The same day “communication" was announced as our theme, I strangely had chosen to applique birch trees in doubles. The branches started reaching out to touch to communicate. My brain said they stood for both our virtual and our face-to-face lives. We live two lives in one. However trite the image, my brain refused to entertain any other expression of the topic.
Today we have circles of friendship and families we see regularly, but just as important and real are the virtual friendships, families and lives we enjoy only via the Internet. It has been said that 4 out of 5 Internet users have developed new lives online in virtual worlds. It is interesting to think how communication differentiates these worlds. Presence, with its diverse elements, communicates as much as words in the physical world, while in the virtual world, communication is both focused and limited by the shared interests. Communication is never easy, face-to-face, but may be more difficult online; thus, the emergence of emoji, the Japanese term for the picture characters or emoticons that we use to clarify or stand for our facial expressions in real life. ☺ But that is another quilt!
A teaser: Are the communicating birches virtual or real? That is the paradox in all representational art. Note: This quilt is mounted to stretched canvas in a manner demonstrated in my February 13, 2013 blog posting on Linda Drawing Time.
Your quilt is unique and beautiful! I love your "write up", too. It is profound, truly. The sentence there that I need to read and re-read and ponder, but one which struck me immediately, is the one that begins, "Presence, with its diverse elements, . . ." Now to tackle your "teaser"; can something be BOTH virtual and real? Another teaser, perhaps....
ReplyDeleteI meant to add this: I love the way the black and white checks echo the black and white of the bark on the birch trees!
ReplyDeleteLinda, this is such a clever interpretation of communication. How smart is the interpretation of birches reaching out to talk to one another? I also appreciated your comments re. how online conversations are interpreted and often, misinterpreted. And the stretched canvas - oh my! Our quilts from Katie PM's class are also on stretched canvas, so I was delighted to see your quilt mounted this way. Thanks for creating a beautiful quilt for all of us to enjoy!
ReplyDeleteLinda - Just love your thought process and of course the lovely execution of it. I've always thought of tree branches that way, Reaching out to communicate. Love it.
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful and does communicate the togetherness it depicts.
ReplyDelete"Focused and limited by shared interests" which is part of the sentence that Alice was struck with, also really resonates with me. You seem to have created much internal communication with your thought- provoking words. I love the gentleness of your birch trees and I can almost hear the leaves talking also!
ReplyDeleteSuch a different take on the theme - I love how you think Linda! Your choice of fabrics is great- the birch trees are so realistic!! I'm amazed at your piece actually because it reminds me of a visual image I saw recently. I was skiing in Utah and saw glades of aspens on the skis slopes and I told my husband they looked like tall thin women with skinny arms and wild and crazy hairdos. In my mind, these are two of those women holding hands!!
ReplyDeleteThat is a ski trail I would have enjoyed immensely. Every time I walk the dog around Fresh Pond, I feel the trees resemble individuals (some dancing) and families.
DeleteI love tree imagery and you did this so well and I love the way you connected this to our theme. I like your comments on how the internet has changed some of our relationships too
ReplyDeleteOhhh, how intriguing your thought process was for communicating. Birch trees are so beautiful and the way you framed them with the eyelet makes it look like we are looking through a window that might be in a car or bus or house. It gives us an intimate glimpse to take part in for a moment.
ReplyDeleteHi Linda - My first reaction was an instant flash back to Anchorage, AK where many of the homes are neighborhoods are surrounded by Birch trees and forests. I always loved watching the trees sway in response to the winds and to watch the changing of the seasons. in Anchorage, my studio was upstairs and I could see the trees as I was working. In winter, the branches were laden with snow, and when the sun would shine, the ice-covered branches were spectacular pieces of nature's art. The prismatic effect of the sun on the ice on the branches was breathtaking. Let me see if I can send a picture of what I just described.... I may have to do it under a separate MM entry !
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