Ellen Lindner: Art & Creativity

Back in April, I received a commission to make a piece for Nemours Children’s Hospital, in Orlando, FL.  I feel very privileged to do so!

The request was for a quilt similar to Natural Progression, which features Black-Eyed Susans.  So, my first task was to come up with a design.  I had previously isolated some photos of Black-Eyed Susans, so I began to work with them.

Photo editing software allowed me to work with each flower independently, changing sizes, orientations, and positions.  After a good bit of trial and error, I decided on this design:

Next came fabric selection.  Always fun!  I chose these green fabrics,which will make up the background.  I love to use a wide variety of patterns and scales for this, especially when I’m depicting foliage.  Click any image for a larger view

And here’s my selection of yellow fabrics.

I’ve got both groupings laid out by value, since this is important to my design.  I’ll make sure I have the darkest greens behind my focal flower, for maximum contrast.  With the yellows, I’ll use shifts in value to give a subtle suggestion about the direction of the light.

Just to be sure of my choices, I pinned a few fabrics to my design wall.  I wanted to make sure I had enough contrast between the two colors.  I was satisfied with the result, and got to work. 

Do you audition fabrics like this?  If not, what technique do you use?

Ellen Lindner