Sketches for July-Design Master Class

July’s assignment for Elizabeth Barton‘s on- line Design Master Class was to make and design a quilt based on one of 3 pieces of music. Now THAT was a challenge that has taken me way outside of my comfort zone!

The three pieces of music and their links are: the first four bars of the Bach/Marcello Adagio, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (especially minute 3.4-4.4 and Dave Brubeck’s Take Five.

At first I was completely at a loss-how do you do that-create a quilt design from music?? In my distant past I played the French Horn quite well and played through college, so I am no stranger to music. I decided to settle in and just listen with no expectations. I settled in, listened, and let the music flow over me. It was wonderful.

The more I listened, the more enjoyable and comfortable all of this became. It was kind of an exciting challenge actually. The sketches from the other students varied widely and it was fascinating to see what others came up with. It truly brought out the voice of each student.

I have shown my sketches below, with comments on each following the sketch:

I tried to reflect the loose and jazzy nature of his 50’s piece. The 5/4 rhythm inspired me to create “boxes” but each is different and off kilter. The various sized circles and x’s remind me of the lilting tune of the sax. My sketch also gives me a mid-century feel-a design that makes me think of a laminate countertop somewhere in the 50’s.

Elizabeth’s comments were interesting on this one. She saw the Os and Xs as “noughts and crosses” which I would not have thought. She suggested that I eliminate the x’s and replace them with circles. It would yield a similar feel without any connotations about “noughts and crosses”. Made sense to me.

She thought I could push this design a little further by clumping the circles a bit for a center of interest, making them less evenly dispersed. Also I could create a bit of a maze feel with their placement. I am beginning to understand the need for some tension, one or two things just a little bit wonky or unexpected to make the composition stronger.

The first thing I did was review Fantasia for the dinosaur scene using this music, but I didn’t feel inspired by that at all. I came up with this sketch instead. The long lines represent the ever present strong strings in the background, the circles are the powerful brass and the x’s the woodwinds/double reeds. Some of it felt light hearted and some of it powerful. I hope I conveyed that in my sketch.

She really liked the flow on this one and thought that the design made the “noughts and crosses” effect much less striking, so it works here. She again suggested a grouping of circles to exaggerate their effect and reflect that pulsing boom of the music.

I could see the x’s in hand embroidery and some seed beads added to this one. And maybe some heavier cording couched on to create the undulating lines. Or maybe this could be pieced and tell a color story with the horizontal bands of color…

Although the video part is aquatic, I wasn’t getting an aquatic feel. I was getting more of a feel of growth in nature. For some reason I saw a video in my head of a tree sprouting up and out of the ground, curling and growing. The music is restrained and delicate. My sketch reflects this nature with its curves and repetitions.

She liked the flow of this but felt like it did not reflect the prominent 3/4 beat of the music. It lacks a little edge. She pondered if I could simply make the one horizontal line into six (the beat) or five (the staff). I’m not feeling that. I think it simply is the weakest design anyway.

And then, her final comment: “Well done, three very nice designs!” Okay, it feels really good to receive a nice comment on something that initially made me very uncomfortable!

I noticed something lovely this month. I noticed that I am really enjoying the “pulse” this class is giving to my artistic life. By that I mean that I know I have something “due” every 10 days. I am not going to make all those deadlines, but I know they are there and I am trudging through each deadline, some with success and some with a lesson learned from less than success.

I found myself really looking forward to Elizabeth’s response on the 10th. I wanted to see her comments on my work and I also was excited to see what the other students came up with. It was like a mini-Christmas morning with little presents to open!

I am thinking I am going to go with sketch 1 of Dave Brubeck’s Take Five. I like the design. It feels original and not derivative, and I’m just tickled pink that I came up with it from listening to music!

It’s been a fun month so far. I will post my quilt when I finish it.

I am also trying to finish up June’s quilt of the agave. Elizabeth suggested that I change the background to a complimentary color. Oh my, what a difference! I can’t wait to show you the finished quilt-stay tuned!