I'm on a roll ... working hard to have plenty of new pieces for the upcoming Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft show in November. Today I finished four new "Window Series" pieces. This first one is based on my background, Medieval and Renaissance Studies. I don't need to research the design. I know it's a Romanesque arch with a lunette supported by two columns. I don't sketch out a pattern. I just take sharp scissors to my stash of polyester stretch velvet and start constructing in my designated area, 12" x 10".
Just because I have knowledge of Gothic and Romanesque architectural elements doesn't mean I always want to use these designs. That would get boring! Earlier this month I consulted my copy of Owen Jones' Grammar of Ornament and made a really unique piece based on early Greek motifs from ancient red-and-black painted pottery. (Click here for that post.) So, I opened the book ... almost randomly ... and browsed through Arabian patterns. Most of the designs in Grammar of Ornament are for friezes or borders, repetitive patterns ... not "stand alone" imagery. It was a challenge to lift elements from this page but I managed to create three totally new pieces! It was fun! They are below.
Over the weekend, I finished another Large Stained Glass Window. It isn't mounted or photographed. I'll shall share it later. Since then, I also started the fourth Large Stained Glass Window that will go to the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft show. For it, I used a lovely Indian design from Owen Jones. I'll share that work when it is complete too!
(Above: Window CXLII, Inventory # 4086. Framed: 17" x 15". $265.)
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