First of all, my apologies to those people who had problems getting at the last freebie (the little lion) I have no idea why some people couldn’t open it – that’s never happened before. Anyway, if you had problems and would still like the file, just drop me a “comment” asking for it and I’ll send it out to you.
OK, now for this week’s story, which is really interesting – at least I think it is! Some time ago I saw a fascinating work by my friend and neighbour, textile artist Mahri Prince, which she’d recently finished. It was a deceptively simple piece – quite abstract, all in browns and blacks with pale stripes running over the surface. I loved the way the stripes changed colours as they ran from one part of the work to another, and eventually I did a couple of sketches that had the same kind of stripes. The one I liked best was one of a group of fish, with the pale stripes of Mahri’s work turned into rays of sunlight changing colour when they struck the silvery bodies of the fish
When I asked Mahri if I could post a picture of her work in this blog, she kindly sent me a picture of what had inspired her to make it. It was a very straightforward photo of an office in a modern building – not on the face of it a very inspirational picture! But I was astonished to see that the pale stripes of Mahri’s work had been inspired by the rays of light in the original picture, and in my work the light rays reappeared, even though I hadn’t known that that was what they were in Mahri’s piece. So here are the three pictures, showing how inspiration flows from one to the next
A picture of a modern office – maybe not very inspiring? But…
Mahri’s piece, with the pattern of light in the office picture translated into an abstract pattern playing over brown and black shapes
And finally in my piece, the patterns of light reappear in the rays of sunlight striking the bodies of the fish
Unfortunately, the scan doesn’t really capture the subtle shine on the bodies of the fish, so you’ll just have to imagine it! The sunlight in my embroidered piece was suggested by a very thin overstitching of Sulky Holoshimmer thread, which adds a subtle touch of shine to the surface without changing the colour too much
Mia, unfortunately scans and photos don’t capture the shine that we hope will be captured, but I can imagine the sunlight striking the fish. I love lover fish, they actually look like they have scales. Most embroidered fish don’t appear to have scales. Love your latest inspiration.
Hi Mia, It always amazes me how you interpret and transform the artwork of others into such creative inspirations of your own. Love the idea of the rays of the sun streaming through the water to reflect the silver tones of the fish scales.
I love the progression. And thank you for posting the inspiration to art to inspiration to more art.
🙂
What a great idea! I can see you using this in many ways, from abstract and nature inspired to wherever your imagination takes you.
Wow, this is a great study of “ordinary life” becoming a work of art “quilting style”, then to “embroidery style” that carried the rays of light all the way through…this was a great
collaboration by both of you.