I’ve finished 8 buildings and have taken 4 more off of the design wall to work on next. The wall is looking pretty empty now. I tried out the Golden paper and it’s OK, but not great. It tends to stick to the fusible on the back of the buildings and that makes it hard to get the paper off. I might just stick with Totally Stable. I have several bolts of it!
To make things even more fun when I was tearing the stabilizer off of one of the buildings this week I was using a ripper to help in that process. I bet you know where this story is going….. yep I put a tear in the fabric that was about 2 inches long. So I had to spend 30 minutes fixing that problem. After I fixed it I decided to take a break! And now my thumb is hurting from all the stabilizer removal. I think today I will only stitch and give my thumb a break.
I’ve signed up for a class through our local art alliance. It’s on zoom and is about perspective drawing. I think I will find it fun and really useful for what I do. There are times I struggle with the perspective of the buildings in my quilts. It’s three classes that are 2 hours long.
I went to the opening of a quilt exhibit of a friend of mine at a local art museum. She does art quilts that are more like traditional quilts. For some reason it really made me question what I do. People were raving over her quilts and she even sold quite a few at $400. I wondered if I should have stuck with making beautiful traditional quilts. Why it made me question that I have no idea. Maybe it’s the struggle with my Boston quilt that has been going on for almost 2 years now. Or I need a change? It wasn’t long ago I thought I had found my thing in creating architectural quilts. Or maybe the winter weather that won’t end is getting to me. My mind is more settled now, but I was pretty confused for a few days. Of course there is nothing stopping me from doing artsy traditional quilts as well as architectural quilts. Do you ever question what you do?
Linking to Nina-Marie. https://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/
Thanks for reading.
Chris
Your quilts are so unique and to me, quite daunting to attempt. Me, I have no style, I like to try everything. Currently in improv mode, which my husband struggles to find something complimentary to say about them. They are bold and wild. Traditional quilts bore me, I call them wallpaper quilts, but arting them up could be fun and provocative. I can't imagine working on one quilt for 2 years, and that's probably beginning to weigh on you especially now that your are in the 'grit your teeth and do it' tasks. Maybe next for you is an arty traditional quilt, a palate cleanser or new direction?!
ReplyDeleteI'd stick to your unique style; I expect if you tried to make more traditional-looking quilts, you wouldn't enjoy it as much -- even if designing your own (i.e. not using a pattern) isn't any less challenging than making an original art quilt. I love piecing scraps into traditional-style quilts -- for utilitarian purposes -- but art quilts require engage your heart, and that's what counts.
ReplyDeleteI stopped questioning after quite a few years exhibiting with the local arts council with few sales while other artists frequently sold pieces, deciding there's no accounting for taste and you can't chase where you think the market is. You have to do you and if the general public doesn't respond with $$$, at least you are producing the kinds of art quilts you like and want to put the time into. There IS a temptation though to reintroduce a bit of traditional quilt into an art quilt. I actually have just such an idea in my head that I've put off for awhile simply because it will mean making a lot of split nine-patch blocks and a little devilish voice in the back of my head wants me to believe someone will want to buy it because of those traditional blocks. Not the only reason I want to make that design but I can't deny it hurts to see others having success and your own hard work not. I've never been able to figure it out (a bit like figuring out why judges choose winners). I'm glad you're not as disturbed by it now, and you're probably right that other factors led you down that questioning path. Never hurts to reassess, but be careful not to be swayed into doing what you don't really want to do in the hopes it will give you more public "success".
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