Tuesday, May 5, 2015

How "Ribbony" came to be

I recently completed a piece of artwork that I'm calling Ribbony. It has sort of a woven look, but I've threaded some ribbons through it.

I created 20 tiles with no border and a similar string, then arranged them and mounted them on a 16"x20" canvas, leaving about an inch all around. This is the type of string I used for all the tiles. The black perimeter line is the edge of the paper tile. I left the four corners blank, and filled the other sections so it would look as if parts were going over and under each other.

Here are two of the 20 tiles I used. I actually did a few more so I'd have some choice when it came to arranging them. Once I had them matched up to my satisfaction, it was necessary to add a bit more pen drawing in a few places so the flow was smoother.


I felt there was a need for more 'flow' and I love adding non-paint-and-paper things to my artwork. With this piece I added some actual ribbon, some with white dots on black, some with black dots on white. I used a pointy X-Acto knife to cut through the canvas, poked the ends of the ribbon pieces through the holes, and glued them in place on the back.

At the edges of the canvas I painted black where the 'ribbons' would have extended, and white in between. Here's a detail of one edge. You can see the two kinds of ribbon that I used, and also - at the top and right - some of the black paint at the perimeter.

Once it was all assembled, the places where the corners of the tiles met looked too uneven, so I put a small black brad at each intersection. This is the back of the canvas, showing ribbon ends and brad flanges.

And... ta-da! Here is the final work, 16"x20". It's still unframed but I'll look for something black with a bit of detail.

16 comments:

  1. Wow. This is amazing!

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  2. Margaret, I just love this piece. Thanks for sharing the process!

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  3. All I can say is "WOW"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  4. Wow! What an endeavor! Awesome! Maybe you could use one of the "extra" tiles on the back for signature, date and any comments.... Or maybe incorporate into the frame somehow... The real ribbon is a nice touch! Same for the brads. Now that is a Ta-Da!

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  5. I adore this Margaret.
    I found the very first graphic a bit confusing.
    You said the tiles had no border…but that tile has a border. What am I missing?

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    1. You're right, it is a little confusing. The perimeter black line is the edge of the tile. I'll try to clarify in the post. Thanks!

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  6. I am amazed with your creative thoughts and their implementation. Very inspiring!.

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  7. Very nice! I had to read it three times and really study the picture but now I get it. My question is this: What is the black dot where the 4 white corners come together. It almost looks like the result of the rounded corners of each tile letting the black background show thru. Is that correct or did you color it black?

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    1. Hi Terri, no, the background was all painted white. When done, the places where the tile corners met looked awkward so I added a small black brad at each one. The brads are poked through the canvas just as the ribbons are.

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  8. As others have remarked, this technique is just wonderful, Margaret. I remember in an earlier blog entry you used this ribbony string. I'm so glad you've expanded the description of it here. So organic!

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  9. Wow! This is AMAZING! I've been thinking of starting a large tangled project, but couldn't quite figure out what I wanted to do...This has definitely given me some inspiration! Thank you so much for sharing!

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  10. So creative. The black and white ribbon is an amazing idea. Lots of hard work invested in this one.

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  11. this is so cool. Amazing process and you ended up with something SO much fun to look at

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  12. I have to quote some of the others..."WOW!" and "AMAZING!"

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  13. Your work is always amazing & this piece is no exception. You are so creative & generous with your sharing. Thank you!

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