A Trinity of Joy

As opposed to setting our art or even our art room on fire,  I'd like to talk about setting our creative mind on fire.

I want to talk about the trinity that brings us JOY and sets us on fire.

Very often it is the simplest of things that make for satisfaction-  coffee, cream, sugar; or perhaps it is coffee, a good book and a comfy chair;  or coffee, friends, conversation, etc.   ;^)  But anything seriously  complicated makes creases in our foreheads.  If we eliminate the name calling and use the KIS principle- keep it simple,  we can perhaps gain a better understanding of what starts a creative fire, revives cooling embers or even builds up the wood supply for that flaming fire.. It is of course understood that simple is not the same as fast, easy, sloppy, etc. but keeping the decision making simple keeps the firewood ready!

This week I would like to look at the Trinity, The Power of Three as it applies to art.

The Power of Three:

Art, a three letter word, is comprised of three parts.  The three basic components of art are Subject, Form and Content.  A creative work employs composition, elements of art and principles of design.  The result should produce joy!  And light your fire!

Joy begins with J for justification. The artist must have a subject, a theme, a beginning that is worthy of exploring and expressing.  It is the motivation that will carry the project from conception, through choice, to completion.

There is no joy in settling for same old, same old.  What fires your creativity?  A familiar subject or series still needs justification. 

Triangle!  Three ties- good, better, best!  My mum used to tell me good, better, best.  Never let them rest, until the good is better, and the better is BEST!

Puttering around in my playroom makes me happy.  But am I experiencing Joy?  Honestly, no.  I'm letting fear of the fire paralyze me.  I can not justify my current projects.   It is time to start playing with fire!  But I think my wood is wet!  Next we'll have a look at the fuel.
                                          

This post has been for the ...And Then We Set It On Fire...  blog.   I hope that followers and visitors will support this wonderful resource for mixed media artists where there is lots of fun playing with fire!

Alzheimer Quilt

Our Common Threads Quilt group made quilts for the Alzheimer Society here in Manitoba. The small lap quilts are made up of 36 textured fabrics that are cut 6 inches square. The sense of touch is soothing. I had been given a kit to make up and I kinda agree with the various comments that they are not easy to make.

The fabrics are not beautiful and there is no cohesiveness to the various colours and textures. I did find a few substitutes for the very ugliest.

The fabrics are not always on grain and sewing fabrics with all kinds of fuzz, ravel and stretch made me very glad that Nina has dual feed. I pressed the seams open to reduce bulk and I planned to do the machine quilting with a triple zig zag stitch so the open seams were reinforced well.

The batting was polyester which I never use anymore but this lap quilt should be soft and have minimal quilting so the patch surface offers touchableness. There is also so much fullness to these patches that lining up every seam is impossible and the few little tucks need to be absorbed somewhere. This quilt brought back so many memories for me as I remember ripping and trying to get stuff to line up when I first began quilting. lol

The backing was a white double knit that I saw absolutely no sense in using. A ripply top, slippery batting and stretchy double knit were not conducive to my recuperating from the worst cold ever. So I found a cotton fabric that I thought would provide some 'eye spy' opportunities.

Not too bad. All things considered, actually pretty good if I don't count the down time from disentangling the even feed foot from that orange hairy patch. I decided on a double fold binding but I just prepared it like bought bias seam binding. I encased the edge and zig zagged it down.

I don't think I've ever made such an ugly quilt and that bothered me the most.

I know of 2 sisters with this affliction. The one has a number of years under her belt while the other has been recently diagnosed. They live on the same property but are quite different. One wears classic, richly textured and coloured clothes and is very musical and likes cats. The other is a blue fortrel gal who'd rather be in the kitchen when she isn't playing with her little dog. I am challenged to marry form and function as I consider trying this again with my own stash.

My question: can the sense of touch be evoked by fabric that looks like tree bark, or water, or pebbles? The satin, lace, etc. shouldn't be a problem but I was wondering if elements from the natural world can be included.