Monday, November 8, 2010

any thoughts?

 

ok.
most noticably, i took away the stars. but left a little stardust. i will need to get better at stars.

i made Sun beams...which i feel ok about

but mostly, dealt with the issue of the [quite blue] of the Twhich Aye cloth that nance has told me is
shot cotton (!) All the time i am working, i am experiencing the almost discomfort of this blue and
the kind of teal underneath. but I still, somehow, WANT this. i look and look at the colors of every
thing ~ which are unusual for me, not individually, but in combination....
i am very resistant to Color Theory and am now an old dog (new tricks,) so i just stare and stare.
What will make things "ok"?. Why did i choose the odd and almost greenish gauze for wind? i think
to accomodate the moth? or was it the flower seed area?, which i have changed by stitching black and
white there?

so, in defense of OR in response to all this, i kantha'd all of the lower parts with a very pale sage
green?(which is barely noticable) but which made the darker kantha thread above stand out even more...should i take that out?
or is it ok because it is Night up there at the top? and then, now,
what about the moon.
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20 comments:

Patty said...

OK, I put up my hand to block the
large, dark part on lower left and the elements somehow settled into
a unified whole. The color, the shape drifting beyond the border and the intensity of the solid color drew my eye away from the more subtle relationships within the borders.

Is there a way to soften this shape?
I like that it goes outside the edge but the darkness and intensity
gives it over much weight. I really like what you're doing here!

grace Forrest~Maestas said...

Patty...you are speaking of the
bottom of the Figure? ?????
INTERESTING because that did not
appear in question to me.
how amazing.
but want to be sure that's what
you are referring to. and maybe
when the other piece of fabric,
similar in color intensity was
there...it
balanced?
THANK YOU

grace Forrest~Maestas said...

THIS IS REALLY INTERESTING

grace Forrest~Maestas said...

in that, i am
REALLY INTERESTED
in this cloth stuff
and
this is
what i need to understand.......

Patty said...

Yes, the bottom of the figure is the shape/color/placement I meant. And I
agree that to balance it you could add another shape? Also, sometimes work looks different in photos than it does in person.

Another thing I've learned is to look at the cloth reflected in a mirror and upside down. This can give a step backward at least for a moment to see. I have the hardest time Looking at what I make...it sometimes becomes invisible which is why I have a pile of things "resting". I really like this cloth you're making.

grace Forrest~Maestas said...

Patty..ok...will try the mirror
thing...used to do that with
drawings. i forgot.
xoxo

Storycloth said...

It looks fantastic Grace - the darker stitching is great and the lower stitching shows beautifully. The great thing I have learned too is to absolutely soak and relax in the enjoyment of trying lots and lots of htings out. We are so fortunate to have this network of sharing, so fortunate. Gilly

Leslie said...

Grace i have to agree with Patty when i looked at the composition that was the conrer that mde me feel "uncomfortable" for want of a better word...I really like the wind and the moth and the flower they are really quite impressionistic. I think the red (shot cotton) on the figure in the bottom left is great...have you tried a red colour instead of the blue for the flow of the body?...well that's my five cents worth...

Leslie said...

sorry Grace....just had another look....you could balance the blue out by placing your moon in a dark pool....??

Penny Berens said...

Grace, I love this story, the kantha stitching is great. I think the last comment is interesting...adding some weight to the moon (top right) to make it more important.

jude said...

well the first thing i would do is fringe that gauzy blue a bit more. to give that rectangle a dark halo. and maybe make that dark rectangle in the lower left corner into more of a triangular shape that fits in more as a corner by using some sort of protrusion(s) that balance the rays of the sun. and i feel that the figures face could have its own "rays", but I am confused as to which way the wind is blowing. i am sending you a sketch.
that is not really a shot cotton, it is commonly known as a chambray because one color is white. but the fabric beneath it is a very subtle shot fabric.

Unknown said...

I like the dark shape on the left but I think that the moon should be dark. Then you would have a nice dark area running through on the diagonal which would hold it together. Something I learned from painting--when a color feels like it needs to be changed, it is not always that color you need to change, but the one next to it. To tone down the blue (if that is what you want to do), I would add more orange or burnt sienna somewhere. The blue could be stitched with it! This has been fun. Thanks for asking...........

Christie Minchew said...

I think you need to 'step awayyy from the piece'! It always helps me when I know something is wrong or unfinished. It gives me new eyes to see. I really liked your stars, but of course, it's more important that you do. I've had so much fun seeing how it's been progressing. Sometimes for me, a hard part is to remove my original vision from clouding a new, and perfectly wonderful, evolution. I do believe you'll figure it out...in time.

nandas said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
nandas said...

grace i actually said that it was a chambray...
have you eliminated the gauze altogether? or just taken it off so you could kantha?

nandas said...

oh... i enlarged it and see the gauze. i like jude's ideas..

helen said...

Here's my two cents: I'm going to stay with my original thoughts that came before reading everyone elses posts, but they all have great ideas. Just more thoughts to work with: I thought perhaps you could couch black & white ( magic thread?) around the moon to make it more pronounced and then perhaps kantha a few rows following the shape. The way one might tone down the "too blue" background (if that's what you think) is to HEAVY kantha stitch with the sage green since it is so light (I can't even see it in the ground area) and I also thought perhaps the blue body was a bit dark, and thought of you using a light green like the bit that is in the red body and it would tie in the wind and red and green are opposites on a color wheel and perhaps it would take away from the "too blue", again.Glennis had some nice green shibori (in case you got some) that would work. I really hate telling people my thoughts cause I don't want it to come across like I really know what I'm doing,(ha) but I myself enjoy input when I'm stalled.

helen said...

Oh ya, I also wanted to say, that there is really nothing wrong with your piece the way it is, we are our own worse critics. I personally think it's coming along fine I don't mind the "blue" but if you do. . . . then I understand wanting input.

twhIch aye said...

you know, i've been putting together colors that seem odd to me only after i've sewn them too lately... hmmm... maybe there's something to that aspect?

i see what you mean about the teal and the blue, but i like the whole thing. when i first looked at it, i thought the blue of the skirt, and the combo of the fringe of the blue laying on the teal go together (that right edge). they match to me. maybe jude's suggestion to fringe it might bring it out more?

also the dark blue around the 'petals' goes with your stitching...

i thought your wind was smoke rising from the brown... some type of fire?

you know we all see what it is our ayes see and i think it's beautiful and i loved the stars too.

hope this does not lend to confusion for you miss grace...

Heartwideopen said...

I love the black and white stitching on the seed area. I like the dark stitching at the top because it is night there. A adore the rays on the sunshine, but I miss the stars. All in all, I'm loving what you're doing. I like the sage green color for the wind. I'm not sure why, but it feels like a new growth wind to me, maybe?

;~) Debi