It was not an easy colour scheme for me. It's not that I don't like bright colours, but so many of them at the same time in such a small quilt... And I must admit that this lorikeet green didn't really excite me. But I was confident some ideas would emerge during my trip in Japan this summer.Actually, I found out that Japan in August has many different shades of green. The one I liked the best was the bright green of the small rice fields. When I came back home, I decided my quilt would be a simple imaginary landscape based on the beautiful sceneries I had seen during my stay.
I also wanted my quilt to make reference to my mother as her weak health was a constant worry for me while I was away. I printed her silhouette several times on a piece of red fabric and placed it at the left of my landscape.
I liked that quilt a lot but, in the end, I just didn't feel like showing it. So I replaced my mom's silhouette by a single leaf shape, a ginkgo leaf, as there are so many ginkgo trees in Japan and they are seen as a symbol of resilience.
I'll post more photos on my blog later today.
10 comments:
This is such a successful piece, Francoise, and I love that it reflects your Japan trip. The abstract landscape is so direct and clean, and the single ginko leaf defined by stitching has that same subtle strength. I am very drawn to this and if I saw it on a wall in a gallery I know I would make a bee-line straight to it!
I agree with Diane. I love how you repeated some of the colors in the left side panel. The quilting is perfect.
Very lovely Francoise. I wasn't very excited about this shade of green either. Your landscape is wonderful and I love the stitched leaf shape. It adds a lot to the quilt.
Genius. I love it. This could easily be my favorite of your pieces, Francoise. The blue mountain shapes are so evocative and the ginkgo is perfectly subtle. I also love the black border and the bit of black used in the binding.
I'm sorry your mother has been a concern. It's funny how those personal struggles find their way into our art, isn't it?
This is my favorite! It's happy, yet serene, and so simple, yet obviously a landscape. The colors don't shout as much as just shine. I agree that the ginko leaf was an excellent solution -- it immediately tells us this is Japan, and has personal meaning for you. Love it.
Who else could use red in a landscape of Japan and pull it off so beautifully. This is so peaceful to look at, I feel like I'm sitting on the train right now looking at those rice fields.
Only Francoise could make these riotous colors look peaceful and serene! I love the sense of space you achieved so simply. Wonderful composition.
Another exquisite Francoise piece. The scene also reminds me of tulips fields in the Pacific Northwest of America with Mt Ranier, Mt Hood etc in the background.
Beautiful. I love how you took color that are seem very unFrancoise and made a piece that is totally you. Such a wonderful landscape.
SO beautiful, Francoise! The landscape reminds me of the sugar cane fields here in North Queensland. They are bright green and often have blue hills in the background and red dirt in the foreground. The ginko leaf is a lovely, gentle thought for your mother.
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