START AT THE BEGINNING

How does it start.
A small smudge on a piece of paper.
A coloured pencil. Doodles cascading.
The finest tip of an ink pen on fresh white paper, bound in a leather notebook.
Lines running, converging, discovering proportion, outlining, tracing, feeling the seams.
Dimensions? Exactness? Or intuition?
Piles - edges as seams, placed, stepped, plateaus of colour, texture, pattern, proportion. Laid out - raw. Simplistic in it's dis:structure. Exact in it's momentary 3 dimensionality.
A photo. A record of a pile, of a pile, of an idea. The photo must work as a recording of intent. The photos must resemble the idea, the intent. The camera never lies.

I work on piles. I build them. Look at them. Demolish them. Tinker with them. I add, and subtract. This might take one go. 2 goes. Or in this case, a few months of goes before a final selection greets me with  sing song voice of appreciation. What started out as one pile, is now a completely different selection. What began as one design, has been tempered to another, more subtle, yet very bold one, far more in keeping with the recipient. As I build on the piles, I build on the image and how the fabrics might work. Strong simple shapes, or blocks of colour. Or fine strips, penlike in their stretch across the width of the piece. Inside out. Upside down.

The photo above shows so much - it is my sketch of the finished piece. No pens. No paper. Just cut and folded pieces of fabric. Two of my favourite photos are this one, and this one, both of a previous quilt during the cutting and piecing stage. They are very much process photos, but they were also studies in hints - subtle showings of fabric, without the need to explicitly show pattern. The colour and the texture started to weigh in more than the pattern. I've been wanting to recreate that somehow in another quilt, while also starting to turn some of my line drawings into reality. The pile has finally made it to the cutting mat. Under the needle's point, stitches drawing the composite together, it's a good beginning.

Comments

[Jo]

Beautifully written. Your selection of fabrics looks perfect, well worth the months of tinkering I think. I look forward to seeing the outcome.

[greenolive]

A great description and summary of the creative process. It's hard to articulate, but we all know how it feels when we are in it. Happy tinkering!

[shula]

Love the way that head of yours works...

[UNIFORM Studio]

I love your piles:)

[blossom]

i really love how much you've shown with how little was revealed. (bad english, but you get my meaning, i hope.)

pale seagreen, wooly greys with bold, red dots. small red dots are my favorite of your piles.

[lisa s]

ah yes. work from the pile.... i hear that

[michele]

great description of your process.

and yes, your line drawings turned somehow into pieces would be amazing.

[tea time and roses]

Beautiful piles you have here... I cannot wait to see the finished results..

Smiles...

Beverly :o)

[sarah]

you know i always love to see your piles :)

[Melissa]

This pile is perfect - I can't wait to see it all sewn up.

[Carson]

That's an almost musical articulation of the intuitive design process :)
I often get asked the question as I'm sure you do, "where do you get your ideas"?
I usually says someting like "Well......" (there's a looot of dot dot dots) I find it hard to articulate.
And yours is a good articulation.
But I suspect that some people, given that thorough explanation, would glaze over with utter, yet well-meaning incomprehension.
Oh, nice fabrics by the way;)

[Carson]

That's an almost musical articulation of the intuitive design process :)
I often get asked the question as I'm sure you do, "where do you get your ideas"?
I usually says someting like "Well......" (there's a looot of dot dot dots) I find it hard to articulate.
And yours is a good articulation.
But I suspect that some people, given that thorough explanation, would glaze over with utter, yet well-meaning incomprehension.
Oh, nice fabrics by the way;)

[Nancy]

all of it beautiful -your words, your piles, your description

[Jenny B]

You capture your piles and ideas so beautifully and simplistically. You have a great eye for colour and texture.

I love your photos as well and just wondering what camera you use? I am looking to get a new one.

[allee]

I must say you encourage me to look at my stash in a different light, to wonder what the heck I'm going to do with some of it, and on the other hand, to dig deeper to see a different potential for each one.
I think what has happened is that I am viewing patching in a new light, away from the traditional which I have skirted all along, to concentrating on creating something closer to an art form.
Thanks for the inspiration and can't wait to catch your next masterpiece. AND all while you are back in the thick of it at work.
Amazing.

[ling]

Can't wait to see the finished product. I love seeing the creative process - from pile to finished product.

[ling]

Can't wait to see the finished product. I love seeing the creative process - from pile to finished product.

[kim at allconsuming]

I think piles are to you what lists are to me.

[Diane]

I'm completely enraptured by your photos and projects, but your words compelled me to comment. Your writing is poetry!