Friday, March 20, 2015

My Seurat...Sunday in the Park with Cole

Sunday in the Park with Cole  12" X 12"
Our focus with STAT this month was the artist Seurat. He was very interesting to me because he looked at color in a new way. He was scientific, and studied the way colors relate to each other, mixing in our minds. Look at any of his work really close up and you'll see dabs of different colors, but when you back up it might read as "blue" or "green"

A quote "Let's go and get drunk on light again – it has the power to console" (Georges Seurat)

I used the fabrics purchased in Lancaster recently, and some Ginny Beyer fabric to interpret his work. The female figure was in my blue scrap bin on some really vintage fabric.
This is how I started...
laying out yardage on my stabilizer. I free hand cut out trunks in 4 fabrics. I don't like fusible so it was kept to a minimum.
I scissor cut angles as I went along, no pattern, no worries. If something was too small I cut another piece and layered it on. I built the whole background this way.
When it made me happy, I dabbed a bit of glue stick on the larger pieces, pressed it just to meld the cotton and carefully took the sandwich to the sewing machine for quilting.


This time I wanted variegated cotton threads, and I really like Oliver Twist hand dyes. I lay unspooled thread over the piece to test, then put all spools for that project on a little holder
Here is a more close up view of the quilting.
Originally I planned to quilt only little circles but changed my mind. As I worked I added little shards of tree fabrics to each one to add shading and dimension. Each shard is loose, so it frays a bit which I love. I catch it up in free motion stitching as I go. Adding on little pieces is like dabbing on paint.
I think Seurat would have enjoyed watching me work in my medium.
I adore how the dots on Ginny's fabric blends like paint when you stand back.


After the quilting was finished I really liked the piece without binding but needed an edge treatment.


 This is on peltex so facings aren't going to work. First I tried a lame in gold but it was too shiny. Then I settled on another Ginny fabric with many colored dots, in brown to remind me of a frame. I did my quick binding (see tutorials page) securing it to the front with an ocher colored rayon thread and button hole stitch. Then I couched down a very thick gold cording and it's just the right touch of sparkle this time.



 Note I did not use the pink poodle shown in the second pic. I just cut a free form poodle out of my recent pacman black fabric. In person it works great! Circles and squares of gray on black.
He must be a miniature poodle, as his legs and neck are shorter than Cole's ever were! The last thing to do was take some bronze metallic knitting thread, twist it boucle fashion to make a leash and attach it to the gold collar.
Done!
related posts lancaster-loot
                    exploring-seurat.
                    Other STAT quilt posts
STAT is a group studying master artists and interpreting their paintings in fiber, with an emphasis on texture
                   

22 comments:

Kaja said...

This looks great, LeeAnna. I love seeing your process and the end result is a really fun, clever interpretation of Seurat's work.

Joanne said...

Wow LeeAnna, this one is amazing!
You really capture the artists style in each work!
Thanks for sharing your creative process!
I love this one too!
Take care,
Joanne

Jasmine said...

Amazing. It turned out beautiful and fit your theme so well. Love your frame. ;)

Glen QuiltSwissy said...

WOW!!!!! But the first thing I said after that was: Hey! Cole must be a miniature in vintage times..........

Marly said...

Truly Seurat - slightly adapted - but wonderful.

sonja said...

this is wonderful in detail and fabric translation. what fun you had and it shows.
Cole must come from a long line of poodle walking history. Way back in the day my Aunt Hattie had a black standard she called Woggie

Muv said...

Hello LeeAnna,

This is a really fun packed interpretation of Seurat. I think he must have enjoyed his work, as so have you. The dotted fabric for the trees and the circles FMQ are so reminiscent of pointillism. And the poodle makes it look so French!

Thank you for linking up with Free Motion Mavericks!

Love, Muv

quiltedfabricart said...

Oh! I love this! I really enjoyed reading about your process and like your tip with the thread ready to go all picked out on a mini spool holder

ann said...

You got Serat.

Norma Schlager said...

Perfectly charming.! I love the use of the dotted fabric and of course Cole playing his part. I was fortunate to see a large Seurat exhibit in NYC several years ago showing how he made that huge piece. He made a study for each figure in the painting. Shortly thereafter I saw "Sunday in the Park with George", a musical on Broadway. Fabulous!

Ann said...

You really nailed Serat and so many good pointers. Thanks. Oddly enough, I saw a cartoon with one of his paintings in a museum. The visiting child asks the curator, "But why don't they have their phones?" (or something like that... funnier, though.)

Sue Daurio said...

Amazing, that is a beautiful work of art!!

AlidaP said...

Absolutely gorgeous! I immediately thought about Seurat when I saw the little thumbnail! Great interpretation of his work, with the lovely addition of the cute poodle! Thanks for sharing!!

Mardi said...

What fun. That is a great project and looks so cool.

Mary in Boulder said...

This turned out great! It sure would be fun to see all your artist pieces together, either hanging or reproduce as cards or a calendar.

SuzK said...

Thoughtful and well executed!

Ruth said...

I love it - it really looks great and you've captured Cole and the feeling Seurat perfectly

Cathy Perlmutter said...

I love everything about this piece, LeAnna. The freehand poodle is totally adorable, and the skirt is executed so beautifully! You should print up greeting cards with this design, it's really fun to look at!

Lara B. said...

Fascinating LeeAnna! A really cool design process and an amazing art quilt! I love that you added a black poodle like Cole!

Andrea @ Mouse in My Pocket said...

I love this! I can't believe you found a lady in your stash that worked so well with the style.

Ioleen said...

This is amazing. I love it!!

Angie in SoCal said...

This is a gorgeous piece. And always appreciate the process retelling. Thanks for linking to WIPs Be Gone!