September 01, 2006
To Sign or Not to Sign.
That is the question.
It is difficult to see in this photo but that is my signature in the bottom right of the above photo.
I have to talk about this. I took a short marketing lecture by Hollis Chatelain, whose work I admire. Her stitch and thread use inspire me no end and I like to daydream about how she paints. Anyway. In the marketing lecture she was adamant that we sign our work.
I have rebelled against this for many reasons. Not all artwork needs to be signed. I firmly believe this. Some pieces ought to be signed on the back, instead of the front and some just need to get signed.
All signatures need to be unobtrusive.
Another thing I rebel against is the label we are asked to sew on the back with our names, addresses, date of birth, blood type. I guess if I were an oil painter I could just write the pertinent information on the stretcher bar and sign the back of the canvas. Stretcher bars can be replaced like, say when you move and your address changes. Labels can be replaced too I suppose, but...
I guess this is the basis of this rebellion: I feel this is an effort by the traditional quilt police to ensure that the legacy of quilt making become/remain documented.
As an artist I feel I should decide what I think merits a signature and what doesn't. And how I want a piece signed and where. And why.
Now I will step off of my salt box. No flaming. I would love to hear what you have to say, in a civil manner.
Here is a first attempt at airbrushing. I learned a few things. Like how to break my perceived rules (I can mix thickened dye IN the bottle, as I go, the dye needs to be pretty thin but still thickened)
It would be nice to figure out what the equivelent of Frisket paper is for working on cloth. Freezer Paper isn't sturdy enough, the dye is too liquid and it seeps under the edge. Contact paper leaves a gooey residue. I have an email into Bear Air, where I buy my airbrush supplies about this. I don't have Frisket paper on hand or I would try it. I will wait for the advice they give before purchasing anything.
I asked for help on Airbrushing with dye from the DyersList, though because I am on digest mode, I haven't heard back yet. We are also all on vacation, it being Labor Day weekend and all. So if any of you know anything about Airbrushing with dye? Please contact me.
And yes! I used a mask to do this.
I've designed a chop that combines my three initials so it's easy to freemotion. I leave it for last, match the thread to the background and add the year, as much for my own information as anything and only on the bigger pieces. It's a pill to have to add those frigging labels and I can see a determined thief busily unstitching them in a heartbeat.
Posted by: deb at September 11, 2006 07:12 AMI've had this "discussion" with lots of quilters. I believe it's a hard and fast rule in Art that it's kind of "uncool" to obviously sign your work. In quilts, it seems the history is to leave them unsigned because they were used - so the history wasn't tracked. I think the middle ground of art quilting is interesting. I'm NOT signing my work - but I can see it would go either way. Interesting discussion. I'll be interested to see which way the group sways.
Posted by: Mary-Frances Main at September 6, 2006 06:04 PMOf all the ways that I've labelled my pieces in attempts to find out what works for me, I prefer signing my name in a metallic gold pen on the backing. My signature is "Karoda" which combines all 3 of my birth names.
Posted by: Karoda at September 3, 2006 02:58 PMG'day Melly. This is an issue for me too. I don't want to sign my name in the quilting, it doesn't look right in cursive. I could imagine appliquing, stamping or embroidering a stylised initial in a sypmathetic colour and I might try it on a larger quilt.
My labels are nearly always temporarily attached and only if I'm sending them out (for what ever reason). I tend to peel the lable off when I get them back.
I don't sell my work nor exhibit much, so if I go down that track, I suspect it would be a good idea to put some sort of identifier on the front or the back.
Posted by: Claire at September 2, 2006 10:05 PMMel,
First... that piece of art is gorgeous!! Will you be quilting this in a Hollis kind of way?
Second, I really hate signing my pieces in thread, and usually can't sign them in pen without it smacking one in the eye. So I hate signing pieces.
Yeah, I'm working on that.. but I guess first I should be working on actually making something.
I also dislike the overwhelming "need to permanently document." I understand labels for shows.. but other than that? why? It's not like my quilts need a provenance. And as far as documenting my work for the future.. I doubt anyone will care about the fiber work. And the process is in the blog.
We should probably be as concerned in preserving the blogs as we are in our quilting. Can you imagine future sociologists/historians if they access the diaries (blogs) of thousands of ordinary folk?
Posted by: Debra at September 2, 2006 10:52 AMI agree with you about labels. I wanted to just sign my name on my "doing small things " piece but the requirements called for a label. So, that's what I did. If art quilts want to be viewed as art not as quilts, then just a name should be enough! My 2cents worth
Posted by: Cathy at September 2, 2006 10:39 AMFrisket is also available as a liquid that comes in a bottle with a brush in the lid, almost like rubber cement.
Posted by: Karen at September 2, 2006 07:02 AMHi Melly, I guess I like to sign my quilts because I always want to know more about the women who make the quilts that inspire me. I guess I feel like I could do that by journaling too but the pages might be separated from the quilt. I guess I am just nosy, lol. As a painter I always felt like when I signed a piece it was finished.
I am now trying to figure out how to annotate the quilt I made for my daughter's wedding without it being too obtrusive but also being sure it was permanently a part of it, Hmmm.