VAN GOGH BEDROOM - Day2

Sketching the chosen painting makes me familiar with the piece and experience first-hand the artist’s style and Van Gogh’s thoughts. Wanting to mimic the inconsistent line in his sketches, I used a turkey feather for sketching. Like many artists back in the day, Vincent must have used a burnt stick or roughly carved graphite; after all, there were no pencil sharpeners!

VAN GOGH BEDROOM - Day1

My initial inspiration came from spending time looking at a number of books with several of Vincent Van Gogh’s works. Then I chose one painting to create as a painted wholecloth quilt. Even though some of the same paintings appear in several books, the color in different publications and page size sometime give a different perspective on the work.

Creating a painted collage quilt - Day11

I am contemplating using carved bone beads as a finishing touch....mmmmm, not sure.....

I think I like the figures better without the beads, this embellishment is too prevalent and takes away the focus on the figures. Plus it looks like the people have stick legs!

Creating a painted collage quilt - Day10

Using the backing of the quilt, I rolled it to the front and bar tacked it to create the binding. The darker fabric that I chose added a rich dimension of textile and framed the piece. I have chosen palm nuts (saltless!) to sew into the tucks of the binding. The finishing touch will be adding African beads carved from bones and engraved.

Creating a painted collage quilt - Day9

Using my Gammill longarm, I quilted the brush strokes on the road to give the path movement. I stitched a primitive looking crisscross pattern on the borders to mimic African handwork. A simple back-and-forth pattern on the background created a ripple effect in the fabric that complemented the angle of the road.  

Creating a painted collage quilt - Day8

When I draped the border fabrics around the piece on the design wall, I noticed the borders needed to be integrated into the composition. Prairie points were the answer I was looking for. I stitched them onto the background fabric and then added the borders. I'm finally ready to quilt!

Creating a painted collage quilt - Day7

Brush strokes are ready to begin! Using a dry brush technique, I brushed in the road, unifying the composition. I added shadows under the figures' feet to add depth and give the figures more form. It’s amazing how much movement this added to the piece.

Creating a painted collage quilt - Day6

 

Glue Day! I spray-basted the batik panel, the two inch squares, and the radial design to the background fabric and appliquéd them. I used Beacon fabric glue to adhere the canvas pieces in place and appliquéd them.

Creating a painted collage quilt - Day 5

The more I looked at the composition, the figures appeared to be walking down a road. I wanted to create a great depth of feeling of the figures walking across a desert to the mountains in the batik panel. To capture this, I envisioned a path that I plan to paint into the piece later.

I noticed two more things that needed to happen in the composition. There was a gap in the lower right hand corner and, secondly, the focal batik panel needed to be integrated into the background fabric because I didn't want it to look like a square was plopped onto the piece.

To fill the gap in the composition, I went to my accent fabrics that I had previously draped on the design wall and chose an African radial design. I cut it out and pinned it in the gap. It worked!

Next I trimmed off two inch strips from the batik panel and cut them into two inch blocks. When I placed the small blocks around the panel on the background fabric, they tied the panel colors to the background fabric.

Creating a painted collage quilt - Day 4

I couldn't wait to cut up the canvas but it was scary at the same time! Once a canvas is cut, there's no turning back... I divided the images of people into an odd number of canvas units. Using "Perfect Scissors", I cut the canvas into seven units and placed them in the composition on the design wall. I need to look at this for a few days....

Creating a painted collage quilt - Day 3

I chose a background fabric to extend the color and feeling of the batik panel. I put it on the design wall and positioned the batik panel for compositional success. Then I draped a potential border fabric next to the arrangement. I draped all the accent fabrics on the perimeter of the arrangement. Before I make any more design decisions, I need to incorporate the painted Kenyan canvas.

Creating a painted collage quilt - Day 2

I draped everything onto my design wall. I placed the batik panel in the center and the painted canvas below it. I placed all the fabric around the two inspirational pieces. When I viewed the collection on the wall, I immediately saw some fabric that did not belong in the quilt. I removed it from the design wall, although I kept it close by in case it needs to be reintroduced. I'm finally on my way to creating a working composition.