The problem is that they have often been written by people who do come from a background in art, fine art or design. No bad thing I think - learning from the experts. But when I read them I find they introduce so many concepts, ideas and new vocabulary that I can't fit it all together to get a coherent plan in my head. It is like having a huge pile of jigsaw puzzle pieces poured out of the box before me. I can see the individual pieces - but struggle with how to fit them all together to get the big picture. So I decided to start from scratch and figure it out for myself: I studied colour theory and graphic design; I started drawing in a sketchbook every day; I read about composition and then tried out literally hundreds of ideas in art journals; I looked at the work of other quilt artists and visited galleries and museums; I bought myself a nice set of water colours and pencils and gave myself time to explore and experiment with them, and gradually I came up with some ideas for new quilts - my 'Destination' series. You can see the quilts here. I kept detailed notes of all I learned and after I had made about 12 quilts a friend suggested I should formalise it all and write a book. At first I thought she was mad, but then I figured why not? So I decided to write it - a book about quilt design, but from the point of view of the non-expert. It took so much longer than I thought, and really did push the limits of my patience, but today it is finished. Here is a tiny preview! So, the book is now out of my hands at last. I am launching it on May 1st at my upcoming exhibition - more on that soon. If you would like to purchase a copy they are £18.95. Please contact me and I can organise getting one to you. Thanks for reading!
|
|