Saturday, May 1, 2010

Molten Rebirth

I survived the challenge, and a challenge it turned out to be! I jumped out of my comfort zone and enjoyed experimenting. I'm not totally happy with any of my quilts, but I had fun with the process. I couldn't get the imagery of a "volcano" out of my mind, so most of my designs focus on lava flowing through the lush forests of Hawaii. The sharp contrast of the hot lava and the vegetation is amazing. The beautiful islands were formed by what seems so destructive on the personal scale. The heat and fire bring forth new land and life. What a metaphor for so much of our existence.
Here are a few more of my experiments as I tried to capture the contrast of life, destruction and the hope of rebirth:
All the while I was working on the perfect 12x12 quilt design, I really wanted to be working on this piece, a 3D volcano. The theme was just begging to jump off the flat surface. She really needs a lot of embellishment. I am seeing beads and wire and perhaps an explosion of fiber from the top. I will keep you posted on my progress.
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8 comments:

  1. GerrieMay 1, 2010 at 9:36 AM

    Oh, I love your 3-D volcano. It is fantastic! And you did a similar lava flow to Terry's and mine. I think that is my favorite of your pieces. I love ow you created all those complex fabrics. It adds so much interest and complexity to the pieces.

    Great work for someone who was uncomfortable.

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  2. Diane PerinMay 1, 2010 at 10:36 AM

    Wow! I think that so far, 4 challenge responses may be a record! I like all of these and I like seeing how you experimented with the color palette in these ways. My favorite, I think, is the linear one -- the energy in that piece is just so immediate. And the 3D volcano is very fun -- I can't wait to see how you embellish it!

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  3. Terry GrantMay 1, 2010 at 11:09 AM

    I love all of them, but especially the first. The colors are SO hot and your black zigzag stitching gives it that crackly, edge-y feel of lava hardening along the edges.

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  4. KarenMay 1, 2010 at 11:29 AM

    I love them all, too. The zig zag stitching is perfect for this and your colors really pop out. I like the 3-D and hope you finish it.

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  5. Kristin LMay 1, 2010 at 12:53 PM

    My favorite is the first one as well. The movement and the textures are wonderful. Did anyone notice the copper "binding" on Nikki's quilts? Genius!! Definitely keep us posted on the 3-d volcano -- it's off to a great start!

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  6. Terri StegmillerMay 1, 2010 at 2:07 PM

    I like all of your pieces Nikki! And a 3D volcano....WOW! I can see some orange and red spikey paper flowers popping out of that. Wonderful.

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  7. Deborah BoschertMay 1, 2010 at 2:43 PM

    wow... There so much beautiful work here. Even your stack of pre painted and quilted fabric was so inspiring and to see what you've created with them is amazing. I like how you used the green as a pop in each one. (My favorite is the second with the gray and green towers.)

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  8. Quilt or DyeMay 20, 2010 at 1:23 PM

    I love to see fiber become more than 2-D!

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