After pondering and looking at it, I think I have decided to go with the second version. Although I love the idea of the doorway from the perspective of telling a story, it doesn’t relate visually. I also think the piece will be stronger if it is a vertical format.
Thanks for all your comments.
I will post photos as they move forward.
Now that I know comments can be posted, I put this to you:
which do you like better:
version 1:
This includes a figure in a doorway in the back. This is (I hope) an interesting and thought-provoking addition which will require the viewer to fill in the story. I am not sure if the doorway is a distraction, and if the square format dilutes some of the energy.
version 2:
The doorway is cropped out, returning the piece to a vertical format–stressing the length of the dancer’s legs and giving the quilt more energy.
version 3:
The chair in the background has been removed. It was included as a visual bridge from the action of the front to the doorway in the back, but the space looks empty now. It added a sense of depth and perspective.
what do you think?
Yesterday I was able to spent some real time in the studio working on the flamenco dancer. Satisfied with her and moving on to the guitarist in the background, I added his lower half! Initially, I used the fabric with the silver swirls for his sleeve, but decided that it would be great as the floor so I changed his sleeves. Looking at it, I got the idea of a rose on the floor at his feet–I am thinking rather than title it something like “flamenco” that I may title it something more intriguing like “unrequited love.” I know the background needs to be substantially black, but will work next at trying to add other colors or other shades of black so that it isn’t so flat and uninteresting.
I am putting that tree quilt behind me while I let my ideas about fabric weaving percolate in my head. For now I am back in my comfort zone, working on another fabric collage. This will allow me to accomplish two things–first it will get this out of my head where it has been nagging for a while, and secondly, it will allow me to clear my mind a bit so that I can formulate more specific ideas about what I want to do next.
This piece came from a video of a Flamenco dancer my friend, Sandra shot in Spain recently. As soon as I saw it I knew the fabric in my stash that had to be the skirt. There is so much movement in the fabric, and the light and dark look very much like the moving ruffles.
On another note, I discovered quite by accident that MOMA (the museum of modern art in NYC) is opened on Monday. Not the perfect day to go as every tourist in the city has discovered the same thing, but none the less, worthwhile. My friend, Eileen and I were not able to get into the new Van Gogh exhibit, so we wandered through the permanent collection. Despite having seen the permanent collection many times, I discovered lots of things I hadn’t really noticed or focused on before which relate to what I am working out in my own art. Now that museums allow photos in most galleries (hooray!) I took lots of photos and have lots to absorb. I am working out in my head a new direction for my work, and will share those photos and my new pieces as I sort them out.
Where ever you live, get out and look at art! Especially looking at different media will influence you in ways you can’t imagine. No matter where you are, there is someplace to see some sort of art. Take an hour off from your day and do it. It really gets your creativity working. I went with my friend Eileen (a very talented ceramicist–check her out at www.eileenbraunceramics.com) and interestingly, we often responded to the same pieces and saw in them ideas to play with in our very different materials.
