Saturday, December 13, 2008

weekend blues & my early quilts

What is it about Saturdays? I spent my entire morning and half the afternoon getting jpgs together and onto a CD so I could send them out Express Mail to arrive in time for the Monday deadline.
I went to USPS.com to print out my label but the trusty U.S. Post Office informed me that it was having trouble with its on-line label printing. Oh, great. The benefit of printing your label on line is that it saves you standing in an endless line at the post office. "try again later" it said, so I tried later. By that time, it would print the label but it told me that my overnight mail wouldn't be delivered till Tuesday -- too late to meet the deadline. Last time I heard the term "overnight" it meant delivery the next day. What does the pOST OFFICE not understand about "overnight"??? I threw up my hands in disgust and went to visit my mother at the assisted living place - but at the last min., grabbed the mail and stopped at the local P.O. en route. Before I stood in line, I asked the woman behind the counter when it would be delivered and she told me it was guaranteed by Monday at 3:PM. So I got in line. What's the deal here? The Internet tells me Tuesday, the P.O. computer tells me Monday. I figured it was worth the gamble. We'll see.
Meantime, motivated by Del Thomas and other people who are putting various works on their blogs, I figured I'd get on the bandwagon and post a piece or two for comment. This is a breakaway piece I did - god knows when - maybe 1999 or 1998. I am going to leave it without my own comments and see what you have to say, if anything.
Défense de Fumer
I'll follow up after you've made your own comments. Does it look like my work?? If not, why not? If yes, what about it is recognizable as mine?

7 comments:

Eva said...

The free forms remind me a lot of the modern classics like Matisse and Kandinsky, that's why I like this smoking kite a lot! Of course, the message makes it a quilt of limited purpose. If it was free from that -- although I agree with the message --, it would be a very genuine, funny, and well balanced composition. Hope to see more like this.

The WestCountryBuddha said...

Oh what fun. You shouldn't have asked this as I can witter on endlessly about such things! (I have a problem seeing the picture at the same time as writing this comment; having to close the window and open another one. The zooming back and forth makes me dizzy but I hope my comment isn't too disjointed as a result) Leaving aside the message about smoking and concentrating more on the design, I'll tell you how it affects me. I'm not a trained designer/artist but I hope I have the same sort of objective viewpoint as anyone seeing this for the first time. It's appeal to me is the fact that it's a piece I can read into if I want to. My favourite bit is the the patchwork square between the eyes. The area between my own eyes is also an area that is fragmented and moving just like yours; it's made of of bits and pieces and is of different colours and sizes,but on the whole the composing parts fit together well. I like to call it my brain! (snort) The frown lines and slightly worried look on the face speak to me of a dilemma. Presumably this is to do with smoking. The red background,together with what could be a panel of angular cigarettes in the top right hand side, speak of anger, and the swirls perhaps of confusion - or is it steam coming out of your ears? I like the composition, I like the colours and your interpretation of the face. Subject matter I'm not so sure about, but it's fun and I've just spent a happy 5 minutes burbling! Look forward to your comments about the piece at some point.

Anonymous said...

Well, I like the fact that you used the circular shape from the border as one of the eyes, and repeated it in the lower left rectangle. It isn't as complex as other pieces of yours I have seen... more solids used (they read solid from the picture, but may have pattern), simple design elements.

Judy

Nellie's Needles said...

What is the scale (size) of this piece? The bold graphic patterns make an impact ... but how big? Is your message shouted "in my face"? or is it just a statement? The complexity and the boldness I recognize as your style. Your wry sense of humor is very much in evidence.

Annie said...

It does look a little like some of the other pieces in overall style, but what seems different to me is that a lot of the design elements are stronger graphically. I love the diamond shaped block in the lower foreground.

Karoda said...

Ummm, the elements (either applicque or paint) that make up the face are you and the blocks of black fabric in the corners I can see as elements that say Rayna...but what I've come to see is your work is layers upon layers of overall design so this piece seems too sparse for the work I know of you. And the border or frame doesn't say Rayna to me...but in explaining that its your earlier work, I can see that it as a foundation that you jumped off from.

Deb Hardman said...

It's fun & interesting to see early works. I can see some elements that are still consistent with what you do now, but also how you have grown & developed. The dark colors, the graphic elements, a similar, but the traditional block, & plainer spaces are different from your now works. Your now work has more depth, more layers, more mystery. That's what I love about your work. Thanks for sharing it.

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