Still thinking…

I did some research on what would make a crescent moon surreal and dreamlike. The suggestions were to make it too large and make any reflections unreal. So I tried those things on my image. Meanwhile I’ve decided to leave out the doorway. So it’s just the face, tree, crow, and the moon. The clouds near the open part of the crescent look strange because I think they are at a different angle than the ones below the crescent. Plus there are too many clouds and they become too dominant. When I appliqué them I would use a silk organza so they are more subtle. Fewer is also a good idea. 

Here’s the new idea. The moon is too large and very thin. A few stars added near it. The reflection in the water might be too much for this moon which would make it surreal. You can see what I mean about the clouds. Julierose just commented that it’s too dark. She’s right.

Here’s a lighter version. The actual values will depend on what fabrics I use. 

I received an email yesterday acknowledging my submissions and they would be deciding what is accepted on the 15th. So nothing to be done before then. 

I will be working on my sister’s gift today again. I’m almost done.

Thanks for reading 

Chris 

The craziness continues…..

I am still debating about which idea to make into a quilt for the surreal show. I keep going back to my original idea with the woman in the tree. I know that Pat and Idaho Beauty vote for this one instead of the eye in the sky with gold tear stream. 

Woman in tree

Eye in sky

Then I consulted my daughter. This is her take…

“Both need some tweaks to their composition IMO. The eye in sky one looks like a collage. The elements like the eye have nothing to do with the rest of it, so it doesn't look cohesive. I like the woman in the tree one more with how the face and moon are framed with the tree, but it needs some cleanup around stuff like the door in the water. It feels out of scale.

I think the composition might work better overall with just the face/tree and the crow as the major elements.”

She also said not to believe what AI says about art.

Here’s the image without the doorway. The moon or the reflections in the water would have to be dealt with. Not sure this is balanced. Maybe tree needs to move to the right a bit. Change where the bird is looking. Give her a second faint eye partially obscured by the clouds. The last image has the faint eye.

At this point I almost hope my proposals don’t get accepted and I don’t have to think about this anymore! 

Thanks for reading about all my craziness.

Chris

I forgot I created this one with the door.

I think I’m narrowing it down

I played some more today and think this might be it. Some of the earlier images had too many tears.

Of course the trees need to be significantly simplified. Aside from the fact that it would be nuts trying to cut out all those tiny branches, they are just not needed. The image would be better if only the essential things remained. I think I might make the eye about 10% larger, but not change the tear size.

The other thing to workout are the triangles. How many should there be and how obvious. I won’t know that if and when I make this piece.

Here’s the image.

Here’s a crude sketch. I have simplified the trees.

Of course the other eye question is how open should it be? 

Here’s the image with the eye a bit more open. I kinda like a bit more open, but am not sure. I go back and forth on that.

I think some different materials are called for. 

Jennifer Sampou nightfall sky fabric for the background.  

Wool for the large tree and cliff.

Gold silk for the iris and tears. Maybe some Angelina fibers for some highlights.

I might stencil the triangles so they blend with the sky.

Superior Magnifico thread for the ripples. Or maybe a metallic thread.

Thin flat cotton thread for the dark areas so it disappears.

This was submitted so now I wait. I made progress on my sister’s gift today. 

Any thoughts?

Thanks for reading so many blogs lately.

Chris

Maybe it’s just me….

I find that sometimes I go back and forth with ideas when trying to nail down which is the best composition and which has the most impact. That certainly has been the case with the surreal art show.

I started with this idea and was happy with it, but I never leave things alone. I still like this idea, however. 

Then I created the crying eye in the sky image. Then that started the question about whether the eye in the water and the upside down tree were needed in the composition. And actually I still like this one.

Since I liked the gold eye and tears in the original image I wondered how that would look in this one. Meanwhile I removed the upside down tree and the eye in the water.

So how should that eye look? This one really stands out and could be seen across the room in an exhibit.

The original gold open eye with tears is pretty shocking so I tried one that’s less intense. I don’t like this one. Still too startled. I had to decide if I wanted startled or sad. I decided on sad.

I also played with this image where the tree branches wrapped around the eye more. I would leave out the small boats in the water. This would be a nightmare to create with the fog. Plus it’s overly busy.

I tried several eyes that are partially closed and got this one. It would not be the typical wide open surreal eye. It would give it more character rather than just being stuck on the sky. Still things to refine in this image. 

This would be the description of the last one…

Nightfall’s Vigil

This quilt is about a deep sorrow for our planet and the environmental destruction happening around us. The landscape acts as a mirror for that grief, with the gnarled tree roots clinging to a fractured cliff while the earth itself weeps gold. The golden ripples are a reminder that even in the twilight of what we are losing, there is a precious, vital beauty we still need to watch over and protect.

Maybe too many ideas is not good. Maybe it gives me too many things to think about. Sometimes I know exactly what I’m going to do. Other times I flounder around with what to do.

Am I the only crazy one?

Thanks for reading.

Chris