Year In Review - 2011

Well, it's that time already - I can't believe how quickly this year went! 

But January first means two things for me - that it's my third blog-aversary (and 360th post!), and I've been quilting for 3.5 years.  

I said at the end of last year's "year in review" post So expect to see more textile art pieces this year - maybe a lot more - and more quilts along the lines of Of The MomentZen GardensPassage and Once, I Was A Child. And that's pretty much what happened. 

As the year progressed, it felt like I didn't produce very much, but it turned out, I produced a lot more - especially in the "quilt" category than I thought I did.  I made ten quilts in 12 months!  They were:

"Fractured" cotton velvet/satin, a quilt about the nature of our fractured lives. 

"In The Pink" my very first quilt made with my hand-dyed fabric, but otherwise with no special meaning.



An un-named quilt - a gift for a friend's baby - made to her taste and specifications, not to mine!


"Spring" the result of a "play" session - not designed or planned, but thoughtlessly put together. I don't intend to ever make quilts of this kind again! (i.e. - thoughtlessly planned)


"Stepping Stones" my mise en abyme  quilt, made from the scraps of my first quilt, which was made from the textile scraps of thirty-five years of sewing.  A simple quilt, but one of my favourites this year.


"Test Pattern"  - inspired by a T.V. test pattern; this was another quilt I really liked, though it didn't inspire much excitement in anyone else.  Oh well, not every quilt can be a winner. :)


And hey, speaking of, this quilt was a straggler left from 2008 that I finally finished quilting this year.  I was glad to finally finish it, but wow, I didn't like it! None of you did either, as there wasn't a SINGLE comment on that post. If you can't say anything nice ...  ;)

So, what a relief to make something like "Phases"! Back to my familiar stomping grounds of linen and silk,  a limited palette, and a contemporary feel.  The moon goes through phases as do I, apparently!

"Off To Oz".  This quilt and "Fractured" were the two quilts of mine that got a LOT of attention this year - about equal amounts, I think, although they couldn't be more different. This particular quilt was a real departure for me.  A fun one - but I'm curious to see whether I have something else that's similar inside me. 

The tenth quilt was one I sent to Japan post-tsunami, and don't have pictures of.

And then the art.  

The art makes me laugh as I look at what I produced over the year - it reminds me of the schizophrenic oeuvre I produced in 2008/2009 when I was trying out every kind of quilt in every kind of style, trying to figure out what worked for me, what I liked, "How the heck do I MAKE the quilts I see in my head?"

"Happy wife, happy life" - one of my "inspired by Charley Harper"  pieces.

Having done that already, I at least knew what this year would look like as I tried out new-to-me techniques, in an attempt to find the best medium to express what I want to say.

Take A Winter Walk With Me

Early in the year - on January 7, I tried this. I was doing "fugitive media' before I even knew what it was - as I had painted this little piece with acrylic paints before quilting it. I loved this piece but resisted it - it was too different from what I had done before, too far from my comfort zone.



Back Seat Driver

I went back to what was comfortable to me - only this time trying it with needle felting - but it didn't feel right to me any more. I knew that I needed to get out of that comfort zone or I was never going to get where I needed to go.



Failure To Thrive

In March, I decided to try a different version of the painting - I only showed it to you recently as I initially disliked it so much I didn't want to show it to you - but I like it better now, although I still see the room for improvement!


By The Sea

More needlefelting, combined with hand-painted fabric, this time with a lighter hand - and I liked the results better  - but it still didn't feel quite like "me'.


"Newlyweds" another inspired by Charley Harper piece.

By the time I was done this piece, I knew this wasn't for me either.



So I tried a different method of needle felting and hand painted fabric.  I LOVED it - needle felting all those fabrics together, and then finding the face within; but that was the problem. It all just kind of came together - randomly painted fabrics, and finding the face - what were the chances that would happen again?



We Are Mermaids Too

So, I gave it another shot.  Needlefelted some of my hand-painted fabric together and then tried to "find" something in it.  I didn't in the way I did with "Wood Witch", but I found a nice background for a mermaid scene.


Taking Flight

I tried some more abstract sketches as well - the art I'm drawn to as a rule is non-representational - I like the intellectual exercise and the emotional power I feel in abstract art - I don't like it when the story is already there, waiting for me to "read" it  - but it turns out I'm not really any good at non-representational art.  Perhaps as I learn and grow I'll be able to do so - or perhaps, I'm already doing it in my quilts, rather than my art.

           
Arboreal Oasis

I also tried going back to repair prior mistakes - with some success - although I'm not sure I like the "corrected" version any better, I learned a lot about something I called "ghost quilting" and it's something I'll put to use in future work.



Transracial Adoption

Around this time, I was asked to be a contributor to a technique driven blog  in which a number of fiber artists tried out different techniques for the edification of themselves and others called And Then We Set It On Fire.  It was to fill in for a couple of months, and since I was a follower and a tryer anyway - I decided to give it a go.

The first technique we were to try was fugitive media -  techniques in which you apply things ordinarily applied to paper (water colour, pastels, acrylic paint, etc.) to fabric.  Without knowing it, I'd already dabbled in it and I took to it like a duck to water, producing Transracial Adoption above, and

Erosion

With "Erosion" I knew I was really onto something - I loved everything about the technique and the method, and was sure I'd found my medium. (And "surprise!" it looked VERY much like the piece I produced the first of the year.)


In the meantime, I finished the last of my Charley Harper inspired series with Cardinal, and

continued to try new techniques with And Then We Set It On Fire, like the one I taught - transfer paints and disperse dyes.

 

And the unusual materials challenge through another group, in which I made quilts out of anything BUT fabric.

Towards the end of the year I re-visted some old favourites - shaving foam painting and needle felting to produce November.

So, at the end of it all, what did I learn?

My main learning is "how" I'm going to make the art I want to make.  Fugitive media and painting on fabric is what I'm going to continue to explore in my personal work - my main goal for 2012 is to get better at it.  And the quilting continues as it should.  Fractured, Phases, Stepping Stones, even Test Pattern are all the direction I intend to continue in - I have plans for lots of quilts in the future - they're even designed already, if only I could find the time to actually make them!


My biggest accomplishments this year were being featured on or at "big" websites and at Generation Q Magazine and for 2012 I hope to do more of the same, and I intend to start showing, throwing my hat into the ring for some of the juried festivals. 

In addition, I've been asked to become a permanent member of And Then We Set It On Fire so I'll continue to make sketches (or journal quilts) in different techniques throughout the year as I participate in the blog.  

So that's my plan!

Thanks for being with me throughout the year - and I look forward to talking and sharing with you in the year ahead!

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"I am seeking, I am striving. I am in it with all my heart."

                                                                       Van Gogh 

Kit Lang

11 comments:

  1. What a fabulous journey you are on, Kit! I love that you experiment and share your experiences, good and bad. Look forward to seeing where your journey takes you this year!

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  2. I'm very new to your blog and can't recall where I read an interview with you where you shared your thoughts on quilting. I followed the link to here.
    I personally am intrigued by Test Pattern. Some of your fabric painting reminds me a little bit of Wassily Kadinsky in its movement and color. I'm no art historian or anything though:)
    Thanks for sharing your developmental journey too. I think its refreshing and inspirational.

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  3. Wow Kit what a fantastic year you have had. Almost a quilt a month plus all of the other stuff you worked on is a pretty amazing schedule.
    My favorites of the year are "Erosion" and "Take a winter walk" Just something about those two that I really enjoyed. Did you mean for the brown quilting right in the middle bottom section to look like a dinosaur or was that just a happy accident?
    Your description of "Stepping Stones" also really hits home for me. I have two quilts that my Grammy made for me. The one is made with scraps of fabric from her life of sewing. There are fabrics in there from clothes she made my mother when she was a child to scraps from the curtains in my mother's kitchen. It is like a fabric time line of our family. Even thought the body of the quilt is pink it is something that I will always treasure.
    Marv

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  4. Kit. I never saw Take a winter walk with me. This is one of my faves along with erosion (similar look) Fractured for sure!, Stepping Stones, Phases1, and the needle felted face which is fab. So glad I found you and here we go on to another year of creating, mon ami.

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  5. Marv, I never saw that dinosaur before - it was definitely a happy accident! :)

    I love how we have quilts in common. xo

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  6. Lorraine1.1.12

    Wow, amazing bunch of quilts. My favorites are the t.v. test pattern (hey I like it!), the cardinal, and the mermaid. The quilt made out of anything but fabric is cool too. Anyway, they're all neat. I'm a recent follower - so glad to have found you. Happy New Year!

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  7. @Lorraine - well hurray - someone finally likes "Test Pattern". :) lol Thanks very much for joining me here - I'm glad to have you.

    Happy new year!

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  8. Hi Kit, I LOVE test patterns too and your stepping stones quilt. Thanks for posting your journey. It is so interesting to see the process and what inspires you to create as you do. I look forward to seeing your new pieces in 2012. Happy New Stitching Year!

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  9. Phew! You have been busy.
    My favourite quilts are Fractured and Stepping Stones. I also love Take a Winter Walk with Me and Wood Witch. All gorgeous!

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  10. This is a wonderful piece and I am amazed at how prolific you have been over the past year! Happy that you discovered me so that I could land here! Gloria

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  11. What beautiful quilts! Thanks for sharing them.

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