As I continue to work on this piece I am finding myself covering up the digital images. They seem to look fine here, but a closer view reveals a superficial, flat appearance. It almost has the look of a cartoon. I guess this is my one complaint about using images in this way. I think they almost have to be painted or stained or dyed or over-printed with stencils or stamps or free-hand designs, so they have some richness and depth.
This piece above I did many months ago. I copied the image on an old embroidered linen piece and surrounded the image with antique trims and ribbons. I also over-embroidered the flowers and stitched gold mesh underneath the holes in the linen. What ever I did to the piece left me dissatisfied. Again the imagery looked flat and dull. I need to experiment more with this technique. I really like what is going on over here. I am not sure if she ever uses digital imagery, but I like the story quality of her pieces. Each has so much character and richness because of her use of antique textiles, trims, and her variation of these. All are hand stitched as well, and this accentuates all the lovely details.
I will keep working on this former piece and see what sort of texture and depth I can create.
Well, I think that you are on to something. It looks like you are following a street that will take you deeper into the unconscious..please keep going on.
Pat,
I like the idea of going “deeper into the unconscious”, with the thought that perhaps I might let go of my constant critic and simply dive in!
i think you are right,,, printed images by themselves are a bit dull. i developed my skatching technique to address this. (patching over a sketch or picture. it will be interesting to see what you do with this one.
Jude,
Thanks for the idea. I will go over to your blog and look at this technique.
I mentioned this post on my blog, because the top picture looks like something my daughter was working on, for a report. I keep wanting to click the pic to see it up close.
Well, you had me looking at everything I’ve printed and thinking about it.
I like my prayer flags a lot, but there is nothing surrounding them. They are just what I printed out on to the fabric. They are printed on a tightly woven cotton.
I did an experiment about 2 weeks ago that I didn’t share-I pretty much covered up the whole thing. Printed on silk organza.
I’ll probably play with this some more this weekend. I’m feeling challenged to make this work.
I suspect the contrast of fabrics and the type of image being printed are important.
Deb,
I am curious what you used for printing, if you used the sheets that you buy. My printer is fussy and every time I use fabric taped to paper it jams. Jude is going to do a blog on this soon and discuss techniques she uses as I think the medium tends to appear dull and flat when it is finished. I do think this has great potential though.
I’ve used the sheets you buy. Also have tried taping fabric to paper and it jams. I haven’t tried ironing paper to freezer paper. I’m going to try that tomorrow.
My paper is always jamming when I use this method. I had not thought of using the freezer paper technique and will be happy to see how this works for you.
Dear Mendofleur, I have been following your blog ever since Jude Hill mentioned you. You have such nice things to say about fabrics, quilts and life. I was piqued by your entry about Radka Donnell’s book, Quilts as Womens’s Art: A Quilt Poetics. I went looking on line and her book is out of print, as you said, and old copies are selling for almost $100.00! My local library did not have a copy either, but were able to loan me a copy through our wonderful inter library loan service. (My copy is on loan from Forest Grove, Oregon.)
I wanted to tell you that by ‘Googling’ Radka’s name I came up with an interesting website of ethnographic documentary films. I found and watched this film: “Quilts in Women’s Lives”, a film portrait of seven quiltmakers by Pat Ferrero, San Francisco, 1980. Radka was one of the seven featured artists and it was fun to listen to and see her in person and watch her actually making a quilt. The other women in the documentary were also very interesting. The film was about 30 minutes long and very enjoyable.
So thankyou for dropping your seeds along the fiber path for me to come along and find!
Now I am reading Radka’s book and it is sparking questions. I am not sure if I agree with her premise or not. It would be a good book for seminar, she is very thought provoking. Well, I will read on before I form any hard opinions.
I would like to start a blog too, but have so many questions for which I can’t seem to find the answers from simply reading the ‘how to make a blog’ web sites. Would you be willing to give me some advice? I like the look of your blog very much.
Sincerely, Julia Moore
Julia,
I would love to hear more of your thoughts on Radka Donnell. I have not been able to get my hands on a copy. I thought of buying one also, but was discouraged by the cost. I will try and get one from the library too. I was familiar with Pat Ferrero’s film, but don’t recall having seen it. However, I would love to, particularly since those were the years I started quiltmaking. Another quilt documentary you might enjoy is The Great American Quilt Revival, a fascinating film about how quilts came to be recognized as an art form and the explosion of this craft in our current culture.
I will get in touch with you regarding a blog. Thank you for sharing this great information about Radka. I am going to email you and if you don’t receive it, please email me @ mendofleur@aol.com.