GRASSY INTRICACIES
In my studio this week, I’ve been looking a lot at close-ups of intricate grass patterns.
I use natural forms – roots of grass pulled from my lawn, small twigs and tall grasses – to print my monotypes on rice paper and fabric. This is one of the first images I discovered when I began printing monotypes by hand around 2011. I still enjoy the infinite variety of the patterns. And, along the way, I feel like I’ve learned to use the characteristics of the printing plate – positive, negative, wet, dry – to enhance the images I create.
Here are a few from works-in-progress in the studio now.
These grass shapes are in shades of deep-blue to gray. I like the way they suggest being underwater.
This grass-in-shadow pattern was printed on a satin-like fabric to achieve more intensity.
Printing bright green on sheer fabric so the white behind makes the color “pop,” and over-collaging with some sun-dappling shapes.
Collaging sheer grass pattern over a blush of sky color.
One of the first large collage-on-board works I created is “Living Deeply.” I was inspired by the vertical pattern of grass shapes. I created an underground environment of rocks to suggest a sense that these roots were reaching down deeply underground for… Water? Life?
“Living Deeply” textile collage (Detail)
In 2018, as part of my series “Home is What You Remember,” I created the art quilt “And All that’s Gone Before.” I was, again, inspired by the root-like patterns I had created with natural forms. The blue patterns all around, underground, dig into the depths of memories, and the roots reach to that. I enjoyed contrasting this with the photographic images of branches and twigs inside the house.
“And All That’s Gone Before” art quilt
A recent quilt that incorporates grass patterns is “What the Waterlilies Sing.” In this one, the grass-printed monotypes are black and purple, working as a pattern to pull all of the imagery together.
“What the Waterlilies Sing” art quilt (Detail)
The rest of this week is Festival-prep work. I look forward to exhibiting at the Maitland Festival Under the Stars November 8-10. If you are nearby, please visit and say “Hi.” I’m in space #168. (I’ll have some of my new matted monotype collages with me, as well as some larger pieces.)
If you’d like more information about the works I’ve detailed, you can find them on my website:
Living Deeply
And All That’s Gone Before
What the Waterlilies Sing.
Thanks for reading!
I always appreciate questions and comments.
Bobbi