Art Quilt, What is it? Continued....

Line...how do you use line?

Texture...what texture is in your work?

How have you used Shape?

 Art quilts; why and what makes an art quilt, well, arty?
I thought it would be fun to go over the 'big' elements of art. Yes, high school, college art 101 classes come to mind.
Here they are the big seven;
line, form, shape, space, texture, value and color. Art is made of these elements. Do artists use these element definitions as a sort of recipe? No, they're used as an inspiration, a way of filling out an idea. The unique idea within the artist is true art. The 'voice' of the artist.
Around my work space I keep various inspirations, some are words, some objects with an idea connected to them. Artist Rex Ray was showcased in my Art.com 2013 winter catalog.
He is quoted in the catalog as saying, "Just do what you do, and stay true to it." Those words might seem obvious but as an artist that can be the greatest challenge. It's the artists' own 'voice' that makes a unique statement, a statement that stands out from the crowd. So I keep those words where I can see them often.
                                                                                        More thoughts on art quilts to come..
                                                                                        Where do you find inspiration?

Form..in your projects?

Strawberries N' Chocolate 2nd in series & Tropical Punch Art Quilt...

Strawberries N' Chocolate, #2 in a series, sewing kit.

Opened out, with wine colored crushed velvet ties.

Pocket, storage

After putting finishing details on Strawberries N' Chocolate 2 sewing kit, I took final pictures. Working in series once in a while is a good way to practice technique and use up scraps.

Tropical Punch art quilt , another 2nd in a series, came in the mail yesterday from Art Quilting Studio after being published in the summer 2015 issue.They did a good job with the photos. I'm sewing a hanging sleeve on it today.
Another tropical themed quilt, Mimosa #3, is on the runway.
Busy in the workroom!

Tropical Punch art quilt

'Liberated' Star Blocks, great results...

Yesterday I pieced these 'liberated' stars using batik scraps. It was fun putting them together, felt like an experiment. I'm working through Gwen Marston's book, Liberated Quiltmaking II; so far I've put together log cabin blocks, now star blocks and next onto churn dash blocks. She has an easy to understand way of explaining things, based on traditional piecing.
It's amazing how quick these blocks can be pieced together.
I'll keep you posted as I get more 'liberated' blocks done!

New Art Quilt,#1'Pacific Blues' in my new series using 'broken bars', and a doll quilt....

Doll quilt, machine quilted with hand stitching embellishment.

'Pacific Blues' #1

The small quilt to the left is my first in a series, 'Pacific Blues' .
I'm using a basic 'broken bars' block with batiks and muslin. I have yet to sew down the binding on the back, I'll get to it.  It measures 11 x 11". With this series I plan to explore the many 'moods' of the Pacific Ocean off the west coast using mostly blues. It's good to work in a series as a color study and to get faster and more efficient  with construction.

The small quilt above with pink binding is a doll quilt, 12 x 15". It's for my grand daughter who just turned three. I machine quilted it and added running stitch for embellishment. She loves to wrap and snuggle her dollies.

Happy Monday, remember to leave the world more beautiful than you found it!

Back view, I'll get the binding hand stitched down next.

Just What is an 'Art' Quilt Anyway?

What exactly is an art quilt? Have you ever wondered what it is that makes one quilt a plain quilt and another quilt an art quilt? I have and I think there are other curious people who have wondered the same thing. So I thought of doing some research and looking around to find an answer.

I began with basic definitions.

art

¹

[ ärt ]

NOUN

1. the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power:
   "the art of the Renaissance"
   synonyms: fine art · artwork
2. (the arts)
   the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, literature, and dance:
   "the visual arts"

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quilt

[ kwilt ]

NOUN

a warm bed covering made of padding enclosed between layers of fabric and kept in place by lines of stitching, typically applied in a decorative design.
synonyms: duvet · cover(s) · coverlet · comforter · bedspread · counterpane

VERB

join together (layers of fabric or padding) with lines of stitching to form a bed covering or a warm garment, or for decorative effect.

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It seems to me that skill and imagination are important ideas in defining art, let's not leave out beauty.

Just where does quilting and art intersect? Is it in the eye of the beholder? Are there universal ideas to keep in focus to help us as individuals decide for ourselves. That's a brave thought isn't it?

With that in mind I'm off to explore to find some examples of skill, imagination and beauty in quilting.

Check in soon for more as we look at 'Just what is an 'art' quilt anyway?

Art Quilt Experiment, Adding Texture with hand embroidery....

I sewed together 'strip' fabric with batiks and muslins.

I sliced the 'strip' fabric into thirds horizontally and vertically.

Cross stitch and running stitches added.

 I'm adding more hand embroidery to my new art quilt, the texture and color adds so much fun!
Over the weekend I sewed up a strip fabric piece and cut it into small blocks to be used in another art quilt experiment. I'm using some blue and green batik to start with. I plan on using the small blocks as the center square for a bigger log cabin block. I'm still working through, maybe I should say playing instead of working, Gwen Marston's book
Liberated Quiltmaking II. Her book is full of great design and color ideas.
I'm going to run a small tutorial on finishing an art quilt, either with binding or with the envelope, pillow case, method.
Also, I think it would be fun to begin 'defining' art quilt. What is an art quilt anyway?
Happy Monday!