Saturday, May 30, 2009

coming back

My SAQA group is doing an exchange in which we each create a set of small pieces (4"x4") to swap. I was fooling with the idea of mandala a little while ago and thought it might make a good foundation for this exchange. In one of my art books, there is the suggestion that, when sketching mandala, you could draw in one area, then turn the page a quarter turn and draw in the next area. This is proving fruitful -- sometimes the smallest thing gives the best result.

I've been carrying around one of those top-spiral bound steno books with grid paper. I like symmetry, so I like having the grid underlaying the sketching. My Blogger "skills" -- which were minimal to begin with -- are rusty, but here are some of what I have so far, rendered in smudgy pencil. I think they may be stitched on a white ground, with shades of white and extremely pastel colors and some silver. I may have mentioned before that white is my favorite color. . .














8 comments:

quiltcat said...

Mmmmmm gorgeous possibilities!!

daviddrawsandpaints said...

I find the second one particularly fascinating - like an unfurling leaf bud or flower - full of possibilty.
Happy to see you working and inspired :o)
wv: dersta - having stepped out into the light.
x

Karen L R said...

very cool...similar and different at the same time...

Natalya Khorover Aikens said...

me likey! wanna see more!

Nellie's Needles said...

oooo...lovely! It's interesting that you like grids AND the free-form circular shapes you've drawn. I'm looking forward to watching these develop.

Anonymous said...

Snap! For our next show at the cafe, we're doing prints 4x4 and I'm quartering one plate. I can picture yours finished. Understated style, that's you!

Ellen said...

love these! orderly, but organic, hinting at patterns but not too symmetrical. Love the second and especially the fourth. I wonder if using the trick of turning the paper around would prove fruitful for creating something abstract in rectangular form. Be interesting to try.

Vivien Zepf said...

These are great! And thanks, by the way, for your very helpful feedback on my hand piece.