Generally, I start a one-of-a-kind wearable by choosing fabrics that will tell a story. For this long shirt, the Parisian fabric was the anchor, and then the addition of some Frank Lloyd Wright designed linen in the green colorway seemed to fit not only in the 1950-1960's era, but there were hints of green in the Parisian fabric that I wanted referenced. The pink striped fabric was also an upholstery type piece that I picked up at Triad in Roseville, California. Beyond these pieces, I used a white cotton tablecloth with pink floral embroidery.
It takes so long to make a piece like this because decisions have to made along the way. Decisions about color, line and scale. The front was the most challenging because of the diagonal lines, and the solid green on the left bodice. Adding the pink striped that reads as a solid was heavy enough to balance the green. It is pinned together in the following image.
In the next image, you can see I tried using a green pocket that had the same shape as a little hand bag in the Parisian fabric. It was okay, but ultimately, I chose to use the Eiffel Tower motif as the pocket.
On the back of the garment, the large green yoke had to be balanced with a bias strip of green fabric on the bottom hemline.
To sum up, all along the way of making an art garment, decisions come into play simply because there are no patterns to follow, only what feels right. Changing one thing, like for instance the pocket, made the front feel resolved. I stand back and look at the work a lot. I can see my studio from my kitchen and glance at the piece various times throughout a day. All of this mounts up into a result of the right look and feel that works for me.
(If you have comments, please feel free to write them here. I would love to hear from you.)
It takes so long to make a piece like this because decisions have to made along the way. Decisions about color, line and scale. The front was the most challenging because of the diagonal lines, and the solid green on the left bodice. Adding the pink striped that reads as a solid was heavy enough to balance the green. It is pinned together in the following image.
In the next image, you can see I tried using a green pocket that had the same shape as a little hand bag in the Parisian fabric. It was okay, but ultimately, I chose to use the Eiffel Tower motif as the pocket.
You can see the Eiffel Tower pocket and I was pleased with how it looks like it dripped out of the main bodice piece of Parisian fabric. Sleeves were intentionally made to oppose each fabric and lend further balance. Beyond that, choosing buttons and their placement was another design choice that I made. The shiny green button was one I held onto for years -- a gift from my friend, Leslie Gelber. And finally, a slice of the green linen floats across the hemline on the right front, opposite the green bodice on the left front.
On the back of the garment, the large green yoke had to be balanced with a bias strip of green fabric on the bottom hemline.
To sum up, all along the way of making an art garment, decisions come into play simply because there are no patterns to follow, only what feels right. Changing one thing, like for instance the pocket, made the front feel resolved. I stand back and look at the work a lot. I can see my studio from my kitchen and glance at the piece various times throughout a day. All of this mounts up into a result of the right look and feel that works for me.
(If you have comments, please feel free to write them here. I would love to hear from you.)
To make good decisions-- in art or in life-- takes experiences in trial and error. For me always hard to quantify especially in art. The process in knowing what works, what balances, what something needs or doesn't-- is an intuitive science. Greatly needed to make art and life work. Thank you for sharing the process. Appears that you have had an informed life.
ReplyDeleteRemixvintage, great insights about the trial and error process, and the decisions driven by intuition too. Thank you!
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