I had an amazing time in NYC in February, I love the city and it's energy, I would love to live there one day. This was my third trip so I decided that I'd try and do less touristy things and 'work' during the day and have fun at night.
By work I mean do research for my quilts, this mainly meant visiting galleries (Whitney, MOMA and loads in Chelsea when it's the open evening), shops, museums(I love the American Folk Art Museum) etc. I always take a sketchbook with me on my holidays so I collected ephemera and other stuff I found to help record my memories and ideas.
Anyway, whilst having a great time I kept looking out for the amazing street art that is all around the city, the below examples were all from locations on the Lower East Side, I love the clash of colours and how over time the colours have built up and become more random.
The colours and shapes are one of the biggest influences on my machine and hand quilting. I like the spontaneity and randomness, and the mixture of line weight.
None of the art is perfect or pristine which really appeals to me, the fact it's outdoors and exposed to the elements improves the look of the artwork.
For my quilting I like to layer a mixture of weights and colours to try and replicate the mix of everything seen in street art.
When adding applique I like to recreate the bold graphic repeatable images from sticker art.
I also like the subject matter and the direct way the artists share their opinions.
The random nature of crumb blocks and the resulting fabric clashes is I suppose my version of this kind of overall aesthetic.
If anyone has a job going in NYC then let me know...