Favorite Things Monday - Matisse

I absolutely adore Henri Matisse. I especially adore his paper collages. Every piece seems so simple. Deceptively simple. Most champion his use of color, which is certainly stunning. But I love his lines -- the curvature of his paper cuts, sketches and brush strokes. In fact, if forced to pick just one Matisse piece, this would be my favorite because I'm entranced by the bold black strokes that form her body.

Reclining Nude with Blue Eyes

Matisse is pure inspiration. So it's with no small tangle of nerves that I present my homage to his Blue Hair - a quilted wall hanging.



Back (for those who like quilting lines):


Signature detail (meant to mimic Matisse's):


If you noticed a departure from the original, you are correct.

The biggest change was to the woman's body. I drew her curvier and larger (read: more realistic). In addition, Matisse's Blue Hair has always bothered me because I couldn't figure out where her arms are. So I interviewed my local experts. Wifey thought both were thrown behind her. Mom thought both arms were above her head and she was wearing a scarf (nude+scarf? ... Mom... I don't want to know). I thought the right arm was behind her and the left was above her head. So I took the liberty of altering the piece to match my vision of this woman's ecstatic leap.

This little quilt was supposed to be a 50th birthday gift for a very dear friend. Two years ago. I had planned to replicate Blue Hair exactly, but I never started it. However, with birthday #52 coming up this week, I decided to get to work. Once I started tracing the print, I realized that her arm placement and body shape bothered me. And I believe this was the obstacle to starting this project long ago. But I took the liberty of 'fixing' it for a modern feminist audience, and now I'm happy.

Also - I'm hooked. Wouldn't this make a nice Kaffe-Fassett-esk quilt?
Large Composition with Masks
Happy Monday.