Making new work
by Frieda Anderson
How do artist start a new work?
I believe that new work starts with an idea, however vague that idea might be. How that idea begins doesn’t really matter. Perhaps a color combination catches your eye, or the shape of an object, horizon, or silhouette triggers the process. All those things have help me start work.
I keep a journal as well as a design notebook to keep those ideas in one place and ready to be reviewed. It can happen that you have just finished a recent work and you don’t have the next thing rambling around in your brain yet but you are ready to start working. Having those journals and notebooks to look at to launch that creative spark again saves the day.
Here are a few sketches and pages from my journals that have hatched these fiber pieces.
“Duluth Trees”
“Sunset Pines”
These two pieces not only started with a sketch, but also with a color inspiration. When visiting Duluth, Minnesota, I was struck with just how blue and green the landscape is. BIG BLUE sky and BIG BLUE water along with SO many GREEN trees and ground cover fill the senses, and “Duluth Trees” was born.
“Sunset Pines” was inspired by the SUN setting behind a stand of pine trees and a quick sketch at a coffee shop.
“Spring Trees”
“Reaching for the Light” below
While both of these fiber pieces started with a sketch the colors were inspired by the idea of the season for each of them. “Spring Trees” is all about the bright, pastel colors of spring. That heady feeling of crisp light.
“Reaching for the Light” reflects the dabbled light and warm cocoon feeling of walking in the woods and how the trees stretch and search for any little bit of sunlight.
“Reaching for the Light” was inspired by walking in the woods.