Study in Color - A Musing Post

I need a journal.  A big one.  With lots of white paper, and maybe some graph paper too...so that I can draw up all of the ideas in my head.  Especially today.  I.  Am.  Sick.  Yup, my darling Miss V's virus caught up to me and I woke up this morning...well...I'll leave it to your imagination.  Suffice it to say that I will be in bed with ginger ale and bread for the day.  Back to the journal, while I lay in bed I have a million ideas in my brain all bumping up against each other and no way to get them accomplished.  Instead I thought I would write this little post - which had to do with drawing and drafting in color - before saying adios for the weekend.

Miss E drawing her interpretation of Tinkerbell

Before having children I did not really work in color.  In fact, when assignments required color it was such a chore.  I simply never had a desire to use color in my work.  Well...let me clarify...I used monochromatic schemes but never combined multiple colors together.  My work in college, both in Fibers and Ceramics, consisted of neutrals, black & white, and monochromatic groupings of pots and fabric.  I was way more interested in the process and the relationship between shape and form without giving much thought to the color at all.  Now that I think about it, even Miss E's baby quilt was a complex pieced pattern with pretty simplistic color choices.  It is amazing how much your children shift your view of the world.  All of a sudden my life is full of color and I am drawn to it.  From the loud primary colors to the hush of pastels...I have started to crave quilts of all color variations!  This is probably why I am so attracted to Anna Maria Horner, Amy Butler, Heather Ross, and Denyse Schmidt right now...I just want to have the color choices for their fabric all over our home for my girls.  Of course, you know what will happen, this will inevitably lead to my daughters' attraction to black clothing and neutral/minimalist making of art just as I had.  Ha!

I am going to try to get my ideas out 2 Dimensionally...and brace yourself...in color.  As I tend to work much better in 3 Dimensions there is going to be a lot of trial and error.  I was considering a very modern all solid fabric quilt and decided to draft out my version as seen in my over active brain.  So...I tried drawing it.  Sigh.  You can see what I mean in Example A: Color Study...

Before you scrunch your face let me defend myself - This is NOT what this image looks like in my head.  I swear!  I just can't draw out what I see in my brain...which is so damn frustrating.  Ladies & Gents, this is a sad state of affairs but I am doing my best not to be discouraged.  In my head there is depth to this image, the little bits of yellow are like sparks that seem to glow, the magenta seems to move towards you as the purple recedes.  Why can't I put that on paper?  Who knows...different people have different gifts I suppose.  I'll keep working on it.  Maybe Miss E can give me drawing lessons!  By the time I get the 2D version of this idea down correctly maybe I will have time to actually work on a quilt like this.  In the meantime the projects and ideas are piling up!

Feeling dizzy...but better for having accomplished something!  If my mother is reading this...yes, I am going to go rest now I promise!  Have a great weekend.

- rebecca lynne