loves
“Do materials or ideas inspire you?” asked Angela Truscott, the wonderful owner of the Australian Fibre Arts Take Two, during a recent interview.
I blurted out “materials” because when my hand-painted, inked, and botanically dyed papers and fabrics are jumbled together on a table, my heart skips a beat, and my hands start pulling together pieces I love. But the more I thought about that great question, I realized both ideas and materials inspire me.
The ideas behind my artwork are almost always about the things I love. So perhaps it is love that inspires my work.
I love big vistas. The long view. Big skies. My Dad lived in North Dakota and loved looking at that long view and the big sky. He delighted in knowing that a stand of trees was 60 miles away. I do too. I love the long view and big sky.
I love close-ups. Think of the bark of a birch tree or the Pacific Northwest beautiful native cedars. Get close. Zoom-in. They are like an abstract painting. Or think about a weathered sea wall – with its rusted and corroded drainage holes.
Even closer-up – remember biology class and the views under a microscope.
Further out, I love to look at the views from Hubble or the NASA’s images from space.
I love the night sky. I love it when my work has an otherworldly feel - something that helps us remember that the universe is huge and mystical.
I love the far-off or the close-up and not a lot in between. I never do people or chairs or homes or barns or doors or flowers. Occasionally, a leaf shape may sneak in perhaps because I love gardens.
I love the pattern that fields form and aerial views of them.
I love movement - grasses swaying in the wind, clouds moving across a sky, and the movement of the tides.
I love the abstract - nothing too literal – I want to be able to fill in the blanks.
I love color.
I love the Japanese concept of Wabi Sabi and like things to be imperfect – not many straight lines – torn and frayed edges.
I love texture and the feel of fabric. For years I worked with clay, and I love the texture that is possible with it.
I love to remember that there is always more to a life, a landscape, or even an idea than we can see on the surface.
These loves and others must be walking with me, consciously or unconsciously, as I make my materials.
++++++
I have posted new small pieces for sale in time for the holidays. I’ll be happy to gift wrap them and get them sent on to their new home. Tax and shipping in the continental US are included. If you live outside of the continental US, most pieces can be shipped for $25. This link will take you there. https://www.robertawagner.com/art