One of the things I love about textiles as a medium is that for some reason (perhaps our quilting heritage) textile artists are social beings. The Quilt Indy Group gets together on a regular basis and works through design exercises. I was honored that they chose Art + Quilt as their textbook of choice for this year and simply thrilled that they invited me to be a fly on the wall of their cyber-meeting space.
In this exercise patterned fabrics are photocopied and used to create compositions that focus entirely on the visual texture of the surface. Remember that actual texture is the way something feels. Visual texture is the pattern on the surface.
Here are two exercises by Carol. I love how she uses similar shapes but plays with the scale of the texture. I'm thinking she might have used the copier to reduce or enlarge the scale of the pattern and perhaps to even reverse it. Can you see how the scale of the visual patterns are set each other off?
The next two pieces by Lorie show how adding texture and pattern to the background can help to ground the piece.
Mezzie shows an even more dramatic example of how adding texture to the background can make the composition much more interesting. She's used the exact same composition for each piece but one is much more dramatic than the other.
Notice here how Von has not only changed the scale of the background in his two pieces but has overlapped the shapes. What happens to the textures and the composition in general when the elements touch each other? I think it gives the eye a path to follow.
Thanks to the Quilt Indy Group for sharing their work! Leave a comment and tell us what you have learned from seeing their exercises. If you are doing the exercises and wish to be featured by all means let me know!
