Having printed the imagery I needed, I turned my attention to the color palette. I wanted to pull out the brick tones of the building, along with sky, earth, and vegetation hues. This is one of my favorite parts of the process. There are infinite possibilities at this point, and I enjoy the discipline of narrowing them down. And many of my fabrics are like old friends, having been used in previous works. It’s a pleasure to find the new combinations that will make this work unique.
I chose four sets of fabrics, and began slicing them into strips for piecing. I dislike measuring things as a general principle, as I feel it puts an unnatural interface between myself and the work, so I wing it where ever possible. I cut as many strips as I think I might need, in the random widths that will give a scale appropriate to the work, and more often than not it works out correctly in the end. Of course, I have paid my dues, I spent years and years doing the math and the plotting out, so based on that experience I have a good idea of what I will need.
There are silks, commercial cottons, hand woven cottons, and fabrics I hand painted in these sets. I like the variety of textures and tonality they provide when all mixed together.
The blue strips on the left are some extra screen prints that I cut up. I find that it helps integrate the prints and the patchwork. The fabric next to it is an especially fine French cotton; I’m using up the last of it here, and I will miss it now that it is gone.
All of these were sewn into strip sets, sliced apart, and combined again to form the framework for the printed imagery. I feel it is an especially appropriate setting to represent a building that was put together brick by brick.
To track back this work in progress, and the other works in this Silk Mill Series, click the Silk Mill tab at the top or click here.
As always, thanks for reading and commenting, and stay turned for further developments.
No comments:
Post a Comment