Tag: Book Review

Design Explorations for the Creative Quilter: Easy-to-Follow Lessons for Dynamic Art Quilts by Katie Masopust

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This will be one of my go to design books for the future. Starting from the introduction, Masopust includes the reader. The tone is very familiar and in using ‘you’ so much in her writing Katie Masopust involves the reader immediately.

All of the standard design concepts are covered, but with a new twist and a fresh perspective. Katie talks about being creative and then explains the concepts. One thing she says is “creativity is making up exciting rules to follow for a particular design. These rules can change for each quilt,” which is absolutely true. She, then, weaves the design concepts into that principle.

Not only does the author introduce a concept and tell you you should do it, but she tells WHY you should follow the principle. She tells you in a nice and understandable way giving logical and understandable examples. This way of writing makes the whole design process less frustrating and, for some people, less scary.

Ms. Masopust has a whole chapter on tools and supplies. She explains what you need and describes what it is she is asking you to procure. For the visual learner, there are pictures of various tools and supplies.

The composition chapter starts with an excellent definition. She also provides a thoughtful list of compositional layouts. The reader could stop reading right at the compositional layouts and work on variations for years without getting bored.

This section is followed up by a list of other terms related to composition, such as pathways, focal points, space, harmony and scale. Under scale, Katie writes “monotony occurs when everything is the same size.” I thought about this for a long time and realized that one of the things I enjoy about this book is the gems she tucks into almost every section. If the reader took this line and thought about it in relation to his/her quilts, s/he could get a lot out of one line in the book. Of course, by reading the entire book, the quiltmaker will absorb much more.

The words the author uses in the color chapter are wonderful and elegant. They roll off the tongue and make one feel like an artist: monochromatic, achromatic (absence of color), tetrad. She goes beyond value and color and really delves into the concepts behind successful color choices using FABRIC. Pages 15-17 in the color chapter are really useful pages for beginning to advanced quiltmakers as they explain the different types of color combinations.

I love solids. Katie Masopust does not use them in her examples. She uses an interesting range of color choices in, for example, the complementary example. It is also nice to see different types of patterned fabrics used rather than solids. Patterned fabrics are harder to categorize and Masopust does not shy away. This is one of the benefits of this book.

Analysis shows up on page 20. On the page, Masopust writes that “it is important to look at your designs and decide whether they have all the elements needed to make them harmonious.” How often do you look at your quilts and ask yourself whether they are harmonious? I don’t, but perhaps I should. Are you thinking about each decision as you work on your quilt? I do more of that, which may make up for not looking at my quilts after I make them. She also provides a good list of questions about the success of the design. One I like is “is there a focal point or will the focal point be established through color choices?” Thought provoking.

This book is filled with examples of student work, in full color, and a wide variety of exercises. When the reader gets to the making of the pattern, Masopust takes readers through her process of making a pattern, which often involves enlarging the design. She gives some great suggestions for tools to assist in the process. The process described is a step by step process for going from a drawing to a finished piece.

She provides a chapter on each concept and full explores it. The author’s before and after examples are really good, as are the inspiration photos included alongside photos of the finished pieces.

Throughout the book, Katie refers back to the supplies list and concepts in previous chapters. She treats the reader like the reader has a brain and has read other books, which is nice.

The obligatory section on making a quilt is included. Katie Masopust adds to it by offering tips from her own experience. The tips provided also give insight into the kind of teacher she might be. That said, just reading the construction section is a little confusing. I don’t think that is the writing or editing. It would probably make more sense to try it out with a small piece. She mentions setting the machine to “2.” I don’t know if that is a universal number or if I would benefit from a chart or further explanation of what that number means on various machines.

The strength of this book is that it is thought provoking. Little tidbits are tossed out that make the reader stop and think and think some more.

View all my reviews

Quilting Art: Inspiration, Ideas & Innovative Works from 20 Contemporary Quilters by Spike Gillespie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have spent some time, after my initial perusal in November of 2009, reading this book and did enjoy it. There are lots of good photos. I enjoyed reading what artists think about various topics concerning making a living (or not) and creating art.

Spike Gillespie provides a really interesting introduction. I have gotten a lot better at reading the introductions to various quilt books and I have found it to be a worthwhile endeavor. One of the aspects she remarks on is “I was further inspired to remember how important it is to carve out time to pursue the passionate side of one’s calling and to heed one’s muse, both of which are too often too easily lost in the shuffle of doing what we to get by day to day(pg.10).” This is partially what the Creative Prompt Project is about: a small step to begin devoting time to creativity. Ms. Gillespie notes that “all demonstrated a drive that might, at times, be set aside temporarily for work necessary to pay bills and time needed to raise kids. But, in the end, the muse will not be silenced…(pg.14)”

She also faces the “is it a quilt or not” question head on. I often don’t want to hear that discussion rehashed, but I guess an author of this type of book has to at least acknowledge she is aware of the issue. She remarks that asking a random quilt show attendees to deem a work a quilt or not is a false argument. She reframes the question to be “how do you feel about the way quilts have progressed and moved into the art world? (pg.11)” This is a much better question, in my opinion, regardless of whether you think a particular quilt is an art quilt. It is a better question because of the way quilts are constantly evolving. The whole Modern Quilt Movement has been on mind lately and comes immediately to the forefront when I think of how the quilt world is changing and evolving.

Gillespie asks various artists about the word quilt and says that she “did not want to collect opposing points of view and then splice them together as if there were some big catfight going on in the world of quilt artists. The answers [she:] I received were offered not to suggest that one way of thinking is absolutely right and another is absolutely wrong. Instead, I felt myself invited to contemplate how the word helps or hurts artist working to get their pieces out there for the world to see.”(pg.11) This concept is addressed by the artists throughout the book. The variety of the opinions mirrors the variety fo the works. Some I agree with and some I don’t. Joan Dreyer’s comment describes how I feel pretty well: “I’m less concerned with putting a label on it. I almost don’t care in a way. I don’t feel other artists have to make the same choice. For me I just need to make it for the reasons I need to make it.” (pg.11)

After the introduction, Spike goes straight into a brief bio and discussion with each artist that includes a number of photos of their work and, in some cases, photos of their studio. I found that I had something in common with some of the artists. Deidre Adams, for example, enjoys “working in a series, of taking an idea and working it over and over and developing and exploring it. (pg.17)” She also gets out of a rut by taking scraps from previous projects and starts sewing them together.

Pam Rubert says that she views the world with a “strange mixture of astonishment, dismay, and amusement (pg.25).” She is into the “concept and story line (pg.29).” I agree that I like my quilts to be about the story of the quilt. Telling stories is important, which may be why people don’t understand some art quilts. Block quilts are easy to understand because of the color and repetition. Abstract quilts are not because, it seems to me, that a lot of what is made from the fabric comes from a reaction to what is going on in the artist’s head.

Mary Beth Bellah works full time and says “I give forty hours a week to my mortgage and kids. Whatever I come home and work on it whatever I want. I don’t have to sell it (pg.42).” I think acknowledging that creating something goes beyond its monetary value. Of course, we are often judged on how much money we make or how much our art is worth, so not feeling like she has to sell her work is a breath of fresh air.

This book introduced me to some new artists as well. Angela Moll loves the visuals of handwriting. One reason I love the act of handwriting is because forming the loops and dips of cursive letters gets close to drawing. Moll uses the artistry of the cursive to create interest in her quilts. She focuses on opportunities for visibility and not necessarily ones that are commercially more attractive. Moll also works in series.

Another pearl of wisdom came from Joan Dreyer who is “not interested in putting things together just for the sake of being different….Materials should serve the content of the piece. (pg.63)” This speaks to me, because I feel design is important and design choices should be thought through. The idea also speaks to the layout of the book. The book is beautifully laid out. The hardcover edition has large clear photos and subtle stitch looking illustrations on various pages.

I had a hard time with the interview with Dominie Nash. She was new to me. She says that she “didn’t want to make pieces fit together. That was too against my nature and my level of ability. What I do is collage work (pg.85).” This statement made me wonder if collage work is a way of saying “I am too lazy to learn the techniques?” Such as statement makes me ask if there is value in learning rules, or is it just too much of a hassle? Nash is, apparently, successful. Does that mean she is allowed to not learn the rules? If art sells, can you bypass the rules?

This book brought up issues and opinions that made me think. I questioned my own ideas about right and wrong in Quiltland as I read the various opinions. Nash didn’t give me the impression that she thought much of quilting. As she talks about the quilt groups to which she belongs, she says “…we’re still a little too polite when we do critiques (pg.86).” Nash attributes this overpoliteness to a “hangover from the days of quilting bees (pg.86.)” Right after she says that community is essential to her growth (pg.86).” I think quiltmaking groups are about community and everything else is a bonus, whether you make charity quilts, do show and tell or critique each other’s work. We don’t need a quilt group to produce work.

I don’t see much fun or joy in Nash’s work, but I have some respect for her. She did said “I go to my studio every day. Because one day I may go and the angel may be there. What if I don’t go and the angel comes (pg.83),” which I like a lot, though I would change ‘angel’ to ‘muse.’ Jeanne Williamson says something that adds to Nash’s practice “Not all of the small quilts were beautiful. There are tons of I think are ugly…but the point was to always make something, not always make something beautiful (pg.153)”

Commercial fabric is also discussed in this book. Malka Dubrawsky discusses using commercial fabric in her work. She admits to looking down on commercial fabric, but coming around again to using it. She implies that by not valuing commercial fabric you are not valuing someone else’s artwork, which I think is very interesting to think about.

I was surprised at the number of people interviewed who said that they started out in isolation not knowing anything about quiltmaking or other quiltmakers in their area. It is interesting to me how, despite the variety of resources we have (web, blogs, guilds, etc.), people teach themselves to make a quilt and work in isolation thinking they are the only one. Karen Kamenetzky is one of those artists. I really like the stitching and verticalness of the pieces depicted in her article.

This book has an excellent and detailed index. I didn’t like all of the work, but I appreciated the variety and the high level of discussion throughout the book.

My first, brief, review of this book was in November 2009.

View all my reviews, including my non-quilt reviews

500 Art Quilts by Ray Hemachandra

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Thanks to Lark Books for sending me this book to review. I love getting cool books for free. And this is a really cool book. It is part of Lark Books’ 500 Series, which they appear to have been working on for about 6 years. Taking a quick look a their webpage, it looks like this series would be wonderful if you are stumped for inspiration. They have a variety of titles in this series covering different types of art. Included are glass beads, rings, wooden boxes, polymer clay designs and beaded objects. The only one I have seen is the 500 Art Quilts book.

First off: NO patterns. I have nothing against patterns. They definitely serve their purpose, but I don’t need patterns and basic directions on how to make a quilt in every quilt book published. This book is pure inspiration. There is page after page of contemporary quilt eye candy, which, in certain circumstances, is just what the doctor ordered.

I was nervous that the book would be filled with the same old quilts that are always shown when books and articles are written about art quilts. There were one or two I had seen before, and a few quilts from the 1990s, but for the most part included were quilts that were new to me. I was also pleased to see that the quilts were relatively recent. I was also pleased to see that some new names had their quilts included.

Second, Karey Bresenhan was the juror. Whatever you think about her style, the woman has seen a few quilts in her day and knows good quilts. She has taken the opportunity to select a wide variety of contemporary quilts. There is something for every quiltmaker’s taste in this book. If you like contemporary quilts that jump off from classic patterns, take a look at Kathy York’s piece, Little Cities (pg.15) or Carol Taylor’s Dispersion on pg.366. If you like thread painting, one of the best pieces I have ever seen is Nancy Murty’s Greens for Dinner (pg. 351). For applique’ Kathy Nida’s Lost (pg.217) and Nancy S. Brown’s The Usual Suspects (pg.329) are excellent examples. There are also photo realistic quilts, dispersed dye quilts and everything in between.

Additionally, Bresenhan is a talented writer. Her introduction is wonderful. There is a lot of history, opinion and experience in the two pages allotted to this section. She puts to rest the art vs. craft debate very skillfully, easily links quiltmaking to the broader concepts of art that many trained artists learn in school and made me not want to wait to finish reading because I was so excited about the quilts. It is well written, interesting ans well worth the time to read it.

When I first started to look at this book, I began categorizing the quilt by “like” and “do not like”. Then I stopped, started over and began looking at the quilts purely for inspiration. Every quilt, with a few exceptions, have something I found to inspire me or gave me something to think about. I don’t mean that the quilts sent me a literal message. I was able to look at each page and find something I could look at and wonder how the artist accomplished that particular element. This is definitely a book where a website of further information on each quilt would be welcome.

Third, Lark includes an index of quiltmakers with their city and the page(s) on which their quilts are shown. I love indexes and this makes it much easier to see which artists were included and which ones have more than one quilt. I love seeing names I recognize and there are several acquaintances and one or two friends in the lists of artists. This index would have been improved by include each artists’ blog or website, but I understand the space constraints as well.

Fourth, having so many quilts gives the reader a wide variety from which to be inspired. Some of the quiltmakers have more than one piece in the book. Yvonne Porcella’s Paris View, Lou & Who, Two & Two jumped out at me, because it is so different that the style with which I normally associate her work: the bright colors and black and white checkerboards. The reader can flip between the above and her Dick and Jane (pg.61) to see her evolution as a quiltmaker. There are enough quilts in the book to see progress in people’s work without one person dominating the book.

Fifth, the detail shots the authors have included are well placed and thoughtfully selected. Philippa Naylor’s piece, Star Sign (pg.60) shows a detail of her quilting. The detail is so good, albeit small, that the reader can see the evenness of her stitching, the way she fills in areas and the color changes.

One of the oldest quilts I saw in the book was from 1995. It is Natasha Kempers-Cullen’s piece, Heart of Lightness (pg.43). The quilts are not chronological and, though, I specifically tried to find the oldest pieces so I could try to judge how many times I may have seen the quilts in the book, I don’t know that this piece is the oldest. My impression: most of them I had not seen. A few I have seen once.

While I am a visual person, I am often drawn to the text about a quilt. As a result, I often forget to look at the quilt. Initially I struggled with wanting to know more about the artists’ thoughts on the quilt. Finally, I reminded myself that these quilts are probably on the web somewhere and if I really wanted to find out more, I probably could. Bresenhan speaks to this when she says in her introduction “The goal with this type of work is to remove all distractions, so that the energy and spirit of the art can speak clearly to the viewer.” If she thought about this when selecting the quilts, then I feel I should just look at each page and let the pieces speak to me without interference from words.

There is a strong visual context in the quilts selected. That may sound strange, but since the pieces are reproduced in a book, pieces where the medium or a certain technique are preeminent would not be successful. These types of pieces seemed to be left for a different book or another method of presentation. The one piece in this genre that was included was Hooked on Caffeine by Penelope E. Mace. I love the shape of the fish. I couldn’t figure out why it looked so dirty until I read the materials and techniques list and saw that it was made from coffee filters. I have no doubt that this piece would have much more of an impact in person.

I was also glad to see that the authors did not feel obligated to include some prominent quiltmakers just because of their names. In addition to my own work, I enjoy seeing as much of other quiltmakers’ work as possible. There are tons of quiltmakers in this book whose work is new to me. What a pleasure to be exposed new pieces! Works from renowned quiltmakers were also included, but, again, they did not dominate the book. I was glad to see two of Susan Shie’s tarot deck quilts, one of Jane Sassaman’s pieces and a piece by Judy Coates Perez.

There is a lot of wonderful colorwork shown in this book, such as Faye Timmerman-Traudt’s Desert Blooms and Jan Elliott’s Shot in the Dark.

By now I have glanced through this book at least 10 times. Twice I went through it page by page and consciously looked at each image. Each time, I was able to find something new to look at. I am sure that I will have the same experience next time I look through it.

I think this book is well worth having in your library. I am really glad Lark sent it to me, because I would not have been able to buy it right away otherwise. I hope you will rush out and buy this book and encourage Lark to put together volume 2 in a few years!

Highly recommended!

View all my reviews , including non quilt book reviews

Pretty Little Mini Quilts by Ray Hemachandra

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book was sent to me for free by Lark Books unsolicited. I was pretty excited to receive it! It is part of the Pretty Little Series, which also includes another book about pillows. The ‘mini’ part of the title is defined, in the Introduction, as projects that are less than 36″ square. This size is appealing to people with small spaces to display their works and those that want to try a lot of different techniques.

This is obviously an inspiration book. The colors, shapes in the projects, and design of the book all make my mind swirl. The book has a high level of eye candy from the beginning. The photography is very well done. The layout and graphics were noticeable right away. What drew me in, immediately, was the hexagon piece, called Spanish Flowers (directions on pg.102-105) on the inside front flap. The colors are really vibrant and the piece has an interesting shape. It is different from the other hexagon pieces I have seen. Another element I really liked were the different colors on the page edges. The color for each chapter is different, adding interest and giving the reader an additional visual cue as to where they are in the book. The images of spools and stacks of fabric seen before page 7 are appealing as well.

This is another project book which tries to go it alone. It devotes the first quarter of the book to basics including information about different types of fabric and tools, what a fat quarter is and how to make a quilt. For the size of the section, it is a relatively comprehensive section. The paragraphs on tools are entertaining. For example, under the section entitled needle threader, “Folks with perfect eyesight and rock-steady hands can skip this tool. Otherwise, save yourself some frustration by using a needle threader.” The section continues and I like the tone. It isn’t dull and a bit Mark Lipinski-esque. I wonder if that is a new style of writing?

I didn’t like the references to “…thoughts of a quilting bee near that little house on the prairie” or “Unless you’re stitching up petticoats, nothing you’re sewing has stronger ties to the past than quilts” in the Introduction. Once I read the second paragraph I got joke, but the first couple of sentences put me off. I think clothes were probably made before quilts and I prefer not to read assumptions like the above without references to the source. This isn’t a historical tome, so I shouldn’t demand it, but such statements can perpetuate untruths and questionable “facts” and there are enough of those going around the quilting world.

I do think this book is one that can open the minds of readers to the possibilities of quiltmaking. the different stitching, both hand and machine as well as the colors and variety of techniques all show that quiltmaking is not boring. The book does show a 9patch (pg.45-47), but it also introduces the idea of scanning a photo and turning it into a quilt (pg.77-79). I am not that interested in photo realistic quilts, but I do think the photo of the “Portrait of Velma” piece shows a quilt that is pretty well done.

I really wish that major publishers would each write a basic sewing/quiltmaking book and refer back to it rather than recounting the same basic quiltmaking information over and over in every book they write. The idea of a book like this teaching a new sewist to quilt from a list of supplies and 12 steps in a project is crazy as well as potentially frustrating. I know little to nothing about the costs of producing a book, but I do know that publishers are under fire and want to appeal to as many readers as possible, which is why they use this kind of tactic. I would keep the layout the same, but refer back to a book with much more detail on how to make a quilt. A direction such as “Quilt the quilt using diagonal lines that run through all the large white squares and diagonal lines that run through all the checked squares” seems so easy. After all, whole books are written about machine quilting, such as those by Diane Gaudynski, Harriet Hargrave and Sue Nickels. The beginning section, as noted above, does have more information about the mechanics of quiltmaking, which are a big help. I think it would be a service to add a comprehenisve beginning quiltmaking book to a publisher’s line that they could keep in print over a long period of time and revise as needed. Such a book would also have an appeal to new quiltmakers over time.

There are a number of appealing projects in the book. My favorite is the Corner Store pattern (pg.51-53). This is the first pattern, which I noticed, that acknowledged that there is a quiltmaking community outside of this book. The designer refers the method of piecing as Gwen Marston‘s ‘liberated piecing’ technique. I think the book would have benefited from other references to the quiltmaking community. I like this project because of the red background. I also like the line drawing that was included to show what the designer meant about adding triangles to a squares. I have a lot of triangles which work for this project from cutting the FOTY 2010 diamonds and seeing that line drawing inspired me.

I liked the ‘Have a Cup’ project as well. The style of it gets ideas related to my various House and Garden quilts flowing. One thing I would have liked to see, in this quilt in particular, is a couple of versions of the quilt made in different colorways. My mom and I had a discussion about several of the projects and the discussion centered around the colors. I kept reminding her that she didn’t have to make the project in those colors, while she insisted that colors drew her in or repelled her. Again, I know the cost of the book is a factor, but that would have been a nice addition.

“Give me a Hand” (pg.114-117) is a good reminder that we can make our own patterns and redwork is especially conducive to family type quilts.

One project “Star & Cross” (pg.126-129) includes paper piecing, which is interesting. This book really tries hard to give the reader a full quiltmaking experience.

The other inspirational part of this book is the “about the designers” section. There are two pages worth of designers in this book and the editors have included a brief bio as well as links to their websites or blog. Really nice to be able to look up more of their work. I have heard of a number of the designers and am actually Internet acquaintances with two of them.

I was sorry to see that I would need to take the book to a copy store and enlarge the patterns. I prefer to have full sized patterns in a pocket in the back or download them from the publisher website.

The book also gets high marks for including an index and a comprehensive table of contents.

All in all I like this book for its inspirational qualities. I think it has the potential to help quiltmakers think outside the box.

View all my reviews, including non-quilt book reviews

OH  MY GOODNESS! You would not believe what happened to me on Friday morning. I was sitting at my DH’s computer (my laptop is dead), watching a Quilt Out Loud episode (Yes, I did find my login and password) and avoiding preparing the taxes.

The doorbell rang and I thought “who the heck is at our door midmorning?” People don’t generally come to visit us unexpectedly. Most of the people who come to visit just walk in while shouting “Haaaalllooooo!” The other group that routinely knocks are The Child’s friends. Kids are all in school (or should be!) at the time, so I knew it had to be a door-to-door sales person or a delivery. I couldn’t remember ordering anything and we don’t encourage people to send us things unsolicited to our house. I am not big on surprises, in general.

My best guess: door-to-door sales person. I hunkered down by the computer not wanting to be the one who gave the bad news that we wouldn’t be buying the new latest and greatest home security alarm system-vacuum cleaner combo today. Without me even saying anything or the doorbell ringing a second time DH ran down the stairs, and opened the door. I heard a brief chat with the person and the door close.

Hhhmm.  I was almost home free. Next I heard steps coming toward the laundry room (where the boy computers live). Uh-oh.

It was a package. A relatively large bulky package. My darling sister has been sending us weird things that she thinks we need (Waterpik showerhead last week) so whether she had sent us something was his first question. I looked at the label and it was addressed to me at Artquiltmaker Blog and was from someone I didn’t know.

Huh? I don’t really make a business of my blog at the moment, except for the Amazon thing (which is slow so far), so I handed it back to DH who  proceeded to open the package. He is good that way. He was pretty excited. I was excited, too, but more cautious than excited. I work in an environment where getting something for ‘free’ means that you are usually giving something (often large sums of money) away.

Out popped two books and a very nice letter from Ray Hemachandra of Lark Books. Yes, THE LARK BOOKS!!!! The  Publisher lark Books!!!! A Publisher sent ME something to my little corner of the country.

As the above was happening, which took a few minutes at most, I felt confused. I did not order books from Lark Books (remember I hadn’t read the letter yet) and one of them was probably one I wouldn’t order without getting it from the Library first. The art quilt book has been showing up in my Amazon recommendations, but I hadn’t really tried to find it at the library yet so I could take a look. I thought it might be a repeat of the same old art quilts and it wasn’t a high priority….blah blah blah.

WRONG!

WRONG!

WRONG!

Part of the letter says:

“I am pleased to submit for your consideration two fantastic Lark Crafts quilt titles…”

and

“I hope you enjoy the books. Please contact me if you any questions at all. I’d also appreciate being sent notification of any blog or website posting, a copy of your publication or a tear sheet (no idea what that is), if you choose to review any of the books…”

I will do full reviews (of course, I will! They sent me FREE books! Why wouldn’t I??? I want to encourage more of the same), but first impressions are:

Pretty Little Quilts: great colors, different sorts of designs, interesting shapes, embellishment. I have to read the intro to see what the intent of this title is, but first glances tell me that Lark was thinking of smart quiltmakers. Yes, there are patterns, but again they don’t seem to be the same old pattern thing. There is beading included, hexagons with holes in the design, different types of thread work, etc.

500 Art Quilts: AWESOME format! No patterns. When I saw it on Amazon, I thought it would include  some more views of the seminal art quilts that I have seen over and over in other books such as Masters: Art Quilts: Major Works by Leading Artists or the book, The Art Quilt, by Robert Shaw. Nope. Wrong again. The quilts pictured look like quilts I haven’t seen before. There are some Name Quilters in it, but showing recent work. I also saw a lot of names I didn’t recognize and even a quilt from 2008. Again, I will do a more formal review soon-ish, but I am looking forward to getting more in depth with these books.

I know there has been much more squealing, yelling and excitement in this post than normal. It is so great to get a good surprise like this!

THANKS, LARK BOOKS!!!!

An Artist’s Book of Inspiration: A Collection of Thoughts on Art, Artists, Creativity by Astrid Fitzgerald

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This work is mostly quotations organized into themes. Each chapter has a different theme and the quotes fit into the theme.

The thing that struck me with this book was the preface. Often, not always, but often, I skip the preface just to get straight to the text. In this case, I only glanced through the text and really studied the preface.

I liked the preface because some of the quotes (below) made me think and question what I am seeing:

“Art constantly seeks to redefine itself, to find new and original modes of expression. But have we sometimes sacrificed meaning and essence on the altar of the innovative, the outrageous, and the politically correct?” p.xii

This part of the passage makes me wonder about the symbolism that we don’t understand anymore and whether it is valuable to know it still? For example, in years past, a portrait of a woman may have her holding a flower. Knowing the symbolism or meaning of that flower would give the viewer additional insight into the subject. As well, the items selected for still lives – e.g. the types of fruit – said something about the person who commissioned the work. Have we lost something by not knowing these meanings?

“We live in a postmodern era devoid of artistic standards. The movements of the last thirty years have successfully demystified art and the making of art. The role of art has not been clearly defined in recent times, and artists and students of art rarely gather to examine and discuss the call to creative work.” p.xii

As you can probably tell from my blog, I am glad that the making of art has been demystified and that everyone can make art now. I do worry about what we have lost, however, if anything. I also wonder about what is lost from people not gathering to discuss their calling to creative work? Do we discuss that in our blogs? Is it different from discussing in person? I think I am called to creative work by family tradition and by the need to do something completely different than my day job. I also think that I am called to my work because I can see patterns in improvement and progress, which is not always clear, or acknowledged, in my day job work.

“The art of our time seems to be self-destructive, broadening the gap between audience and the creative output. The eye of the artist has turned to the exterior, to the biennials and the market place, seeing direction, and thus we have art that moves further and further away from our inner nature. As a result, we have art that is based on concept instead of idea and inspiration, art that ends up comment on itself or upon the absence of values.” p.xiii

I find this part thought provoking as well. It makes me want to take another art history course and learn more about contemporary art. I know many contemporary works by their images (Wayne Thiebaud, for example) and not by meaning. A splatter piece of Jackson Pollack’s resides in my mind, but I don’t know the meaning behind it and whether it can be considered self-destructive. I do go to museums on a regular basis and often don’t understand the contemporary works just by looking at them. My impression is that a lot of contemporary work requires study.

This passage also provokes questions. “is art moving away from artists’ inner nature as more artists come on the scene and try to sell their work?” Does some external force (galleries, critics, Marketplaces like Etsy) encourage artists to move away from what they want to make towards what artists think they should make?

View all my reviews

Ruth B. McDowell’s Design Workshop: Turn Your Inspiration into an Artfully Pieced Quilt by Ruth B. McDowell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I love Ruth McDowell‘s books and have most of the books she has written. My favorites are Piecing:Expanding the Basics and Art & Inspiration: Ruth B. McDowell.

McDowell’s information is always good. I have to say that, initially, I was disappointed in this book. It seemed to be, mostly, a rehash of the Piecing book, which is one of my bibles, so I know it very well.

After sticking with the book (rather than abandoning it) I found a few good sections. Around page 50, McDowell discusses thinking through a different way of piecing her Muir Woods quilt, which she had done a couple of times before. I really like it when quiltmakers discuss their process and I am also pleased to see that McDowell is working in a series.

One section is about using fabric. Ruth McDowell has a lot of little gems about, which could be considered good ideas and rules to live by, including using and choosing fabric. This section has some commonalities with Lorraine Torrence‘s advice to “make visual decisions visually.” I think this is an interesting section because McDowell gives insight, again, into her process.

McDowell makes a comment [on page 61] that making a quilt is not taking a photo. YAY!! Finally, an author has the guts to come out and just say it. She follows that up with more advice on using fabric in landscapes.

I particularly like the “Flamingo Demonstration”. She really makes a good point about how foreground pieces can blend in to the background if you don’t take care to separate the foreground (in this case flamingos) pieces from the background pieces. McDowell says “regardless of your intentions you must be honest with yourself about what you really see.” It is a reminder to me that if I think “oh, this choice will be ok”, it means that I have been lazy and it will probably NOT be ok.

Ruth McDowell has an excellent discussion of background fabrics and creating backgrounds, especially creating light backgrounds. She talks about including what different scales and motifs adds to and takes away from a background.

Another thought about backgrounds that Ms. McDowell discusses is about balancing colors in the overall quilt. The backgrounds can be unrealistic if the fabrics are the right colors. She says that it is more important to balance the colors in a quilt than make a realistic quilt.

Ruth McDowell is a thoughtful quiltmaker. She really thinks about all aspects of the quilt and their design. After thoroughly discussing the foreground and background, the main portion of the quilt, McDowell launches into an excellent discussion of borders. You might think that borders are easy – just slap on a long piece of fabric and you are done, but McDowell shows how borders can add to the entire piece. She shows what a border is and how the border are part of the piece.

I really like the buffalo quilt on page 82. I am not a big fan of buffalo, necessarily, but I like and respect the way Ruth McDowell completes the composition by using a non-border border. The border in this quilt is so subtle that you don’t even know it is a border. She skillfully integrates the border into the overall composition. I love the fact that the quilt has a border, but it doesn’t scream border at me.

The book has the obligatory section on quilting, batting and binding. Fortunately, Ruth McDowell doesn’t try to teach people how to quilt, choose batting and bind in 3 pages or less. She makes this section her own by telling the reader what she does rather than trying to teach everything there was to know about quilting, binding, and batting.

I was also pleased to see a disclaimer saying that the fabrics may not be available.

Finally, this book has an index. Indexes are fabulous in any book with sections to which you might want to refer later.

View all my reviews