Wednesday 9 August 2006

Art quilts

I'm attending a six month art quilting class with Carolyn Sullivan at the NSW Embroiderers Guild, we have one lesson a month, then make a sample quilt piece based on that lesson.

Our first class was based on architectural shapes, we cut shapes from coloured paper before making our fabric piece.

I think I took the exercise too literally, I understood that we would follow through from the paper cutouts but some of the others said 'oh, that's not how I work so I did.....this".
Their work was great and it would have been easy to for me to say the same and go off on my own tangent, and eventually that is the aim of the class - to help us develop our own style, but I felt during the class I should be sticking to the plan and producing something that relates to the particular technique taught in the lesson.

Does anyone else feel like that when they attend a class?
I know a few people who go classes and finish up doing their own completely different thing, I don't break out til I'm home from the class, I think if someone is teaching a method then that method is what I'm there to learn.

Do teachers find it frustrating when students break away from the course outline or are they happy to have inspired them?

...and it was hard to just make one exercise piece so I finished up with four of them...

art quilt exercise

art quilt exercise

art quilt exercise

art quilt exercise

3 comments:

Sheeprustler said...

That's an interesting point and one that has been exercising my mind a lot recently. Last semester in my TAFE course we had a tutor who was rather poor at communicating when she wanted a literal interpretation and when she didn't - and I often stuffed up and did it the opposite way round to what she expected. Currently I am working on three pieces for another tutor who has a much freer idea - he sets the theme but the interpretation is entirely up to us - which I definitely prefer. I think if I was teaching I would prefer it if students were to interpret freely.

I liked your pieces, I like abstract work myself.

Anonymous said...

Hi Erica.
I feel that if you take a class one should show the tutor some respect and do it her way, why take the lesson if one is not going to do it the way the tutor shows you. You can do your way when you go home.
I like your work.
R.B.

Erica said...

thank you both for your thoughts, I'm torn a little both ways VBG

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