Sunday 1 August 2021

Opposites attract


 

I was confused by this topic. The only thing that came to my mind about opposites attracting was magnets. And that was not something I wanted to portray in a quilt. Started thinking just about opposites and the first thing that came to mind was black and white.

Thought about male/ female, love/hate, etc. but I was not sure they would be “attracting”.

Thought about “you can’t have one without the other”, like in an old song by Frank Sinatra (guess that dates me!) Yeah, I know that song has nothing to do with opposites.

So then thought more about opposites and that if one did not exist, neither would the other. Maybe that’s what attracting means?!

Opposites both attract (bees and flowers?) and repel (cats and dogs?) and both are necessary for this world to exist.

Kinda like yin and yang in Asian philosophy.

Getting way too philosophical here!

 I really did not want to do something complicated so went back to my first thoughts: black and white even though I don’t know if they attract.

This quilt is titles: Cold nights, Birds fly. I know birds do not fly at night, but here they do.

9 comments:

  1. I was going to write artistic licence in response to the birds but then I thought of owls and then night and day and then warm and cold maybe because the white reminds me of snow so this works for me to fit opposites attract. Really like your composition and the stark contrast in the black and white.

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    1. Thanks for your comments. Artistic license was a really good thing someone coined.

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  2. I love this - it is a beautiful composition and I look at it and imagine all kinds of things, like the last few birds coming to roost on a snowy evening.

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  3. Oh, I love your birds flying. Great idea.

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  4. I got really tied in knots with the question of opposites attracting. Apart from magnetic poles, I really couldn't think of anything and ended up questioning whether opposites really even exist or are just relative. Then I would put off my quilt for a bit longer... I love your black and white solution. It is a very elegant composition and you have created a very striking and beautiful image :)

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  5. Birds do fly at night during migration, so you were truer to nature than you thought! :) I love the line of snowflakes and the little stars in the sky, unifying the image. Very peaceful to look at.

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  6. I had the same initial ponderings with this challenge, trying to figure out how to quilt a magnetic something. It wasn't doing it for me. I agree with Janine, this is a very elegant composition. I do think of black and white as opposites, so it works for me!

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  7. The undulation and the shape of the birds add such movement. For a little quilt, it packs a big graphic punch! Lovely!

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