Speeding Through Space
A few months ago, after I came back from a holiday, a wonderful email from my dear friend Janine was awaiting me. She talked about a new art quilt group called The Endeavourer, hosted by her and Catherine. We are a group of 14, creating quilts that feature a chosen theme. This quarter’s theme was Nature.
I love spending time under the open sky, hiking trails while looking for small hidden surprises. I made quite a few nature-themed paintings last year, and I was looking for another creative angle. I love the natural sciences, specially astronomy. Looking at nature through science-coloured glasses gives me a deeper joy and that is what I wanted to use for inspiration. I began sketching.
I have always had a keen interest in the properties of light. This was my first sketch based on a double-slit experiment by Thomas Young. It demonstrates the dual nature of light. The design was defined by simple shapes and limited colours. That became the style for rest of the sketches.
Then I started going down the rabbit hole. The dual nature of light sparked another sketch from my all-time favourite – Quantum mechanics featuring atomic orbitals. It is a function that calculates the probability of an electron’s position in a region around an atom’s nucleus. I find the orbital shapes to be really pretty.
Even after two drawings, I still continued sketching. An English mathematician named Alan Turing wrote an article on patterns found in nature. That and my love for tigers prompted this design. I was pretty sure this was going to be the one.
Then last week it was raining here. I was so deliriously happy that I cast aside all work and painted Sea Stacks with Star Trails. I love the use of blue on this painting.
The markings from the Turing pattern and the colour blue from the sea stacks gave me my final drawing. As I very hurriedly sketched this comet, I knew that I had my design. I couldn’t believe I had not thought of this earlier.
The rest was easy! I used converging variable-spaced straight line quilting from corner to corner to give it a sense of motion. Once that was done, I started painting on the finished, quilted piece.
Painting on dark fabric required thicker paint. I already had a set of acrylic paints at home. Combining that with fabric medium, I slowly painted the comet on the quilted piece. Nature is ever changing, ever moving, I believe a comet is a perfect representation of that.
I will part with this lunar eclipse photo I took yesterday. Nature inspires me to be creative every day. As I made those different sketches, I got to explore different facets of nature. I thought I’d share a little about my inspiration with you today. I will write more about the making another day.
-Soma
I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page. Please pay a visit to some of them.
42 thoughts on “An Endeavourer – The Journey Begins”
Jesh StG February 16, 2018 at 19:49
Many thanks Soma for adding your art form to the feb. 9 Weekend Journal Page – – love the 35-degree angle!
Connie K Campbell February 12, 2018 at 13:19
Beautiful work Soma! Painting on the fabric AFTER it was quilted is a great idea!! That is on my list of things to do. Thanks for sharing!
Kelleyn Rothaermel February 8, 2018 at 22:42
Your moom photo is amazing! Have a lovely weekend!
Ness February 8, 2018 at 15:14
I love your final choice of quilt and your inspirations in choosing it. Your lunar eclipse photos are wonderful.
Vasudha February 8, 2018 at 07:10
Your artwork and quilts are awesome!
Lisa February 8, 2018 at 01:18
Great quilt and great to hear about your group. Bet you have lots of fun as you progress through the year.
Linda February 7, 2018 at 14:05
Wonderful mini quilt! And inspiring post. Thanks for sharing with ‘sew stitch snap SHARE’
Jen February 7, 2018 at 12:35
Gorgeous quilt! All of those sketches are amazing!
betty - NZ February 6, 2018 at 19:25
What great bits of art! Nature has some amazing beauty if we just stop to look. The moon shots are just fantastic!
Life Images by Jill February 6, 2018 at 18:55
these pieces of art are so gorgeous, and I love how you are able to envisage it, draw it, and then transfer it to quilted piece. I’ve enjoyed my visit today, through “Through my lens” linkup.
Margy February 6, 2018 at 17:27
You sure have a steady hand to have the painting part come out that precise. – Margy
Angie February 6, 2018 at 10:42
I am so surprised this is paint on a quilt – it looks like fabric to me! Thanks for sharing your inspiration, although I did feel like I was having a conversation with my son, who is studying physics – I don’t get 70% of what he says!!! It seems to me like your drawings leading up to the final design could be future quilts for you …
Barbara February 6, 2018 at 04:37
WOW, your quilt looks like a comet with a tail. This memory came to me immediately when I saw only the picture without having read the text before. Really great.
best regards
Barbara
Jesh StG February 6, 2018 at 01:39
Great you found this group! Excellent design full of movement:) Many thanks for sharing this with All Seasons!
Also a little reminder, this week Friday Feb. 9 at noon is our WEEKEND JOURNAL PAGE where you can link an art project i progress by linking it with a permalink n a comment of that post.
Can’t wait what you’ll show (remember it does not need to be finished!). Have a great week!
Sandy Panagos February 5, 2018 at 10:22
What interesting and beautiful creations!
Su-sieee! Mac February 5, 2018 at 09:33
I’ve learned a lot today from your post. You’ve given me another way to think about how to see and look at nature. I love science even though I’m very slow at understanding the concepts, but once I do, such a mind-blowingness. No matter how much I look at your photos of the fabric pieces, I can’t tell that you painted on them. That’s another something I want to try one day. Thanks for a great post!
Denise February 5, 2018 at 08:55
Very pretty.
Wendy February 5, 2018 at 06:34
I enjoyed reading your thought process as well as seeing all of your sketches. What a fun group that must be! Your quilt is very cool!
Leanne Parsons February 4, 2018 at 14:39
I loved every one of the sketches you shared! They are so different, but all so intriguing. And there is so much motion in the finished quilt. Congratulations on a beautiful interpretation of the theme :)
Lynette February 4, 2018 at 12:37
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the path of emergence for this mini quilt. Thank you for sharing all the details. Your merging of nature themes with science particulars is quite fascinating.
Kaja February 3, 2018 at 23:40
I’m interested that this turned out to be painted, not pieced. One of the lovely results of that is that the thread in each little piece is exactly the same shade as the background – that pleases my eye a lot. Your thought process was fascinating too – I love the scientific angle you took and the way you have blended science and art together.
Dixie February 3, 2018 at 09:53
Lovely, Soma. I enjoyed all the scientific inspiration behind your design.
Your lunar eclipse photos are wonderful!
Lois Stimax February 3, 2018 at 09:01
Very inspiring!! Thanks for linking to Cofessions of a Fabric Addict—that is how I find so many interesting blogs. Are you familiar wit Charley Harper? Your linear works would lead me to believe you would enjoy his art.
Kathleen February 2, 2018 at 20:00
Love the quilt, Soma. I thought what beautiful applique work! Then I see you painted it . . . and beautiful painting it is.
Cheryl Brickey February 2, 2018 at 14:08
I love the quilt and all of your drawings, each of those drawings would make an awesome quilt.
Carol February 2, 2018 at 13:41
You have created a beautiful piece of art.
Catherine February 2, 2018 at 11:54
It was a treat reading about your inspiration, and seeing more of your beautiful artwork – I”m very much looking forward to your next piece!
Janine @ Rainbow Hare February 2, 2018 at 09:32
Your quilt is a stunning and beautiful piece of art, Soma. The shapes and colours are perfect and the painting was an ideal way of ‘making’ them. I really enjoyed reading about the scientific inspiration behind this and seeing your sketches. All of those sketches could make beautiful quilts if you had time! Thank you, also, for sharing your photos of the moon. We had a Super Moon and it was also a blue Moon but the Blood Moon eclipse was lower than the horizon for us here in the UK. I’m looking forward to seeing more of your Endeavourers quilts :)
Carol S. February 2, 2018 at 06:26
You work is so amazing and the quilting on the comet just brings out it’s beauty even more.
Sandra Walker February 2, 2018 at 05:59
Love all your work Soma, and I love seeing the work of you Endeavourers this year! Nature, as you know, is my #1 topic in my heart. Ah that lunar eclipse photo! Ah, your paintings! Love seeing the process that led to the finished piece. Beautiful!
krislovesfabric February 2, 2018 at 05:10
Interesting that you painted the shapes, I thought it was raw edge applique at first glance. Good to see you inspired to create in another direction. I love the pictures of the moon, so cloudy here that we saw very little in our skies and had to settle for others’ views.
Celtic Thistle Stitches February 1, 2018 at 22:31
Fascinating interpretation of the Nature theme. Reading the process you went through designing this quilt was really interesting thanks for sharing.
Lady Fi February 1, 2018 at 20:38
Wow – beautiful pieces of work and amazing eclipse shots.
Mary February 1, 2018 at 17:32
Wow….great job and perfect interpretation for this month’s theme. The quilting adds such movement to the piece, but I also love your other sketches. The photos that you took of the blood blue moon are spectacular – well worth getting up early to see.
Claire February 1, 2018 at 16:18
I like the finished project , and I enjoyed the journey.
Ann Nell February 1, 2018 at 15:01
I LOVE ALL OF THEM !!
tonia conner February 1, 2018 at 14:57
Soma, I like the painting and quilting together. I get the impression your a very intense person from your art.
I can appreciate it. Totally different from your quilting. Your a many fauceted artist.
I’m having trouble posting on the Endeavourers blog page. When it says to the top of the page and hit new post, mine does not say that.
It has my email and dashboard and sign out. When I sign out it just leaves the page. Any suggestion?
I coped and added the other ladies to my post. Hope that was all right.
Kim Sharman February 1, 2018 at 14:33
Indeed you are a true endeavourer, Soma. Love the design you finally decided upon. I love the adventures you take me on when you embark on a creative journey. Your comet and trail mini quilt is fabulous. Love your quilting. I stayed up last evening in the wee hours of the morning to gaze upon the super blue blood moon. It was spectacular. Down here on a cloudless night, with the moon and the gazillion of scintillating stars it was a most spectacular experience. There is nothing quite like the theatre of a night sky.
Textile Ranger February 1, 2018 at 13:41
So the colorful shapes are painted, not pieced? Genius!
I love the way you quilted it.
I am aware of Alan Turing but not that he wrote about patterns in nature. Like Ruth, I am off to look that up, thank you!
Patty February 1, 2018 at 10:12
Awesome! Love the mini quilt and the moon photo.
Carol DeLater February 1, 2018 at 04:22
I didn’t realize the comet and trail were painted. Genius and beautiful.
xx, Carol
Ruth February 1, 2018 at 03:04
Loved reading about your inspiration and process for coming up with the design you wanted to make. I am fascinated by the patterns in nature reference and off to look up more on that. Thanks for sending me down that rabbit hole!