Friday, February 24, 2023

Woodcut Art & Quilting on Off the Wall Friday

Houses, Mabel Hewit, 1936

 

This week I went down the rabbit hole they call Pinterest,  only to rediscover my love of woodcut art. Woodcut is a relief printing process in which knives and other tools are used to carve a design into the surface of a wooden block. The raised areas that remain after the block has been cut are inked and printed, while the recessed areas that are cut away do not retain ink, and will remain blank in the final print.  It is a very positive/negative area kind of printing!  I always thought woodcut printing was interesting, but what really caught my eye was the depression-era artist, Mabel Hewit.    Her subject matter of the city and small-town life really resonated with me.

This week, I started studying it again.  What I noticed this time was the strong use of line.  Those lines could also be the inspiration for quilting or seams lines in piecing.   For instance, look at this piece...


Notice how much movement is achieved by changing the direction of lines.  As a quilter, you could do that with string piecing of different fabrics.  OR You can do it with the quilting line afterward.

Here is another example,


The radiating lines set up the composition easily.  I can see this being the inspiration for a series of quilts!

I especially love this one called Sun Bathers, by Leonard Beaumont, 1932.


The abstraction of bathers creates movement while they are actually standing still.  

Like I said, it becomes a study of negative and positive space!!  After looking at them this week, it's gotten me in the mood to start a piece inspired by them!

and I cannnnnnn since....wait for it.... I finished the second month of the Homeward Bound BOM!  The circles are hand appliqued with 100 wt Wonderfil Invsafil thread (mostly grey) and I use a Richard Hemming #10 sharp (mostly 'cause that is what I started with over 30 years ago and all other needles feel weird in my hands!)  The rest of the circles are part of next month's work!!


So What Have You Been Up to Creatively?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

No comments: