Photo Inspiration

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Through the Cell Phone Lense

I've written often about being inspired by the world around us and photographing things that "speak to me" to capture them for future inspiration in my work. But you may wonder what that really means. 

If I'm working in fabrics, thread, and batting, how does a picture of, say, a crab on an east coast beach inspire a quilt? Short of attempting to replicate the picture in fabric, what could possibly inspire a new quilt?

Set aside the "beach, sun, and surf " theme that influences many artists. This picture of a common sight at the beach can take us in many directions. 

Let's take a look.

First, the overall composition in this highly cropped photo might be a new layout idea. Lines that loosely follow the crab silhouette could be an interesting starting point for new color blocking or even inspire a block unit: 


A closer look at the colors in this photo, which include a range of browns, grays, creams, and purples, might prompt exploring a new color palette:  

The spiked protective shell edges of this sea creature could call to mind an existing pattern or, better yet, spur the creation of an original design:

Exploring the shell closer reveals a really great dot pattern and an interesting play of light on the surface which would be a new challenge to mimic:

Enhanced color of the zoomed in image


 And playing with that pattern might lead to experimenting with other colors:


Then again, perhaps the contrast between the smooth crab shell and the texture of the sand around it could inspire choices of fabric, (contrasting small prints with large prints, and solid colors), or pattern designs that vary larger pieces with very small ones.

These are just a few ideas of how to draw some inspiration from candid every day photos.

There's lots of inspiration in the "big picture" and the cropped, zoomed-in shot; our cell phones give us easy access to it!


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