It's all about the weather here as Beatles lyrics run through my mind in a crazy counterpoint."Here comes the sun...and I say, it's alright" is swiftly followed by "Rain, I don't mind. Shine, the weather is fine." * The weather in our Central Valley is equally capricious. Moments of sparkling azure skies cloud over quickly with a gray mist promising rain. It all comes out in the art.
*Partial lyrics from the songs "Here Comes the Sun," and "Rain" by the Beatles.
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| Thinking in Stripes (before quilting) ©2011, Hannah K. Hunter |
About this time of year, I begin to get a bit squirrelly, especially with the tule fog of January (and February and March).
This dense fog, named for the tule grass wetlands of the California Central Valley, makes me feel cozy at the beginning of the season, all tucked into whatever world I happen to be occupying. But like snow in colder climes, the pleasure soon begins to gray.
I long for big splashes of color, wide skies of brilliant blue and the glowing yellow sunflowers of summer. Looking out the window this morning, I knew it would be awhile.
Of course, there is a cure for this: the studio. I go in and I want to inhale great gulps of color: carmine, fuchsia, tangerine, chartreuse, coral, jade and emerald green.
I've been working on a full size quilt for an upcoming exhibit. As I tried to work out the pattern for it, I began a smaller piece that could capture my color hunger and satiate it at the same time. I wanted the quilt to be irregular, with large "bites" of color, color that could explode inside me when I look at it; the same sensation that a child might have when she pops a Starbursts into her mouth and savors the eruption of harmonic sweetness that follows.
How are you coping with winter in your domain?