Homage to Braque

For years I have been a fan of the works of Georges Braque, particularly his works which were created during his Synthetic Cubist period, 1912-1914. What I admire are the interplay of shapes, the depth and playful way he breaks up recognizable shapes and his addition of bits of life's ephemera, like a piece of a concert ticket or a leftover scrap of a note. Below are some of my favorites.

Left to right- Gueridon 1913, Still Life with Violin 1913
Violin Melodie 1914, Violin and Glass 1913

I didn't want to just reproduce something Braque had created, however had I done so, I might be more satisfied with my end product. 

Because I do not draw or sketch, I started by making paper collages with various shapes, colors and textures. More images can be found on my blog. 

Final design 

After deciding on a design, I selected fabrics from my stash. I also wanted to use some paper cloth for some of the shapes. Paper cloth is basically paper adhered to muslin with diluted glue. In the paper cloth I created, I used dress patterns, tea bags, newspaper, and computer images I had printed. In addition to the fabric and paper cloth I also included words printed on silk photo fabric.

The next major step was cutting out the shapes and adding fusible web to the backs so they could be adhered to the base fabric. I wanted a neutral background and chose a funky gray fabric.

However, after living with this decision for several days, I decided it was a depressing color and changed the background to a lighter fabric.

Homage to Braque
16"x 20"