Mark-Making

Several weeks ago I found a book on Amazon called-
Mark-Making on Textiles

It sounded intriguing, and on arrival I found it just the type of book I like. Examples galore and small exercises to get your creative juices flowing.

This book has opened up some conscious exploration into mark-making in general for me. I say conscious, for I have been making my mark on textiles for a while without being aware of personal choices and where they come from, and without really being aware of what other artist's mark-making may say about them no matter the media. A personal story-telling tool.

As prompted by one of the exercises in the book I have started collecting and creating marks.Then a couple of weeks ago David and I took a fused glass workshop and had a great time. We are both a bit addicted to the process for the moment, and I began to see how we created our initial pieces - mark-making with the glass. (the ones below are my 1st attempts after they were fired)

While visiting Cedarhurst Art Center yesterday to get in some more 'glass time' we came across an exhibit of Jun Kaneko's work entitled 'sense of spirit: mark-making & space in the art of kaneko'.
I found his work pretty exciting in its extremes, and then while looking over several books he had about his other projects I was drawn to one which documented his work with the San Fransisco Opera House's production of the Magic Flute. Again... for me it was about how he took his mark-making to extreme from everything to background projections on the stage to the costuming he created for all the characters.

All of this makes me have a stronger understanding of how important mark-making... and how much it is an expression of energy, focus, and textural story telling.

The pieces below are ones David and I made on Saturday and are now awaiting firing. You can definitely tell how different our mark-making styles are.

Shhh...

My friend Marie wanted to try and make a quilt --
for a gift, but she has never even learned how to sew.

And, she wanted it to be an art quilt....
We can do this!

So, we have been taking some stolen bits of time and going step-by-step we're heading down the 'fabric road'. It started with a bit of pattern making- but once a theme was chosen the design emerged and then the pattern. (secret stuff at this point).

Next, I gave her a bit of a crash course on the sewing machine and of course stitching. This went really well after Marie's initial fears went away. Starting first with stitching straight lines...then straight stitching curves.

 

This went really well... so, Marie quickly moved on to appling her newly acquired straight stitching knowledge to Fast-Piece Applique some practice pattern pieces together -- then how to use those special Kai scissors to trim.

We were on a roll, so next we went fabric shopping for the background pieces needed for Marie's quilt. There is nothing like fabric in hand to speed thing along, and Marie quickly had the background completed.

Since the project really is hush, hush you'll just have to believe me when I tell you that Marie is doing GREAT!

During our last time together Marie pulled fabrics for the main characters of her quilt -- Stacks of reds and golds began to pile up.. with Ralphie's help.

I'll keep you posted--but I hope you join me in welcoming Marie to the fun of quilting. She is proof that you don't have to start with traditional... you can jump in anywhere. (she's already planning out her 2nd quilt!)