Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The Dancer

I have to admit these colors were a challenge to me, and I'm not exactly sure why.  I spent a long time thinking about what I wanted to do, going from abstract back to realistic.  I traced the Lorikeet, took out some lines, enlarged it, but nothing grabbed me.  I eventually started focusing on just the colors, and what they reminded me of.  What came to mind was the various dancers we saw in Peru.


We saw festival dancers and street dancers, and they all had wonderful colorful outfits on and were kicking up their feet to the music.



While the colors were not the same, they were all vibrant like the colors Brenda chose.


This gave me the idea to try something with a dancer, with flowing skirts and colorful clothing.  I new right away that I didn't want the whole body in the piece, as I don't do faces or limbs well.



So I found some green that I had screenprinted a while ago, and the red-orange and yellow- orange were in my stash, I just needed to paint the designs on them.  The blue was difficult, I couldn't seem to come up with the blue Brenda had posted.  I think this is a little darker, but it works.  I added some hand stitching and satin stitched it together.

11 comments:

Carla said...

As a non-artist who follows this blog religiously, I am always amazed at what is presented and I visualize what I might do. This represents very closely where my thoughts have been on this challenge.

I love it!!

Gerrie said...

Love the hint of a dancer's skirt And I love that you were able to use your surface designed fabric for the green. It works very well as a backdrop to the colorful dkirt.

Diane Perin said...

Karen! This is wonderful! It's amazing how, from the quilt alone, it gives the energy and excitement and movement of the edge of a skirt or shawl flying by. The shape you chose, the contrast between the softer lines of the background against the stronger lines of the skirt piece -- all convey a blur of color and movement that shows you have a strong mastery of what you're doing! That's totally impressive!

The hand stitching detail works great too -- like a native textile.

Terri Stegmiller said...

Oh what a wonderful idea. Love the peek at the colorful skirt. I can just picture the dancer wearing it and having fun.

Kristin L said...

I too see a swirling skirt and happy fiesta in this. A very appropriate use of Brenda's energetic colors.

Deborah Boschert said...

I love the green background piece -- so many interesting shapes, layers and shades. Your satin stitching really emphasizes the colors, too! And such a lovely curvy, flouncy skirt. Great job.

Terry Grant said...

I can feel music in this piece! The swirl of that skirt is pure freedom and energy. What a fun, fun idea!

Brenda said...

Such colour and movement. It's fiesta time!

Françoise said...

Didn't you tell me you didn't like it? I think it's a wonderful piece Karen.

Nikki said...

At first I thought this one might be Terry's because of the subject matter, but the fabric gave you away. I love the swirling skirt, I can just feel the energy. Beautiful.

kirsten said...

Unmistakeable subject matter! I am very much enamoured of that green fabric :) Gorgeous!