Why circles? (and some of my earlier circles based on stones)
Why circles? (and some of my earlier circles based on stones)
Why Circles?
The above image is one of the pieces I’m currently working on in my Travel Pattern Series.
Circles. Lots and lots of circles appear in this series.
I did a podcast the other day (not yet available) and I was asked why circles appear in this series.
There are many reasons. One is that circles are just a fantastic shape.
Then there is the cool connection I discovered to growing up in New Mexico and rows of circles being a part of my world.
Although the main reason is that this series is about adventure and going places. Travel has been a large part of my life the last 5-6 years.
When humans travel – we use wheels.
And those are my circles – they are wheels. At that was the original reason behind basing this series on circles.
My New Zealand Rocks
This is not the first time I’ve focused on circles in my artwork
Back in 2000-2001 I lived in New Zealand for 5 months.
It was a most excellent adventure with a 4 year old and an 8 year old. We simply took my son out of school in the US and we traveled about New Zealand. We didn’t really think much about asking if it was okay or if he should make up the work. This was the advantage of sending our kids to an expeditionary learning outward bound school – real life counted as education. He did go to school for a few months in Dunedin but I’m pretty sure he didn’t understand a single thing the teacher said as she had a heavy Scottish accent. I struggled to understand her.
Anyway, back to my artwork, one of my favorite things about New Zealand were the smooth round rocks. I grew up in Northern New Mexico – where the rocks are quite soft or they tend to be pretty jagged.
So I collected a few rocks and brought them home to the US. And coming full circle, I then took these rocks back to New Zealand when I moved here in 2015.
I made a small series of artwork based on these rocks. At one point I listed them on etsy for sale but in the end I sold them all on artful home.
The rocks started out as rock type shapes but rather quickly they morphed into circles. I didn’t pursue this idea very far as the construction methods didn’t hold my attention.
So I’m happy to be returning to circles and making them in a way that I am loving. So expect many more circles to come.
The Stones Series
These first two yellow and purple were created in a workshop in 2001 in New Zealand. I think we were working on complementary colors.
This one is my favorite. I love that gray fabric with the latte colored bits on it. It’s a result of some weirdness in my fabric dying. I have 1 more tiny square of this fabric that I’ve been carrying around with me for 20 years. Although I haven’t seen it in a while. I keep wanting to do something special with it but wasn’t sure what. I think maybe just looking at it was what I needed to do.
These brown rocks are the most abstract of the lot. I think the colors of Colorado were starting to influence my color choices.
There is no Stones #3 as I never finished it and it has long since disappeared. And I seem to have forever lost and image of Stones #5, which was sold at the Quilt National Dairy Barn years ago.
PS – Once a year I open enrollment for my year long program – Create a Body of Work. The new session starts in September. If you’d like to explore your why and build a body of work that is deeply meaningful I would love for you to consider joining us.
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