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February has arrived and with it my list of goals has resurfaced. It is time to pull out some fabric, harness the ruler and rotary cutter, and thread a needle or two.  But wait! What am I creating and where does my inspiration come from?

That is the question posed most often by students and while presenting lectures. I have decided to elaborate on this topic today and will share the way I was inspired to create last year’s body of work for “Sharing Riches of My Soul.” This body of work is scheduled for exhibition in Saskatoon in June and I decided to augment the 17 pieces with at least three more to ensure maximum visual impact at the Affinity gallery.

“Sharing Riches of My Soul” was inspired by Cat Stevens songs from my youth. A little over a year ago I watched a documentary about Cat Stevens (now known as Yusuf Islam) which renewed my interest in his music and lyrics. I would play the music while working in the studio and eventually felt so inspired that I based the entire body of work on various song titles, like “Wild World”, “Where Will the Children Play?”, “Morning has Broken” and “Miles from Nowhere” to name just a few.

It is one year later and I am back to listening to the familiar melodies and words. Monday saw me choose several pieces of hand-dyed fabrics and I soon pinned a selection on the design wall. You can see them in the short slide show above. I also fastened several sheets of card stock next to the fabric. While listening to the music I wrote down words, some relating back to the lyrics, others solely inspired by the fabrics, their colors and textures.

The song I am working with is “Bitterblue” and I am fully immersed in cutting, piecing, trimming and constant evaluation. Work is going well and has already sparked another idea for my SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) annual charity auction contribution. Stay tuned as to how I am progressing. I will post additional images once I have more to share. Meanwhile, feel free to visit my website gallery page. Last year’s gallery features images of “Sharing Riches of My Soul”.

02 Feb This entry was published on February 2, 2012 at 8:05 am. It’s filed under Art, Creativity Update and tagged Affinity Gallery, Arts, Design, Fiber Arts, Textile, the importance of play to explore, work versus play. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.