Dee Stewart Merrell
The Space Within III
Too much space? Never enough? Or the obvious “ SPACE – The Final Frontier”. I had to be true to my first feeling on this challenge, and it had to be the space that is mysterious and unknown. I wanted to show all the colors and energy of a nebula, I wanted to bring the exploding darkness to life. Then I knew that I could show space in my own way: with a circle. These were just a few of the rabbit holes that I went down and I feel like I also did a bit of time travel - because I completely changed my entire piece this morning, the day of REVEAL.
This past week I was at a Quilting Adventures retreat in Schulenburg, TX, and my teacher was Jane Sassaman. Many things that she told us, and I did take notes, made a definite impression on me and I absorbed some things to such a degree that when I got home on Thursday evening and viewed my “space piece” again, it no longer pleased me. I tried to stitch new life into it, but that did not work. So I started a brand new art piece on Friday… the design was really looking good, and then I stitched it - the stitching turned it into a psychedelic sunflower! I like it, and I will use it after some major tweaks, but not for this challenge.
Back to my Sassaman notes: Simplify and Exaggerate. I knew that I did not have time to design a background, so I would need fabric that did the work for me. I had tried hand dyes and batiks before because they have a lot of depth and movement. A really nice green caught my eye and when I spread it out it was one of those fabrics that you cannot live without but you are never sure what to do with it. It was a Robert Kaufman and designed by Sherrill Kahn, the fabric name was “The Fire Within II “ .. thus the name of this work:. “The Space Within III”. (three tries to get it right.)
The Space Within I
The Space Within II
Ooooooooo! I love the 3rd one! You really learned a lot in Jane's class and your final piece is truly the right one for this word. It has depth and it is dynamic! Colors are spot on. Great job!
ReplyDeleteAll are beautiful, but truly "the third one is the charm." You made the right call on this. Outstanding!
ReplyDeleteWow! Spectacular! I love them all, but can definitely see your progression through 1,2, and 3. That's why working in a series is so often touted. I think you're onto something here Dee. You need to come to our retreats and teach us. I greatly admire your work here and so enriching to see all 3 attempts. Thanks for sharing them all. You are fabulous!
ReplyDeleteI love your progression from good, better,best. Thank you for sharing the evolution of your design. I love the way the lines of the background fabric connect with the images and how your image bursts out of the frame of the quilt - well done.
ReplyDeleteYour final image is gorgeous! Everything is perfect, the color, the design, the movement. You certainly hit a home run on this one. I love it!
ReplyDeleteAll three quilts are wonderful. I love your use of shapes and colors. Not sure which I like the best.
ReplyDeleteAll three of your quilts are beautiful, and I agree that your 3rd quilt really says it all ! How wonderful that you were able to participate in classes with Jane Sassaman - she's one of my most favorites of the "Super Star Quilters" and I too was thrilled to take classes from her when she came to Anchorage, AK to teach !
ReplyDeleteGreat job on this MM challenge :-D
This is beautiful. The colors and the movement and my favorite symbol the circle.
ReplyDelete