Are you Illuminating?

We just finished our monthly meeting and this time the topic to be covered was Illumination.  With the help of Brigitte and Sandie we were presented with some ideas and techniques to consider.

Sandie started us off with a excersize we call JOLTZ.  It's purpose is to jolt us out of our comfort zone and get us thinking and or working outside the box.  The exercise involved rolling dice and then drawing a portion of a "Picaso-esque" face  with each roll of the dice.  The results were amazing.

After giving credit to Wikipedia for help with research, Brigitte presented what she had discovered about  illumination.  What follows is some of what she presented.  After the presentation, the group was challenged to produce a fiber art piece illuminating their impression of what they had learned.  The results will be shown in a later post.

There are many ways to define the term illumination.  Very basically it refers to the falling of light onto objects and making them visible as they are illuminated.  But there are other definitions that we might consider in our study.

Wikipedia states that Illumination, an observable property and effect of light, may also refer to:

• the use of light sources - Lighting
• the use of light and shadow in art - Illumination (image)
• The artistic decoration of hand-written texts - Illuminated manuscript.

In the study of physics there is an additional definition, but that is not our study here.  To narrow our study of this term, we shall focus on lighting and the art of decorating a text, or initial letter.

Lighting

The illumination of the subject of a drawing or painting is a key element in creating an artistic piece, and the interplay of light and shadow is a valuable method in the artist's toolbox.  The placement of the light sources can make a considerable difference in the type of message that is being presented.  Multiple light sources can wash out any wrinkles in a person's face, for instance, and give a more youthful appearance.  In contrast, a single light source, such as harsh daylight, can serve to highlight any texture or interesting features.

By using light/dark contrast one can illuminate an object so as to give it form or shape making it look more realistic.  The use of dark subjects dramatically lit by a shaft of light from a single constricted and often unseen source was a compositional device developed by Ugo da Carpi in the mid-15th century.

Developed during the Renaissance, chiaroscuro (light-dark) is an oil painting technique that uses strong contrasts between light and dark to create a dramatic effect.  Artists known for developing the technique include Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio and Rembrandt.

Chiaroscuro originated as drawing on coloured paper, where the artist worked fromt he paper's base tone toward light using white gouache, and toward dark using ink or watercolour.  These in trun drew on traditions in illuminated manuscripts.  Such works used to be called "chiaroscuro drawings".  The term broadened in meaning early on to cover all strong contrasts in illumination between light and dark areas in art, which is now the primary meaning.

It is a mainstay of black and white and low-key photography.

Illuminated Manuscripts

An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented with such decoration as initials, borders (marginalia) and miniature illustrations.  In the strictest definition, the term refers only to manuscripts decorated with gold or silver.  However the common usage today refers to any decorated or illustrated manuscript from Western traditions.

The earliest surviving illuminated manuscripts are from the period 400 to 600, produced in the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths and the Eastern Roman Empire.  Illumination of manuscripts was a way of aggrandizing ancient documents, aided their preservation and informative value in an era when new ruling classes were no longer literate, at least in the language used in the manuscripts.

The majority of surviving manuscripts are from the Middle Ages, although many survive from the Renaissance.  The majority of these manuscripts are of a religious nature.  However especially from the 13th century onward, an increasing number of illuminated manuscripts were secular texts.  Most medieval manuscripts important enough to illuminate were written on the best quality of parchment, call vellum.

Illuminated manuscripts continued to be produced in the early 16th century, but in much smaller numbers, mostly for the very wealthy.  Manuscripts are among the most common items to survive from the Middle Ages as also the best surviving specimens of medieval painting.

Art historians classify illuminated manuscripts into their historic periods and types, including (but not limited to Late Antique, Insular, Carolingian manuscripts, Ottonian manuscripts, Romanesque manuscripts, Gothic manuscripts and Renaissance manuscripts.

The type of book that was most often heavily and richly illuminated, sometimes known as a "display book" varied between periods.  In the first millennium, these were most likely to be Gospel Books, such as Lindisfarne Gospels and the Book of Kells.

Folio 27r from the Lindisfarne Gospels contains the incipit from the Gospel of Matthew.

The Book of Kells, (folio 292r), circa 800, showing the lavishly decorated text that opens the Gospel of John

The romanesque period saw the creation of many huge illuminated complete Bibles - one in Sweden requires three librarians to lift it.

Finally the Book of Hours, very commonly the personal devotional book of a wealthy lay person, was often richly illuminated in the Gothic period.  They Byzantine world also continued to produce manuscripts in its own style, versions of which spread to other Orthodox and Eastern Christian areas.

Wealthy people began to build up personal libraries; Philip the Bold probably had the largest personal library of his time in the  mid-15th century; it is estimated to have had about 600 illuminated manuscripts, whilst a number of his friends and relations had several dozen.

Piece "B" - Collage and Lettering

At our last meeting Brigitte and Elizabeth gave a wonderful presentation on the techniques of collage and lettering.  These two techniques are now to be used on your "B" pieces for this year's project that was initially discussed here.

Collage

The word “collage” comes from the French “coller” meaning to glue.  Used primarily in the visual arts, the artwork is made from an assemblage of different forms or bits, creating a whole new piece. Collages may include some or all of the following items

1. magazine and newspaper clippings
2. ribbons
3. bits of colored or handmade papers
4. portions of other artwork or texts
5. photographs and other found objects.

Techniques of collage were first used around 200 BC in China with the invention of paper and later in the 10th century by Japanese calligraphers.

It appeared again in Medieval Europe during the 13th and 16th centuries where religious images, icons and coats of arms had gemstones and other precious metals added to create a new piece.

An 18th century example of collage art can be found in the work of Mary Delany.

The term collage was coined by both George Braque and Pablo Piccaso in the beginning of the 20th century when collage became a distinctive part of modern art.  

According to Wikipedia,  "in the Guggenheim Museum’s online article about collage, Braque took up the concept of collage itself before Picasso, applying it to charcoal drawings. Picasso adopted collage immediately after (and was perhaps indeed the first to use collage in paintings, as opposed to drawings):

"It was Braque who purchased a roll of simulated oak-grain wallpaper and began cutting out pieces of the paper and attaching them to his charcoal drawings. Picasso immediately began to make his own experiments in the new medium."

Surrealist artists have made extensive use of collage.  Cubomania is a type of collage in which an image is cut into squares and then reassembled automatically or at random."

Collage made from photographs, or parts of photographs, is called photomontage. Photomontage is the process (and result) of making a composite photograph by cutting and joining a number of other photographs. 

Richard Hamilton, Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?  1956, collage, (one of the earliest works to be considered Pop Art)

In textiles

Given the definition of collage, one could easily argue that applique and crazy quilt construction are collages.  Some well-known textile artists that use collage in their work include Rosemary Eichorn, Judith Baker Montano, Elly Sienkiewicz, Susan Carlson, and Deborah Boschert, to name just a few. 

Unlike sewing clothing, or quilts from a specific pattern where your creativity is limited to choosing and combining colours and prints of your fabrics, collage gives you unlimited flexibility.  You won’t be restricted to one simple-shaped piece.  You will have the flexibility of choosing not only prints and colours, but also specific motifs from a variety of sources.  "No design has an edge too tightly curved, too pointy, or too complex to use; a host of subject matter is printed on fabric that can be used."

Finding inspiration for a collage begins with an idea.  This idea may reflect your interests, a particular piece of fabric that says jungles, a big life event, or even a personal challenge like working with a colour you don’t usually work with.  There are plenty of textiles with specific themes that can provide inspiration for a collage.  Details found in nature such as lichen on rocks can provide ideas for stitching texture patterns on a collage.

Mandy Patullo in her book Textile Collage describes collage in this way:

Fabric collage is a kind of patchwork but without having to follow a pattern, and a kind of applique without the templates.

In Collage + Cloth = Quilt, Judi Warrten Blaydon states:  “…collage can be a quick way to assess color, value contrasts, texture, scale, content, composition, …Seeing the collage allows you to make revisions and adjustments…"

How to Collage

a) Iron fusible webbing onto the fabric(s). Cut out the pieces. Lay the bits out onto your background. Use an iron to fuse them into place.

b) Cut out the pieces of fabric and lay them out onto the backing (batting, muslin or fabric of choice). Baste the pieces on or glue them on with a tiny dab of Elmer's washable glue. Quilt all over the piece to permanently attach the fabric pieces.

 Lettering

The possibilities are endless. You can:

1. cut out letters from fabric and fuse it to a project
2. use a stencil to paint letters onto a project 
3. use beads to create letters
4. stitch letters by hand or with a sewing machine
5. draw letters and glue (or couch) braids or wool over them
6. print on fabric/ribbon with ink for fabrics, permanent felt pens, calligraphy pens or a brush
7. use brads to make letters
8. attach buttons in the shape of letters or use buttons with letters on them
9. use fabric  pieced alphabets (see Quilters Connection magazine - Summer 2016)