joansowada@gmail.com
For weeks now, my response to the pandemic, has been to do lots of radical pruning. What does that mean? You might think that it means cleaning out my studio or office or some other sort of spring cleaning that many artists spent the month of March doing. I applaud them! No. My radical pruning… Read more »
Tag: composition
Two Gems
This blog is just a quick show and tell, to share with you two commissions completed recently. I am showing you the reference photo given to me, next to the artwork I created for a friend. Notice all the things that are removed (background and shirt logo) and the things added (bottom of shoe and… Read more »
Abstract Art Quilt
I recently visited the art room at an elementary school, as a guest speaker. I was at school all day and talked to 7 different classes of all grade levels. I brought along three examples of my artwork, two abstract and one figurative. I explained my ideas and why I had made the choices of… Read more »
Weed Sort Plan
This blog is part two of a discussion about photographs. Do they bring you joy? If you didn’t read last month’s installment, you may wish to do that now. If weeding and oranganizing is not your thing, you can wait until next month, when I’ll be talking about who knows what, but it won’t be… Read more »
Quick Show and Tell
In my September blog post, I showed you many examples of artwork inspired by relationships with people, animals and place. Two of the photos I shared then, are now small pieces of art. The first step in my work process, was to do a lot of editing. I limited the number of fabric choices, I… Read more »
How is it done?
I create artwork in two styles. When I am making abstract artwork, there is no pattern. I begin with an idea and a group of fabrics that would play well together. When I make a figurative piece the process is more structured, and in this blog I will talk about those steps. There’s a part… Read more »
How Small? How Big?
The size of a project makes a difference. You might have to get a riding lawn mower! Buy lots of trowels, so the kids can help with the weeding! Budget more than one quick weekend to paint the house! In the fabric art that I do, the two extremes of big and tiny seem the… Read more »
A day in the life- mid August
The mid-August brisk air (55 – 65 degrees) is perfect for removing the algae from around the edge of our small pond. This task is only done while wearing knee pads (making crawling easy) and in the early morning cool air before the yellow jacket wake up bell. Before this task I… Read more »
Make Over
Get out the rotary cutter. Sometimes the best thing to do with a piece that isn’t so good, is to visualize cutting it up, and then have fun doing it! Since you didn’t like it anyway, nothing is lost. Making artwork is always a risk, so I say, go for it. I cut ‘Abstract Figure’… Read more »
Everyone is happy
When a commission turns out well, everyone is happy. The woman who asked me to make a piece based on a photo of herself and her children, was already familiar with my artwork. She knew about my medium, style, subject matter, and my love of light and shadow. She could safely feel that I was… Read more »