Transition areas in my Canvas Collage

All of the pieces I mention here can be seen in my Crescendo Gallery.

A canvas collage begins with placing cut fabric shapes onto the needlepoint canvas in a pleasing layout. The shapes can be cut at random, or cut along the outlines of the fabric detail, or cut into specific geometric shapes.

The next phase of the piece is to stitch the remaining exposed canvas allowing the piece to flow. Transitions that "flow" allow the viewer to enjoy the piece. Flow is the effect created when the needlepoint stitches move in, around, between, and onto the fabric pieces, joining them in new ways and creating a new textile. Flow leads the eye to move around the piece with ease.

Transition gives "voice" to the piece. Create a transition that's serene or mellow if that's what you want to say. It's also possible to create a transition that will speak of humor, sadness, surprise or drama.

I like to use contrast to create transition. Contrast can be the introduction of a strong color suggested by the print and emphasized by using a variety of fibers and decorative stitches. Contrast can be achieved by including fabric prints that are oversized or small, prints that have depth or appear flat, textural contrast created by choosing fabric or threads that are matte or shiny.

There's a delicate balance between chaos and art when using so much diversity. To develop successful Transitions can be a lot of trial and error. When I'm having difficulty with the transitions within a piece, I will keep it very visible in my house and look at it from time to time until I get a sense of what it needs. It also helps to have a few pieces in work so a difficult piece can rest for a while until answers present themselves. With practice, the process and the solutions become intuitive and gratifying.

It's very important to stay aware of your color theme, blending, enhancing and also accenting with the use of strong contrast.

To help with examples and clarification, I'm referring to some of my own Canvas Collages, so you can examine the Transitions more closely:


Jungle Sounds - detail

The fabric shapes were cut at random and I placed them on the canvas till I had a possible design. Using the fabric both on the right and reverse sides and contrasting brilliant color with muted color created a smooth transition of color flow. Stitching also created transition. All stitches in this piece are tent stitch, stitched in wool and cotton. The transitions are created by blending this limited pallet of threads to match the adjacent fabrics. The fuchsia stitching and the yellow sun's rays add color contrast and sparkle, which by contrast, defines the areas of Transition.

Stepping Stones - detail Fabric and photo transfer were cut at random in this section of Stepping Stones. I wanted to create a sense of movement, water in transition from wave to wave. Long, straight and zigzag stitches are used to create color transitions, emphasize the waves, and allow transitions to all areas of the piece. I've matched my threads to the muted colors within the fabric print. This could have been monotonous and "safe" if I hadn't used the purple contrast long stitches. Of course, this is a bit of fantasy and artistic license since water isn't purple. The print allowed this interesting transition through the use of contrast and surprise.

In My Elements - detail In this section of In My Elements, I have used texture and color to create Transition between areas of the design. The heavy mass of French Knots is a key element of Transition in this piece. French Knots are stitched in all of the colors that are printed in the Photo transfer of the forest, leading from the brightly colored leaves in the foreground to the dark depths of the background. This transition into depth perception is created by the contrast of strong color. By surface stitching the transferred leaves, I have created a transition of color and imagery between the large leaves and the imagined smaller leaves. All of this invites the viewer to imagine stepping inside the forest.

The Journey - detail The two fabrics used in this piece, one heavily textured and one smooth, are very closely related in monotone muted tones. The transition was easy as I used stitches and couching that imitated the heavy fabric and monotone color so I need to use contrast to add some drama to the Journey. Bold dark green long stitches "wake" the viewer from a dreamy visit, inviting one to stop for a while and take in the scene and creating a Transition in mood. If those stitches had been pastel they would only attach fabric to fabric. Stitches can be used like words in a book to convey your message.

Moonshine - detail This piece may have been my most fun in working with Transition. The flow of the cloud patterns invited me to join those pieces with couched outlines. At first I found ways to match certain prints with a particular couching color. Later, I abandoned my own rules and just let the clouds flow with the color that I had at hand and it was so effective! Sparkle became mysterious, then muted, then bright. I loved doing the border. I wanted the color of the clouds to flow out to the edges of the piece, to create a border but not a boundary. As I played with the colors the stitches began to look like stars in the sky. This Transition added another area of interest that flowed from the piece and made sense as it related to the clouds and the night sky.

It would be so wonderful to see examples of your work with Transitions.
The Guest Gallery is waiting for pictures of your pieces! Let's all learn together.
Best wishes,