Here are some sections of the wrap I have been making- it's too long to photograph in one piece.I have decided to line it with habutai silk which I am dyeing. I also decided to dye some heavier weight habutai ( 12mm) but that turned into an abject failure- it is dim grey and not at all what I had in mind- waste of good fabric, though I may try some polewrap with black over the top- but not today.
There have been discussions on the Wow factor on other blogs ( Lisa Call, Cathy Kleeman and Omega) , which is interesting. I know that many people think working "big" is an important element for Wow. I agree working "big" makes an impact, but sometimes it makes me feel overwhelmed too as if someone is trying to force me into being wowed . I must admit to a suspicion of big works- though there are some that have impacted on me. I like being drawn by works- you know you look and there is something which beckons you to look again and again and find new things, big is simply sometimes just big, and I feel let down.I guess for me art is a little like a journey of discovery- you discover the piece, you discover the artist and you discover something about yourself in the act. I love the protrait of Baldassare Castiglione by Rapheal- it is a relatively small portrait of an incredibly urbane looking renaissance man- it is one of the reasons why I try and visit the Louvre every time I visit Paris- this portait is one of the finest ever made in my humble opinion ( if you click the link there is a link which says portrait). What do you see?
And then happy accidents of creating- which in all reality is what serendipity is. Doing and working through the processes often surprising things happen- those that add edge to the work you are making- to me whilst in a sense they are accidents are also evidence of the process- and those accidents don't happen if you do not engage with the process.
5 comments:
the portrait link didn't work for me...although your link to the site was fine. i suspect that the assumption of large automatically equates to WOW is a cast off of submitting to quilt shows only versus other venues for art.
If you click on Rapheal a portrait should come up- I hoe
Dijanne
thanks, I got it.
This is one of my favourite Raphaels too. I agree with your journey analogy, and certainly that discovering or clarifying something about oneself is part of the process.
The size: quantity vs. quality definition is in the same bag as the how-long-did-it-take-to-make judgment of wow factor. The difficulty with submitting work for jurying is that one has to achieve both the superficial initial wow, and hopefully the wow of worth as well.
The link didn't work for me, but found another... I see kindness in Baldassare's face, and soft velvet or fur on his sleeves. Both are technical feats, but the skill in capturing a personality in a formal portrait is amazing....
Now, I am one who will be with glasses off (I am legally blind without them) and nose 3 inches from the canvas, looking at brushstrokes (as well as standing back--glasses on), sometimes sketching, sometimes verbal notes... it's not just with quilts that I want to know "how did they do that"....
As for WOW factor, I'd like to find "wow" in more small pieces of quilting, but usually when it is there it is more of a "wow" for technical feats, not design. I love pieces that grab me from across a room and whisper (insistently) come closer! Look at me! and as I approach, I see something else, and as I get really close, I see something more.
There aren't many of those multi-level pieces in any medium, and quilting is no exception, but they are out there.... and it's a good goal.
Cheers, Sarah
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