Fun at Tate Modern

Last weekend I talked about my trip to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. As I finished up there, I had a few more hours before catching the train back to Tring, so I headed to the Tate Modern.

A LITTLE BIT OF EDITORIAL (please don’t be frustrated if you don’t agree)……In 2007, I loved this museum which was filed with abstract art and interesting visual displays. While there was some of that this year, I found that many of the exhibits were political in nature and many were just plain weird or gross. Sadly, I think that it reflects where our culture has headed in the last 17 years…..

But…enough of that…..

Of course, I spent most of my time looking for shapes and ideas that inspired me to make quilts and there were plenty of those…..

Can’t you see using this as inspiration for a 60-degree diamond quilt…..

I can imagine placing LOTS of diamonds in each of those triangles and using the shade of the fabrics to create the dimension!

There were several paintings that used a cubist design…..

She paints abstracts architectural elements into a mass of lines and planes…..How cool!!

I could see something like this next one being done with fabrics, again emphasizing the values of the fabrics…..

His technique for this painting was to trace long lines until he used up the paint on his brush!!

I completely fell in love with these two pieces by the same artist…..

My mind would never THINK that way, but I really like these “rooms”.

And, finally in the “shapes” category, I loved this red and white….

I saw several quilts at QuiltCon that use these inset circles. I found it interesting to look at the ones where the circles weren’t completed and some of the points are sticking out.

I was excited to see a group of canvases asking the question of “How do artists use Colour?”.

Good question!!

Her quote was…..

“Everything is feeling. Everything is real. Colour brings me joy.

Sonia Delaunay

This piece explored how the colors can soothe…..

Her quote about colour was….

“Colour inevitably leads you to the outside world”

Bridget Riley

There was a video that I saw and loved in 2007 and was excited that it was still available. It shows close up videos of ants carrying color confetti pieces…..

It is a cool video and I have searched for an online source but haven’t found one. You will just have to visit the Tate Modern for yourself!!

Then there was this piece that worked with the ABSENCE of color…..

Wouldn’t it be fun to make a minimalist quilt and recreate those “shadows in fabric rather than in paper and wood….

There was one piece of installation art that I truly enjoyed. Although it looks like a Dalak (for you Dr. Who) fans……

….it was actually made up of radios playing at once. Here is the artist’s statement…..

As you might imagine, there were lots more galleries to visit but my time was short and I needed to head back to the train station.

As I walked across the “Millennium” bridge….

….I enjoyed the London Skyline…..

…and seeing St. Pauls Church looming closer…..

Come back tomorrow and we will spend another few hours checking out the architecture and history around the British Houses of Parliament.

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Michael and I love to travel and see new parts of the world and then I love to take those memories and turn them into quilts!!! I hope that you enjoy traveling along with us!!

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