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Post by Teri Berry on Feb 27, 2016 19:54:27 GMT
I made this wall hanging after looking at photos of the Grand Canyon, I was smitten with the different layers of colour in the rock strata and wanted to recreated that effect in felt. Now I have this very thick piece of felt (it's approx 2 ft across) and I'm not sure I like it but cannot figure out why. What do you think? what would you change?
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Post by felicity on Feb 27, 2016 20:42:00 GMT
Teri, it's very beautiful piece, colours are very true to the picture (I'd a look on your site because here the pictures are too small). Yes colours are fantastic and I really like surface design. If there is a problem, I'd look towards the way you positioned the elements of your overall design. To my taste they are too regular, I'd grouped them more together so that the area with ropes and empty space were separated more.
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Post by Shepherdess on Feb 28, 2016 1:40:52 GMT
I went over and had a look on your sight too. I like it but it doesn't say Grand Canyon to me. Maybe they are to round. My husband and son walked in when I had it up and they both said archeological dig.
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Post by jwugg on Feb 28, 2016 7:02:12 GMT
Not sure why, but it reminds me of Aboriginal art. I love the strata at the edges. If it was mine, I'd be tempted to use the same colour combinations to stitch on it, perhaps tree ring shapes fanning out from each ridge, connecting the shapes. Just 1 idea, it's an interesting piece.
& I looked at your monster on your blog, he really is super, love those eye stalks!
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Post by Teri Berry on Feb 28, 2016 10:53:58 GMT
Thank you ladies, it's a bit too late to reposition the cut away sections but it may be possible to link them with some embroidery or needle felting... Jill, now you say it, I see aboriginal art too, and the red earth is very Australian!
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Post by luvswool and dyestuff on Feb 28, 2016 14:08:01 GMT
Teri, I didn’t see the Grand Canyon in your wall hanging either, but I think Jill is spot-on about Aboriginal art and the red earth of Australia. The texture and colors are brilliant. I see some hand-embroidery with a mixture of silk and perle cotton providing some sparkle and shine.
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Post by MTRuth on Feb 28, 2016 15:11:20 GMT
Teri - I think it is lacking in contrast, not enough dark values in there. But you could easily add that in with stitching. And I agree about the layers seeming even.
But the colors are wonderful and I like the cut away bits. Going over to your blog to check out the inspirational photos.
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Post by MTRuth on Feb 28, 2016 15:13:45 GMT
Just looked at the photo and if you look back it, you'll see there is a lot of contrast in the strata. I think adding in lines of dark stitching would really help.
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Post by blythwhimsies on Feb 29, 2016 17:40:36 GMT
I love the textures and coloured layers in the cutaway pieces. Definitely something archaelogical in those layers. It's the bits inbetween that look a bit bare and unrelated. Rows of free machine embroidery around and between the shapes to mimic the layers could look quite effective and would highlight the raised sections even more. I look forward to seeing what you end up doing with it as there are lots of good ideas here, but perhaps you will go in a different direction altogether, which is the fun of being creative.
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Post by lyn on Feb 29, 2016 22:19:33 GMT
I love the colours and the design idea and I agree that dark, stitched lines would look good.
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Post by Teri Berry on Mar 1, 2016 20:50:32 GMT
I have been looking at some aboriginal art for inspiration and think Jill's 3 ring circles might be the winner combined with a depp blue backing felt Thank you all for your very thoughtful insights!
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Post by zed on Mar 3, 2016 12:45:11 GMT
I immediately thought Australia/aboriginal too before I read it: the serpent shapes, the concentric circles, the red, orange, black and white, and the cut aways look like agate, and Aus is known for minerals. Maybe you just feel it doesn't represent what you wanted it to. But that's often the way when we use something for inspiration, it doesn't mean it isn't great
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Post by MTRuth on Mar 3, 2016 14:30:42 GMT
Exactly, the inspiration source is just that, a starting point. Where it leads us is often different but that's fine too.
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Post by zed on Mar 4, 2016 11:33:48 GMT
I've been doing a lot of stuff from that Start2 website and there are quite a few activities which use mind-maps, like word association, and it made me realise how we often do similar things in art, often subconciously, one thing triggers an association with another, whether it's words, colours, shapes or textures. So, really Teri, your brain just did a complicated thought journey from the original Grand Canyon photo, through lots of memories and associations to produce your final piece. Like freewriting, but freefelting
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Post by crealou on Mar 4, 2016 13:36:44 GMT
Great piece! Once framed or hung with a branch or something along that line and with suggestions like Ruth's (stitching) would ad another dimension to it. Like the 3 d effects also.
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