Bittersweet Study

This will be my last Twelve by Twelve challenge. Sweet is thus bittersweet for me. So, I'm currently exploring ways to express the word or feeling. I thought it almost wonderfully symmetrical that something like bittersweet chocolate could be my last challenge piece when Chocolate was one of our first. It was second though, so it's not quite as elegant as I would hope. Anyway, I was also unaware that there is a climbing vine called Bittersweet. There are actually several varieties, first being Bittersweet Nightshade from Europe with it's lovely ovoid red berries and purple flowers, and the second being American Bittersweet named for it's resemblance to the former, but having a wonderful trefoil orange husk. In addition to my usual word association scribbles in my working sketchbook, I've decided to draw some of the more literal bittersweets. This drawing/painting is totally overworked and tortured, but the point of making it was to explore the plant, it's colors, and shapes. I may harvest elements for my Twelve by Twelve piece, I may not. Nine more days to pull something together.

Confession

I have a confession to make. I am not motivated to work on our current challenge. I have several other projects which I am much more excited about and I'd much rather be working on.

However, I'm committed to my Twelve by Twelve compatriots so every now and then I make sure I give our theme a little attention. Last night I even drew a cartoon for it n(and by cartoon, I mean a drawing which I'll be working from as a sort of pattern, not a comic interpretation). 

My process is not unlike the one Helen so eloquently laid out a few posts back. I start with thoughts and words and associations drawn. Could I create a work that is maverick? That is "outside the box?" No, that would be pretty cocky for me to assume I could do. How about an homage to a maverick in the quilt world (since our medium is quilts after all)? I'm thinking in particular, people like Nancy Crow, Michael James, Gwen Marston, Joe Cunningham, and Susan Shie. I consider all these creators to be mavericks because of the ways their work veered away from quilting customs and paved the way for those of us who are following. But in my opinion, doing a portrait or a piece in the style of any of these people would be derivative, and that is in my mind neither free thinking or outside convention (definitions of maverick).

So, I'll have to approach a maverick in a different way. I'm looking to the original meaning and drawing  from the meaning of branding and herds. I'm also using my previous work as a jumping off point. I often find that part of my process is to wait until the muse hits, and while I don't want to put this off until the last minute, I'm not rushing to force it. I'm pleased with the groundwork I've laid, and can envision a satisfying solution. There's some room though along the way to wander off the path I've beaten.

Where I've been, Where I'm going?

My family moves house. Not as much as some, but I think more than most. It's part of being in the military. While the Army often asks us where we'd like to go, when it comes down to it, they make the final decision of where my husband is needed. This makes mapping out future plans a bit difficult. But we've been fortunate enough to live in many very interesting places along the way. Where we've been and where we are going has been the focus of my pondering on the Twelve by Twelve map theme.



Usually, I ask myself if there are any textile references related to a given theme or subject I want to pursue. My first thoughts were of maps printed on the silk linings of some WWII era bomber jackets. According to Wikipedia,

Some jackets had a map of the mission area sewn into the lining, which could be used (in theory) for navigation if shot down. Some jackets (famously, those from the China Burma India Theater, and of the Flying Tigers) had a "Blood chit" sewn on the lining or outer back, printed on cloth, which promised certain rewards to civilians who aided a downed airman.

I liked that a map could signify the future, or a road out of danger. I wrote in my sketchbook that perhaps I could embroider on silk, but have it be a map of an inner journey. What do I want? Where do I want to go? Dead ends? Dangerous or unknown places? Rewarding places?

Then I got to thinking that all of that might be a bit obtuse, and considered souvenir state tea towels like these from the Sundance catalog. If nothing else the size and proportions are much closer to our 20x12" vertical format. Conceptually, this idea would be less "escape route," and more "banal life in general." And I'm OK with that.

So, I set about listing things I could incorporate. Thoughts on moving. Places we've lived. Icons of those places. The sense of criss-crossing the globe. Then I started drawing. With Google Maps to help I made drawings of neighborhoods in which we've lived. With tracing paper, I finessed placements.

My next step will be to transfer my drawing to a plain tea towel and get to embroidering. I'm liking where this is going, and it was fun reminiscing where I've been in the process.

The Reading Part of the Process

Visitors, kids out of school, and general holiday festivities have not been conducive to making art. I have been thinking about though. Through a series of confluences, I was inspired to re-read "The Hero With a Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell. It seemed quite relevant to our metamorphosis challenge. Like Deborah, my process usually starts with words, free association, and browsing inspiration. This time I'm diving pretty deep into the word part.



The book has more emphasis on psychology and religion than I remember from 15 years ago when I last read it, and it's a bear to read (or has motherhood fried more brain cells than I thought?). But, bits and pieces have informed my world view for decades and it's nice to re-familiarize myself with it. Though I'm not taking specifics from the book, I'm certain that the metamorphosis of the hero-journey will be my subject matter. Now, whether it will be a person in general (self portrait), the transformation of a soldier (in keeping with my non 12x12 work), or the metamorphosis made through motherhood, I'm not sure.

Along with my book and sketchbook/journal, I've also made size specific design boards for 20-12 and another project. Our new size is looking very do-able -- especially in comparison to the other, much larger board!

Cooking up Something

Mmmm, yummy spicy Indian food! That's what came to mind with Helen's palette. Almost immediately I thought of a spice market and those wonderful piles of color.

This would be fun to make with all my lovely brown fabrics, but doesn't it just look like a Brandon Mably fabric (though we all know I love his and Kaffe Fasset's fabrics)?

How about just the spice? A pile of colorful powder that looked like someone ran their finger through. I could do all French Knots in luscious embroidery flosses. I've done two knot-heavy projects in the last month though, and I think I need to do something else.

Reading up on the odd spice out, I learned that Asofoetida has a lot of medicinal uses in addition to it's cookery ones. That made me think of an apothecary and all it's jars, or mysterious drawers.

I kind of like this one.

I was certain that Helen had chosen this palette because she wanted us to think deep thoughts about Asofoetida and it's anti-flatulent, antimicrobial, contraceptive, abortifacient, balancing, and repelling properties. She says she was just thinking of the nice warm browns, but I told her I didn't believe it and would make a piece with a red circle with a line through it to indicate "no fart clouds."

I was loving all the names for Asafoetida based on it's fetid smell. How about a lovely redwork style botanical embroidery, with a bunch of "crappy" names (pun intended)? OK, there's potential in that design.

I was curious about the ancient uses of the spice though. Apparently, it is an inferior version of the ancient herb Silphium, which was so valued in the ancient world that it's image was used on coins, and it was over harvested to extinction by the Roman era. There's some speculation that because of Sylphium's contraceptive effectiveness the heart symbol we use to represent romantic love (that bears little resemblance to a real human heart) is actually based on the heart shaped seed of the plant. It's also possible that use of Sylphium is the reason there wasn't a huge population explosion during the Roman Empire despite much improved nutrition and medical care.

Connecting the dots from the spice palette, to Asafoetida in particular, I think I can make a case for using it's cousin Sylphium as inspiration. But what do I want to say? I think I want to say that for millennia, women have wanted, needed, and sought, choices. We need to accept that.

But I'm feeling that words are to obvious in a quilted piece -- a kind of a cop-out for me. They are much better suited for printed material, or that in the realm of words and letters. Besides, I found a website with bold, thoughtful imagery that is essentially what I was imagining.

I need to be more subtle with my Spice piece. I want to convey something visually without having to explain it in words. I want it to be more subliminal as well. I don't think I need to knock anyone over the head with my Sylphium reference. It can be an intriguing discovery.

Now, back to the drawing (sewing) board to see what I can pull off. What kind of fabrics could reinforce my theme?

Along the way

Like most, I think my first reaction to the word passion was to think of lust and love. But who's lust and love? What's passionate to one person is not to another. What one person is passionate about, another may not be. This idea needn't apply only to the amorous definition of passion -- it applies to the larger enthusiasm. It's very personal. 

With all these thoughts in my head, I considered that passion itself resides in one's head. Heads led to images of phrenology, which made me think of Victorian imagery, which is ironic because that was a period of passionate repression of passion. 

This is a sketch I started with the idea of embroidering it as if on a hanky or tea towel. I opted to go another route, but I still like this idea. I think it's instructive to see the processes and paths we take. This one may be worth returning to at some time.

Bull's Eye Glass

My window will be of the 17th Century type. I am trying out a technique of first quilting, then painting over it. One of Deborah's recent studies reminded me of this texture enhancement made popular by Linda and Laura Kemshall and taken to incredible levels by Deidre Adams. It's not something I would normally do as I prefer my fabric to stay soft and supple, but the point of this group (and our small-ish format) is to branch out and try new things. For the purposes of my window, I think it's going to work out perfectly.

Too Many Chairs

When Deborah announced our theme, I had just bought four new dining room chairs. We also had the eight that have graced our desks and dining room table for many years. In all, it was TOO MANY CHAIRS in my house! After sketching a little, I asked Gerrie if she could make a thermofax screen for me to realize my idea. Here's what I made:




I'm showing it now because I enjoyed making it, but don't like the final outcome. It's busy like I wanted, but I should have made the strips a bit wonkier and cut off more chair parts to achieve the crowded look I had in my head. While I was waiting for the screens though, I came up with two more ideas which I actually think I like better than re-doing this. But you'll have to wait until reveal day to see them. In the mean time, I'm kinda liking my post-screening work surface:

Done, but not done

I've done it. I finished my illumination quilt. Now that I still have time though, I'm considering trying to do another with the idea I was originally going to use before I got side tracked with the hokey idea that turned out not to be so cheesy after all.