GEOMETRIC ABSTRACT INSPIRED BY ROADWAYS

"Metropolitan"  22" X 55"   Lori LaBerge  2017

The use of repetition shows throughout this piece. There are multiple yellow curves moving across it, vertical and horizontal lines, shades of blues and grays and industrial felt on both the bottom and top sections. The hubcap has curves that relate to the yellow arcs. The lug nut covers, as well as the hubcap itself, mimic the circular shape of the washers attached to the lower strip of felt. There is also a bit of depth to each section.

 Close-up of upper section

A piece of felt was cut into a triangular shape and attached to the hubcap. The felt is randomly stitched with dark gray yarn to add texture.

Close-up of felt and washers

Washers were stitched to the felt and the felt stitched to the rug hooked work. I had thought of using a strip of stained wood, but with the felt on the upper portion the wood looked a bit heavy while the felt brought the two sections together nicely.

Pearl is becoming quite the assistant. It never hurts to have a little supervision.

BACK TO WORK, TWO-VALUE STUDIES TO GUIDE COMPOSITION

Untitled work in progress  39" X 21"  Lori LaBerge   2016

I did not know how much I would miss rug hooking. During our trip up to Vermont, I did not bring any work with me.  A return to hooking this week felt good. We'll be headed back up north tomorrow and the projects will go with me.

This week some more of the yellow was hooked. Rather than finishing all the yellow, I decided to see what the background was going to look like. Some of the blues and grays were added along with red and purple lines.  

I will be visiting some auto salvage yards to find a hubcap to use for the head of the figure. Right now I'm on the easy part. I'm quite sure I have a challenge ahead of me combining rug hooking with a hubcap. I foresee some sleepless nights in my future.

A two-value study of landscape scene

In preparation for teaching Plein Air at Green Mountain Rug School in June, I began working on two value studies to discuss with the class. When working on outdoor landscapes, studies can aid the composition process.

I veer toward geometric studies, but they could just as easily be organic in nature. The idea is to separate out the light and dark sections of the design. Do they balance? Is the shape pleasing? By doing this exercise it is easier to determine if a certain composition will work before moving on to further sketching and the actual hooking process. Spending time on design will pay off later.

Here is a thumbnail sketch of the scene I was viewing when working on the study:

It is easy to see the breakdown of lights and darks. The land in the forefront and the building were drawn as one large mass in the earlier two-value study.

Here is another example:

Two value study

 Thumbnail sketch of scene being viewed.  

The land, tree and background building will be darker than the sky area above. One could also add mountains in the background to add to the piece, even if they were not there in reality. You are creating art, not copying nature.

I know, more books.  We had lunch at Long Trail Brewery in Bridgewater Corners, VT and drove over to Woodstock for dessert.  While there, the Woodstock Library was having a book sale. Could not resist these at two to three dollars a piece.

Art Exercise-

Try creating your own two-value studies. 

ABSTRACT FIGURE RUG HOOKING, NEW BOOKS

 Untitled work in progress

Work was started on a new figural abstract this week. There are six values of gold in the curves.  Blending was a problem with the transition of some values. There is a sharp line where values 3 and 4 meet in the longer curve which bothers me. I'll be pulling out and rehooking those areas to smooth it out. The hooking within the curve is being done randomly rather than with straight hooking.

I'm headed to Vermont so I picked up a couple new books: 

The Art of Rivalry by Sebastian Smee

The author writes of the rivalries between Manet and Degas, Picasso and Matisse, Freud and Bacon and de Kooning and Pollock. These artists had friendships, but competitiveness led to arguments, separations and brilliant creations of art. They had great respect for each other, but friction abounded in their relationships.

Mad Enchantment by Ross King

Mad Enchantment tells the story of Monet's creation of the Water Lily series. It tells of the problems he faced when working out how light and color affected the appearance of water. It delves into the fading of Impressionism as other painting movements evolved.  I'm hoping this book will give me some extra ideas for the plein air class I will be teaching at Green Mountain Rug School next year.

I will be off for two to three weeks due to the death of my mother. We sang and danced, laughed and loved, vacationed and dined together. Dad and I will raise our glasses to a great lady.

RUG HOOKING FINISHED ON "CITY CROSSING", PLANS FOR A MIXED-MEDIA PIECE

 

"City Crossing"  29 X 30  Lori LaBerge  2014

Everything worked out this week and the hooking on "City Crossing" was completed. When I finish a piece I always measure it to make sure it is even on all sides. Textiles don't always lend themselves to a perfect shape as they shift and stretch during the work process.  The piece was planned to be a 30 X 30 but ended up at 29 X 30.  Since it did not have to be a particular measurement, this was not an issue. 

Above, you can see how the measuring tape was placed on the diagonal.  This measurement was taken on the opposite side also.  The measurements both left and right and up and down were also taken.  There was a slight problem with the bottom left corner bulging slightly making it between 1/8 and 1/4 inch off.  

I took the 8-cut out of the second row up toward the edge and replaced it with a 6-cut.  You can see how this row looks slightly smaller than the final row.  This solved the problem and the piece is now squared up.  Things are never perfect, but when I find the work is 1/4" or more off, making the piece deviate from its intended shape, I usually correct it.  Now it is ready for finishing work.  I'm still deciding on the color of yarns I will used for the whipped edge.

My husband and I took a ride into Asheville last Saturday and we stopped at The Antique Tobacco Barn, which has been named the best antique store in Western North Carolina.  I could spend days looking through all of the items they have. Multiple ideas struck me as I walked through aisles filled with things from days' past. I now have an idea for a mixed-media piece and below are items I will be using to develop it.

 

 Could not resist these old bobbin spools, which led to the idea for the planned piece.  These have always appealed to me and I had trouble choosing from the colors they had available.  I will be using the brown ones for the project.  They have touches of purple, yellow and turquoise on them.  I'm not sure if the pink ones on the right, smaller and more solid, are also called bobbin spools or not.  If any of you are aware of what they are, please let me know.

I want the spools to relate to the textile aspect of the piece, so I went and took photos of the local Coats American Inc. thread company building nearby. 

Here is another section of the building. I will use the photos with Photoshop along with sketches I'll be making to create the hooked section of the project.

I found these wooden thread spools on Etsy and they are now on their way to the studio.  Seven of them have Coats and Clark written on their label which will fit perfect with the idea of using the Coats factory photos to design the work.

I grabbed some fabrics from the shelf and came up with these as a general idea of the colors for the project.  As with every mixed-media project, there will be some experimenting involved in fitting everything together correctly.  It can sometimes be difficult to get from the idea to the finished piece, so next week's development of the work will be interesting.  For now, I'm going to enjoy the weekend.

Challenge yourself by looking for interesting items to inspire you, use them to aid in creating new ideas for your work and have a great day.

PROGRESS ON RUG HOOKED ABSTRACT, TIME FOR PLEIN AIR

"City Crossing" in progress,  30 X 30  Lori LaBerge  2014

The work on the latest figurative abstract continued this week.  Music filled the work space as it was a quiet week after the studio tour last weekend.  I added a diagonal section through the middle of the piece where I am hooking blue.  The background is vast and placing a medium blue in the diagonal section with a mix of a light medium and light blue above, though subtle, will break it up a bit.

Above is a comparison of last week's and this week's progress.  I put this up so people can see how colors affect each other.  There have been many times I have seen rug hookers tear out a color they don't think is working.  This can affect beginners who are still learning color theory.  Often, this is because they are looking at it against the backing fabric of linen or monk's cloth.  The color of linen is quite often not very attractive against colors one may be working with.

The photo of last week's progress is quite boring.  The dull red violet against the light beige of the linen is anything but exciting.  This week's progress brings a truer violet next to the red violet for a rich analogous mix.  Adding again to the analogous scheme is the violet blue started on the right.  Across from this group of colors on the color wheel is yellow.  I did not want a true yellow for the figure.  I opted for a yellow-green for something just a little bit off. The piece should be completed this coming week if all goes well.

Since the weather cooperated this week, I took some time to head outside and work on a plein air piece.  The hay was quite thick and looked like waves rolling through the field when the wind blew.  The day I headed out there was a clear afternoon with only an occasional mild wind.  We have a red gate in a corner of the front field that I love against the green grass.

"The Positively Red Gate"  7 X 7 Lori LaBerge  2014

I'm still having fun with the plein air work as it is freer than the planning which goes into studio pieces.  It is a nice break and gives me time to enjoy the mountain air and my surroundings. The shadows on the fence took on a blue tone and the glint of sun on the top of fence and gate produced a glare that I used white wool to portray.  I spent two days on this piece and it was a good thing I made progress on the first day as the second day the field looked like this:

No more long grass as the local farmer came to cut the hay.  I hooked the rest of the grass in the piece from memory, though I still sat outside enjoying the smell of the hay.  Yes, hay fever medication had to be taken that morning.  If you are interested in joining the Plein Air Hooking Artists, please check out our site here.

Try different color plans, follow the color wheel or throw in something unexpected and have a great day.

ABSTRACT FIGURE DESIGN FROM THE EVERYDAY, BOOKS ON THE NIGHTSTAND

"How Small We Really Are",  8 X 12  Lori LaBerge  2014

Today was supposed to be yard cleaning day.  I did get some sweeping done and a few weeds pulled up, but when I walked behind the shed on the property I spotted this:

Last year, the landscapers had to redo a portion of our stone wall.  When they removed some of the stones the glued areas had formed circles on the back.  It is funny how an everyday item can give you a design idea.  I usually work at the design process and rarely does an idea go from in my head to a finished product quickly. Today was the exception.  I knew immediately upon seeing the stone what I wanted to do for a design.  Needless to say, the yard work was done for the day.

The design would include an abstract figure and be titled "How Small We Really Are".  It would require earthy colors.  I went to the studio shelf and found a blue purple for the figure along with white for the head.  The background would be a dull/antique looking red and be mixed with yarns of similar colors along with specks of the blue purple.  Dark brown would be used for some contrast in the background. The circle shapes would be a mottled green.      

I drew out the design freehand, looking at the circles on the stone as I was drawing. The idea was for the figure to be surrounded by the many worlds we live in everyday and portray how we are but a small part of everything that goes on around us.

The circles were in a 6-cut and progressed at a fair pace.  The figure and background were a 4-cut an went slightly slower.  I was surprised when the hooking was completed (see top photo on this post) early evening. A trip to the yarn store may be in order for whipping the edges.

Pete and I returned from our trip up north Thursday night and I found some books I had ordered waiting for me.  I have not had time to read them yet but on the nightstand now are:

I have been thinking about adding large areas of embroidery stitches to some work. I'm the type that likes a lot of photos along with written instructions and from the book preview "The Stitch Bible" by Kate Haxell fit the bill.  Hopefully, I'll be able to try some stitches soon.

Of course, as I was searching for books on stitching, I came across another purchase.  "Celebrating the Stitch" by Barbara Lee Smith showcases the work of serious fiber artists and has great photos.  Since it was printed in 1991, it is available at a good price.  The book includes artists' thoughts on design, process, construction, color, stitching, etc.

"String, Felt, Thread" by Elissa Auther was recommended by a good friend.  It is in the academic vein, which I love.  It speaks of the art-craft issues and fiber as high art. 

Find an everyday item to use for a new design, find a good fiber art related book to curl up with in the evenings and have a great day. 

GEOMETRIC ABSTRACT CONTINUES, DESIGN IN PROGRESS FOR ABSTRACT FIGURE

"Red Light in the City"  in progress,  27 X 36 Lori LaBerge  2014

Work continued on the latest geometric work this week.  I had a few problems with the color of the larger square and decided on two values of a strong yellow-green. The duller yellow-green that was first placed in the piece had a value that was too close to the grays and tended to disappear, adding nothing to the design as a whole.  

When working on a piece, I always look forward to seeing how it will change from the original idea.  The yellow will triangulate around the work.  A black line will be placed across the whole piece above the purple.  The black line, along with the triangulated yellow will help draw the eye to the red.

I started some design work on my figurative abstract series.  These will be 30" X 30" hanging works.  Here is how the process on one piece is going so far:

I looked through my collection of photos and this one grabbed my eye.  I'm looking for scenes that will make a good backdrop for a figure.  This photo was taken while I was waiting at a traffic light.  The reflection was what caught my eye.

I cropped the photo to focus on the reflection.

The photo was flipped horizontally as I felt the traffic lights in the original pulled one's eye out of the picture.

This was the time to see how a figure would look with the background.  The arched section to the left of the traffic lights from the earlier photo was eliminated as it detracted from the figure.  The photo as a whole was simplified.

I squared out the format.  This gives the design more breathing room, creating slightly more space between the figure and the objects around it.

I changed the design to black and white to check value.  This helps to find where things don't look right or need changes.  The design itself is good, but the figure doesn't stand out as much as I would like and the values look a little off balance with the darker traffic light drawing the eye to the upper right.

The eye is naturally drawn to any figure that is in an artwork, but  darkening the value of the head of the figure makes all the difference in this piece.  The largest value contrast  is in this area, the darkest against the lightest, lessening the pull from the dark traffic light.

Here is where I am with the design right now.  There will be more work with color.

The start of an idea and current design side by side.

You never know what you may find in your photo collection.  Look through photos both as a whole and in sections searching for design ideas and have a great day.