A Bit of "Backward Design"!

I've discovered a new design technique ...  well at least a name for it!! 

I was browsing through on of my favorite textile art books "Stitch Stories"  by Cas Holmes and in a section on collage she talks about a process she calls 'backward design' .....  extracting compositions from a larger design .....  and that's just what I've been doing this week. 

I had a larger piece that I made a year or so ago and although there was a lot I liked about it,  something was missing so I set it aside (.... waiting for inspiration !) 

Inspiration came in the form of an idea from an old sketchbook .... putting the two together meant cutting sections from the larger piece as the basis for the new compositions.

 The result is a series of new leafline pieces on the design wall ready for stitching .....  here are three of them .....

I think this will be a very useful design technique for the future   ..... 

And I can highly recommend ............"Stitch Stories" by Cas Holmes,  Batsford, London 2015    if your are looking for inspiration !! 

Have you tried some 'backward design' ??      Thanks for reading ............CC  

Reunions and Reconnecting with Grace

Last year I attended a school reunion (for the first time !) ...  thanks to the encouragement of a good friend from school days.  The lunch included a tour of the school.  While it was fun to catch up with some of my old school mates .....  I was very impressed by the fantastic new facilities, not the least of which is an art gallery that has been set up in one of the old boarding houses!  

The gallery is the Grace Cossington Smith Gallery at Abbotsleigh on the Pacific Highway at Wahroonga and was established in 2013 with the intention of providing an on-site educational resource for the School. Opening the gallery to the public provided the opportunity to engage with a wider community.  

This year that engagement has led to .......

I am delighted that one of my art quilts will be included in this exhibition,  not only because it is associated with my old school but also because of the connection to Grace Cossington Smith after whom the gallery is named.  Grace was  also an  "old girl", one who lived and worked for many years in the same area of Sydney where I grew up and whose work, especially during the 1950's and 1960's, is an inspiration!

 In this period " Grace Cossington Smith came to realise her aim: to express form in color - color within color, vibrant with light"  Grace Cossington Smith: A Retrospective Exhibition, National Gallery of Australia 2005.

 If you haven't come across her work it is well worth a look.  One of my favorites is 'Interior in Yellow'  1964 ...... google it! 

The 2005 Retrospective Exhibition biography by Deborah Hart concludes with the following observation .....

" It is ultimately Cossington Smith's steadfast resolve to be true to herself in her art, to experiment and evolve at her own pace, revealing a depth of feeling for the world around her, a sense of adventure and a faith in the spirit underlying all things - ' the golden thread running through time' - that makes her one of the most brilliant artists of her generation."

Something to strive for!

Past & Present!

This piece Leaflines #20  has just returned from exhibition at the 2016 Sydney Quilt Show .... and it has a bit of history!  

The original composition was completed in February this year but there was something that made me hesitate when it came to the quilting stage ...... and after much contemplation I decided on some modifications .....  as a result I had to scramble to make the delivery deadline for the Sydney Quilt Show!!

Original Composition

Final Version

While it's always interesting to see both versions side by side .... I am much happier with the final version!

This piece was hung on a rod for the Show ... now it is returned I plan to mount it on a stretched canvas.

Getting Ready for the Sydney Quilt Show

This week has been all about getting my entry ready for the Sydney Quilt Show, which is just a couple of weeks away (June 22-26).  I put the original composition together in the early part of the year as part of my Leaf Line Series  and submitted my entry form in March  ....  all good.  Then I had an "inspiration"  and reworked a couple of areas !!!  I'm pleased with the end result but found it was quite a stressful process with the deadline looming !!!   Now it's all quilted and facings etc done .....

 Here are some close up shots .....

Just the hanging sleeve to stitch in place.....  I've often struggled to get hanging sleeves to sit nicely with the right amount of fullness for the rod, but this time I actually ready the instructions provided by Quilt NSW and the end result is perfect and so simple and straight forward!

 I've added my version to the Resources page above if you need to know how....