The Elements of Design: Color, Line, Shape, Texture & Form
I saw Tahoe through an artists eyes.
Remember: What you see depends on your POINT OF VIEW
Click Images to Enlarge:
The following images are in the order that I viewed them. Something in them struck a chord with me and I began snapping the camera. After a few hours I realized what was grabbing my attention........Design. The visual arts are inspired by The Elements of Design: Color, Line, Shape, Texture & Form.
This was my first view of Tahoe.......Inspiring!
Click Images to Enlarge
This little guy is definitely walking into one of my future textiles
The bare stems on this shrub have so much texture.
I could see them enlarged and transferred onto cloth as a background.
These abandoned boats drew me in with their color and orderliness all lined up in a row like soldiers.
Not a lot of color here, but color doesn't always need to be your biggest design element. The silhouette of the trees against the setting sun creates the mood.
Most of the time you NEVER want to shoot into the sun. It is preferable to have the sun at your back. Once in awhile, when it just feels right.....I shoot directly into the sun and sometimes something wonderful comes from it. This is an inspiration for a landscape quilt.
The texture of the water, the texture of the rocks.
This is a door in a hotel. The lines in the circular design would lend themselves to a free-motion quilting motif on a quilt.
This is a floor in a hotel lobby. It reminds me of a bundle of rust dyed fabrics I won last year at a quilting retreat. I now have the inspiration I need to get busy and cut up those rusted fabrics and put them into a quilted textile.
It wasn't long before my husband, who had NO IDEA why I was taking photos of floors, got in on the fun and was finding different floors for me to photograph!
This floor really appeals to the circle lover in me...
We stayed on the 11th floor.......so this was a daily image for me......elevator buttons!
I have always been intrigued by the bark on the Ponderosa Pine Trees. Such line and texture.
If you study the bark close up, it will help you visualize the lines and patterns to use in your free-motion quilting work.
I love the softness of the blue sky and water, and also the texture of the tree needles, and the contrast of all the colors.
The cedar tree also has wonderful texture and line to its bark.
This cedar tree, still growing and surviving after a fire. This is the burned out section of the trunk...I love the texture of the bark on the right side of the tree.
This is a rock wall on the outside of a hotel.
Another great background or layer of transfer on a textile.
I am attracted to the texture of the rocks, and also the play of light and dark around the rocks.
The carpet in a hotel lobby.
Curves are so eye catching.
Another carpet in a hotel hallway.
I like the contrast of the curves and swirls with the checkerboard.
A flat, metal sculpture hanging in a hotel hallway by the elevators. I love the way the light dances across the metal.
Sometimes you need to look down at your feet......design elements are all around you!
A marker on the sidewalk displaying the location of the telephone lines.
This surrounded the trunk of a tree, set into a sidewalk. It protected the tree, and was beautiful to look at...lines, curves, dots, points.
The last image I have to share, along with my foot, is the carpet in another hotel lobby. Curvy lines add so much movement, I am drawn to them.
Keep looking......the elements of design are all around you!
If you are inspired by any of these images, help yourself and download them. They are at full resolution and will print very nicely for you.
Just My Point of View,
LuAnn
I found an old book of doors........so many great doors. I want to make another quilt like this with rustic barn doors.
Today I did some applique work on the Sunflower Quilt. I am trying to finish this 100 x 100 inch quilt this month. I have a few more days of stitching, adding a few more sunflowers, chickens and grass, basting and quilting to do. I hope to have it completed for an exhibit in September. 
