I've just arrived home from colorful San Antonio (Texas) tonight, after spending the last few days at the Color Marketing Group annual North American conference. It was a working conference, and we all worked hard to come up with our Color Palette and trend forecast, which will be shared with other members of CMG.
San Antonio was charming and relaxed, and the Riverwalk area was very special. My time there was definitely too short, and I wish I could go back for the Intl Accordion Festival there Oct 7-9. I got to ride up the river on a water taxi, and dine overlooking the river. The next night I had dinner with a friend from Hong Kong, in the big Mexican marketplace El Mercado, at the famous Mi Tierra restaurant, Mariachi bands and all!
I spent the evening wandering around town with my camera, and came across a large glass sculpture in a gallery window. This image is a closeup of that gallery window, and the color was very powerful. It wasn't what I expected to photograph last night, but it turned out to be one of the most provocative images that I captured. I really liked the layer of smaller clear glass flowers on top of the larger and more dramatic colored blossoms.
CMG has conferences also in Europe, Asia and South America. It was very interesting to see all of the color palettes from all the international conferences, put together on one huge World Color Palette. What was so interesting was the predominance of Purples. In fact they named a deep rich purple the CMG Color of the Year – a fun color called Boyz-N-Berry! (tee shirt motto: Real Men Wear Purple!) There were more purples on the World Palette than any other color family, which I find very inter sting because purple is a color of balance and creativity.
If you mix Red (hot) and Blue (cool) together, you get purple…. a color that was reserved for royalty for many centuries. Now purple can be worn by anyone, in fact it is one of the most popular hues chosen by customers when they buy the hot trend of colored jeans. Red jeans are pretty fantastic too – if you can wear that sort of thing. Purple is a color that has often been a favorite of people doing creative work. It is a color that says "I am an independent thinker, and I am an artistic person".
There are so many ways to express yourself with Purple these days:
Soft Heather and Rosy Mauve, Electric Purple and the jeweltone Amethyst, darkened Eggplant and Violet hues, and the Berry Jam colors that are so popular this Fall. Delicious!
When you mix Purple with those gorgeous Southwest colors like Enchilada Red, Sunrise Orange, Jalapeno Green and Cactus Flower Pink – WOW!
sharing your passion for fabric…
Luana
"Emerald Isle" – Tour of Ireland
June 5 – 15, 2012
11 Magical Days with Luana
including the Intl Quilt Festival of Ireland
Would you like to share your enthusiasm for eQuilter ?
Send us your own Testimonial!
Try our new eQuilter Exclusive Pattern Designer!
I found your visit to San Antonio inspiring. We live in Texas, just outside of Houston, and haven’t visited San Antonio for many years. It is a very interesting place and I think we would like to make a trip soon. I especially loved the embroidery work and the glass that you photographed.
I have been torn between working with glass and working with fabric for a few years now. My husband says I am taking over all the rooms now that the kids have pretty much vacated the house. However, I love both mediums.
Putting together a piece made out of glass to fuse is much like putting together a quilt. You decide on the pattern and materials you want to use then you have to make that first cut, probably the hardest to make. With glass it needs to be exact or the piece won’t work. You have to set the temperatures on you kiln and such and wait for the finished product. It is a mystery until you open the lid of the kiln and see the results. Sometimes they are not what you expected.
When I have to make the first cut for a quilt I am often torn because the fabric I am cutting is so beautiful and the design is wonderful and I can’t help but feel that I am going to ruin what I am starting out to make because I am cutting into someone elses art. I somehow manage to continue. With the fabric it needs to be exact or the pieces won’t fit together properly. You have to get your seams right and the colors coordinated and then comes the quilting part. Both are a challenge.
You do these things with love for what you want to produce and love of doing what you do. Often there is love for someone else involved. You could be making a gift for someone you care about and all of your heart is thrown into the piece. Sometimes the person receiving the piece recognizes this and sometimes they don’t but you know you have put a part of yourself into it and it represents something you felt inside.
I think we are all compelled to create. To love what we are creating makes it that much better. Whether it is quilting, embroidery or working in any other medium we put part of ourselves into these things because we are expressing our innermost feelings through our art.
Your travels and blogs keep us going. They help us see things through new eyes and help us see other peoples work that we wouldn’t ordinarily see. Thank you for the inspiration!
About San Antonio and Mexican embroidery…
I live a half hour from the border of Mexico and South Texas. I have often traveled across in the past, but unfortunately with the border violence have not been able to. But… the shops are absolutely filled with embroidered clothing and linens, fine lace and crochet. I agree that the people who are stitching many hours create some beautiful work and definitely don’t get paid what it’s worth.
My husband and I eloped in San Antonio so the town is very near and dear to our hearts. The colors, the shops, the museums, the River Walk, the bloody heat, the air conditioned buses, it’s all wonderful. It is awesome to wander through El Mercado and see the beautifully handmade items. I agree that a bit of a person’s spirit remains in something made by hand.
A story: When my daughter was 4 she had a lot of trouble settling for a nap at day care. I let her pick out some yarn at the store (a pretty pink ombre) and I crocheted for her a ‘napghan’ to take to day care. I let her see that every stitch was touched by my hands and my love for her was being twined into every stitch. That way, when it came to nap time she could curl up under this little afghan knowing that I was giving her a hug and that I was there even though she couldn’t see me, she could see and feel the afghan. She is 25 now and quite independant and I still have that frayed little afghan in her memory box. Yes, I think hand stitching means a lot.