Sara's Contrast - What Shade of Gray?
I loved this word and can see it as a theme for a series. Most of my quilting choices are built on high contrast in value, color and shape. I took a color class once and I was intrigued with simultaneous contrast where a color changes its appearance depending on the colors or shades it is juxtaposed to. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrast_effect . I was intrigued with the many optical illusions I found illustrating similar concepts on the web and decided to see what I could do in fabric. I started with what looked like a neutral gray on red and green solid backgrounds. The effect was less than striking. I then thought about what I was doing and decided my commercially dyed fabric might have a blue bias and was therefore not truly neutral. I then decided to pull a swatch of all the solid grays I could find in my stash. I added a constant gray circle to the center of each square. I did start with adding small square but decided the circle added contrast in shape. The gray circle does change in appearance as the background changes. I like the way they seem to vanish as the foreground and background get close together.
Construction was straight forward. The circles were glue basted to the backgrounds and raw edge appliqued with a straight stitch. After the piece was done I felt compelled to add a spark of red (I have a hard time working in just neutrals) and I added the smaller red circles.
I love this I lean to more contemporary pieces. The four red dots seem to center and pull it all together. Good Job.
ReplyDeleteSuch a great concept for a quilt, Sara! I too was intrigued with, as you put it, the way the gray circles "seemed to vanish as the foreground and background got closer together." This was a quilt I looked at for a long time! See you in Houston, I hope?
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting idea - love grays, looks great.
ReplyDeleteAs you saw, I also used a lot of gray on this challenge. Before starting to work on this challenge, I certainly did not realize that gray could have so many other colors in it. My favorite part of your art is seeing how the same gray circle is at first light and then dark. Someone once said, "Color gets all the credit, but value does all the work!" Great piece!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to portray contrast, Sara! Love the gradations of gray and the red dots set it off perfectly!
ReplyDeleteYour piece reminded me of the work of Joseph Albers. I had a professor in art school that was his protege. If you don't know him, look up his color theories. He has a whole book on how you can control color, For example how two squares next to each other can look bigger or smaller by what color is around them. He did amazing work! And it's a great resource for quilters to look at. Graphic designers refer to his work all the time, and their is a lot of it at MOMA in NYC. You did a wonderful job on this, not easy in fabric! Wow! Lovely idea and execution!
ReplyDeleteInteresting study in contrast!! Love the simplicity of it and the diagonal quilting which contrasts so well with the circles and squares. the red dots focus the eye while still allowing it to travel over the other squares and circles. Great interpretation of the theme!
ReplyDeleteThat is certainly an excellent example of simultaneous contrast. I found that a hard concept to grasp. Very interesting quilt.
ReplyDeleteVery ingenious interp of theme. All contrast in quilting is relative to what's beside it. You really got it!
ReplyDeleteFascinating ! I've taken several color theory classes and still have a hard time figuring out how to achieve the effect I'm looking for by the placement of my fabrics. Watching those grey dots move from square to square says it all ! Great quilt, and great explanation !
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! Thanks for reminding me how much color/value work for us. I love your composition. The red circles add a lot to the piece without taking away from the total contrast story. The quilting is perfect too. I hope we can connect in Houston.
ReplyDeleteI love how you have chosen to illustrate Contrast. I also came up with many "working" ideas for this theme and was going to do something similar with squares within squares with a grey background and many shades of purple. Your color study is fascinating and the use of the small red circles, in addition to the diagonal quilting makes this a most mesmerizing quilt.
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