So the challenge was that we would split into 3 groups and only the first person in the group would see a photograph. The first person was to use the photo as inspiration to make an 11" x 14" portrait orientation art quilt within 2 months.
We are fortunate enough that one of our members is married to an award winning photographer. George B. was asked to pick one of his photos for us to use in our challenge. Only the first person in a group would see the original photo.
When the first person was done with her art quilt, she would then take a photo of her work and pass that photo along to the 2nd person in the group who would then use that photo as the inspiration for her art quilt. When she was done with her art quilt, she would take a photo of it and send it to the 3rd person, etc.
The photo below shows the original photo in the upper left and 3 rows of quilts. Each row represents one group with the quilt at the left being the first person's rendition of the original photo.
Row 1: Ellie, Mary H., Charlotte, Laurie M., and Wendy B.
Row 2: Pat Z., Lori R., Eileen, Pat
Row 3: Robin, Pat C., Debby, Katherine
GROUP 1: Ellie let the color orange in the photo guide her design and still placed a tree and moon in.
Mary H. named her piece "Replicated" staying very true to Ellie's piece and then added a lot of beading.
Charlotte couldn't quite decide if Mary's piece was water or fields, if the black line was a road? Her piece reflects the tree and the moon and now the water has become Fields of Gold with a road running through.
Laurie M. didn't want to do fields and went in another direction with Mountains. The trees are represented in fabrics and the moon has become full.
Wendy, without knowing the first picture, added the water back into her piece and added the tree in as well.
GROUP 2: Pat Z. was experimenting with painting fabric at the time and used that to portray the sunset and sky. The inset repeats the feel and adds another bit of interest to the overall feel. Big stitch quilting adds texture.
Lori R. explained to us that she focused on the little brown shapes from Pat's piece, not being able to figure what they were, she enlarged and used them in her piece with beads added. She liked the inset as well and added couched yarns around that and floating above.
Eileen wasn't sure what Lori's piece was but she really liked the blue fabrics and they reminded her water. So her piece is a fly fisherman at a river's edge.
Pat used the leaf fabric in the top of Eileen's piece as inspiration for an Autumn forest where you can still see some water flowing through.
GROUP 3: Robin wanted to try a new background technique to portray the brilliant colors of the sky. She also changed the tree from 2 very small trees to one large focal tree.
Pat C. wasn't sure what tree was in Robin's piece and she had recieved the photo minus quilting or the moon. Pat still placed a moon in a very subtle way. There were comments about how her use of fabric looked like a city lit up.
Debby saw the tree and knowing what kind of photos her brother-in-law takes thought it might be a cyprus tree. She pulled photos she had and played with cropping and photoshop to portray this tree.
Katherine told us that as she looked at the photo everyday, she started to see eyes in the branches of Debby's tree. So she used that as the inspiration to add a spirit to her tree.
Here is the whole crew (L to R Standing): Pat C., Debby, Ellie, Lori R., Pat(2 sitting in chairs): Pat Z. and Wendy B.
(L to R sitting on floor): Mary H., Katherine, Eileen, Robin, Laurie M. Charlotte
Robin commented that it was interesting to her how all the groups started bolder in color and then became more muted as it went on. We were all very impressed and excited about the interpretations and the thought processes. We would highly recommend this challenge to any group and would probably like to do another in the future with a different photo. Every photo would present completely different results and that is the fun of it all.
