WHISPERS REVEAL!

Drum roll please..........It is finally here, the grand reveal after 10 months of thought and work.  

Well done everyone!

The Whisper Challenge is not your typical group project, it is a collection of evolving and changing individual art pieces.

The Whisper Challenge started with an original photo to create the first piece. The original photo is only seen by the first person. Once they are done a picture of their work and an artist statement is sent to to the next person in line who uses it as inspiration to create their own work and photograph it and send it along. This continues down the line.  We had 15 participants so decided to split the line part way along to complete in time for a display this fall.  

The Original Picture, courtesy of David Shaw.

Betty

"The Hayfield Song"
When I was young I would run in the hay fields singing on the top of my lungs.

Elisabeth

"View From My Window"
When I received the picture from my 'whisperer' I saw a beautiful landscape somewhere in the prairies. I immediately thought of the gorgeous view I get to enjoy every day looking across Kalamalka Lake from my window.  I used different fabrics to create the hills in the background and found a scarf which I had made at the Vernon Community Arts Centre using silk felting which depicted the perfect foreground.  The trees were cut out from another fabulous landscape fabric.  

Joan

"Kal Lake"
Growing up on the east coast of Canada, I was surrounded b ocean and lakes.  Because of my love for the beautiful lakes in British Columbia, this wall hanging reflects the beautiful colours of our lakes.

Cathy

"VERNON...one of the spots on earth worth crowing about!"
Joan's quilt featured canoes, and this shape make me think of fall leaves, which then evolved into dotted trees.  Vernon has many spots to experience; from skiing down Silver Star Mountain trails, with the aroma of pine trees surrounding you, to immersing yourself in multi-coloured Kalamalka Lake, and then wiggling your toes into the warm beach sand. You can visit Bishop Wild Bird Sanctuary and listen to the native birds singing.  You might even hear a crow or two.  Just remember to whisper while you are there.

Cath

"Carnival Colours"
When I received the picture of Cathy's quilt I was drawn to her wonderful colours.  Working on mine during a grey, cloudy month made the idea of using bright colours very appealing.  One of the biggest and brightest events in a Vernon winter is the hot air balloons at the carnival.  If you are lucky you might get to see them floating over Swan Lake or have them pass right over your house.  It must be a great adventure to ride in one as it drifts, whisper quiet, over the countryside.

Split

At this point in the challenge we needed to split into two streams to finish up in time for a fall event.  I will do down one stream and then the other.

Stream One

Brigitte

"Masks of Fat Tuesday"
Cath's quilt picture and her reference to Vernon's winter carnival dispelling the cold and greyness of winter inspired me to consider other Carnival celebrations.  Italy and Brazil's Carnival and the United State's Mardi Gras all celebrate a last hurrah of rich food and drink before Lent, a time when people fast or give up something such as drinking, certain foods or other items.  How exciting it would be to see such a riot of colour during our own Winter Carnival.  Instead of a whisper, the masks would shout to Spring "Come early and bring the colours!"

Bev

"Tropical Dream"
Brigitte's artist statement got me thinking of other types of masks.  As I sat thinking of what I might create I looked out the window and saw snow falling.
I then started dreaming of somewhere tropical.  Looking through a snorkelling mask in Thailand, Bali, the Caribbean or Australia appeals to me anytime especially during the winter months.  Seeing colourful fish, coral and sunshine does warm the body and soul.  It makes the winter go by a whole lot faster too.

Sandie

"Through the Window"
My 'inspiration piece' led me to isolate the words 'through' and 'ocean' to use as a guide for my design.
This quilt depicts our view of Portovenere, Italy, as seen through the windows of Castello Doria, based on our photo taken in 2010.  This view inspired many long relaxing spells of absorbing our surroundings, often with a gelato or a glass of red wine!

Joyce

Myrna

"At the End of a Whisper..."

Stream Two  

 The participants in this stream started from the same point as the last one but certainly took their own path!

Starting point was Cath's quilt:

Shirley

"Flying High"
Cath's Whisper Challenge immediately made me think of celebrating high flying winter sports.

Judith

"Whisper Challenge"
Shirley's quilt had snow....and I was so sick of it!  therefore I went in the opposite direction for the season.  It also offered an opportunity to use metallic threads (which often defeat me!) so I chose to celebrate Canada.

Linda

"Dazzling Dahlias"
The inspirational words that come to mind from Judith's art piece are 'explosion' and 'colour'. 
While on holiday some years ago, I saw a barrel planted with the most unforgettable display go brilliant pink dahlias I have ever seen.  Their spectacular buds burst open in a firework display of spiral petals.  The flamboyant lipstick-pink, subtle blush-pink and milky-white of the blooms contrast delightfully with lush green foliage.

Christine

"Blowing in the Wind"
is an interpretative response to the Whispers Challenge.
I've allowed myself to work free of constants round the colours, shapes, and formal design of the original, while still aiming to draw inspiration and include certain aspects.
The starting point for my interpretation in this work was to invert the formal logic of the original: abstracting the representational forms of the leaves and stems, while reimagining the abstract pink circular flowers in classical representations.
The flowing background that in turn became an abstract canvas on which to play with the shapes of the flower heads, stems and leaf motifs.  This backdrop is not representational, but could represent a view through the thickness of a windy meadow.  The colours are dark and heavily contrasted, like vegetation in late summer entering fall.  Meanwhile the flowers dip and dive in the same wind, delicately releasing their seeds.  Overall the composition can perhaps be seen as a statement about the fragility and transitory nature of life.  It is to a playful experiment drawn from my imagination.

Jeanette

"Dead But Not Forgotten"
Just as with people, these beautiful trees once brought joy to all who beheld them.  The ravages of time have left their mark on them but not necessarily in a bad way.  You have to really look at these marks to see the beauty of the different lines and colours.  My goal is to preserve this beauty for just a little longer and remember these trees not only how they look now but how beautiful they once were.
What does this have to do with Whispers?  Being a scavenger, always looking for interesting things to add to my art quilts, I imagine myself looking beyond the leaves in the previous art piece to what I might find underneath, such as these bits of driftwood.