Introspection

I am getting used to rejection. Entering calls for entry creates thick skin. Even if you have some successes the ones that don't end up getting picked up for shows can definitely have an impact on the way you view your work, like it or not.

Empress of the Pines was completed last summer and entered into the Visions Interpretations call for entry but was not accepted. So with different jurors I entered it again along with Queen Bee Says No to GMO's into Visions Breakout. Neither was accepted. Visions is a tough nut to crack but as it has been my one steady goal to have a piece accepted into a Visions biennial exhibit throughout my learning process since 1995 I am not stopping here.

As I go forward to my next work in this series, Lady Feather, I am looking to the things I think were successful and the things I think may have failed in both of these works in a critical way. To the right is my cougar. I see him as the greater success of this piece. His colors are well integrated; his eyes are the strong focal point and they do not disappoint. Colors are balanced and the yellow makes him pop.

Another thing that I think worked was my treatment of the tree bark. Using so many colors within the bark really gave it life especially when looking at it closely.

But on the whole there are some issues I might have changed now that I have lived with her for a bit. While I worked very hard at creating her skin fabric, I think I forgot that like the cougar she needed two things, contrast and a strong focal point in her face - her eyes. I will work on facial features with Lady Feather much more intensely, perhaps using thread painting or my markers to help define and enrich her gaze especially since it will be limited and defined by the owl mask. 

Looking also at Queen Bee who I consider to be a more successful piece in terms of the flow of composition and the blending of colors, I can see issues now that I did not see before. The violet piece which composes her neck shadow is too harsh a contrast. It needed more value changes leading up to the darkness far right. Instead of two value grades in this area, it would have been better with four or five. The shadow did not continue to her shoulder either which is a real faux pas.

Going forward I have chosen a grouping of fabrics designated as the flesh tones for Lady Feather. There is a great range from almost white to deep dark burgundy. I need to focus on developing a gradual progression of value through using smaller layers of color in any given area.

As for those quilts already completed, well, they are what they are. My art will change and grow as my skill increases and hopefully newer pieces will be more impervious to criticism, even from myself. Taking what I have learned from the Empress and the Queen, I will continue drawing these characters over and over again and working them in fabric. I will also keep entering calls like Visions.

The drawing for Lady Feather is finally completed and blown up to full size. I have searched out her fabrics comprising a color palette all her own from amongst my stash and I have purchased some to accent the ones I have. In typical fashion for me, I am still looking for the right background fabric. I seem to be forever working on creating the perfect background fabrics. More on how Feather comes to life in future posts. 

28 Days

Setting goals and achieving them are two very different animals. Late last fall I did some planning with my mentor's guidance. Ultimately I came up with a list of major pieces I want to create this year and a calendar set for the exhibitions in which I wish to enter them. Easy enough task. I have more ideas in my head than time to complete them!

Time is a valuable commodity to an artist. I have learned a lot about what time means to my practice of art. I have never been one to seek the easy or quick way to do something. My art is evidence of the fact that my techniques take a great deal of time. The more time I put into a piece, the more technically sound it becomes. Conversely when the clock seems to be ticking way too fast, I feel the pressure and it often shows in the stitching.

My last piece was drawn, fused and stitched in 28 days. I conceived of the idea years ago but only recently did I see an exhibition come up that was a possible fit; SAQA's Balancing Act. 

My paternal grandmother was a strong woman and a very important role model for all of her granddaughters. She wasn't formally educated, growing up in rural Italy, the daughter of peasant farmers. After immigrating and working a lifetime in this country, my grandfather's social security check was not quite enough to make ends meet. So Angelina found a way to grow the cookie jar. She peddled her chicken's eggs door to door in the neighborhood along with the vegetables from their garden. Now called cottage industry, my grandmother worked hard for that extra cash.

While I had the concept firmly in my head, bringing my beloved grandmother to life was daunting. I struggled with color and fabric choices, changed the drawing, and I even altered my initial concept of having chickens hanging by beads below the bottom edge.

I spent quite a bit of time creating the chickens. I used my fabric markers to flesh out all the feathers.

I even hand stitched the ribs on the feathers, found a wonderful straw fabric and that got the marker treatment too. But as time progressed I found that I wasn't keen on how they looked with the body of the quilt. And time was running very short so I couldn't start over. Sometimes an artist goes down an unproductive path accidentally and WHAM, days are gone!

Geometric or architectural perspective is definitely not my thing so getting the coop put in took some more of my time. Before I knew it I had only one more day to finish and I ended up working all night to finish the border and binding, hand sewing it between sleepy nods of my head. 

I always take that one final critical look at each piece as I finish them and see them hanging ready to be photographed. I always see something I didn't see before and I almost always wish I had more time to alter one or two things.

With this piece, although it is emotionally dear to my heart, there are more than a few things I wish I had more time to correct. A few of those nagging self criticisms can't be altered without starting again. Maybe I am being overly critical because we all do that don't we. I'll know soon enough if it is good enough to be accepted into the SAQA exhibit. I have had a string of rejections, and without jinxing myself, if this one is also rejected, I will know why this time.

ANGELINA'S EGGS

32" x 45"

Completed 2015