Tale of 2 Campuses 12.12.09

It's taking shape.....more details such as like the roads running through each campuses have been added:

The tale of 2 campuses.....

The end is in sight........

Hope you can see 2 stadiums...one in the green/orange section and one in the maroon/yellow section. (The Seminole stadium and the Rattler stadium)

This piece is about 2 campuses -- one one the north side of the tracks and the other on the south side of the tracks.

Tracks are not in yet -- it goes across the curved line in the middle. In addition I am in the process of adding the street grid.

I'll also be adding vignettes to help convey the story.

Black Friday at the Studio

Delightful and productive afternoon of work and companionship at the studio today. Enjoyed spending time with a friend and then working on my quilt. Here a shot of where the piece stands as of this evening. For an enlargement.....click on the image.

Anyone recognize how I was influenced by FAMU and FSU colors?

New work in process

It's tentatively called "Demarcation" and it may seem like I haven't done much since, but believe me I've done a lot since November 3rd.

Latest Work in Process

These are a few pics I took of my latest piece called "Demarcation".

I am trying out re-visit some of the techniques I've used in earlier work. This is a flip and sew method....I think I want to create a more patchwork like surface.....at least for now.

I've started the process of sew down some of the fabric -- by machine and by hand:

These first pics are the maps I created as a starting point:

Compositional Conversations

Late last week I it was my turn to contribute to a project I wrote about a few months ago. Compositional Conversational is a group project spearheaded by Terry Jarrard-Dimond a fellow artist.

The participating artists include:

Rebecca Howdeshell, Beth Carney, Shelley Baird, Gayle Vickery Pritchard , Judi Hurwitt, Leslie Bixel, Fulvia Luciano, Marcia DeCamp, Marina Kamenskaya, Paula Swett, Valerie Goodwin, Kathy Loomis, Leslie Riley, and Terry Jarrard-Dimond.

I have to admit that this was very difficult.......I had never really been worked on a design created by several artists. However I gave it my best shot. Perhaps you'll want to check out our work at:

http://studio24-7.blogspot.com/

Here are some of my studies:

Been on Haitus -- but have a new idea

The line that marks the railroad tracks represents
the cultural, economic and historical divisions in my city.

It's there, but we take it for granted.......but to me this demarcation draws the line between:

Haves vs. Have nots
North vs. South
Majority vs. Minority
White vs. Black
Towns vs. Gowns
“Right Side” vs. “Wrong Side”
Powerful vs. Powerless
Growth vs. Atrophy

Here is a quick sketch I did for this new piece. The dark curvy line is the railroad track. I'll post more as I go along.....

Map Maker, Map Maker, Make Me a Map!

This is the title of the 2 day workshop I taught for the East Bay Heritage Quilters in Berkeley, CA a few weeks ago.

I had such a good time with the ladies. In addition, I got to do the touristy things, like see the Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown, ride the cable cars, etc....... Everyone was so helpful and friendly.

During the course of the 2 day workshop, I introduced my students to techniques on making 2 kinds of fabric maps. One was of an imagined place. The other was of a real place -- the Japanese Tea Garden. Here are a few images.

This was the Japanese Tea Garden -- I made this as a sample for the class.

Unique Design idea for a support rod

My DH and I came up with a neat way of hanging the triptych. Since it was so wide (about 93"), made up of 3 pieces and I wanted to maintain a gap between each -- we decided to use threaded rods and bolts.



Each rod was a little longer than each panel. Each end rod was finished off with a cap nut. The connection devise to attach the end rods to the middle rod consisted of a 1" long coupling nut. Everything was spray painted black. Because of the length of the assembled rod and the weight of the triptych 4 support points are necessary when hanging the quilt from the wall.

All the parts were purchased at Home Depot.

After the rod was complete we tested our little designed by hanging the quilt from it over a few days.

Here are a few pics of the rods -- before painting.

Link to larger image of Lay of the Land II (I revised the link)

Some have asked for a larger image of this quilt. It can be found at:

http://quiltsbyvalerie.com/commissions.html

Please click on the image on this link and it will lead to a larger image of the quilt.........



Hope you enjoy it!

Final Completion

Just got the photograph back from the photographer. "Lay of the Land II" is finally complete:



LAY OF THE LAND II: A Triptypch +/- 7.75' wide X 4.5' high

A Conversation about Composition among fellow artists...

PROJECT COMPOSITIONAL CONVERSATIONS

I've been invited to participate in a unique experience! Organized by Terry Jarrard-Dimond. several fiber artists will create a work of art that will focus on a key part of all design -- composition.



This project is of special interest to me because it relates to some of the subject matter that I teach my beginning architecture design students. They are asked to consider the following when thinking about composition:



Elements of Design: The basic components used to create works of architecture or art. They include:

Line, Shape, Form, Color, Space, Texture, Value

Principles of Design: The qualities intrinsic to the choice and arrangement of elements of architecture or art. They are used to varying degrees to control and order the elements of design. They include:

Balance, Movement, Rhythm, Contrast, Emphasis, Pattern, Unity

A good source on the internet for basic fundamentals of design and art is: www.artlex.com

I am really looking forward to learning more about composition from the other artists!

The participating artists are: Rebecca Howdeshell, Beth Carney, Shelley Baird, Gayle Vickery Pritchard , Judi Hurwitt, Leslie Bixel, Fulvia Luciano, Marcia DeCamp, Marina Kamenskaya, Paula Swett, Valerie Goodwin, Kathy Loomis, Leslie Riley, and Terry Jarrard-Dimond.



This is our starting point:

Corners, Joints, Seams, Edges.

The last 1% of a project........always a challenge. For some -- the unglamorous part of the process for architects and artists. For me, the design is never done until the last nail is in.....or in this case the last stitch.

I'm still working away (despite being under the weather).......a labor of love -- A right brain, left brain challenge.

A few glimpses follow:

Architects-as-Artists

What a great concept for an exhibit!

I am still working on the last 1% of the commissioned work. It's been slow going, I've been under the weather, but I will be making a post soon.

So -- in the meantime, if you live in the Tallahassee Area hope you can see my work along with that of 2 other architects. Visit the Humidity Gallery blog for additional information.

Here is an excerpt from the gallery's newsletter.

humidity gallery fine southeastern craft/art
	coloring outside the lines Untitled acrylic on canvas by Rick Rados We're also aware of the tremendous contribution architectural designers make to the built environment. It is they who bring design, artfulness and scientific know-how to creating human spaces. What happens when an architect turns to creating fine art? This is a question we are exploring by inviting Tampa Bay architect, Rick Rados, AIA, and Tallahassee architect, Valerie Goodwin,RA, to exhibit their work side by side throughout Humidity Gallery. ...................................................... City Grid II by Valerie Goodwin

Woodstork by Mary Jo Spector

minimalist animal drawings by another architect We are including the prints of Mary Jo Spector in the 'Architects-As-Artist' exhibit. Her economy of curve and line express the essence of her subject: usually local aquatic species. They satisfy our quest for contemporary expression of the natural world of the 'humid zone' in tandem with the sensibility of an architectural designer. These accessible small works are found as matted prints and on notecards in the gallery.

The last 1% can take longer than the previous 99%......

Worked on squaring up Panel #3

Triptych -- within reach

Today's progress:

It's all in the details......Part 2

I guess I should have posted more detail shots yesterday. Here are a few:

It's all in the details......

..." God is in the details".....

A great quote by the famous architect Mies van der Rohe. (click here for sample detail by this architect). Attention to the small things are oftentimes the key to solid design.

Today I focused on some of the details in Panel #1. It may be hard to see but I added the cottage, the summer house, a few building next to Seneca Lake (toward the top). Some of colors reference back to the center panel. The angular characteristics of all the shapes and lines were also established by the need to tie all the panels together.

The Flow within Panel #1

Today I spent a few hours on panel #1. I think I'm getting the sense of how the eye should travel across this particular panel.

Gently up and down, back and forth -- but still giving one a sense of peace.

At Last........

This week I've been busy trying to get all three (3) panels up to the same level of completion. Here's where I am at this point:

CLOSE UP OF PANEL #1:



PANELS #1, #2, #3:

Panel #3

Time to bring all 3 panels up to the same level of completion.

This week-end I made some progress on the 3rd panel. Challenge is how to deal with a change in scale. This is a larger scale depiction of the area next to the curving stair leading to the "upper lawn" (You can see this area in the previous images)

Balancing Act

A few days ago I mentioned my concern that this center panel was possibly suffering from imbalance. Well I am in the process of creating a more balanced composition by adding elements to the left side. The tree pattern on this side of the site seemed to be more organized than that on the right. This observation caused me to treat the "tree tops" as a related - yet different set of elements.

You may not be able to see this in this photo but I chose to:

- Use a darker shade of green.
- Arrange theses elements in a more organized fashion.

My goal is to use some of the basic ways creating balance: color, pattern, position.

Also you may notice that I have begun to work on panel #3...........

Building it up..........

I know, I did post an image yesterday -- but am enjoying this process so much that I had to post today.......... I've started to add the treetops:

More Underbrush

Slowly but surely, I am laying the groundwork for the trees. My goal is to achieve a rich layering of color and texture. It's quite a process. This is what I've done to date:



Note:

I've noticed that I will need to address the issue of balance on this center panel. Right now the composition is heavily weighted on the right side. I also need to keep in mind that this will be a triptych, so maybe I'll wait to consider the balance issue when I have the other 2 panels underway.