Adapting Art to embroidery works
Mirjam Bruck-Cohen
inspired from art books. When working with studentsi have found that
they find it easier to adapt certain art styles while others were
harder.
One excercize is cutting a 5X5 or 0ther sized squre in a cardboard.
Now you can lay it on the chosen art print and start to collect
threads with the colors of this square,
Next step , take paper and pencil and draw the `shapes` , you see in
this square,, [ rounds , dots, lines etc,,, ]
Now you can workout your `inspired impression` from this piece of
art.
best of luck
mirjam
wooly...@earthlink.net
What a good design exercise to "play" with even for me! In my case,
it'll be a slightly different way to work as I'm a little too
"disciplined" to just randomly throw in a pile of shapes, colors &
textures together to see what comes out!?
Maybe this exercise will free some of my design inhibitions and
jumpstart ideas for my new found interest designing applique art
quilts.
By using a set sized square, one will be able to accomplish quite a
pile of design reference "pages" on what works and maybe what doesn't
work.......an excellent way to challenge one's creativity!
Just writing these words is inspiring many thoughts....thank you Mirjam
for posting such a timely, helpful & fun exercise!
---
Lula
http://www.woolydream.com
http://www.shamashandsons.com NEW Fabric Designs
Mirjam Bruck-Cohen
I appreciate your words very much ,
>it'll be a slightly different way to work as I'm a little too
>"disciplined" to just randomly throw in a pile of shapes, colors &
>textures together to see what comes out!?
another angle.... { one of the things i adore in ESCHER~S works that
he used all points of view :>:>::>:>:> ]
>Maybe this exercise will free some of my design inhibitions and
>jumpstart ideas for my new found interest designing applique art
>quilts.
>pile of design reference "pages" on what works and maybe what doesn't
>work.......an excellent way to challenge one's creativity!
>for posting such a timely, helpful & fun exercise!
I just spent an hour looking at the colored printer plates of the
cover of my "Mapressions Loci". i keep playing with the idea to
arrange a bunch of them in some manner on the wall.. each print
`circle` added 1-3 new colors and till the end it is not What it
should be ,,, Because some of the colors are achieved by layers of
various colors,,
I laid them in a line on the floor , and looking at them , learn about
how we realy see what we see ..
A likewise , but not similar Lesson is looking at the hundreds of 'Sun
Rise " photos i took , from the same window,each morning as i get up .
Light is the great painter of nature.
Would you mind if i add more ideas to this excercise ???
mirjam
Mirjam Bruck-Cohen
needllework straight with the Great Famous calssics art . But rather
look more at the folk art , and esp their own folkart, or Naive art.
An interesting Naive painter, that would be of special value to any
textile or fiberart is
IVAN RABIZIN
the book about his art was printed under the series Yugoslav Naive Art
, Ivan Rabuzin , by Ivan Sedej, Control Data Arts, 1982.
Looking at his work , one wonders if he hasn`t worked woth cotton
puffs , beads and various stiches ,,,,
Another is Grandma Moses ..... in the book Grandma Moses, An
American Original , BY William C. Ketchum , jr. Todtri, 1999. on
pages 28 & 29 , you will find 2 of her embroideries
Although the writer says they were adapted from a print , one might
study and compare this with her paintings ,,
mirjam
wooly...@earthlink.net
exercise. I like to keep an open mind to other thoughts and
ideas.....you never know what helpful or interesting ideas will come by
to inspire the next best design(s)!
As for me.....I can hardly wait for my new design studio to be built so
I can finally have the space to spread out my work to look at from a
distance, either hanging or laid down on a large table or floor space.
It's a good way to judge the placement of details in the design from
another vantage point.
One of my habits is to look at the reflection of my artwork by either
holding up the work in front of a wall mirror or using a large hand
mirror to do similar and depending on the size of the artwork using a
small reducing glass.
Being able to see the artwork in a three dimensional perspective from
the various angles reflected in the mirror or reducing glass allows me
to rearrange motifs, or to either add or subtract motifs to better
balance the artwork as it will be seen by others and not just from my
"flat" point of view looking down at the work as I'm painting or
stitching.
---
Lula
http://www.woolydream.com
http://www.shamashandsons.com NEW Fabric Designs
Mirjam Bruck-Cohen wrote:
> Would you mind if i add more ideas to this excercise ???
Mirjam Bruck-Cohen
IVAN RABUZIN
mirjam
Mirjam Bruck-Cohen
this is a wonderful idea ,,I mean the one with the mirrors , never
occured to me ,,,,,thank you!!!
I have a habit of hanging the work high up and than lie on the floor
and look at it ,,,, Than lay it on floor and stand on high chair over
it. I also cover up parts of the work and put other colored cloth next
to it....
mirjam
bdiane
the digital camera. It seems that if you see it in photo form, it
causes you to look objectively . I started using this for interior
decorating and it fell into needlearts about 20 years ago. The mirror
is a good approach too and going to try that next time. It also would
check symetry since a mirror reverses the work so to speak. barbara in
williamsburg
Joan E.
This discussion has been very interesting to follow, even though I'm no
artist. The back-and-forth exchange of ideas and perspectives is a
delight to "watch"!
Joan
Lucille
"Joan E." <joan_e...@und.nodak.edu> wrote in message
news:1127321028.2...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
Ditto from me. It's like watching art unfold.
Lucille>
Mirjam Bruck-Cohen
one has new creative ideas she can share with others , and we all get
richer from it .
mirjam
Mirjam Bruck-Cohen
wonderful idea, Thank you. Than i took the mirrors and used them while
sitting on the floor , this gave it a new dimension.
I find looking at the work from above very important. When i worked on
the Urban Planning Maps , for "Mapressions loci",i sometimes put them
in the backyrad grass and went to the 2nd floor window to look at
them. I think that living on a mountain also gave me a bit more
understanding, at how the same point/ building /thing can look from
various sides. When i takle tourists to see the city i always point
out 1-2 big buildings and show them how the Dimentions `seem` to
cahnge from down town/to mid town /to Top of the mountain [ 275 Metter
s above sea ]. in the many walks i do i take many photos like that..
later when i come to Create a work i make the plans as if one sees
them from above , but i always add some parts , that look as if One
see it from the same level [=side] or from the foot of it ,,, at least
one or two parts in each work like this isn`t in the same `level` as
the main part.
I have no Clear idea why this has to be like that , but i feel that is
how i need it to be.
But i never know Before hand in which part it will happen , until it
`urges ` itself out.
mirjam
Mirjam Bruck-Cohen
" Art & Fear " Observations on the perils [and rewards ] of Artmaking
. By Daviv Bayles & Ted Orland , Capra Press, 1993 .
mirjam
Mirjam Bruck-Cohen
Drawings , and deciding , which Needlework Technique would be `most
appropiate for THIS Drawing or Picture????'"
Some picture looks likeit will be best represented in embroidery,
Another will be better represented , by applique [ now one has to
decide with which cloth , Felt ? Wool Silk ? etc.. Another looks like
Knitting will serve it best !!! I nickname it "finding the Cloth
equivalent to paint" ,
mirjam
wooly...@earthlink.net
You're right about the mirror checking for symmetry......many quilters
use two mirrors at right angles for this very reason to check the
symmetry of their designs in quilt blocks.
These sets can be purchased at quilt shops.
True, the mirror gives more immediate but the use of a digital camera
is a great idea too because a camera will record something the "eye"
might miss....with a photo, one can then look at one's lesiure and
perhaps notice details missed during the initial look.
Though this next aspect isn't the most important it's something to
think about.
Depending on what type of photographer one is, one might even catch
nuances of light and shadow, adding an extra dimension.....what I think
of as being an emotional one.
The point of a photo is how unsparing it is recording whatever is in
front of the lens.......it's a truthful recording of details &
facts....in a wide angle or screen photo, one will catch the outside
edges of the original focus area for even more detail to see how it all
fits together.
---
Lula
http://www.woolydream.com
http://www.shamashandsons.com NEW Fabric Designs
wooly...@earthlink.net
Ever since I learned the needlearts, such as stitching, my artwork
developed several dimensions.
I started out by subconsciously "stitching" every canvas design while
painting it........my mind can just see the stitch along with the
thread I'd like to use for the best effects of what I'm painting!
But, I eventually became frustrated by how rigid this was to do on any
type of gridded design with XS being the most rigid.....there were
limits on far I could go.
Not being able to "draw" or express natural curves in XS or
needlepoint, I turned to embroidery, which to me is the most natural
way to "paint" with stitches & threads.
So for awhile this was a lot of fun to do, to be able to embroider what
I wanted to express until I realized this work was kind of
"flat".....so turned to three dimensional stitching techniques such as
those stitches that raise up standing away from the ground
fabric.....but I eventually found this to be quite tedious for me to do
even though I admire this type of raised needlework very much.
Then I discovered quilting, especially applique and this opened another
new window of expression....applying pieced of fabrics or other
embellishment onto a design.
For the moment I'm quite happy being able to stitch with the
combination of all the stitching techniques I've taught
myself........basically it's stitching "collage" using combinations of
what techniques I'd like to use to create and express my feelings with
needle & thread and whatever other materials I'd like to use......what
some might call embellishments. I like mixing everything together to
"draw" or "paint" my artworks. No more one type of needlework but a
combination of everything that works including "making up"
techniques.....whatever might look good.
Once I get through the work I've got to do now, I'd like to tent stitch
either a piece of silk gauze or get a piece of 18 mesh polyester canvas
which is very drapable and is produced or distributed by
Kreinik......people often make clothing out of this soft canvas.
Obviously, depending on what type of ground fabric I use will determine
the size of the face.
I'd like to make a doll with the above face.....I can vary what
techniques I'd like to use to make her body or clothing using all kinds
of embellishments & techniques to express whatever message or feeling I
want this doll to have.
She can have a big head, a small head, arms and legs or look like one
of those rounded shaped Russian matroiska dolls....the ones that come
with a set of different sized dolls one inside another...I like the
shape, don't have to fuss with arms and legs or even worry about
proportions. I just want to be creative and create an artistic figure
with maybe a theme, such as the Man in the Moon for that matter which
in my case as a "she" could be Mlle Moon with shiny stars in her hair!
So in many ways, I'm doing what Mirjam is writing about for the best
stitches or techniques to use which in my case is doing whatever
techniques that will work in a particular project.
The bottomline is creativity shouldn't have any boundaries.....be free
to use whatever might work to create the most original pieces to
decorate our lives not to mention pleasing our senses and emotions.
---
Lula
http://www.woolydream.com
http://www.shamashandsons.com NEW Fabric Designs