In this new series, we will be looking at art and design principles and considering how they apply to quiltmaking.  Many of us have come to quilting without an art or design background – myself included.  But it’s never too late to learn!  Besides, as Pablo Picasso once said, “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn to do it”.

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary includes the following definitions for art: 

• skill acquired by experience, study or observation
• an occupation requiring knowledge or skill
• the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects, also: works so produced

These definitions would certainly seem to include quilting as an art form, but the meaning of the word art gets confusing in the quilt world.  We generally agree that quilts are works of art, and yet we have a separate classification of “art quilt”.  What does this mean?  Are all quilts art or only some of them?  Lorre M. Weidlich, in his article “Quilts and Art: Value Systems in Conflict” (The Quilt Journal, Volume 4, Number 1, 1995), suggests that art quilts are intended to meet the standards of the art world.  It’s an interesting subject and a fascinating article, but that’s not what this series is about.

Whether we make “art quilts” or not, there is a lot we can learn from the study of art and design.  I consider myself a traditional quilter, albeit a contemporary and sometimes innovative one.  Nevertheless, I still work with line and shape and texture; I also must strive to achieve harmony, unity and balance in my designs.

My references for this series include six books with an interesting variety in focus and approach.  Future articles will footnote back to this list:

1.  art + quilt: Design Principles and Creativity Exercises, by Lyric Kinard (Interweave Press, 2009)

2.  Design Concepts and Applications, by Frank Cheatham, Jane Cheatham, and Sheryl Haler (Prentice-Hall, 1983)

3.  Design Explorations for the Creative Quilter, by Katie Pasquini Masopust (C&T Publishing, 2008)

4.  Design Through Discovery: An Introduction to Art and Design, by Marjorie E. Bevlin (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1989)

5.  The Quilter’s Book of Design, by Ann Johnston (Ann Johnston Publisher, 2008)

6.  The Visual Dance: Creating Spectacular Quilts, by Joen Wolfrom (C&T Publishing, 1995)