two things.
Thing No. 1
Thanks for joining in on the fun yesterday with surprising my mom about the pillow. It's awesome to have co-conspirators! Yes, my mom was quite pleased. But, no, I didn't catch her reaction on camera. In fact, she was as confused as I was about my preoccupation with typing an Instagram reply when she and the kids arrived.
I don't have a smart phone, but I just bought a Galaxy tablet because I've been wanting to play along on Instagram. This way I avoid monthly smartphone fees. The tablet runs on our in-house wifi. Seems to be working nicely! I'm just finding my way, feeling totally second-generation because touchscreen technology feels clunky. Anyhoo, I guess that the awkward social media moment with my mom was one of many to come. Ah, technology...
So, yeah, you can find me here on Instagram. I'm sure I'll have more to say about it later.
Thing No. 2
Over a week ago I shared some exercises designed to help you pinpoint your artistic style. I didn't share my own conclusions because I wanted you to have a chance to discover yours from a clean slate. But, if you don't mind, I'd like to share my ramblings now, if only because the paper I doodled on during that flight is sure to be lost eventually.
These notes are taken verbatim, so please excuse redundancy. To understand them best, please read the exercise directions. Also, remember these thoughts are just about me - my style - not at all a criticism of other styles.
exercise 1. Word Dump
I like: colorful, lush, saturated, floral, geometric, stripes, text, balance, linen, warm handwork, lively, scrappy, borders, usable, beautiful, pretty, use value not white, improv, color intense, variations in neutrals, lots of movement, layers to see, solids, sharp.
Not me: sparse, negative space, minimalistic, cute, classic, overly simple, fancy FMQ, brash, odd, quirky, circles, mini's
exercise 2. Self Judge
Favorite quilts & why
Not as good quilts & why
My drawing is not easy to reproduce here, but I'll share some interesting chains of causality:
exercise 4: Defining My Style
Here are my key design motivations:
::Movement:: Vary neutrals, stripes, contrast w/solids, improv curves, balanced negative space
::Layers of Interest:: Scraps, color dynamics, vary neutrals, low value instead of white, borders
::Unexpected:: Improv piecing, scraps lead design, vary neutrals (pops of linen too)
::Feels Good:: Sharp, saturated color, wild, balance
Alrighty then! I hope to remember to come back a few years from now and do these exercises again. Style is always changing. It's that living quality that makes it so much fun to create! I'm the reflective type, so my design process is very cerebral. I'm thrilled to know what I like and why I like it. That inner clarity was just what I needed to take my plans for my next class to the next level.
Hope the process was helpful for you as well!
Thanks for joining in on the fun yesterday with surprising my mom about the pillow. It's awesome to have co-conspirators! Yes, my mom was quite pleased. But, no, I didn't catch her reaction on camera. In fact, she was as confused as I was about my preoccupation with typing an Instagram reply when she and the kids arrived.
I don't have a smart phone, but I just bought a Galaxy tablet because I've been wanting to play along on Instagram. This way I avoid monthly smartphone fees. The tablet runs on our in-house wifi. Seems to be working nicely! I'm just finding my way, feeling totally second-generation because touchscreen technology feels clunky. Anyhoo, I guess that the awkward social media moment with my mom was one of many to come. Ah, technology...
So, yeah, you can find me here on Instagram. I'm sure I'll have more to say about it later.
Thing No. 2
Over a week ago I shared some exercises designed to help you pinpoint your artistic style. I didn't share my own conclusions because I wanted you to have a chance to discover yours from a clean slate. But, if you don't mind, I'd like to share my ramblings now, if only because the paper I doodled on during that flight is sure to be lost eventually.
These notes are taken verbatim, so please excuse redundancy. To understand them best, please read the exercise directions. Also, remember these thoughts are just about me - my style - not at all a criticism of other styles.
exercise 1. Word Dump
I like: colorful, lush, saturated, floral, geometric, stripes, text, balance, linen, warm handwork, lively, scrappy, borders, usable, beautiful, pretty, use value not white, improv, color intense, variations in neutrals, lots of movement, layers to see, solids, sharp.
Not me: sparse, negative space, minimalistic, cute, classic, overly simple, fancy FMQ, brash, odd, quirky, circles, mini's
exercise 2. Self Judge
Favorite quilts & why
- Oodalolly - wild feeling improv, movement, color
- Colorbrick - big cuts to enjoy fabric, saturated colors, linen
- Love in Polaroids - unexpected, fun, variety of neutrals
- Sparklers - improv, movement,variety of neutrals, text
- Triangling - scraps, saturated color, sharp, dynamic
Not as good quilts & why
- Modern Medallion - not so lovely from far away
- Brick House - design is too predictable
- Bottled Rainbows - not so lovely from far away, too predictable
My drawing is not easy to reproduce here, but I'll share some interesting chains of causality:
- I like to use low value prints instead of white, linen instead of white and when I use white to include a variety of white shades. All of these are ways to vary neutrals, which creates layers of interest.
- Variation in neutrals also creates movement.
- I love using solids. They are an easy way to compose with saturated colors, since you can get any color in Kona, while prints are harder to find. Solids also tend to increase contrasts in design. Contrasts can create movement.
- Stripes also create movement.
- I love using scraps. They create unexpected results when I work with them improvisationally to lead the design. They also create layers of interest - instead of using one fabric to communicate a color, use many scraps.
exercise 4: Defining My Style
Here are my key design motivations:
::Movement:: Vary neutrals, stripes, contrast w/solids, improv curves, balanced negative space
::Layers of Interest:: Scraps, color dynamics, vary neutrals, low value instead of white, borders
::Unexpected:: Improv piecing, scraps lead design, vary neutrals (pops of linen too)
::Feels Good:: Sharp, saturated color, wild, balance
Alrighty then! I hope to remember to come back a few years from now and do these exercises again. Style is always changing. It's that living quality that makes it so much fun to create! I'm the reflective type, so my design process is very cerebral. I'm thrilled to know what I like and why I like it. That inner clarity was just what I needed to take my plans for my next class to the next level.
Hope the process was helpful for you as well!