"The whole culture is telling you to hurry, while the art tells you to take your time. Always listen to the art."
I love it when I run across a quotation that validates my view or way of operating that doesn't seem to be "trending" in popular circles. I was about to embark on adding the last of the parallel line quilting on the latest Leaf Clusters piece, those very short runs between leaf and stem in the last of the gaps that you can see in the picture below. I'd first done all the lines that ran edge to edge, then went back in and quilted from edge until I ran into the edge of a leaf or the stem. When I'd done the first round of quilting, spacing the lines the width of the presser foot, I didn't pull the thread tails to the back and tie them off until all the stitching was done. That left me with quite a mess on the back, sorting out threads that had tangled and in some cases been run over as I quilted along. This time I quilted up to the leaves on one side, then paused to pull tails to back and tie them off before doing the same on the other half. Much better.
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| Note those very small areas between upper leaves and stem yet to be stitched |
But those short runs - I remember accidentally pulling a thread all the way out, undoing the 4 or 6 stitches altogether and having to restitch. They also demand precise placement of the needle at beginning and end so no gaps show between the end of the line and the leaf or stem it is headed for, and in the case of the stems, lining up with stitching on the other side of the stem. So with the addition of these lines, I stopped after each pass to tend to the thread ends.
Slow going. And I knew it would be. But I didn't care because I did not want to be backtracking over previously stitched lines to move from one area to the next, and I didn't want to do the "tacking" stitch at starts and stops, preferring instead the clean look of the even stitches. It's my personal aesthetic and I don't care if it takes me longer. And it was nice to run across Junot Dias's quotation (from a The Daily Beast interview) that validated my decision to work this way. In this "hurry up" society, and part of the quilting world that is always flashing "quick and easy" methods at us, it's nice to be reminded that speed is not always necessary, and how much you produce is not always relevant. It's ok to take your time. And for me, taking my time is part of enjoying the process.
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| Through the magic of Paint Shop Pro, one positioning option |
So here's a question for you. When I stamped this leaf cluster on that test print scrap, I specifically placed it down in the corner. I even made notes along the edges of the fabric about placement and which way was up. I decided it would look good in this frame, bought with several other frames when I wasn't sure which would work the best on the first Leaf Cluster I finished. It was a 10 x 10 frame, the same size I've been working with for the ones that went over stretched canvas before going in the floater frame. The piece of fabric itself is about 11 x 12 which is not big enough to wrap around the canvas, thus the decision to use a regular frame. But when I got the frame unwrapped to audition how it would look, there wasn't a lot of my little quilt showing through the window, certainly not ten inches. I got a ruler out to discover that the outside of the frame is 10 x 10 with the opening for the art being only 8-1/2 x 8-1/2. That's way more cropping than I thought I'd be doing. I decided that wasn't an altogether bad thing, so I'm proceeding with that frame, positioning it with the leaf cluster down in the corner.
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| Second position option - subtle shift to center |
But of course, in the midst of moving things around, I suddenly had the frame positioned with the leaf cluster centered in the opening. And now I am torn, unable to decide which looks best. If this was your piece, or if you were a viewer at an exhibit, which would you think is the better positioning for this particular textile? I really want to know what you think.
As I've gone back and forth over the various decisions I've had to make on just this piece, I once again found a reassuring quotation to make me feel better about the time I've spent mulling my options. And I am taking it to heart:
"Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely."Rodin
5 comments:
I think I prefer the leaf cluster in the middle of the frame, if that helps.
I pefer position #1….not centered…… Also totally agree……it takes time to make great art…..why not allow yourself to do that!?
Sheila, I have found with small items that are one-offs rather than one of a group, that the main focus is best near the centre. Perhaps not bang on the centre - just off. However, your leaf cluster is not symmetrical so it will not necessarily look static in the centre anyway.
But my two-ha'pence worth is that I'd put it in between the two positions you show, but slightly nearer the second one. But perhaps what you should do is fix it temporarily and prop it up somewhere you can see it as you pass by, and see your glimpses make you want to shift the position.
I definitely agree with Rodin.
Hi Sheila!
I prefer your leaf centered, because your background has visible patterns and it could unbalance your composition. As I learnt in Sumi-e, if your background were in blank (or negative) then you could place your leaf obliquely and let the eye wander in the empty space as a way to meditation but it isn't the case.
Thanks for your quotations, it always enrich your posts!
I had to chuckle with the first three comments that came in. Why I thought there might be consensus I'm not sure, but to be presented with a third options as well? You guys are the best!
Olga, I was already doing what you suggested, leaving this out with frame in one position for awhile, then the other, to take advantage of that catching sight of it when not expected to help me make up my mind, but it wasn't clarifying it for me. My old habit of not wanting to give up on the original concept even when things have changed and it's not working anymore was getting in my way. I'd stamped that leaf in the corner based on much more of the background showing when framed. The extreme cropping changed things but I was letting the idea that the cluster was originally placed in the corner cloud my judgement. Also, I hadn't really thought about the basic asymmetry of the cluster shape itself factoring in. Any centering or near centering would not give the same, as you put it, static feeling that a symmetrical shape would. That leaf cluster itself is full of movement.
Then came Lucia's comment complete with reason for centering I had not heard before but which made perfect sense, especially since one of the things I'd been dealing with already was that busy background and trying to knock it back. Who knew lessons in Sumi-e would make so much sense here?
I also presented the question to my art group this week. You are at a slight disadvantage in not being able to view this in person so might not be able to see what they were seeing. After discussion and moving around of the frame, we pretty much came to the same conclusion - centered would be better than with the leaf down in the corner. One person's reasoning sounded not unlike Lucia's observation that the background patterns could unbalance the composition if the cluster was not centered. She pointed out how much darker the patterning is as you move up and to the right. Uncentered, that dark area tends to draw the eye away from the leaves that are partly in a very light area. Move the cluster more to the middle and there's less contrast to the overall values in the background.
Nothing wrong with gut feelings guiding design decisions, but I always feel better if I can come up with good reasons to support them. And this discussion with you guys and my art group have made me sure of which way to go. No more wishy-washy! Thanks so much!
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