Monday, November 14, 2011

A plate in Paris

Yes, Karen and Ted came all the way from California to bring me this beautiful glass plate in Paris more than two years ago!
Isn't it gorgeous?
I must say that, at first, I was surprised when they told me that it was inspired by my "Mathematics quilt".
I really think Ted did an amazing job.
Actually there are also some similarities between Ted's plate and my "Twelve" quilt, although he hadn't seen that quilt yet when he made the plate, (and I hadn't seen his plate when I made my quilt). Do you see the 12 little dots on his plate and the 12 cross stitches on my quilt? And then the curvy orange lines on his plate and the undulating line of beads on my quilt?

Thank you so much Ted for this beautiful gift!

7 comments:

Gerrie said...

Oh, wow! This has so much energy. It is like a zen Francoise quilt had some champagne!! I love it.

Nikki said...

I absolutely love the plates! I will get a photo of mine as soon as my new camera arrives--they say by the end of the day Wednesday, but I'm hoping it will make the trip faster!

Ted Rips said...

... Which brings me to plate #1

When Karen and I decided to go to Paris, she kept asking how far Belgium was from Paris. I had been to both in my previous lives in business and as a 50 something year old grad student. I told her that nothing is very far in Europe, and asked what is in Belgium? She answered in one word... Françoise.

To make a long story short (not something I am known for), Françoise and her husband Roland decided to meet us in Paris. What do you bring someone in Paris? A bottle of California wine? A set of mouse ears from Disneyland? I really don't remember who thought of it, but what could be more personal than a piece of glass art inspired by her fabric art. At that time Brenda had created a matrix of which Twelves had met, and Karen hoped that the time would come when she had met you all. Thus, we/she decided that when she met a Twelve for the first time, she would give them a plate to remember her by. Of course the first meetings were with Françoise, Terry, and Gerrie. I didn't consider that I would be making another eight plates at one time!

Note to self... Make one for Karen!!!

As to this plate... I am glad Françoise noticed the twelve dots, and that they are somewhat geographically located. Also, the groups are connected representing that you are all tied together. On a technical note, if you look at where the blues and reds meet the yellows you will see an outline. This is due to a chemical reaction when the glass is melted. It is a reaction that I was aware of but had forgotten about. Serendipity!

Jaye said...

Simply beautiful!!! What talented people you all are...what wonderful treasures these plates are!

Gerrie said...

Ted - I love hearing your stories about each one.

Kirsty said...

Me, too, Gerrie! It is lovely to hear your stories, Ted.
My word ver. is 'experp'. That's you, Ted : a glass experp.

Kristin L said...

I love Gerrie's comment about it being a post champagne plate! It's very much inspired by Françoise's work and yet it has it's own wonderful energy. I can't believe everyone stayed quiet for up to two years about these!