Leaves have been on my mind quite a lot lately. Partly because;
- we have had bizarre weather which has included strong winds & consequently a MASS of leaf litter wrapping itself around our home like extra insulation.
-partly because I have been thinking about a cloak art piece I made a few years ago inspired by leaves, so I got it out to relook & rethink about it.
-and partly because this week I'm was scheduled to look at the leaf designs on the Turkish tiles & use that focus to inspired my own unique design.
Out came a handful of photos, my sketch book, pens & coloured pencils. I like leaves, I like their shapes & colours in real life as much as I enjoy seeing how other artisans create leaf designs. Looking at the photos of tiles & trying to draw them was a pleasurable way to spend two hours.
Yes, that really IS how long I spent on those few sketches above!
As I'd done a symmetrical pattern the last two weeks with the tulip & carnation designs, I thought I'd be consistant & do the same with my leaf design as well. It took me quite a while to create a design I was happy with, but I must admit I was very disappointed not to be able to incorporate more of those leafy designs. Out came the drawers loaded with fabric & after...ahem...quite a while...my chosen few were on the ironing board & ready to be layered up, stitched through and then cut back.
Here's how the cutting back went...
And then finally...
I absolutely love this colour combination, however, I would have liked a bit more variance in tonal value between the two greeny colours. If I were to do it again, I'd make a couple of other changes too, I'd not have the outer branches in the pale bluey mauve & I would allow myself to NOT be consistant & make this piece asymmetrical instead of symmetrical. In this case I think that particular decision hampered my design making.
That being said, this isn't toooooo bad...even if it looks like an egg.
As I often do with outcomes that I'm not totally in love with, I played around with this design using an app on my phone. Keeping with repeat patterns, look what I came up with...
...and...
What fun. Then when I put them together, this was the exciting outcome! Wow!
I have absolutely no idea what I'll be focusing on in next week's WAP, but it will definitely still have me returning to the stunning city of Istanbul, source of endless inspiration! Until then...happy creating!
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