Thanks for the interesting responses to yesterday's post. OK so I found them fun but as I thought a bit more about why I like these I came up with a couple of more important reasons. As Terri mentions on her blog some of these postcards look like samples cut from larger works (and other things too but much more eloquently than me!) and I think for me this is the problem with them. They get churned out on a conveyor belt without much regard for design and composition. Composition. That IMHO is the key. As I said the size restriction forces me to come up with a design that looks good in a 6 x 4 inch rectangle. A square would result in something completely different.
The small drawings I do for Everyday Matters continually challenge me. The blog page is the 'restriction'. The white background, the small size, the angle of the object, the lighting - all these things are thought about. So in a way, the postcards are like small sketches focusing the mind. I like to work small so I don't see that there is a necessity to take these to the next level which is to work larger. I don't feel comfortable with a large format so there is no next level. A 12 x 12 and a 62 x 100 are going to pose their own design challenges.
I'm a stay at home Mum (I prefer housewife and superstar!) so I'm kind of amazed that on these on-line quilt groups with many professional quilt artists there is so little talk about design (and the why) but a lot about materials and techniques (the how). When I visited the Festival of Quilts last year I was frankly shocked at how poor some of the quilts were. It was my first visit to a big quilt show and perhaps my expectations were too high. The variety of techniques on display was dazzling but the knowledge of colour and composition was lacking in so many of them. ( I think construction is less important unless you're making traditional bed quilts)
I think it is important to have techniques at your disposal to make your ideas flow. But the chasing of techniques seem to be becoming the be all and end all of quilt 'art'. (Not for all of course.) Manufacturers will continually supply us with shiny new things to play with and if that is true, how can there be an end to the chase? Do all these techniques result in a piece of art? Art? What's that? Just kidding, I'm not going to go there!!
6 comments:
Felicity, this reminds me of how sometimes I'm obsessed with materials for art making instead of making art. This used to be a really big trap for me. Now I try really hard to remember to JUST DO IT instead of waiting for the right material.
I think many quilters do not have art training and feel that the techinques are where it's at as far as making quilts. Its all about stepping back to look!
I love your work in fiber and in drawing.
The hope is that we all learn from the example of great work. An event like the Festival of Quilts in the UK (if that's the one you are talking of) wants to attract quiltmakers of every kind, to encourage them and to sell them stuff. The art quilters like Joan Schulze and Charlotte Yde are there to act as points to aim for, and the larger competition is really there to encourage everyone to have a go - well, not to put anyone off.
I personally agree that there is a general lack of artistic merit, and blame our culture which does not rate design highly. There is not sufficient discrimination, nor a desire to practise diligently, nor a seeking for a serious self knowledge about one's work and its development.
The success of the art quilt has encouraged those who are creative to reach beyond the practical and decorative to make work which gives the maker, their friends and family much pleasure. But not many say that it is not the case when makers automatically think that they are producing art. Why rain on their parade? Except of course if it means that it muddies the market for those striving to be artists.
Unfortunately discrimination has become a pejorative term. There is nothing lesser about practical and decorative - far from it. But it is not the same as art although some works might fall into all three categories. We should be able to discriminate between them and not be unhappy if we strive to be decorative for instance - and to aim to improve constantly within that description.
I also agree about the challenges that constraints throw up. Some of the most beautiful poetry is written within the seeming straightjacket of the sonnet form. And this chimes with a comment I left on Gabrielle's blog: a poem might take up half a page, but it could well take up more work and artistry than a novel.
Ahh design- one of my favourites! And the let down of many a quilt or any piece of art for that matter. And then colour. I sometimes wonder in which nightmare people are living when I look at colour use. Nor do I think many poorly composed photographs made into fabric collages make great quilts.Hummmmm
You are right Omega about the FOQ. I'm of two opinions. One that it's wonderful opportunity for people like me to show quilts alongside the big names and I wouldn't change that. The second is that I travelled a great distance, at considerable expense to see the show and expected to see top quality quilts. Sifting through the less good took a huge amount of time (lack of labels, very frustrating) and after 2 days still didn't see all the winners. I don't know the answer. The organisers did the very best they could with the restrictions they faced.
Colour use is one of my pet peeve topics! When so many are struggling with it I have to question the advice of books that encourage their readers to go for things that don't match and that 'jar'. Better to learn about harmony and then manipulate the viewer with deliberate use of colour IMO!
Interesting comment about the nightmare people are living in :) ! Thinking of some fabric collages/pictorial quilts will only encourage me to rant!
Yes, I agree with you about the Festival of Quilts. The professional quilters individual stands were wonderful and I found the work of Eszter Bonemisza from Hungary particularly beautiful this year, but the remainder (competition entries)-with the exception of 1 or 2-left me more than a little flat and disappointed. There does seem to be such a divide between the two.
However, Omega is right to say that this is of iteself quite encouraging to others, so much so, that I might enter something myself this year!! To an awful lot of people there is great pleasure to be had in playing with colour and fabric and they want to share this creativity with others, and could possibly be daunted by anything too highbrow and not enter? I guess the organizers just want money in the tills and this approach obviously sells. After all if there's no quilt entries there's no show.
I'm afraid that although the FOQ is technically classed as cutting edge competitive show, its not what I understand by the term art and not what I'm keen on looking at or striving to achieve. The divide widens for me.
As you know I agree about there not being much talk about composition and color as the focus is so much on technique when it comes to quilts.
Over the past few days I posted 5 small works I made a few years ago on my blog blog.lisacall.com. I evaluated their effectiveness based on composition and color.
I have discussed technique a bit to talk about why I use the technique I do - to get the line quality that I desire for my compositions.
As for FOQ - I attended twice back in 97 and 98. Even for those in the US it is extremely expensive to attend. As I recall the best thing about it was escaping the family for a few days (as I was a superstar stay at home mom at the time), the leisurely sunday brunch at the hotel and the jacuzzi.
I think I saw a few nice quilts also.
Although, being serious for a moment, FOQ for all it's glory is still a weekend quilt show, which isn't meant as a derogatory comment but just a factual statement. It's not intended as a fine art show although sometimes I think expectations (internal and external) might be different from reality. Yes there is some stunning art to be found - but finding it is not necessarily easy as that is not the only focus or purpose of the show.
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