I’m back in the studio after a several week fallow period. This is what I refer to periods when I am not specifically working on an art quilt. The reality is my mind is always deliberating over one idea or another. I never know what will set my mind off, or how far it will take the idea, until I feel compelled to start the actual creative process.
Would you believe the end of my current fallow period began with the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg? It’s true. However, the path from her death to the design I settled on is anything but direct. The iconic images of RBG always feature her in her judicial robes topped by a stunning collar. How could I capture those collars? RBG is a study in contrast. She was 5′ 1″, but reached the height of the Supreme Court. She approached interpretation of the Constitution from a radically different perspective than the friend she made of Antonin Scalia through their mutual love of opera. The more I thought about RBG’s life, the more I grasped that to honor her life I would need to make contrast a strong visual element.
At first, loosing Ruth Bader Ginsburg, filled me with dread, sucking all hope I had for a rosier tomorrow. RBG never gave up. Why should I? As I sat at my computer playing with this idea or that concept on EQ8, I surprised myself by diverging from the original stark black and white, robes and collars images swirling in my brain. RBG was far more nuanced than my plan. She personified hope during dystopian times. Therefore, a sense of hope rises from the ashes in this design.
I am linking up with Nina Marie’s Off the Wall Fridays.
