Fibermania

Inspired by Sketching

I have been thinking about what I will be teaching this year. I want to improve my class projects and hopefully make a bigger impact with each improvement. I realize I cannot teach design in one six-hour class, but perhaps I can crack open the vault of ideas.

Whenever I am out of ideas I return to my sketchbooks. They are piling up in every room. Not all the pages have wonderful stuff, but I found one that does and the designs above are four of the 16 that were on that page.

When I begin to make a new design with fabric (or recently paint) I like to have a roadmap to reference when I am in the midst of creating. Not only does it keep me on track, but it makes me confident that I know where I am heading.

The funny thing is that these sketches are reusable. I have made them many times and each one is not like the original but has it at its root. Design is all about a pleasing arrangement of shapes and lines. Simply that and only that. We get so caught up in rules and proportions and alignments and edges, and TOO MANY DETAILS and EMBELLISHMENTS that we lose track of the elegant design.

I am starting to repeat myself. Well, it is because this is really a pep talk before the big game. I am gearing up for four days of full classes at Road to California later this month and I want to be at my best.