This art quilt is based on a painting by Franz Marc. The painting was done a few years back, and I had decorated the borders with fabric intending to insert it into a frame. It was left lying in storage and recently finding it again, I decided to give it a revamp and turn it into an art quilt, breathing new life into it.
This is the third time I have painted ‘Girl with Cat,’ there’s something in it that attracts me back to it time and again, I’m sure I will paint it yet again in some future time. Feeling the flow of the lines and the subtleties of the colours. I feel it is a ‘peaceful’ painting, the sitter relaxed, the artist flowing.
Franz Marc 1880-1916
Occasionally I enjoy trying to reproduce an artwork from an artist I admire. It’s good for seeing a different perspective as well as practise in learning new techniques. I am not necessarily trying faithfully to reproduce a piece of art, rather it is in the feel of the piece, the colours, the overall impression I’m trying to capture. I have an endless list of artists I like, but my absolute favourite is German-Expressionist Franz Marc. I can’t begin to put into words the emotions his work evokes in me. I consider him to be a visionary artist, working with an inner awareness of spiritual and mystical themes.
Expressionism is an artistic style in which the artist attempts to ‘express’ the subjective emotions and responses that objects and events arouse. Its qualities are in the portrayal of a personal, spontaneous self-expression. I love this period of art, and it is aptly named.
Franz Marc was at the forefront of German Expressionism. He was able to imbue his paintings with intense mysticism. Being very sensitive to his surroundings, this sensitivity can be seen and felt in his beautiful paintings.
His inner beliefs and interests led him to study philosophy and theology, this naturally leading him to painting the spiritual in art. An interest in pantheism, and a recognition of the sacred within all life, can be seen in many examples of his work.
He believed that the spiritual essence is best revealed through abstraction and his own work consisted primarily of animal studies, since he believed non-human forms of life to be the most expressive manifestation of the vital force of Nature.
Sadly he died in the First World War on the battlefield just days before he was due to return home. His soul lives on within the power of his paintings, the messages contained therein, and in the thoughts of those who admire and are influenced by his work.
“Art is nothing but the expression of our dreams; the more we surrender to it the closer we get to the inner truth of things, our dream-life, the true life that scorns questions and does not see them.” Franz Marc
The works of German Expressionist painter Franz Marc and the music of Schumann:
Reverie courtesy of brendafohio: http://youtu.be/rEroJSYjDwo