Wednesday WIP-Pamela Allen Class Updates

I am learning so much by taking a second online class with Pamela Allen. The assignments are proving to me that I don't know as much as I would like to about the elements of art. I am still trying to get the light and shadows to work in my Lesson One still life. If you look closely, you can see that I tried using a pearl gray sheer over several areas. Pamela says it needs to be darker to present more contrast. Notice I made the leaves of the schefflera much larger, added some shading, and tried to represent my other giant kitchen plant, a Norfolk Island pine. And I keep adding height to the windows. Each time I do, I have to paint some more windowpane fabric!

Well, even though Lesson One is still a Work-in-Progress, I have begun Lesson Two. This time we were to use fabric in muted colors that contained a visible line. We were to try to manipulate the fabric to convey shapes, curves, etc. in another still life. If you are interested in the process I used, here is my progression on this composition.

I decided to feature one of my McCoy pottery basket-weave flower pots and one of the many spider plants that keep unashamedly reproducing in my house. It was not too easy to make a curved shape like the vase out of striped fabric, but I kept trying. When I looked at this, I decided there was too much going on.

So, then I tried removing the background view from the window (Poof!) and just allowing the window to be a light space. I liked that better, but did not really have a good feeling about the upper part of this piece.

So, I cropped off the upper section, and filled the space with close-up pots and plants. And, when I sent it in for critique, Teacher approved it on the first try with no tweaking needed! Hooray!

And, today I also got a good start on the commissioned piece for my sister's church. I will try to get it ready for stitching by tomorrow when we leave for a long weekend in the mountains. It has to be in Greensboro by a week from Saturday, so I have to make some quick decisions. And I am happy to say, I am more confident in planning this composition with all the art quilts that have been submitted and critiqued by members of this class.