I thought I was done with this piece I've been working on, until after I put on the border. I thought it needed the border to "contain" all the lines. I don't think that was it. Now I see it needs something else. What do you think?
I have several ideas on what to change, all of which will require ripping seams. Sometimes it just doesn't come together very easily. And yes, I realize the lines are "wonky". I did not use a ruler for anything but the border (something Nancy Crow wanted us to do in the class I took from her).
9 comments:
Hi Lisa, I'm not a border person. I believe that a balanced composition should be able to stand on it's own. After saying that, the border, IMO gave emphasis to the darkest value in the lower left curved area making it very heavy. What would happen if you break up all the darkest value vertical areas with some light horizontal strips? Or, if you like the border, bring a few of the light strips into the border. Just a few suggestions.
I think the border reads too heavy for the piece. If you want to border it I would use a lighter value and something that does not read as solid as the one you have on currently. Secondly, you could break the border with some of the inner elements or colors continueing out into the border,
How about a narrow light inner border, OR if you don't want to remove the dark green, just carefully applique a narrow light line within the dark green. Hope this is clear.
I also think the border doesn't work and the piece does not need it. I think it is quite beautiful! Just remove the border and put a facing on it. I think those lines NEED to move right off the edge.
I would remove the border, too, and either put on a facing or a very fine binding in one of the mid/lighter green colours, not the darkest. I smiled when I read about the wonky lines - it reminded me of my first irregular shaped piece I put in an exhibition - I put a note on the entry form and pinned one to the back to say that the irregular shaped edges were deliberately shaped - this was about 1991... and I have grown much more confident about shape and line thanks to teaching from Nancy Crow - plenty of examples on my website www.alisonschwabe.com
I'd also lose the border.
I really like this piece. It's soothing and energetic at the same time because of the palate and the motion. Nice!
I would either lose the whole border and face it OR take off right and upper borders, add some lighter vertical strips to the left border and lighter horizontal strips to the bottom border before facing it. The added strips would add a bit of directional interest and light to that corner.
It is so hard to incorporate the many ideas when you ask for help but there seems to be some commonality amongst the replies.
Good luck and can't wait to see it finished.
Very nice, Lisa. I copied the photo and tried cropping off the borders in various combinations. The one I like the best is removing the entire border, but using the same dark fabric as a narrow binding on the quilt. I think your initial instinct was valid about having the dark border 'contain' the piece - it's just way too wide and heavy. A 1/4" binding works nicely.
I, also, think that this piece looks FABULOUS without a border (I imported to iPhoto and cropped & then deleted).
I like the movement on the piece and it doesn't need any border.
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