Journal 07
This is my 2007 Journal Project, displayed at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas and, I believe their sister shows in Chicago and Long Beach. It’s called “Know Way Out,” a play on words as many of the pictures in the collage are various exits and ways out.
I took the photographs for this piece while in England and in France. The bottom image was taken through the plane windows as the plane was descending into Birmingham airport. The sheep was in a field probably in Worcestershire. On the far right is a picture from the Gare du Nord in Paris, the middle is from a tube station in London, and the far right is from a subway exis area in either Paris or Lyon.
The blue that frames the image is painted tyvec that was then burned. While I burned some of it before stitching it down, I burned the edges after stitching it down — and I did this *very* carefully.
In this you can see lots more images collaged together. I do think there is so much going on that much is lost in the small 11×14 inch format of the quilt. The excitement of collaging the images together was quickly dulled by my disappointment of the overall finished piece. It was too late to toss it, as I was down to the wire on the deadline. So I finished it and sent it off.
I do have all of the various files that made up this piece, and I think about doing another version, removing some of the layers altogether, and printing it either on large textured paper or again on fabric, but in a larger format – maybe 24″ wide. We’ll see. I did learn a valuable lesson in this piece: Sometimes less is more. Another day I’ll post my 2008 piece.
February 1st, 2009 at 9:54 am
I love this, Gloria. I don’t think it is too bitty. I think it invites closer viewing. The colours unite it.
February 1st, 2009 at 11:28 am
You’re being very kind, Liz. Thanks. I still frown at it. It is good to read that you were drawn in. That was a goal. When I saw all of the journals together, I didn’t feel compelled to look closer. I went right past it! :)
February 1st, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Au contraire Gloria, it’s intriguing. It evoked the spirit of M.C. Escher in my mind, that sense of disorientation and illusion. The colors are rich and the story of the various images adds to the interest. The difference in presentation (i.e. printed on fabric vs. on a computer monitor) might be part of the issue, hard for me to say. Anyway, the complexity works for me.
February 1st, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Well, thanks. I’m sort of too critical of my own work, being on top of it and seeing everything that annoys me about it. Interesting about the Escher comment; my sister-in-law said the same thing to me.
February 2nd, 2009 at 1:14 am
Wow Gloria, this is a real departure from many of your quilts that I’ve seen. Exciting imagery and fun to see you experiment.
February 2nd, 2009 at 1:28 am
Thanks, Pam. MaybeI should post more of the collage stuff. :)