I have begun to start painting again. I don't know about you but when I engage in an idea, I love to research it. So I began thinking about calico, tiny florals and tone on tone fabrics. Little did I know that the term calico refers to plain woven cloth and not small floral prints, as I had thought. hmmm.
It dawned on me that I am trained in Textile/Surface Design and that I love decorative art. So that makes me think it would be great to embrace the decorative elements of textile design in my art. Why didn't this occur to me before?
So yesterday I sat and cut a small floral stencil. Now I can use this ditty again and again and in so many ways. Yippee.
When I first graduated from The Fashion Institute, I got a job working with fine artists. We started talking about decorative art and I got the impression that decorative art is frowned upon, self indulgent and has no real place in the world of art. Fooey. I love cloth, I am trained in the creation of it, I have been learning to draw and paint in light of my training at F.I.T and I love to sew. I no longer need that old, judgmental and confining idea in my mental toolbox. I dedicate these next few months to exploring decorative elements in my painting, sewing and art. I can't fight it and why should I?
Isn't it interesting how words evolve in meaning over the years. Thanks for sharing.
Good for you in your pursuit of the love and admiration of decorative arts. So tired of people's judgements of what is worthy and what isn't. Beauty in and of itself is enough. In all it's forms.
Isn't it wonderful that we can do what we love without fear of what others will think or say? Creativity allows us to explore, play, experiment... I am happy every time I set out to create something, and for me that is the best feeling in the world! So to those who would turn up their noses at what we do, I say... well, I won't spell it out, but you get the idea!
Art is about the joy (or pain) of expression. Just as we can't relate to all people, we can't relate to all art which is their expression. Why care or try? For me the primary thing is the joy of doing it, and those who relate will relate to me. Be true to who you are and show us what you love!
i believe that calico in the UK is what we call muslin here in the US.
Aha! I knew that about the word calico, but only because I'm always living in an imaginary world in which it's always 19th C England...
I hate it when people tell me what I should or shouldn't be into, what is or isn't cool. I think that if you want to have fun with decorative elements then you should, and those who don't like decoration don't have to have it and I shall be firmly in the middle doing something 1 day and something different the next!
Illustration was also lesser art than painting at art school. I would ask why: The only answer I got, besides disbelief at my lack of perception, was "well, illustration is about Narrative...." I love decorative arts, illustration, children's books - can't read graphic novels but love their rising status.
I always had to remind myself when I was reading biographies of pioneer women that terms they used have different definitions that the word today. I like little ditties, and your's is superb.
This is a lovely stencil--I'm eager to see it as applied! What's it resting on? It looks like the symbol for "women"--as in "Women spoken here" Just curious! Here's to the new year, and to moving beyond judgment and limitation in all aspects of our lives.
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