Quilting play

I wrote a blog about play last week and said I am going to start a new blog post each wednesday on play.  I was supposed to start last wednesday but due to unforeseen circumstances I have had to leave my first post till next wednesday. So sorry :(  I have had life take over this week which has left me with very little time and energy)

I am looking forward to playing and experimenting with new ideas and equipment.

Have a great day xxx 

New quilting art work

I have finished a new piece of work.  It was made by painting with thickened dyes.  It was the first time that I have worked in this medium.  I found it a lovely medium to paint with but I found it hard to know what the end result would look like as the dye wet looks different to when it is dry.

The dyes blend beautifully and produce beautiful rich colour.  

This piece of artwork was based on the colours of mussel shells and the movement of the ocean.

I have always loved the colours inside the shells and how beautiful they shine.

I quilted this piece of work with beautiful shiny pure polyester threads,  these added a lovely shine to the work and a wonderful subtle sparkle.

Mussels 

By Catherine Parkinson

Photography: Blue

Blue

A cool receding colour

The colour of harmony, faithfulness and confidence

The colour to make people stay and look-great for a web page

The colour of the sky and water

A peaceful and tranquil colour

Feel free to use any of my photographs for inspiration but please can you acknowledge my 

contribution to your creativity xxxxx

Quilting artists: How to learn to play

'Play is the language of learning. Play requires practice and 

immersion and often needs to be relearned as an adult. 

It is the art of experimentation, 

exploration and examination of possibilities.'

Catherine Parkinson

Becoming a quilt artist takes time, energy and commitment.  It is a learning pathway and an exciting journey.  On this journey new ideas will be need to be explored, examined and experimented on.  This is the play in creating art.  Consider the process not the end result.  What we end up with is important but the journey we take to get there is the learning place.

http://catherineparkinson.blogspot.co.nz/2013/11/artists-that-play.html

How can an artist learn to play again? On each wednesday my blog is going to cover different play and learning ideas for quilt artists.

Play hard 

learn hard

To start with try and change the way you think about playing.  It is for adults and kids alike.  Play is essential to progressing as a quilt artist.  Play can extend the understanding of the tools, techniques and mediums that can be used. Today's ideas are to get the play juices flowing again.

Try

• Playing with a child
• Observe how a child plays and implement one of these observations in your life
• Run through a few sprinklers (southern hemisphere at this time of the year :) play with snowballs or run through crunchy leaves up in the Northern hemisphere. 
• Play with playdough
• Throw darts at balloons full of paint
• finger paint
• Play with gloop_ Cornstarch mixed with water until it is a consistency between solid and liquid.  It is really wonderful to play with.
• Make something from clay
• Do something just for fun!!
• Rip coloured circulars and collage with them on another piece of paper
• Read a joke book.  This always brings out the kid in me
• Play on the swings at the park 
• Climb a tree
• Blow bubbles
• Go for a walk in a stream.  
• Try and catch a fish or tadpole
• Make a sandcastle
• Print some wrapping paper with an old jar lid and paint
• pop bubble wrap

Do something this week to 

bring out the play in you!!! 

and Have fun

Quilting artists that play

Play: To engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation 

Play is the way children learn.  It is the way they see the world.  Everything around them is to be explored and to be used in a number of different ways to find out the best methods of use.

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” 

― Plato

Adults seem to lose the ability to play.  Life takes over and the 'serious of life' seems to come ahead of having fun.  Learning seems to change its form from play, to sitting down and listening or reading. 

This is the real secret of life -- to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.” 

― Alan Wilson Watts

Adults can relearn this secret.  They can learn to play all over again.

“It is a happy talent to know how to play.” 

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

The secret is letting go of all the learnt inhibitions that have been collected over the years.  It is learning to see again like a child and wanting to experiment and create.

“Dance. Dance for the joy and breath of childhood. Dance for all children, including that child who is still somewhere entombed beneath the responsibility and skepticism of adulthood. Embrace the moment before it escapes from our grasp. For the only promise of childhood, of any childhood, is that it will someday end. And in the end, we must ask ourselves what we have given our children to take its place. And is it enough?” 

― Richard Paul Evans, The Christmas Box Miracle: My Spiritual Journey of Destiny, Healing and Hope

The rewards from play are worth the time invested in learning to play again.  

Play is really important when making art.  Experimenting with surfaces, mediums,  thickness, techniques etc is all part of growing as a artist.  Play helps the artist understand how the medium works and what the medium can create.  Without experimentation of themes, ideas and subject matter art would never change and artists would never grow in their work.  

But how can an adult learn to play again?  Practice.  Like everything it takes lots of practice.  To start with it may seem awkward or silly.   It make take time to feel comfortable with playing again. 

“We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything, than when we are at play.” 

― Charles Schaefer

Take time to play and come alive

Quotes from http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/play website

Photography this week: Red

Red

Red is a colour of passion, blood, love, warmth and fire.  

Use red to have something pop out or forward in your art.

Use red to express strong emotions.

Feel free to use the photos on this site for inspiration but please can you acknowledge my 

contribution to your creativity xx