It is month 1 of Sharon B's new challenge: Take It Further. She has given us a choice of a colour pallet and a concept. It is a great combination - and one to make us all think!
The concept is: Who do you look up to and admire? Why? What is it that you admire about them? Interpret your design in fiber or paper.
When I saw the colour pallet I thought that I wouldn't have much. They aren't colours I normally use, but look what I found in my mixed media stash!!
I have interpreted the pallet loosely - purples, olive green, limey-yellow green, soft green and grey/silver.
As I do have all these lovely goodies I will try to use the pallet in my design. The colours to me are earthy and remind me of woodland shade - all mossy and cool, but also the shades in mother-of-pearl from seashell linings too. So I am going to call it woodland-pearl.
Now for the concept:
Who do I look up to and admire - lots of people - Nelson Mandela, Barbara Hepworth, Anita Roddick.... No-one person jumps out that I would like to do a piece of work about. So I am thinking generic - who do people look up to? Idols, gods/godesses. I went to a great art exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney last year about Indian godesses and have wanted to do a piece of work inspired by that for a while. My next leap of logic - is that I greatly admire the work of many nameless and very talented Indian textile artists and would enjoy doing a hommage to them. I admire their talent and skill, which is rarely recognised and often poorly rewarded.
So here is my theme... a mixed media piece using the woodland-pearl colour scheme to celebrate the work of Indian textile artists. Though I have no hope of achieving the quality of their work.
I want to use diverse stitches, varied materials and create patterns. I am not yet sure about size - a postcard doesn't feel big enough; A4 may be a little big. Perhaps a fabric book page, somewhere in between...
Here is a photo of some of my source inspirations:
This feels a huge challenge - but it will be a lot of fun.
