Ferris Wheels and Goldfish

When Sabine announced the Carnival theme,  I immediately thought of the local town fairs that pop up across the country in warm weather.  I turned to my journal and filled a page with different images and ideas: cotton candy, laughter, tickets for rides, roller coasters, sticky fingers.   It was clear that my biggest challenge was going to be settling on one idea.  At one point I did consider doing some sort of image collage to help represent the colorful and chaotic nature of these town fairs, but that didn't seem the right path for this piece. In the end, I pared down my ideas to create this: Ferris Wheels and Goldfish.

Ferris Wheels and Goldfish 

I think I got my first ferris wheel ride at a hometown carnival.  I do know that I got two of my pet goldfish by winning a carnival game.  A platform was covered with little water-filled fish bowls, but a few also had goldfish in them as well.  If you were lucky enough to throw your ping pong ball into a bowl with a fish, you got to take the little fish home.  And I did -- twice. 

I enjoyed thinking about the carnival theme and I hope to investigate it further on my own. 

Hidden Self

For me Carnival conjures up images of long ago Venice. While researching this I learnt of the Moretta masks patrician women wore. They were kept in place using a bite piece, so they could not talk, eat or drink while celebrating carnival. I sought to capture the isolation and discomfort that made me feel.
Does this still happen today?
That hidden self behind the mask.

My goal was to combine the use of new techniques and materials with familiar ones.
Fabrics used are cotton, man-made voile, and a silk/bamboo blend.
Techniques include tray dying with Procion dyes, melting, hand and machine applique, colouring with Markal paint, beading and free motion quilting.

Shrovetide/Fastelavn

Shrovetide – in Danish ’Fastelavn’ – is the original Danish carnival held in February which is wintertime in Denmark. Normally it is very cold and often we have snow at that time. Nowadays it is primarily a children’s feast which brings colours into cold and dark days. The children get some branches heavily decorated with sweets, coloured paper and small gifts.

Rio de Janeiro has inspired to carnivals in Denmark but these carnivals are postponed until winter is over.

The Quilt

The background is made of free hand cut fabrics in white and blue to mimic the Danish winter landscape.

The colourful Shrovetide/Fastelavn is mimicked by tree shapes, in the border and in some decorated branches.

Beads were added as branches on the trees and on the children’s decorated branches. 

Wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door ( Eleanor Rigby: Lennon/McCartney)

Art is the basis on which I seek to explore and understand the many influences that shape our perception of ourselves, our belief in who and in what we are. Our self-image then influences our interpretation of our life experiences and our interactions at all levels.  Who is everyone else in relation to my view of myself? What is the meaning of something in relation to my perception of myself? How can I interpret the world within the framework of my self- knowledge, experience and beliefs? How do these interpretations affect my self-perception?

I use many different techniques in my artwork depending on what I feel will best express what I am trying to convey. I use hand dyed and commercial fabrics, piecing, appliqué, stitching, quilting, drawing as well and many other techniques. Recently I have started to weave fabric strips into fabric for backgrounds and motifs. This helps me express in visual terms the idea of interweaving different elements to create a new and different whole.

In this challenge quilt I have used the carnival mask to examine our use of masks in our daily life. From the background weaving of emotions, experiences and beliefs that form our innermost self, what do we choose to reveal to the outside world?  What do we hide and why? Do we ever reveal our entire self? What effect does this fragmentation have on our self-perception?

Carnival

Carnival is not part of my culture, though I have been to some in the UK and also Switzerland. I wanted to use colour and the carousel theme to convey a happy, slightly chaotic, celebration. The 3D coronet, held flat with beads,  uses Vikki Pignatelli's double-sided zigzag technique. The black and white stripe refers both to the poles that hold the carousel ponies, and also the poles at the landing stages in Venice, another Carnival icon. I enjoyed working with the abstract units, building the colour blocks to balance and play with each other. The quilting uses modular rectangles as background line only.

The quilt I didn't make for Carnival

I had two ideas for my quilt. The first one went together really well, so I didn't pursue my second idea. I have a thing about cows, and I found some wonderful photos of cows who looked like candidates for the Rio mardi gras! This is during the annual migration back down from the summer pastures, called almabtrieb in German, I think.

Here's my favourite!

Julia in NZ

Christmas Debris

I'm moving from sketching to creating.  As I'm working, I'm considering adding bits and pieces of our Christmas debris to my Carnival piece.

Anyone have any tips for me before I make my first attempt?