About art

When art turns utilitarian, does that turn into a 'craft', endowed with a halo albeit significantly diminished of its glow? Broadly speaking, yes. For example, an art-quilt implies one that is utterly useless in wrapping around to warm you in winters, but somehow elevated in its importance, owing to this aspect.

Here's where it gets blurry: if you've watched staging shows on HGTV, you'll see paintings and sculptures serve a utilitarian role - fill a space, make it look larger/smaller, create a mood, create cohesion and so on. Regardless, those are called 'art' pieces, rather than something that' d suggest craft: 'paint-feature/dimensional-feature'.

So then a piece of what's traditionally identified as art could be reduced to 'pragmatic art' depending on application, but never a piece of what's traditionally identified as craft be elevated to.

What purpose does art (as it is defined) serve? The word 'sensory' comes to my mind. It makes a statement: the owner of the piece is affluent enough to not have the piece do any work. Looking pretty is all that is expected of it.

With this high-brow art-ism plaguing populations, it makes me wonder, should the 'crafts' demand equal rights?

When I knit, I sculpt and color and texture the product all at once, one stitch at a time. Rather than dress a wall or side-table when finished, it dresses me. That makes it art, doesn't it? What am I missing?

death of innocence

I found this quote recently:

"this is for the death of innocence.. it died somewhere between the head and the heart."

Who said this? What was it in the context of? I sense much disillusion and bitterness in the words. If such a death of innocence leads only to an intellectual awakening, why mourn? If this isn't true, I would want to know what else can be born of it, for death doesn't exist in isolation.

Spring Flair in Winter

I've practically lived in this cozy feminine sweater all of '08 Fall and Winter. The pattern is 'Pullover Flair' by Ann Budd from IK Spring 2006.

You must've noticed how I pick patterns from a different season, and often a different year of publishing. So far, this idiosyncrasy has worked in my favor.

Project: one seagull a day (mine this perch)

'Mine This Perch'

Some theory at work here in varying degree:
1. controlling eye movement by manipulating highlight and shadow.
(The eye focusses on the area where the lightest light meets the darkest dark. )

2. shadow drama. (To create dark shadows, deepen them with complimentary hues.)

3. reflected light

4. reflected colour

Seagull

The seagull is my latest 'study'. Here's what led to my dusting off my sketch book and my precious set of prisma color pencils, only to obsess over seagulls:
A fabulous muscle spasm rendered my back quite quite useless in the last couple of days for my favorite activity (no prizes for guessing what). So the 'Topaz' I'm making as a gift (Knitty Spring 2009) had to be temporarily abandoned.

In the meanwhile, I DVR'd a gazillion art shows on PBS. With all that inspiration and no knitting in hand, I had to do something. So, the seagulls.






By the way, some tidbits of my Topaz. I've substituted the fair isle with a mosaic pattern (Barbara Walker). IMHO, mosaic is well suited for kid clothes as it lends an informal touch as opposed to the traditional look of fair isle. The other bit I'm excited about is the really unusual color-combination I've picked - a matte coral contrasted with an 'almond' shade. The hope ofcourse is that this one year old will make a fashion statement with this dress. Will post pics when ready.

Back to Prisma - have I told you how much I love them? I call this sketch 'pear hug'. This is an early creation.















That's my sewing machine resting under my quilt. And ofcourse I call this 'so cozy'. :)

Practical lace

My Glasgow Lace creation (IK Fall 2006) makes for a dramatic addition to my spring wardrobe. I happened to have a green in my stash that matched that in the pattern, and the weight of the yarn worked perfectly for the project too. I rarely knit anything in the suggested color of the pattern but with this, I'm glad I used green.

Mods: I made it more snug than recommended. The sleeves are a complete re-do: larger armholes and slower (and more number of ) decreases to create sleeve cap.

I call it my practical lace project as I'm not one to wear shawls, scarves, capelets or even hand-knit socks, however much I adore the look. A top such as this is the most practical application of lace for my use.