04 January 2014

High horizons

The size for the 2014 journal quilts is 8" square, and they must have a line running through them. As soon as I saw this painting, "Thistles" by John Singer Sargent
I had a theme for my JQs: "high horizons", landscapes with a thin strip of sky at the top, the line being the division of land and sky. 

Further inspiration is Fred Williams' "Blackwood Wattle" (1976) - it's about a metre square -
What a palette! Wattle is the harbinger of spring, season of regeneration.

Another Williams, "Landscape with Water Ponds" - the colours and feel are very different -
This next painting is 8" x 10" so in terms of marks gives a more realistic idea of what might be done in the space available for JQs -
Suzie Baker, Field by the Fairy Ring
This large painting showed on the screen as a thumbnail with a high horizon, and the image could be cropped to replicate that. The colour idea is useful - using grey to represent a line of trees in the fog -
Field of Red by Simon Fairless
Klimt's "Farmhouse with Birch Trees" doesn't have a horizon as such, but a line showing the field's edge (and another, vertical, line also running from edge to edge) -
Looking up from keyboard and screen, I see this small landscape by Jean Davey Winter, displaced from the wall to the bookshelf - another high horizon, and perhaps the subconscious origin of the idea -

3 comments:

Cate Rose said...

Look forward to seeing your quilts for this year!

Vicki Miller said...

I love your inspiration paintings.

Maggi said...

A great theme. Look forward to seeing the interpretations.