Working an Idea
In my earlier post, I showed you a sketch that was inspired by the shapes of a completed quilt. Did you figure out which quilt provided that inspiration? This photo should tell you:
The quilt is called Hopes and Daydreams, and it’s one of my favorites. (You can see it on the home page of my website.)
My initial plan for working from this quilt image was to repeat the orange spray of shapes in the top right corner. But, as I traced shapes, I was attracted to the lovely curve shape that looks almost like a flamingo’s head. As I played some more, that “head” became a plant of some sort. Wow! Our brains are fantastic aren’t they? It’s amazing to me how a seed of an idea can shoot off into all sorts of interesting directions, if we let it. It’s exhilarating! And it’s clear that taking the time to work an idea is absolutely necessary to let these thoughts percolate and diverge.
Next, I played around with two photos of construction fencing.
I traced the major lines of both photos and then selected my favorite parts of each. I retraced these and hunted for a good arrangement of the two. This is what I ended up with.
Hmm. What colors might look good with this? Maybe the photo colors should serve as a springboard?
Or maybe not. This will require some more experimenting.
And what about the little diamond shapes that are found at each intersection of the grid? Should they stay or go? I kinda like them, but maybe I’d have more options without them.
For instance, I could crop down my earlier combo composition.
These have a quite different feel. The one on the right reminds me of irrigation canals. Another idea that deserves more exploration.
I don’t consider any of these to be designs that are ready to be interpreted in fabric. But, there are several ideas that I’d like to continue working. Or should that be “playing.” They may never evolve into viable designs and that’s completely okay! The process is very valuable. Necessary, really.
Ellen Lindner
