Rock inspiration! (sadly, I am not speaking about music.)
kikistextileart
This time I would like you to follow me on a journey of discovery of the inspiring abstract beauty of..rocks! Well, I know, rocks are often deemed quite boring in a dumb-as-dirt kind of way, but, please, bear with me, and I hope that you will come to see their weird artistic side by the end of my post.
I have a geologist dad who has always been commenting on different rocks and sedimentary formations that we could observe during our yearly holidays to the mountains. We were very lucky to have a great variety of different types to observe, apparently, as we used to live not that far from both Italian Alps and Dolomites ranges, so plenty to pick from.
In particular, Dolomia, the unique type of limestone that mainly forms the Dolomites mountains, is a beautiful white or pale grey rock that can hold fossils and lends itself to the most lovely effects at sunset: the mountains become all soft pink in a very romantic fashion. Dolomites have rightly been included in the World Heritage List for their unique beauty in 2009 (link here).
It does not really convey the full pinkish beauty of a sunset on the Dolomites mountain range, but that is only the photographer’s fault (e.g. mine). The ancient little church on the left is the old San Bartolomeo’s church, its foundation dating to Medieval times.
Not that I have been that interested in rocks from a geological point of view, I must admit: just picking a few shiny or interesting pebbles here and there, like all kids do, that kind of stuff. My dad always tried to smuggle some pound-weighting rare pitchblende, fossil or whatever into his backpack by the end of the holiday, while mum used to complain about more rocks in the house: it was that kind of family thing.
Since I took on a new interest in art, though, I have been quite fascinated by the look of some of the rocks that I keep finding around now when I go on holiday with my own family: my husband and kids are complaining about my lugging around pebbles and rocks galore, when they are not picking up some for themselves (and who is the one hoarding rocks now, eh?). We have become that sort of family, eh eh. I pick my pieces wherever we go, but especially on the beach (usually in Norfolk, UK, where there is a huge variety of pieces and fossils, too) or in the mountains (usually in Cadore, Italy).
Because of space issues in our small flat, I now try to stick to photographing the interesting pieces, unless they are so small to be viable for transportation. And sometimes I like a composition of a few rocks together: that would be hard to take home!
I also sometimes really love brick or rock walls that I find around, and stop there observing them and thinking about how to reproduce the same combination of visually pleasing colours and shapes in felt: I know that there are many felters and fibre artists who study walls and bricks to add realism to their landscapes, so I am not the only one stopping in front of ordinary walls for half an hour and photographing them!
So, let’s have a look at some of the amazing hard stuff that I saw, and I hope that you will be inspired too!
Rocks that may inspire abstract composition:
Polka dots anyone? An alien language in alien dot script? Very probable.A sober grey on grey effect: I like the fact that it is almost like white clouds mounting up on a background of pewter stormy sky..maybe it’s only me.Waves? Notice the orange accents and the depth of the upper line, that is actually a dent or step on the surface. I quite like the orange detail on the very bottom right.I just liked the pattern of mold or lichens on this one, how they are variously intense: could I get a similar varied pattern with wool on an artwork?This is my star: how perfect is that? look at those varied and bright colours, look at the white and black paired slanting lines, look at its general rhombus shape! That’s an abstract painting in nature.Well, this is more about cracks and fissures, and it has many: is it possibly about something rupturing? or, if you see it from another point of view, connecting lines? it does remind me of leaves and such. I wonder in how many ways you could remake it in felt.Two tones. It reminds me of a landscape where there is some kind of land mass at the bottom (the bigger whitish shape) and a bird of prey (think red kite or some such) soaring up there in the sky (the whitish line on the grey background), and maybe the moss could be small clouds?This one has wonderful colours and reminds me of some of the backgrounds of Ruth’s artworks, with those potential different depths to build upon: I am sure that Ruth would be able to get a whole world of possibilities from a felt with those features.I was intrigued by the mysterious deep fissures in this one, surely due to cold weather action on smaller previous cracks: how do you manage those with felt? There must be a lot of different paths to reproduce this in felt.I can see a lichen and moss face in here: maybe a troll who is trapped in the rock during the daylight hours? It seems sleeping.The rectangle, black and white, and the seashell- colored triangle, the former all dotted and the latter all scratched and with horizontal steps at the bottom. Mh, I do not know, one could do something with them.Plenty of blotches with a smattering of tiny black lichens dots: the fast pace of those blobs seemed kind of interesting, especially with the addition of the tiny black dots.This one also is a study in lichen distribution: depending on how you rotate it, you may have a darkening effect toward the upper part or a lightening effect. I would like to observe the distribution of splotches to achieve the same natural effect on a painting, whether it is to darken its mood or lighten it.Another one that reminds me of some of the home-dying with natural dyes. I am sure that you can achieve a similar effect on felt in other ways, to use as background, I just have not tried yet, lol.Bizarre lichens growth, it’s as if someone had come and painted a lime square shape, then elements have weathered it. I can see how this combination of light grey background and lime foreground shapes is bound to be eye-catching in an artwork or felt wearable.It seems a spider web with a rust blotch from the centre: I wonder at its meaning..This is pretty sharp-cut, but also organic at the same time: I like the combination, because I usually struggle with sharp-cut lines in a more organic context, and this rock has much to teach me about natural shapes. It also seems a Cubist abstract face to me..
Rocks with a sculptural element:
This bumpiness seems pretty interesting to make in sculptural felt, especially trying to balance the different colours.I like the cragginess of this rock: all those fissures seem very intriguing to make in felt, a bit like a modern ceramic piece, I think about an organic sculpture.This light tan rock seems also quite an interesting bumpy and craggy shape, with an added vertical red line from faded paint and a smattering of black lichen. I see a bigger shape on the right hugging (protecting?) a smaller shape on the left..This smaller pinkish rock that I placed on a bigger greenish grey one was lovely and my main problem was which side of it to photograph, as all of them were very interesting. It has deep fissures, bumps, lines and cracks, and a white inclusion that makes a curved line all around it. I am sure that one could make something visually catching with it in felt, some sculptural organic shape.
A collection of beach abstracts:
This beach pebble has an imaginative curved smudge in bright orange and an orange hole on a side: does it seem almost a fish to you? (the hole being the open mouth)Three orange and yellow marks on a white oval: this must mean something deep.Black and ivory abstract, with mysterious shapes.This one reminds me of natural-dyed textiles.This pebble is like a new planet with weird gas clouds in its atmosphere: maybe a series of artworks on alien fantasy planets? surely all space fans would be happy.I liked how those very bold rust marks increase in size (or decrease, depending on how you look at it).Concentric circles, anyone? I really like how the darker grey fades going towards the central orange circle, giving it an interesting almost 3D effect.Modern abstract art has given us many artists exploring alphabet-like and ideogram-like marks on canvas, here we have nature answering with its mysterious marks on pebble.A fashionable brooch? A pendant? A miniature abstract landscape in just a few colours, with its frame and everything? who is going to make something of this inspirational pebble on felt first?This grey pebble with chalk inclusions seems a good inspiration for an organic sculpture, with those white circular grooves and some yellow accents.Two sides, two faces? A river? I do not know, but I wish a bit more depth and value changes in it, if I were to make it in felt, I think.Only three colours but a lot of visual impact.And this is about holes and depressions and raised areas: plenty to think about sculpturally.
I really hope that some of my rocks and pebbles have talked to you and will drive a rock-inspired abstract artwork movement! Lol.
