influences: Josef Albers

We're traveling around a bit and I'm in the middle of a lengthy embroidery project, so new fresh tiny quilts are in short supply.

Instead, I'll talk about influences. Color is a pretty big deal for me. I love the saturation of color in fabric. I've tried paints and, while fun, they just doesn't work for me. Colored paper is lots of fun, but I'm not fond of glue and mess. Fabric just feels so good in my hands. 

In college, we had to shell out for the Pantone swatch set. It was a cool toy, but a tease. I wanted yards of colors, not a little piece. I wanted to be surrounded and enveloped by color. (Hey, I should make quilts, right?)

We also studied the seminal tome by Josef Albers, The Interaction of Color. Since 2013 is the 50th anniversary of its publishing, Yale has republished the work as both a paperback book and an iPad app. OMG! The app is amazing! For a mere $10, you can actually do the exercises that used to be performed with colored papers now with just your fingertips and eyeballs (well, and an expensive electronic toy). It's a hoot!!

Get the app here: Interaction of Color