Tumbling into the rear

Well at long last I have managed to finish my piece.  A family event had kept me from my sewing machine and the muse was having no artistic licence at all.  Nevertheless, I spent time trying to coming up with something.  I had recently attended a workshop by Sue Benner, where we studied various design concepts. One in particular, rectilinear design, nudged my creative juices.  I started looking at square, rectangular, and oblong design settings.  One in particular kept coming up.  Here is a picture of what I kept seeing.

 and another one

Numerous pictures of "Tumbling Blocks" quilts.

I had created some "odd" blocks in Sue's class that gave the impression of being tumbled.  They looked like this.

I had already given an idea to Lisa for this challenge so I couldn't use that one.  She blogged about it here. Yup! That's when the epiphany hit.   If artistic licence gives me the freedom to take something, change it, and still have it be recognizable, then here is my rendition.

But to get the entire effect of how I used artistic license here is the full picture.  You can read about it's construction here.

Go figure...I've called it Blocks Tumbling. Ta da, more artistic license!  LOL!  Thanks Judy for the theme.  It was a challenger.

YIKES!!!!! I'm late!!!!

I'm Late

From "Alice in Wonderland"

Music and Lyrics by Sammy Fain and Bob Hilliard

I'm late!

I'm late!

For a very important date!

No time to say "hello", goodbye!

I'm late!

I'm late!!

I'm late!!!

No, no, no, no 

I'm overdue!

I'm really in a stew!

No time to say "goodbye", hello!

I'm late!

I'm late!!

I'm late!!! 

I probably shouldn't be smiling! 

My apologies for my extreme tardiness
but it seems that I have been bogged down by a variety of obligations
 and unexpected circumstances... 

and I'm almost out of gas!!!

I have to admit that I did get a (very) late start 

(my days of punctuality seem to be a thing of the past!)

and after pondering...

 and hemming and hawing a lot, 

I went with an idea that Brigitte had suggested (in jest?!) in an email exchange we had

 after this challenge was announced!

It was really a literal translation of "artistic license".... 

as in that which you might have on the license plate of your automobile!

(I still have to add some brads and perhaps "New York" to the license)

And...

while my piece is late,  

not done,

 and seems to be never-ending,

it was time to reveal what I have to the group.

"I'm Late!" is a  true mixed media work..

watercolor crayon/pencil on canvas

with free-motion stitching

collage,

Transfer Artist Paper (TAP),

hand embroidery,

rubber stamping on painted Lutradur

 and more!

And thanks again to Brigitte for the idea!!!

Homage to Braque

For years I have been a fan of the works of Georges Braque, particularly his works which were created during his Synthetic Cubist period, 1912-1914. What I admire are the interplay of shapes, the depth and playful way he breaks up recognizable shapes and his addition of bits of life's ephemera, like a piece of a concert ticket or a leftover scrap of a note. Below are some of my favorites.

Left to right- Gueridon 1913, Still Life with Violin 1913
Violin Melodie 1914, Violin and Glass 1913

I didn't want to just reproduce something Braque had created, however had I done so, I might be more satisfied with my end product. 

Because I do not draw or sketch, I started by making paper collages with various shapes, colors and textures. More images can be found on my blog. 

Final design 

After deciding on a design, I selected fabrics from my stash. I also wanted to use some paper cloth for some of the shapes. Paper cloth is basically paper adhered to muslin with diluted glue. In the paper cloth I created, I used dress patterns, tea bags, newspaper, and computer images I had printed. In addition to the fabric and paper cloth I also included words printed on silk photo fabric.

The next major step was cutting out the shapes and adding fusible web to the backs so they could be adhered to the base fabric. I wanted a neutral background and chose a funky gray fabric.

However, after living with this decision for several days, I decided it was a depressing color and changed the background to a lighter fabric.

Homage to Braque
16"x 20"

Artistic License

“ A writer’s or artist’s freedom to deviate from fact or from conventions . . . for effect.” www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/license

“The freedom to create an artwork, musical work, or piece of writing based  on the artist's interpretation . . .” ‎dictionary.reference.com/browse/artistic+license

Some of us have mentioned the influence of others on our work, especially the influence of famous artists or those well known in the world of fiber art. Over the years, I have noticed works of art in museums and galleries and thought, “wouldn’t that be a great quilt?” What painting, sculpture, photograph, architectural wonder or graphic arts image has given you inspiration?

Piet Mondrian Composition A

Some artists modify older works of art to develop new ones. What shapes, colors, composition or media in the works of other have given you an “aha moment”? Or maybe you have been inspired by something in the natural world.

Just in case you need some images to get your creative juices flowing, this may prove to be useful: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/