Drawing inspiration from an image submission of solar panels by Kathleen Peters, I created this textile design. Silicon Valley is a leader in solar technology and Kathleen's image submissions to the fusionwear sv image pool highlighted this important local industry.
In creating this textile, I learned that it was best to create the shapes in organic forms. At first I had use straight lines and grids, but it felt sterile. When I re rendered the design freehand (using a Wacom stylus) it felt right. I felt the shapes were more organic and echoed traditional textile work such as batik in the way the lines break and swell in places; it reminds me of Japantown restaurant norin curtains which often use this dying technique.
I created this in Illustrator and then took it into Photoshop. This image will remain black and white for the fabric printing. Colleen Quen, Rick Lee and I discussed color palettes today and we agreed that we wanted at least one Black and White design.
A few days ago we were notified that we have additional grant funding to bring in designer Rick Lee to create the environment for the installation. I am so very excited to be working with these two very talented and professional artists. I know that I will be learning a lot from both in the process of bringing this project to life.
Rick Lee's website is http://www.rickleedesign.com/
and Colleen Quen's website is: http://www.colleenquencouture.com/
In creating this textile, I learned that it was best to create the shapes in organic forms. At first I had use straight lines and grids, but it felt sterile. When I re rendered the design freehand (using a Wacom stylus) it felt right. I felt the shapes were more organic and echoed traditional textile work such as batik in the way the lines break and swell in places; it reminds me of Japantown restaurant norin curtains which often use this dying technique.
I created this in Illustrator and then took it into Photoshop. This image will remain black and white for the fabric printing. Colleen Quen, Rick Lee and I discussed color palettes today and we agreed that we wanted at least one Black and White design.
A few days ago we were notified that we have additional grant funding to bring in designer Rick Lee to create the environment for the installation. I am so very excited to be working with these two very talented and professional artists. I know that I will be learning a lot from both in the process of bringing this project to life.
Rick Lee's website is http://www.rickleedesign.com/
and Colleen Quen's website is: http://www.colleenquencouture.com/
Colleen, Rick and I celebrating our collaboration today. This is the morning after their Bamboo and Silk exhibition. I wish that Jane Przybysz, Director of The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, could have been there to celebrate with us. She wrote the grants!