Ellen Lindner: Art & Creativity

Remember those wonderful red fabrics I bought in Houston?  Well, it was time to put them to use.

I’m planning to redecorate my master bathroom and I want to use red/orange art in there.  This is the start: a tall skinny quilt to go in the narrow spot above the toilet.  You know the one.

Click any image for a larger view

 I had very little plan for this quilt, other than the size and color.  I decided to use a horizontal strata sort of composition.  My plan was to use a variety of fabric types and to play up the textures of each.  The photo above shows my rather quick, completely unplanned first attempt at creating a red background.

OK, it works for a background.  Now, what does it need?  Maybe blue?

Yes, blue seemed to be the right answer.

I spent a good bit of time making the blue slivers skinny and undulating.  I liked the effect, but I knew it needed much more.

Maybe some yellow?

Or maybe not. 

I didn’t completely discard the idea of using yellow, but I knew I’d have to use it in tiny doses.

After stitching the original red and blue composition, I decided I needed to add some larger blobs/veins to create focal points.

But what colors should I use for that?

Clearly, one of those above DOES NOT work well! 

Blue-green it is.

Yes.  Once I started adding these larger shapes, I could see I was on the right track.  Much more exciting (for both viewing and working on.)

As I always tell my students, “Evey item affects every other.  One change will probably require another.”  And so it goes.

I’ve got many more ideas for this piece, so I hope you’ll follow along.

Ellen Lindner
P.S.  Compare the first image to this last one.  Much better, right?

If you enjoyed this, you may like my article on color.