I’ve made comments in my last couple of posts about the difficulty of taking good photos of quilts when the weather is dark and gray. On Monday, we finally had some sun, so I took photos of my 3 entries for the SAQA exhibit titled H2Oh!. The entry deadline is today – November 30.
I take photos of my quilts on my design wall – it’s on wheels, so I can roll it wherever the light is best. It has 2 sides – one covered with light gray fabric, and the other with dark gray. When I am taking photos that would be better against a white background, I pin a length of white flannel to the design wall.
I pinned up the first quilt, and started rolling the wall around to find a location with even lighting – no shadows or bright spots. I quickly discovered that the light from the window was too bright! So I turned the design wall away from the window and starting taking photos. I discovered that when I use my Nikon camera, with the white background, I don’t need very much light – so in the future, I don’t think I’ll have to wait for sunny days. (I had been taking photos against a gray background with my iPhone camera, which does seem to need more light.)
Once I had the lighting sorted out, I spent a couple of hours taking photos, loading them on the computer, checking for focus, straightening, cropping, etc. As the SAQA prospectus notes “We encourage you to send the best photos you can. Remember that the images you send are the only representations of your work the juror will see when considering your entry. . . . Furthermore, if you are selected for the exhibition, your submission photos will be used for the exhibition catalog. Therefore, your images need to be of the highest possible quality.”
I firmly believe there is no point in spending many, many hours creating an art quilt, then rushing the photography, so I allow a few hours to complete that part of the entry process.
Once I had satisfactory photos, artist statements written and re-written, and titles for all of the quilts, I submitted my 3 water-themed entries. Now I’ll have to wait until mid-January to see if any of them will be accepted.
Here are my three entries to H2Oh! – theme ‘Water – it’s everywhere!’
The first is an art quilt I made a few years ago, titled ‘Reflections on a Blue Day’. It’s based on a photo I took of the Fraser River, which flows past my home in New Westminster. I love to watch how the river’s color and mood change from day to day. On a sunny day when the river is calm, the reflections of the blue sky appear to float gently on the surface of the water. Techniques are: fused raw-edge applique, free-motion quilting, and has faced edges. Size is 29 x 40 inches.
My second entry was made in October. ‘Rain, with a Chance of Sun’ is an abstract interpretation of a typical Vancouver winter day – mostly dark, gray and rainy – with the chance of occasional sunny periods. It’s machine-pieced and quilted with a walking foot. The yellow reflections are fused. It’s 20 x 29 inches.
My third entry is ‘Golden Reflections’, which I made in November – see more information about my process here. I printed a computer-enhanced photo on fabric, then quilted it with poly-sheen thread and painted some of it with watercolor pencils. It is 12 x 24 inches.
Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative projects to inspire you.
As always, your work is beautiful and inspiring. I appreciate your explanations of your process.
These are each beautiful!
Wow–what a fabulous set of quilts! I particularly love how “Golden Reflections” turned out, perhaps because I’m partial to anything that combines blue and orange. Gorgeous work!