This is month four of my creative challenge for 2018 is Taking Shape: Cues from Nature – a monthly art project. I have been busy on other assignments but have an inspiration bank of images from my daily walks. At present, there are many bird of paradise plants in bloom in my neighbourhood:
I took the artistic liberty of distilling the design into elongated triangles:
I artfully auditioned some cut triangles on an aqua background. That was easy:
However, sewing those triangles together was much less improvisational. Because I am not used to working with triangles and was time-poor, I prepared a freezer paper pattern guide to scale:
This helped me visualise the seamlines and manage all those intersections at the base of the staggered triangles. An extra degree of difficulty was introduced when I realised that I had a limited supply of this particular aqua background fabric. One wrong cut and some imaginative problem-solving would be required.
Once I got it all together, I was relieved to find it was the right size – just over 50x50cm. Intensive straight-line stitching with variegated thread adds texture:
And here is the completed textile painting for 15 May 2018: Things I learned:
- I need more practice and play time with triangles to better understand how they interact together;
- for more flexibility, be generous with your fabric allocation; and
- play more with designs. The cropped image photo, for example, still captures the essence of a bird of paradise flower but with fewer shapes. Economy is a very useful design principle especially for an abstract artist!
View the Taking Shape: Cues from Nature collection on my website. The next Monthly Art Project showcase is on 15 June 2018. I invite you to join the creative challenge with YOUR personal monthly art project.
Join the Monthly Art Project: Flourish in 2018!
The Monthly Art Project Facebook Group is open to any artist in any medium with a showcase on the 15th day of each month. New participants are welcome at any time. Here is an overview of the May 2018 Showcase so far:
Luann Fischer says
Inspiring piece. I’m intrigued by the flower itself. In one of your pictures it appears to have an arrow shaped projectile that comes from within the blooming area. Your work, this month, has me planning a trip to the florist, or botanical garden nearby. I just must look at that plant more closely. AND I absolutely love your color choices for this piece.
I am enjoying your project pieces.