Designed to be tranquil, the Generalife Gardens certainly meet that description, even when there are lots of people sharing the space. I've had the great privilege to visit twice in my lifetime & would visit again in a heartbeat!
In Arabic their name is Yannat Al Arif which means "garden of lofty paradise". Another description that suits them well, as they adorn a hill top with higher & lower gardens, waterways & even a water stairway!
On the map, they look formal, as there are very measured garden spaces. Pebbled pathways link hedged squares, rectangles & circles, each filled with a vibrant mix of beautiful flowers.
What I particularly enjoyed was that the planting wasn't as formal or ordered as the garden layout implied. Plants were allowed to grow & intermingle companionably with their neighbours. Such rich colour was truly breathtaking.
For my art project this week, I wanted to capture the essence of that vibrant colour not only found in the flowers themselves, but also in the range of greens that framed them.
Often it's 'where to start' that is the hardest part of this weekly discipline. That was the case here! I began by drawing flowers, but didn't have a notion what I was going to do with them. Then I decided I was overthinking & I needed to loosen up & just capture the essence of what I'd photographed. Out came the pastels & I quickly drew what I saw in bold marks devoid of detail. (Not easy for me!!)
I liked the outcomes I had before me & decided they would be the basis for what I produced in cloth.
My plain coloured fabrics are kept in their own box, so that when I want to produce work in an impressionistic style I can easily see what I've got! For this piece I knew I wanted more than one tonal value for each colour layer. This meant I was about to use quite a few pieces of fabric!
I started with laying down the base, which meant sewing in lines like I would draw with a stroke of pastel. Cutting away helped me see where I'd need to work next. Unlike so much of my work, there was no plan, only the frequent glance at my drawings & a lot of concentration.
This is how it went...
Have I achieved a sense of the richness of colour in those lofty gardens of Paradise? Yes, I believe I have! I'm very pleased with this result, even though it is far from perfect. The whole point of these weekly projects is to practice, practice, practice and to try new ways of using textiles to express my memories & ideas. Results like this make me want to keep trying again & again. Next week, I'll spend some more time in these exquisite gardens, waiting for inspiration to strike. I'm already looking forward to it!
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