Pages

Monday, June 1, 2009

Identity

I have posted this quilt on my blog before. It was the "play-along" quilt for the 12 x 12 group's latest theme of identity. Today is the official reveal so go to their blog to see all the wonderful interpretations.

This is my interpretation. When they first announced the identity theme, I thought that would be a hard one. Nothing came to my mind right away. I didn't even think about it, but what might have been a few days later, this idea came to my head. Obviously, I made it bigger than 12 x 12 because that was what I envisioned.

How does this quilt identify me? I used cool colors on the "outside" of the quilt because I have been told that if you don't know me, I seem to have a unfriendly, "cool" (not the hip kind) demeanor. Maybe because I don't chit-chat a lot, or I have a naturally frowning face. Also, I may seem calmer on the outside than the chaotic thoughts that go through my head sometimes. I used green and blues as those are some of my favorite colors.

However, if you get to know me, you would find that I am very "warm" on the inside and very passionate about some things (hence the fiery orange and reddish colors).

The "inside" square was made with glue resist fabric I made. You probably cannot read the words (which was intentional), but one has "artist" written repeatedly and the other has "creativity" written on it. The leaf in the middle represents the environment and nature, which I care about deeply. I feel I function much better if I am around nature, even if it is only seeing lots of green and trees as I look out the window.

There are six horizontal sections and eleven stripes in the bottom section to represent my birthday of June 11th. The orange square, in my original sketch, was set off-center. But when I was putting it together, I decided to put it centered because that is what I am striving for in my life; to be centered and grounded.

The top quilting lines are more calming and represent the ideas that sometimes float by. The leaf shape forms growing up from the bottom are all the many ideas I have that I may never get to.

Do you think it looks like me?

5 comments:

Diane Perin said...

Ooh, Lisa! I love this! Thanks for playing along with 12x12 -- and your piece is a wonderful take on "Identity." I like your explanation, but this stands alone as a striking, elegant piece.

Françoise said...

This is a beautiful interpretation. I like it.

Terry Grant said...

Very striking piece! The cool/warm combination is a perfect metaphor for many of us I think. So clever to have envisioned this. Our next theme has been announced—passion. I think you have covered that in this same piece!

Terri Stegmiller said...

Fabulous. Your description along with the quilt is a wonderful little peek into your identity.

Kristin L said...

I really like this too. I would love to have a version as a full sized quilt for my bed as it's a lovely composition even without the symbolism. But, with your explanation it becomes a great abstract portrait of you and I love it.