COMPOSITION: CREATIVE STRETCHES in FIGURE/GROUND
• Length: 5 days
• Level: Very advanced (must be a good machine-piecer and skilled at cutting improvisationally)
• Sewing machine used
DESCRIPTION
Jog your thinking! Push away mental roadblocks! Step out! STRETCH! Embrace possibilities! and gather ideas for creating fresher, more viable compositions!
Before coming to class, participants must collect together ideas as starting points using photos, postcards, magazine pages, art book pages, copies of works by ethnic artists, outsider artists, any artist or painter that one likes or has discovered. CREATE A NOTEBOOK OR NOTEBOOKS BY CATEGORY. File ideas into categories such as: VERTICALS, HORIZONTALS, PATTERNS, REPEAT PATTERNS, GEOMETRIC SHAPES, COLORS, DOORWAYS, ARCHITECTURE, TEXTURES, CIRCLES, CURVES, LINES. Again, look at ethnic art, ethnic craft, anything and everything!
Students will cut out and machine-piece 2-3 or more new compositions BASED ON THE STRUCTURES FOUND IN THE COLLECTED IDEAS ABOVE. No matter the results, new compositional experiences will build confidence, better technical skills, expand ability to handle color and values. One-on-one critiques as well as group critiques will be integrated into this class.
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Homework preparation before coming to class: Each participant must go to Kinko's or a similar venue or use their own copier and make "blow-ups" of paintings, PARTS of paintings or prints, patterns, postcards, art magazine pages, etc. Make these copies ONLY IN BLACK AND WHITE in various sizes such as double the size of the original and even larger and/or very large of entire pages. PREPARE by cutting up and putting back together parts to reconfigure and create new structures.....in other words, please create collages of structures, glue them to a heavier sheet of paper and have these ready to bring to class. WE WILL NOT BE DOING THIS PART IN CLASS. YOU MUST COME PREPARED AS WE WILL MOVE IMMEDIATELY INTO FABRIC using BLACK AND WHITE AND NEUTRALS fabrics the first two days at least. • Bring enough blow-ups and variety of blow-ups to work out new compositional ideas the first day of class. |
Presentations:
Optional but important: Each student may bring a laptop with a digital presentation or 3-6 actual quilts or slides and be prepared to make a short (5 minutes maximum) articulate presentation about their work and be ready to discuss and explain their goals. This helps me and all the other students to know where you are in your work at this time. The Crow Timber Frame Barn provides use of a slide projector and a digital projector, but cannot provide a laptop or desktop computer. Participants may be able to share another participant's computer for digital presentations.
SUPPLIES
Sewing Machine
Swing-Arm Lamp
Digital Camera and Printer
Multiple Outlet Power Strip/Adaptors
Glue to Adhere Snapshots into Sketchbook
Iron/Iron Cleaner
Heavy Duty Extension Cords
Small Spray Bottle
4’ x 8’ Batting/Flannel (White) on which to pin work
Ball-Head Pins (very fine and regular size)
24" x 36" Cutting Mat/Extra Large Rotary Cutter and Blades
Scissors/Needles/Thread/Rulers
Sketchbook/Pens/Other Supplies You Want
Packing Tape if shipping boxes
Optional Books:
> CROSSROADS, 2007, Breckling Press (new catalog from one of Nancy’s exhibitions) - available at Crow Barn
> NANCY CROW, 2006, Breckling Press (new book covering Nancy's work from 1989-2005) - available at Crow Barn
Unfortunately, the following titles are out of print, but your local library may have them or order on Amazon.com.
GRADATIONS: FROM THE STUDIO OF NANCY CROW, Quilt House Publishing
NANCY CROW: WORK IN TRANSITION, American Quilters’ Society
NANCY CROW: QUILTS AND INFLUENCES, American Quilters’ Society
NANCY CROW: IMPROVISATIONAL QUILTS, C&T Publishing
Fabrics:
Do NOT bring fat quarters. We will use large pieces of fabrics and possibly work selvage to selvage most of the time.
Do NOT bring prints.
6 yards each of:
• SOLID BLACK and SOLID WHITE (Pimatex by Robert Kaufman is wonderful quality)
At least 1 yard of each color:
• SOLID COLORS (commercial or hand-dyed) the widest range you can afford to bring and be sure to include both warm and cool colors - 80 to 100 different colors (1 yard or more of each color)
• OFF-WHITES tans, warm white, cool white, creams (1 yard or more of each color)
• GRAYS 5 to 9 in light, medium, and dark (1 yard or more of each color)
• We will use everything listed above so do not decide to leave anything out.
• We will use a lot of solid colors so bring a good range that includes darks, medium and light values of Browns, Blues, Greens, Reds, Golds, Yellows, Oranges, Purples, Violets.
• Please wash and shrink all fabrics!
NOTES REGARDING FABRIC SUPPLY LIST
Yes, the rumor is true!!! Yes, I do ask that each student bring lots of fabrics. My personal theory embraces the belief that one will be freer to be creative if one has many fabric choices available in class. After 25+ years of teaching, I consider each class I teach to be on a graduate level and therefore I expect students to arrive prepared with all necessary supplies. In that regard, I have outlined those fabrics we will use in this class. For some students, my fabric supply list will seem overwhelming in quantity and variety, while for other students, the selection they bring will never be good enough.
About solid colors--the more shades you have to work with, the more you will learn about how to work with color. Color is Joyous!!! Color does not cause pain!!! Take DELIGHT in color!!!
Working in color does not mean only using BOLD colors or HOT colors; working in color means learning to be versatile in all types of colors.
I caution you to not bring mostly middle value solids, rather bring a wide variety, including:
• Light values
• Medium light values
• Medium values
• Medium dark values
• Dark values
Any color can be warm or cold.
Warm tones: Any colors that are mixed with yellow and which have a glow coming off the surface.
Cold tones: Any colors that are mixed with blue and which have a dullness and subdued nature.
Many students arrive with their own hand-dyed solids or stacks they have purchased from other
dyers. By all means, bring hand-dyed if you want.
But flat solids (dyed commercially) are equally acceptable.
I usually work with flat colors or my own subtly dyed flat colors. My own palette includes approximately 500 shades.
I cannot specifically tell you to bring only 1 yard cuts of each color because I know we will be using at least a yard of some to many colors depending on each student’s color preferences. If you bring a yard of each – say 5 blues, 5 reds, 5 yellows, 5 greens, etc. but one each in light values, medium light values, medium values, medium dark values, & dark values, that would be better than not having enough. So bring 1 yard of as many colors as you can afford and shorter lengths for the rest. Remember, we will be working selvage to selvage.
Please feel free to ship your fabrics ahead to:
Crow Timber Frame Barn, your name & workshop title, 10545 Snyder Church Road, Baltimore, OH 43105
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