This has been a very minimal art day and I need to post this before my friend arrives from out of town, because there will be no art after that—only catching up and food and probably some humor, because we amuse each other, which is one of the nice things about getting together.So, on with the show—
Put finishing touches on a bird. This one is a "tail down" bird, which is a variation on my usual bird design. Also a bit larger than the others. A gallery in Vancouver, WA is having a juried show of bird art. I am trying to get three pieces together to enter. I am also thinking about entering my last Journal Quilt entry.
Problem is that I am not altogether happy with this piece. I like the bird and the egg. Somehow the surrounding stuff just seems too big or too fussy or something. I have never really cut up an older piece and redone it before, but I am considering it here. I still need to think this over, but I put it into Photoshop and even this crude crop seems like an improvement.
As always, comments are appreciated.
I think your birds will be wonderful together in a show. That they are different, yet so much the same is beautiful. I agree, seeing the journal piece again, that there is something not quite as graceful as much of your other work about it. What would happen if you cut off all the blue border, but kept the green? Bound with blue binding, and keeping the arch could be more delicate, or maybe trimming the green straight at the top and adding more lettering as an overall pattern cascading in the background?
ReplyDeleteAhhhh, I see what you mean. I liked it in its original but when you cropped it to a smaller size, the emphasis was the crow - no doubt about it.
ReplyDeleteI like the borders and the space they provide around the bird. To my eye the blue is just a bit too assertive. Perhaps a dry brush technique to add some paint lowlights over the blue bits, sort of like a patina? You know I love your work, and I'm sure you'll come up with the right solution.
ReplyDeleteTerry, I like the piece best as it is...rather than crop it, what about adding something in the background under the graceful arch? Maybe a reference to a tree or branch with leaves that could relate to the leaves quilted in the border?
ReplyDeleteLyn
I love it just the way it is Terry...I'm no help at all. I like the arch...it looks simple not at all fussy. The colors are unusual together and "move" - they aren't expected or predictable so that keeps it interesting. The arch makes me think of a window, and it seems like more of a scene than merely an image of a bird (which in my opinion the cropped version does...). Nice either way though...but I like your original.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I wouldn't crop the piece but add something to the green background. Right now it seems a bit like a void and draws my attention away from the bird. Maybe you could do some quilting with black thread. Maybe a tree to tie in with the bird, or something to direct your attention to the bird. Or maybe you could draw, print or fuse something else on in that area. I'm sure you will find a resolution.
ReplyDeleteI like the original just as it is. It gives the feeling of looking out a window and seeing the bird on the sill.
ReplyDeleteI prefer the original of this also but thought more writing was needed (lowers that element) to make the connection with the bird and the egg.
ReplyDeleteThe finished piece is quite lovely, but not so dynamic. I think your crop emphasized the bird and de-emphasized the layers around it. You might consider a new smaller border tot he crop that isn't the same all the way around. Repeat some of the red or green or combine it with the blue.
ReplyDeleteI love your black bird very much. How much do you charge for your birds, and how much will this one be? Christmas is coming...
I like it cropped. But I'm asleep on my keyboard, so don't take me too seriously.
ReplyDeleteI like it as is. With all of your travels I thought maybe you were representing one of those little arched windows that you might see in a wall along a street or in a house-sort of where someone might put a saint statue or something. I think that arch makes the bird special and sort of protected.
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