Last week a friend and I were talking about how making art is much like chess — a series of moves and counter moves in tandem.
©2017 Elizabeth Fram Beginning with an outline is pretty straightforward. The first major decision was to choose a variegated thread. The gentle change of color/value gives an initial suggestion of moving back and forth in space, in a way that solid-colored thread wouldn’t allow.
You may enter the process with an overall idea of the direction you’d like a piece to take and how you expect it to eventually end up but, unlike a recipe, the steps can’t be completely mapped out in advance or followed blindly.
©2017 Elizabeth Fram Stitched highlights and dark areas play together with the variation in value of the dye colors. It’s important to keep in mind how the two can work together rather than against each other. For instance, on the left handle, the dark inside area plays against the lighter area of dye just above it, while similarly the highlight of white in the corner of that same handle contrasts with the darker zone of dye above it.
Therefore it’s necessary to be open to surprises with flexibility, which is one of the key aspects of making that I’ve come to love most. Also, it’s the act of move, response, move, response, that lays open a sense of a living process as opposed to a mechanical progression.
©2017 Elizabeth Fram The shadow underneath really brings out the scissors’ definition, but also underscores the need to further define certain edges on the underside of the blades and in specific areas under the handles where the lightness of the variegated thread hindered the sharpness of the image.
There are plenty of challenges with each step, but the enjoyment of solving these inevitable hurdles becomes a strong allure within the process, seducing me back to begin the exchange again with every new work.
©2017 Elizabeth Fram The happy accident of the dye is that the darker areas on the upper edges enhance any suggestion that the scissors are underneath the shibori. However, I found when I stood back that the scissors seemed to be levitating above the surface they are sitting on. I changed the less dense areas of shadow by resewing them in a deeper red, more in line with the nearby dye color. Interestingly, that seemed to bring the scissors back down onto their surface.
The satisfying sense of interaction that comes with facing unexpected results have proven to make for richer resolutions.
Cut-Off (detail) ©2017 Elizabeth Fram Tiny tweaks at the end can make a huge difference. Adding a thin line of lighter value stitching on the top of the left handle, pulls it away from the background, lending a sense of substance.
Once corralled, I think it’s that intriguing dance between the known and the unknown that generates the nut of the satisfaction that comes with making art.
Cut-Off ©2017 Elizabeth Fram This piece will be framed so that the outer edges of dye are cropped. But I wanted to show here the way it flows beyond the mokume-shibori.
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Kéké Cribbs blog post Why We Need Art, for Tansey Contemporary gallery in Sante Fe, is a great reminder of our shared humanity and the part that art plays, not only in shaping our culture, but in preserving it — in part by helping to get it back on track when in danger of running off the rails.
Your work is just amazing. I am so impressed with your hand stitching. This one is particularly delightful.
Thank you so much!
Great scissors! A superb post!
Thanks Pam – I’m sure your recognize the subject…
Your musings are so inspirational! I appreciate your willingness to share thinking and process and in this case the illustrations using the new piece are wonderful! Thanks so much!
Reading what other artists have to say about their process has been tremendously helpful to me so I’m trying to pay it forward in whatever way I can. Your positive feedback means a lot! Thank you.