and emailed me pictures of very nice work that resulted. I actually saw one of them get a prize in an art show! And there was only one piece where I was utterly gobsmacked (as in totally speechless at the horror of it!!) – and, very fortunately, when given the opportunity to speak about the piece, its maker was able to totally justify it to herself and needed no further input from me – thank goodness!

Maybe one day I’ll get to help folk make over their dogs!! Or, at least, commit them to their Happier Hunting Grounds!!

And if you have been….thanks for reading......woof!

Elizabeth

Upcoming workshop at QBL

I’ve spent the day writing out my notes and plans for the workshop I’m teaching at QBL July 21-25^th. QBL stands for Quilting by the Lake and I must admit I signed up to teach because I thought there really was a lake!! But, alas, the lake is long gone!

My workshop is called “Inspiration to Fulfillment” and it’s about making an art quilt from start to finish but with a lot of focus on developing original designs. I’m hoping to be able to encourage the participants to come up with at least a dozen design sketches…and then we’ll choose the best one or two to complete. It is important to plan ahead if you want a good strong design.

I used to think that if I just got loose enough I’d be able to fling paint around and turn out delicious fresh watercolours….but the more I get into it, like any art, I discover that it’s hard work and planning that really makes the piece.

The painter plans ahead with thumbnail sketches, and practices skies and trees on scraps of paper, the potter turns pot after pot on his wheel, the dancer puts in long hours at the barre and in the dance studio. The result should look effortless – but that doesn’t mean that no effort went into it – far from it!!

People are coming from all over for the workshop: New York state of course, but also Canada, Florida, California, Massachusetts, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia. It’s great to meet kindred spirits from all over. I once had a quilter come from Australia to take a workshop with me and she was a real gem!!

Now to start packing….but no swimsuit!

Elizabeth

Developing Your Own Style

Have you heard people say “Oh yes, I can tell that piece is by so and so.. That’s her/his signature style”?

What is style?

A particular style is not a mystery. It can be largely defined. I think it’s helpful to look at artists whom you admire and define their style. What is it about a Nancy Crow, an Emily Richardson or a Dorothy Caldwell piece that makes it so clearly their work? What is their particular way of arranging those design elements, line, shape, value, colour and texture, that is so uniquely their voice? I’ve found it helpful to look at several pieces by one person and analyse them in terms of repeated traits. How is this person drawing me in? Why does this work intrigue me – does she do the same thing in every piece? Why are these lines and shapes so pleasing, so well balanced and proportioned? In what myriad of ways is this person showing a consistent and strong voice? They are definable – if they were not, then they wouldn’t be said t o have a signature style.

How does one achieve a style?

As in every art medium it is import to peepeepee! Persistence, Practice and Patience are the keys to making better work. In this way, your own style will naturally develop.

I try not to make “one offs”; I try to commit myself to making at least 6 of any one idea – even though it may sometimes be thought I do too many!!! But I find as I keep repeating an idea then several things happen: my sense of what is important about that idea grows stronger, my knowledge of what I can leave out, what is unnecessary, becomes greater and, above all, I can allow myself to take more risks.

And if you have been………………thanks for reading!!!

Elizabeth

P.S. I’m heading north out of the summer heat of Georgia for a few days RR and G (rest, relaxation and gossip!) with some close friends so I won’t be back on the blog till the end of the week – talk to you then!

The Art of taking workshops wisely

Even in Art Quilting – a relatively “young” art medium – it can be difficult at times to think of new ways of being creative, new ideas, new possibilities. A good way to jump start is by taking a workshop - however there are disadvantages to this solution as well as advantages.

Different ideas, techniques, subjects, assembly methods, design possibilities etc are taught and then, within the space of a 5 day workshop, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of examples!!

“Oh no, not another Crownie!!’ You gasp, or gulp: “Yikes! another graduate of the wellknown Chicago School…..”.
You go to a quilt show and say “aha! I can see which class she took!!”

I even had someone in a workshop come up and show me very proudly an copy she’d made of one of my quilts – with the help of another teacher!! And, while it looked very nice and imitation being the most sincere flattery, that wasn’t the point!

But is this a bad thing? I don't think it’s a bad thing to try….but it is definitely not the fresh, personal and valid work that we’re looking for. Some people are good at thinking up new ideas or have access to new materials, or cross knowledge from different fields of art – they introduce the new food to us: we taste it, try it….some pronounce some things inedible (like the f**ing technique that to me translates as: how to glue fabric to the base of your iron and many other places you don’t want it!) whereas others realize they have discovered their life’s dream.

When Picasso said : “Good artists copy. Great artists steal”, he meant that you should take a new idea and make it your own. (as he did with Cubism).

By the way he wasn’t the only one to say this: T.S. Eliot said “immature poets imitate; mature poets steal” in his book of literary criticism: The Sacred Wood.

It’s fine to begin by copying (as do other fine artists: the new conductor, the violinist, the landscape gardener, the glass blower…), this is one of the best ways to learn. However, this initial trying out of an idea should be just the beginning (and, by the way, not for public view). So please, don’t just take workshops continuously learning another technique and another and another*…. Instead learn one new thing and then explore the new morsel inside and outside, right way up and upside down, backwards and forwards – try it in green and pink and white!! And hold back from more workshops with the artist whose ideas really inspired you, lest you find yourself not moving forward into your own work. Make that new idea, technique, design process your own!!!

And if you have been………………thanks for reading!!!
And do write a comment! I love comments!!

Elizabeth
* unless you are taking workshops "just for fun"!! Just for fun is totally legitimate in itself!!