Markings: The Beginning
Markings #1 ©2006 44"x62"
Cross Hatching
The idea for the Markings series began in September 2005 when I read an article on Danny Gregory’s blog, Everyday Matters, about cross hatching. His comments and images captured my imagination:
Cross hatching is quite miraculous. How is it that black ink lines on white paper have the ability to create an infinite number of shades of grey, to evoke all the colors of the rainbow and to suggest textures and materials and varied as silk and stone, glass and schnauzer hair?
I was hooked. I started drawing squares filled with lines in my sketch book.
- What if I could do that in fabric?
- Would parallel lines in fabric have the same power and beauty as that of a hand drawn line?
- Would it be interesting?
- Would it be technically possible?
Time to Play
Six weeks later I went to Sandpoint, Idaho, for a workshop with Nancy Crow where I spent 2 weeks essentially doing independent study. Although my focus was mostly on my Structures Series I took the time to do a small fabric sketch of my cross hatching idea:
After looking at this for a few days I decided to go for it and see what the idea would yield.
Markings #1
Having just driven across Wyoming and eastern Montana, with a stop at Little Big Horn, the grasses of the prairie were on my mind and I pulled out some soft golds and greens and dry grass colors and worked out my first composition. This is what it looked like before I started constructing the sections (I always cut all my lines and rough out my design on the wall before sewing):
The completed work, Markings #1 is at the top of this post and the detail image is below. This is still one of my favorites in this series as it brings back memories of the beautiful drive across Montana. This piece is included in the show Markings: Repetition and Pattern, currently in Boulder, CO.
Posted by Lisa in: Abstract Contemporary Textile Art
Tagged: Cross Hatching, Danny Gregory, Markings Series, Markings: Repetition and Pattern, Montana, Nancy Crow
Claire said,
February 26, 2008 @ 10:41 pm
Congratulations on your exhibition and thanks for sharing your work here for those of us who live far away.
I am loving the markings series very much… all of it. It is so simple, yet heartstoppingly complex all at the same time. Your use of colour is particularly delicious.
Lisa Call said,
February 27, 2008 @ 7:25 pm
Thank you Claire.
Deborah Fair said,
February 28, 2008 @ 9:15 am
Thank you for sharing your inspiration for this series. I can see the prairie grasses.