Eleanor Levie HomeAboutEditorial ServicesBooksGallerySpeaker TopicsWorkshopsPast BookingsFree StuffLInks Contact Me

Inspiring Quilting: Elly's blog to boost your creative IQ

Painting with Flowers

Be still my heart, when one art form or expression is interpreted in a different form, and the1cassat-duo results bring honor to both:

*A religious prayer  as expressed in classic east Indian dance

*The myth of Pygmalion, where a sculptor falls for his creation, as expressed in the musical, My Fair Lady

*American blues, gospel, and work songs translated into the opera, Porgy and Bess

 

So you can imagine my rapture when the husband and I went to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts for PAFA in Bloom. Floral designers were challenged to do an homage to a work of art, and the result was exhibited beside it.

2cassatt

Baby on Mother’s Arm, Mary Cassatt, 1891

4cassatt-fl

Linda Lord, Gloucester, NJ

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2Skaters-duo

The Skaters, Gari Melchers, ca. 1892
Kristie Lynn Borchick, Allentown, PA

 

5girl-plaid-duo

Girl in a Plaid Scarf, Susan Macdowell Eakins, ca. 1880-1885
Michael Haschak, Philadelphia, PA

 

1warning-duo

Warning, Jimmy Ernst, 1960
Dierdre Gross, Medford NJ

9JeffMarket

Jefferson Market, John Sloan, 1917
Carol English, Cranford, NJ

NorthShore-duo

North Shore, Charles Prendergast, 1939
Cathy Hozack, Philadelphia, PA

Prendergast-duo

Promenade, Maurice Prendergast, ca. 1915-1918
Darcie Garcia, Allentown, PA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

promenade,prendergast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

nude

Ariadne Asleep on the Island of Naxos, John Vanderlyn, 1809-1814

 

 

 

 

 

 

nude,fl

Peicha Chang and Rachel Berkowitz, Philadelphia, PA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I could go on and on!

There were more than 40 such pairings, with wide ranges of interpretation, from the literal–like the ship of orchids paired with a tall ships scene, to the metaphorical, like a Peaceable Kingdom interpreted with a variety of flowers, from the very raggy and wild to the tight and symmetrical.

Is this not exciting stuff?!!

Similarly exciting is the wonderful online class I’m taking with the extraordinary quilt/folk artist Pamela Allen of Canada. The first lesson asked us to translate a celebrated painting. No, not in flowers, but as a fabric “sketch.” Like many of my classmates, I chose a piece from that exuberant colorist, Henri Matisse. This one is called Anemones in a Chinese Vase, and it’s from the Cone Collection at the Baltimore Museum of Art:

Anemones,ChineseVase,Matisse

 Here is my fabric sketch, tweaked in just the right way by Pamela:

matissetwk--pamela

 

And here I’ve used the same fabrics to translate another lively scene–the wine and seder plate at our Passover celebration.

SederPlate,revised

 

Hope this blog post has sparked your creativity, encouraging you to find a fine art masterpiece that inspires you to “paint” with flowers or fabric.

 

4 Responses to “Painting with Flowers”

  1. So inspiring and so creative! Thanks!

  2. Marsha says:

    Hi- I am in the class too!
    I once saw a flower/painting exhibit like thistoo. It was alot of fun and very interesting and inspiring.
    Thanks for posting this.

  3. Beautiful, Eleanor! Thanks for sharing this story!

  4. This is so after my own heart, Eleanor. I just absolutely love it. This could return me to quilting full-time! It is fantastic. I remember years ago, I made a quilt, Wabi Sabi, out of used coffee filters and other recycled things. It was one of my all-time favorites. I guess I HAVE used recycled or repurposed things in my art over the years. This really inspires me to get back into it again. Keep up the great work and do please keep me on your mail list. You can inspire me ANY day! Annie

Leave a Reply to Anne Copeland