3.14.2008

TIF March 2008

My TIF challenge piece this month uses SharonB's concept and colour scheme (well, OK, I swapped a couple of colours). She writes,

Do you ever notice the little things, the small moments, the details in life? This month's challenge is to do just that, pay attention to the tiny details. Sometimes the small things become emblematic for something larger.
In Toronto last week I walked by this window display at the Mokuba ribbon shop at 575 Queen Street West, a bit hard to see in this photo due to the glare on the window, but it gives you an idea.



These three simple, yet beautiful hangings, made of coloured ribbons, inspired me to create something that would capture this small detail of a walk in the city; a colourful window display on a snowy, white winter day. This is the little thing that got me started on my March TIF piece.




First I played around with a
couple of strips of paper painted
with acrylic, twisting them in different
ways to see what kind of patterns
I might get.Above is an example of
something I liked.





Then I painted some brown packing paper
in several colours, the purple, green
and gold are from Sharon's colour scheme,
though they darkened up considerably
when they dried.






Dried and fused the paper and cut
it into strips.



Starting to play...







...going somewhere...







...adding the last strips of twisted paper
ribbon.
Et, voila...





Ribbons on Queen Street
Acrylic, paper, raw canvas
fused
16 x 19"
March 2008







detail

11 comments:

Tanguera said...

How cool! I love your inspiration and where you went this this. What a delightful piece. It makes me smile!

Maya Sara Matthew said...

I like the way you've taken the challenge further and the results are so intersting and thought provoking.

MixPix said...

Everything about this piece is wonderful - the shop window, how you got inspiration from it, how you developed the idea, how you invented this technique, the finished piece - I love it - congratulations!

Jane Carlstrom said...

Wow! what a creative and neat idea and approach to the challenge. Love it.

Ruth said...

Your ribbons are great. It was fun to see the evolution of your work.

MaryjoO said...

this is fabulous -- congrats!

arlee said...

Ah, now that i know the story, the piece is even more interesting! I love the way the light catches on the folds--well done and a very creative use of materials!

alsokaizen said...

Oh this is really interesting! I love the way you snagged the idea out of the flow of your day, the resulting work is very lovely too I really like the dimensional aspect of it the way the surface moves from front to back is alot of fun.

coral-seas said...

Bravo. I love it, from your source of inspiration to the finished piece.

Who'd have thought that curled ribbons of paper could be so dynamic!

CA

Meg in Tennessee said...

What a great project, I've been playing with ribbons of fabric for a while, but nothing finished yet. I hope mine turn out as beautiful as yours

Unknown said...

I really enjoyed this story and where you ended up with it - it's very energetic