I'm self taught at pretty-much everything. That is my lifelong goal. I've never gone to art school... or sewing school for that matter. But I'm always learning. And I am always looking. Yesterday, we were at the library. Here are some books I picked up instead of quilting books. There's some great creativity boosters in that pile!
 |
| A quilter's trip to the library. |
One thing that strikes me is the style of art & quilts & art quilts from around the world. Australians have a definite style all to their own. They stand out. And the works of Norwegian and Welsch artists and sewists really catch my eye. Some day I need to go there and see if I can feel it in the air.
 |
| incidentally, my first fibre art set was purchased by a stained glass artist. |
 |
| from : The Art of Tile |
Our land is so diverse - glaciers, igloos, lighthouses, grainfields, rivers, mountain ranges, giant ancient forests, cottage country, three distinctly differing coastlines, tundra, sand dunes, hoodoos, vineyards, rocky cliffs, and the Okanagan.
Then there's the skies - sun up, sun down, the moon, and the astronomical
(CLICK - these are REAL).
Our place on the earth gives us four distinct seasons as well. Those I cannot live without. Add to that the fact that any Canadian child's classroom will be filled with faces and freckles of every color imaginable... Not many people in Canada are from Canada.
 |
| from the book: The McMichael Canadian Art Collection |
So, what is our style? We are like a loaded pizza. Actually, we are more like the entire smorgasbord! As for me - who knows. There are several people down my family line who were adopted, so the bloodlines are unknown. All I know is that I was born here and my heart is tied to the land.
My goal with my fibre art is to express what I love about the land and sky here. I love Canada. I have this gorgeous image brewing in my head of how I feel about the 'true north', and the depths of life force if you look deep into life here. First, I'm enjoying these books. I love the inspiration they offer. Then I will start expressing that piece in my head/heart with my fabric & fibres and glass beads.
 |
| THAT is my favorite tip. |
Here's to a creative weekend!
3 comments:
Self-taught here as well Monika. You would love my bookcases (built by my talented hubby). Every time there is a library book sale I manage to find something for creative inspiration :).
Stay inspired!
Yes- much of our shelves and the kids shelves are freecycle or library discards. Such gems! We even have a few different encyclopedia sets! ; ) fun.
: )
the thing that strikes me most about australian quilts is the way colours are used. i have a friend who travels occasionally to australia and she tells me that even the clothing there is brighter, full of colour. if you look around a crowd of people here, we tend to wear pretty neutral shades for the most part. this doesn't - thank heavens - translate into our quilts! as an aside - the library has a book about a cross-canada trip a woman from b.c. took one year, investigating quilt making from coast to coast to coast. sadly, i can't remember the name of the book, but if you happen across someday, do borrow it. she shows the different styles of quilts made by so many of our very talented quilt artists. marvelous!
cheers
molly
Post a Comment