Fruit Stand in London

I’ve been off the grid, so to speak, this last week traveling in London, so no work got done in the studio. But that doesn’t mean no work was getting done! My mind was busy with new ideas every day.

I loved the colors and textures of a new place and took lots of pictures and made rough sketches of new ideas the whole week. At right is a photo of one of many fruit stands scattered around the city. I don’t know yet how this image will find its way into my work, but I have no doubt that it will–the colors of the fruits contrasting with the containers and the labels are just too wonderful.

Flower Stand in London

The weather was generally good while we were there–we just had one day of rain. But the skies were gray a lot of the time, so the contrast with the bright fruits and vegetables and these gorgeous flowers was really striking. This picture was taken outside a subway station. We were waiting for our son, who is studying in London for the fall, and I couldn’t resist the picture. I don’t really do much with pastels, but the colors and the textures of the different flowers were interesting.

Texture on Ancient Relief Sculpture

In the museums, I looked for textures that could be inspiration for quilting motifs, like this ancient sculpture at left. You might have to right click on the image to see the detail, but there are intriguing spirals and cross hatchings that might show up in on a quilt someday. It’s amazing to me that so many of the same motifs show up in the art of different times and different cultures.

Today is a catch-up day after being away for a week, but I’m anxious to get back to the studio tomorrow to try out some of my new ideas–stay tuned!