Inspiration
Sometimes an artwork grabs me and won’t let go. In 2021 I saw a painting by Regina Pilawik Wilson. The mark making and seeming simplicity of the patchwork Syaw (fish net) continue to fascinate me.
The painting reminds me of African American scrap quilts from the late 19th and early 20th centuries - some of the most stunning quilts I have ever seen using worn flannelette, sacking etc..
Kate Greenville’s book The Idea of Perfection also comes to mind. The female protagonist is a textile artist making quilts with odd shapes in a small Australian town.
Detail of Syaw
Just Because
I’ve been working on this watercolour piece over the last month. I don’t know if I will finish it, crop it, or cut it up to use in collage work. It might end up as an unmitigated disaster (the best kind since there is no wiggle room to redeem it). Then I’ll cut it up to use as a note pad or shred it for handmade paper.
I work best when I have several projects going and one is a ‘just because’ artwork. This painting is definitely in the ‘just because’ pile.
I’ve made a number of these weaving paintings in my sketchbook, but this is the first larg-ish one. I’m using watercolour pencils and paint.
As I’ve been working on it, from left to right, I’ve stopped blurring the lines of the weave. Areas without a cross-weave start looking like elevation marks on maps. And I’m interested in the joins and areas of imperfection more than the pattern or where the pattern changes or breaks.
