Thursday, February 14, 2008

Messy Community

Everybody's posts have had me thinking a lot about community. Mostly, I have been thinking about how I would like a community to look verses how it actually is. When I think of the ideal community, I think of everybody belonging and fitting together. Everybody has their honored place and role in serving one another. In reality, rarely people feel as if they truely belong and are appreciated in who they are and what they do. At times people are more interested in how the community can serve them than how then can serve others or forcing their own ideas upon the community. Real life community is MESSY!

I was playing around last night trying to visualize this. I used a piece of cloth that I had used as a painting surface and clean up rag -- lots of different colors and no order. I pieced the center section neatly, with all the seams hidden. To contrast this, I pieced the outer portion with the seams exposed. I then washed it to bring out the frayed edges. I doubt this will actually be the direction that I will go, but I have to actually work out my ideas in fabric. I have a very hard time doing it in my head or sketchbook. Next I will try quilting up this top and see how it turns out. Maybe try to force some order upon those frayed edges!

6 comments:

Terri Stegmiller said...

Well even if this isn't the direction you decide to go....it still looks great and I really like how part of it is neat and part isn't.

Gerrie said...

Your thoughts about community are so profound and I love how your work relates to this. Are you sure you want to bring order to your frayed edges?

Terry Grant said...

I love your idea that community is "messy". So true.

Diane Perin said...

Yes, I like this idea too and like where you're going with it. And I like the contrast between the inner neat pieces and the outer frayed ones.

Nikki said...

I don't think I would be able to actually bring order to the frayed edges. It would more be a picture of impossed order upon those messy edges -- something that never truely works.

Kristin L said...

I like the contrast here too. This is a mindful abstraction.