In the spring of 2017 I had the opportunity to accompany my husband on a business trip to Barcelona, Spain. While he was attending meetings, I went to the Picasso Museum. My favorite exhibit was Picasso’s suite “Las Meninas.” He created a total of 58 pieces in this series. His pieces filled two rooms. It was fascinating to see how Picasso explored and developed his ideas as he reinterpreted and recreated “Las Meninas” by Diego Velazquez. Look up Noble Oceans Pablo Picasso: The Many Interations of Las Meninas for further reading.
An essential part of being an artist is exploring and playing and asking “What if…” Below is a series of small compositions where I did just this. The idea started with a small composition from a workshop in 2003. (Hint: if you really want to develop as an artist you must work on your own at home inbetween workshops.)
“Motif Exercise #2” pieced 2003, quilted 2009, 10.25” w by 10” h, commercial fabrics, cotton batting, machine quilted
Pamela Loewen
I loved this little piece and the concept of working with a small motif in both color and neutrals. I decided to try to build on the idea in the larger piece pictured either to the right or below.
“Landscape #1: Waterfall” pieced 2004 & quilted 2009, 7.5” w by 20.5” h, commercial cottons, cotton batting, machine quilted
Pamela Loewen
In this second piece I saw an abstracted landscape. Then I asked myself, “What if I try to make the motif float above the landscape?” This is where I pushed the idea in the third piece.
“Landscape #2: Floating Motif” pieced 2004 & quilted 2009, 16” w by 18.5” h, commercial cottons, cotton batting, machine quilted
Pamela Loewen
From here I thought, what if I changed the motif and made it more bird like and created a composition with a flock of birds flying over a landscape. The following two compositions explored this idea.
“Migration” 2004, 26” w by 36.5” h, commercial cottons, cotton batting, machine quilted
Pamela Loewen
“Migration 2” 2004, 21.5” w by 20.5” h, commercial fabrics, cotton batting, machine quilted
So that is how I got from the original motif study to Migration 2. Being married to a birder also was part of my inspiration.
What ideas are you exploring? The best way to explore ideas is to work in a series. Remember, there is always more than one way to interpret an idea. Be sure to give yourself time to play!