Knotted Cotton: February 2017

This year's Four-in-Art challenge theme is Light, which is really exciting and full of inspiration. The sub-theme for this quarter is 'Shimmer' and this was my choice.

I chose 'Shimmer' because it's such an evocative and beautiful word, and while it's not onomatopoeic there's something about the word that really does sound like what it represents - to me at least. I was curious about this so I went off and read up a bit on phonosemantics which is about the idea that there's a relationship between sounds and meaning - that particular sounds convey a particular idea by themselves; there's a connection between them. There are various ideas about what the connection is - you can read more here.

'Shimmer' means 'shine with a soft, slightly wavering light'. (Shine, soft, slightly - lots of sh and s sounds in that definition.) Some of the shimmery things I thought of are moonlight on water, or silk or sequins (more s sounds) on a moving body. It's a much softer effect and quieter than 'Glitter' - and does it fit halfway between that and a 'Glimmer'? I wonder.

Anyway, enough rambling. This is "Shimmer".

The inspiration behind this quilt was the facets of the cut glass doorknobs in my living room which fascinate me every time I go past them. What I wanted to capture is the effect of the light bouncing off the individual facets - how when you look at them they keep the integrity of their individual shapes, but that these shapes are still broken up by reflections from within the room and also by reflections bouncing between them.

For something to shimmer, for it to have that wavering quality, there needs to be some movement involved. Like the doorknobs, my quilt is static, and the reflected light doesn't softly waver as it does on water - unless it's hanging up in the breeze... The shimmering happens when the person looking at it moves, so although you can see some of the effect in a photograph you'll have to take my word for the rest.

Actually, it was fairly breezy, and I need to take some pictures on a less overcast and windy day - we ran out between showers. Here's my lovely assistant, stopping the quilt from blowing away between shots.