Friday, January 20, 2006

No Risk, January JQ2006

January_journal_2006_8 Back_of_january_journal_2006 Dscn1200



(Photo sequence, l-r: front, back, close-up)



There was absolutely no risk involved in this piece. No emotional attachment. I didn't even take the leap to practice free motion quilting.  The only point was to place the lines and shapes against the white background in a manner that pleased me.  Easy.  This was a piece I salvaged (I like salvaging) from the C&C exercises.  The closest I came to being creatively invested was deciding on what colour thread...it was a choice between purple, even considered a hot pink, a metallic red or blue. After the thread was selected and the piece quilted, I was bored looking at it, so I posed the question, what could I do to make it just a little bit interesting?  Remember I do love to salvage.  I thought of couching but I wanted to keep the high contrast and couching would have reduced the contrast.  So this is where the beading came in. 



The completed quilt reminds me of nothing, absolutely nothing and I had to resist the cliche to name it, so I call it No Risk instead of...nope, I will not even say. 



The lines/shapes are fused and the binding is fused.  My favorite element is the largest 3 squares at the top with the red beads.



I did get practice with squaring up. It lays very very flat.  I love to bead so I think a good beading book for quilts is in order.  I don't tie off very good or at least not in a way that I feel my beads are secure.





23 comments:

  1. The older I get the more I cherish free play, no emotional attachment, engaged in the process of improvisation. Nice job with your spontaneity - no risk, no fear and rewarding end product.

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  2. The one at the top is my favorite, too. I love the graphic feel, the contrast, and the beads.

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  3. Way cool. It doesn't look like code anymore. It looks fun and energetic! It has the same language as the backing fabric. You've been able to make the leap from "exercise" to "art quilt." Now I'll havr to take a fresh look at my exercises...

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  4. Karoda,
    I'm with you, I want to bead everything I make now. Red was a great choice for these black and white journal quilts.

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  5. Black and white with a little red, one of my favorite color combinations. With beads too ! Like this.

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  6. Karoda, I like this a lot! I love the flow of the way you've placed the red elements. It looks so different now!
    And I like the title. I think doing some no risk stuff now and then is good for the soul. If everything we do is no risk it would get boring. But if everything we do is "high stakes, deep meaning", we get burnt out. Gotta have that play time in there! Good for you.

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  7. Does not having an emotional attachment to your piece feel OK?
    I don't always have an emotional connection either. Sometimes they serve their purpose and they are done.

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  8. umm, interesting question Debra...i gave myself permission to be okay with it, but it felt hollow. i don't think i would allow myself to submit work to a show or even offer for sale a piece that i was so disconnected from. even the postcards that i sale are ones that i was jazzed about when finished. now if someone saw this piece and said to me "oh i love it! i've got to have it!" i would not have any problem giving it away and would view it as the piece having found its purpose.

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  9. Maybe as you make other pages for your journal, you will see the "purpose" or "place" this page will have and it will be needed and wanted in the bigger scheme of your book. (or not!)
    I know my piece this month kind of sprung up on its own but I could see immediately that the colors and fabrics I chose are ones I really like and I felt the Gates transfer was a good link for the long year's worth of work so although I am not gaagaa over what I did, I can see it will work with where I want the journal to head.

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  10. Here we go with that emotional thing, Karoda!! Sometimes great design is all that a piece needs - it does not always have to be wrenched from the gut with a message. This is a wonderful, playful design. I love black and white with a touch of red!!

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  11. Gerrie, you have me cracking up here. A great reminder that life ain't always that serious. Reason why your first statement has me laughing is because I can hear my children and a few family members ask me "can't you just sit and watch tv, does everything have to be analized?" hehehehehe...i'll have to consider naming my journal series "hang loose, babee".

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  12. Nice salvage job. Did you notice that we choose the exact 3 colors to work with? You say you had no emotional ties to yours while mine was all about emotions. Kind of eerie!

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  13. Simplicity and Detail, all in one piece. How great!
    I like it.

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  14. Your piece is pleasing and fun to look at. I can't determine if those long red horn shaped pieces are beads or ribbon; whichever, they add a lot to the whole composition. Black and white and red are a great look.

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  15. Now you know I am going to love this piece and you know I am going to say that there is meaning in every piece we do whether we realize it or not. Sometimes the meaning is experimental and fun but I'm betting on there is meaning here somewhere. You and I are just thinkin' fools...not too bad,right?

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  16. I love the motion in your piece and the contrast between the black white and red...

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  17. Echo everyone else. My eyes almost fell out of my head when the screen came up and the internal jolt of excitement set my chair rolling backwards. WOWZA, K.

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  18. As long as you enjoyed making it, it's worth it. It looks like art to me! I made a mistake on something, and my 15-year-old son said, "You can always call it art. Put it on a wall and people will say, 'But what does it MEAN?'"

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  19. As long as you enjoyed making it, it's worth it. It looks like art to me! I like the strong graphic quality.
    I made a mistake on something, and my 15-year-old son said, "You can always call it art. Put it on a wall and people will say, 'But what does it MEAN?'"

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  20. I enjoyed the graphic quality and really like the juxtaposition of black and white with a strong primary; that is something I have been playing around with myself.
    It does not really HAVE to have a big meaning, does it? Sometimes just playing with fabric and beads and colors is a worthy end in itself, I think.

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  21. I thought about starting from this point too. Turning out something with no challenges but seeing what randomly came out of techinques I'd already become very comfortable with. It's a good starting point for the year and it will be very interesting to compare with the next JQ's. Feeling flat about it? That's natural with this kind of "just do" piece I'm sure. I painted animal portraits for years with effective but repetitive technique and got exactly that feeling (I stopped because of it) but it didn't stop the work being good in it's own right or really appreciated by others.

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  22. This is a cool piece! I love B&W pieces. So simple, yet so graphic.

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  23. I had to grin when I read your writings about your january reveal, quite refreshing to be honest! I seldom have deep personal or emotional thoughts about my work, but hey, maybe I'm just shallow LOL. I do like your reveal, it has a strong visual impact and can stand on it's own.

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