Blog - Lea McComas

Play Date with Color & Composition

My success in creating award-winning fiber art, is due, in large part, to my continual search for

new knowledge and understanding of how art works; specifically understanding how colors and elements of a composition interact, or play together. Many years ago, I began taking breaks from my “serious work” to just play with the scraps and leftovers. These play dates with color & composition provided a low-stress, no-cost opportunity to experiment, while engaging in the hands-on type of activity where I learn best.

Scrap Collages

Early on, I simply created small collages using leftover, fusible-back scraps from my applique portraits. I just played with the scraps, not giving a great deal of thought to color or composition–working intuitively.

My success was mixed; some compositions were pleasing, and others were–well, a mess.

Because I really wanted to understand how I achieved success so that I could spend less time making crap, I became more disciplined in the process. I began to think of these exercises as science experiments with dependent and independent variables.

I asked questions like,

If I keep the colors the same, but alter the values of the various elements, how does that effect the overall composition?
How does the placement of various elements effect the balance of the composition?
What combinations draw the viewer in? Send the viewer away?

Monochrome Tessellations

First, I started simple, working monochromatic and playing with symmetry and tessellation.

For the unfamiliar, here is a quick tessellation activity: Using a scrap of rectangular fabric, cut a chunk, or shape out of 1 side and rotate it as I did above. Another option is to cut shapes from 2 adjacent sides and slide those shapes across to the opposite side as I did below.

These early attempts were quite simple. However, below are more complex monochromatic samples that I put together later. Still, each new iteration conjures more ideas.

(For more information on how light and dark values play together, visit my previous post on positive and negative space.)

Mirror image tree composition created with 3-values.

Mirror image tree with 2-values.

I could have traveled down this rabbit hole indefinitely, but I didn’t. In future play dates, I engaged with more complex color & composition schemes. Next, I’ll share my explorations with complementary colors and radial design.

Play Date with Color & Composition Workshops

In time, these play sessions became the basis for a new workshop where I take participants through 6 color schemes and 6 composition schemes in a few short hours. Now, there are multiple opportunities to take this workshop. It is fast paced and fun, and everyone goes home with original works of art.

Let’s get together and work through this process in person. Please join me in one of my upcoming workshops. Below are the places, dates, and links to register.

Stitch Fest – Loveland, CO, April 13

Intro to Thread Painting, 9:00 AM-4:30 PM

Play Date with Color & Composition, 6:000-9:00 PM

https://www.quiltingdaily.com/stitchfest/loveland/workshops/

Stitch Fest – Milwaukee, WI, May 25

Intro to Thread Painting, 9:00 AM-4:30 PM

Play Date with Color & Composition, 6:000-9:00 PM

https://www.quiltingdaily.com/stitchfest/milwaukee/workshops

Kansas City Regional Quilt Fest, June 14-17.

I’m teaching a variety of workshops every day. Follow this link to see what is available.

https://kcrqf.com/…/classroom…/classes-lea-mccomas/

How to Create a Color Scheme That Works

A balanced color scheme is a key component of a successful art quilt, or any other artistic endeavor. I have a method to create a solid scheme, identify a missing color, or fix a scheme that doesn’t work. I discussed this topic in my most recent Color & Composition class and share a summary of that information here. If you are intrigued, information about future Color & Composition class sessions can be found at the bottom of this article.

Create a Color Scheme with Reflective Symmmetry

The color wheel is an essential tool in this process. Most come with features that prompt various color schemes using triangle, rectangle, or square shapes.

close up of 2 color wheels showing color scheme guides

Color scheme guides on color wheels

A common feature of each of these shapes is that they have reflective symmetry; also referred to as bi-lateral symmetry. This means that you could draw a line through the shape so that one side is the exact reflection of the other. You could fold that image on the line and have both halves match exactly.

Triangle, rectangle, and square shapes with line of symmetry.

Shapes with Reflective Symmetry

Create a More Colorful Scheme

It is possible to stretch beyond the standard color schemes, and still maintain harmony and balance. The key is to use colors that create a shape with reflective symmetry. For example, when using 5 colors, think of a simple house shape. Make your dominant color the peak of the roof. The next 2 colors will be the corners where the roof turns into walls, and the final 2 colors will be the base of your walls.

3 possible ways to create a color scheme with 5 colors

Variations of a 5-color scheme

The colors may not be evenly spaced, but, if the guiding shape has reflective symmetry, you will create a scheme that has harmony and balance.

Complete, or Fix, a Faulty Color Scheme

Maybe you have a set of colors that are must-haves in your quilt project, but you want to be sure that the overall scheme is solid. In my example below, I’m starting with an ugly fabric that has sentimental meaning. To begin, I place markers on the color wheel to indicate the colors in this fabric. In this case my colors are violet, red-orange, yellow-orange, and these do not create a shape with reflective symmetry.

color wheel shows unbalanced scheme of yellow-orange, red-orange and violet

ugly fabric color scheme is asymmetrical

Ugly fabric

Add a fourth color to create a color scheme that has balance and harmony. Here are 2 possible options. First, adding blue to the scheme will balance it.

create a balanced color scheme by adding blue to create a trapezoid.

Add blue to create a trapezoid.

fabric swatches show color scheme that adds blue to the ugly fabric

Fabric Swatches show blue in the mix.

Replace blue with green to create another balanced color scheme.

create a balance color scheme by adding green to the mix

Option 2: add green to the scheme

fabric swatches show green with ugly fabric

Add green to the mix.

Make the scheme more complex by adding both blue and green. This will also create a pentagon shape on the color wheel; and a shape with reflective symmetry.

balanced color scheme with blue, green, violet, red-orange, and yellow-orange.

Balanced Scheme with 5 colors.

create 5-color scheme by adding blue and green to the ugly fabric

5-color scheme that is balanced

Learn More in My Color & Composition Class

Interested in learning more? Every month I lead a Color and Composition class where we explore a color scheme, color concept, and a composition concept. We meet online the 4th Saturday of every month 1:00-3:00 PM MDT. To join us, sign up through the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum.

Subscribe to this blog for future summary updates on topics covered in the Color & Composition class.

Quilt Borders and Sashing Using the Golden Mean

The Golden Mean and Calipers

Finding the perfect width for your quilt’s borders and sashing is easy if you use the Golden Mean. If you aren’t familiar with this term, it refers to a sweet spot in the middle, between 2 extremes. It divides a space so that one side is a bit larger than the other in a way that is harmonious and pleasing to the eye. Also referred to as the golden ratio, it occurs often in nature. To find this division of space, I love to use my Golden Mean Calipers. As the calipers open and close, the center point, always indicates the Golden Mean, and two harmonious inner spaces.

large and small Golden Mean Calipers

These calipers are available in the Creativity Tools section of my web store.

Perfect Borders Using the Golden Mean

Adjust the Golden Mean Calipers to measure the width of a quilt block

Measure the width of your block.

This tool is also useful when adding borders to a traditional block quilt. One method is to start with the blocks themselves. Place the outer points of the calipers at the edges of the blocks. This will give you two new measurements that will be in harmony with the blocks.

Use the larger measurement for the total width of the border.

Use the larger of the 2 inner golden mean measurements for the finished width of the full border.

Create a single border matching the wider measurement of the calipers.

Divide this area further by placing the outer points of the calipers on the edges of the border area. This will indicate pleasing widths for an inner and outer border.

Divide the border area using the calipers.

The golden mean indicates the optimum width of borders and sashing.

Create harmonious smaller borders.

All measurements indicate finished sizes, so don’t forget to add seam allowances.

Perfect Sashing Using the Golden Mean

Use the golden mean to determine the width of sashing, as well as borders. The smaller inner border width, determined above, is also the perfect width for sashing. Sashing is used between and around all of the blocks, and it serves to set the blocks apart for the purpose of highlighting each as an individual unit.

Borders surround the grid of blocks and visually hold them together. Sashing adds to the visual weight of the grid layout, and creates the need for a larger border to maintain balance. Combine the width of the sashing and the single border to create a harmonious, larger, outer border, as shown below.

Use golden mean calipers to measure sashing and first border.

Measure sashing & border

Golden Mean Calipers indicate width of an additional border

Calipers indicate width of additional border

Borders and Sashing for a Predetermined Quilt Size

Sometimes, a specific finished size is necessary and the process described above will exceed those limits. In this case, if you know how wide the full border needs to be, but you want to break it down into multiple borders, the golden mean is a good way to do that. Open the calipers to the full border width, and use the two inner measurements for multiple border widths.

No calipers – No Problem

You can also determine harmonious measurements without the calipers by using the magic number: 1.6. Take any measurement. Determine a larger size by multiplying by 1.6

Example: 5 x 1.6 = 8

Conversely, divide by 1.6 to find a smaller measurement.

Example: 5 ÷ 1.6 = 3.125 (Round down to 3 inches)

Learn More in My Color & Composition Class

Subscribe to this blog for future summary updates on topics covered in the Color & Composition class.

Malala Does the Women’s Work of Educating Girls

Malala Yousafzai appears on the Women’s Work quilt for her efforts in educating girls. Find her at the center front of the quilt, walking hand in had with a young Ruby Bridges. Together, they represent the long struggle to provide education to those denied based on race, gender, or ethnicity.

Educating Girls: a Family Priority

Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997, in Mingora, a town in the Swat Valley of northwest Pakistan. Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, and mother, Tor Pekai Yousafzai were Sunni Muslims. They named their first child, Malala, after a famous female, Afghan warrior. Malala’s parents vowed to provide their daughter with the same opportunities traditionally allowed only to sons.

Yousafzai school for girls

Malala’s father and grandfather were educators, and her parents valued education for all children. They owned and ran several private schools, some for boys, and others for girls. Malala’s father recognized early on that his daughter had an exceptional mind. He sought to grow her curiosity, and would allow her to stay up after her younger brothers went to bed. They talked about politics and other important issues of the day.

Taliban Outlaws Educating Girls

The Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist group, took control of the Swat Valley in 2007. They

School destroyed by the Taliban

sought to impose Sharia law, a very strict interpretation of the religious principles put forth in the Quran, and they imposed harsh and extreme punishments. This included bans on many forms of entertainment, including radio and television. The Taliban forbade men to trim their beards, and they executed, or amputated the hands of barbers who performed this service. The Taliban beheaded their opponents and put the bodies on public display. They also banned the education of women and girls.

In January 2008, the Taliban shut down schools for girls and destroyed many of the buildings.

Malala gave her first public speech asserting the importance of educating girls in September of 2008 when she was only 10 years old. Speaking before a regional gathering of newspaper and television journalists, she declared, “How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?” She was young, but her work as an activist had begun.

Fierce Educational Activists

Malala’s father was an activist with a strong belief in finding peaceful solutions. He encouraged her to become involved in organizations that promoted educational instruction, encouraged public debate, and journalistic freedom related to social issues. She remained a vocal critic of the ban on education for girls. At age 11, she connected with the BBC and began a blog that described life for ordinary people under the harsh rule of the Taliban. To protect her, this work was published under the pseudonym “Gul Makai,” the name of a heroine of a Pashtun folktale. She and her family could have been killed if her true identity was known.

Malala’s blog ended suddenly in March 2009 when her family was forced to flee the region. Her father spoke out against the Taliban, and in response, they broadcasted death threats to her father over the radio. The family returned to their home later that year, after the Pakistani military was able to push the Taliban from the cities and regain some control of the region.

Attempted Murder

Malala continued to advocate for educating girls through her associations with a number of child advocacy, and female empowerment organizations, and gained international recognition for her work. Archbishop Desmond Tutu nominated her for the International Children’s Peace Prize. Finally, in 2012, Taliban leaders, offended by her words and actions, decided that she needed to be silenced. On October 9, 2012, a masked gunman boarded her school bus, shot Malala in the head, and then disappeared into a crowd.

International Outrage and Support

The event shocked the world and prompted international outrage. Protesters took to the streets in many

Malala with her Nobel Peace prize

Pakistani cities. Celebrities, government leaders,, human rights and women’s groups, from around the world issued scathing rebukes of the attackers. Fifty Muslim clerics in Pakistan issued a fatwa against the men who had organized the attempted assassination.

In response to this, the Taliban released a statement naming Malala a “symbol of the infidels and obscenity” and vowing that, if she survived, they would target her again.

Although seriously injured, Malala did not die. Doctors treated her locally, before transferring her to Germany, and then to the United Kingdom where she received treatment in Birmingham England. She underwent multiple surgeries and intensive physical therapy over the next two years. Eventually, her family also relocated to England for their safety.

Malala Becomes the Educated Woman

Malala could have recovered and faded into relative obscurity, but instead, she chose to continue her campaign for the education of girls. She co-founded the Malala Fund, an organization dedicated to ensuring that girls around the world have an opportunity to learn and become leaders. For her work, she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. At age 17, she became the youngest recipient of this award. Malala completed high school in England and went on to study at Oxford. She completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics in June 2020. It is not safe for her to return to her home country of Pakistan. There are still many Taliban supporters and sympathizers that would seek to harm her. Now, she has become a citizen of the world.

Malala Fund for Educating Girls

For Malala, educating girls continues to be a priority. The Malala Fund supports education advocates and activists who are challenging the policies and practices that prevent girls from going to school in their communities. Some examples of their work:

-They are using technology to give Syrian refugee girls access to classrooms they are not allowed to physically attend. They are also working to reduce child marriage.

-In Nigeria they are helping girls living under the threat of Boko Haram complete their education.

-In Brazil, they are ensuring schools reach the most marginalized girls. And they are training young women to speak out for their rights.

-In Pakistan, they continue to fight for education funding that will guarantee 12 years of school for girls.

My Personal Take Away…

Portrait of Malala wearing a red scarf. Negative space is created with a white background. A Islamic floral border of blue and red flowers with green leaves. The center text is a quote by Malala Yousafzai, "With guns you can kill terrorists, with education you can kill terrorism.

Malala, by Lea McComas, 30″ x 50″, 2019.

I’ve been a teacher for almost 40 years, and I know firsthand the power of education. I love how the actions of the men who sought to silence Malala, actually, amplified her voice so that she could be heard around the world. I celebrate Malala for standing up to her oppressors, and for the journey she has taken since that fateful day on the bus. In 2019 I was invited to make a quilt for the Better World quilt exhibit celebrating heroes working for the greater good. I chose Malala as the subject of my quilt and included one of my favorite Malala quotes, “With guns you kill terrorists, with education you kill terrorism.”

You can be a part of this important global movement for women’s equality. Please visit Malala.org to see how you can be involved.

See the Women’s Work Quilt

The Women’s Work Quilt will debut as a featured work in the exhibit Women’s Voices, Women’s Votes, Women’s Rights, at the Clinton Presidential Library, in September 2021. Look for more details on the Events page of this website.

How Subjective Timbre Relates to Color Theory

In my most recent Color & Composition class, our study of color theory took us to the topic of Subjective Timbre. This is a topic not often covered in discussions of color theory. Read on for a summary of that part of the discussion. If you are intrigued, information about future Color & Composition class sessions can be found at the bottom of this article.

Subjective refers to anything based on the individual (i.e. feelings, opinions, reactions)

Timbre refers to the character of a sound or, in this case, color.

Therefore, subjective timbre refers to our personal responses to, and interpretations of various colors.

Before you read further, take a moment and look around you for a favorite colorful object, or article of clothing. If possible, have it handy for future reference.

Itten Color Theory and Seasonal Palettes

Johannes Itten, in his color theory, color system, divided colors into 4 palettes based on the seasons. He did color studies and presented them to people and found that, universally, everyone could correctly name the season being represented. Try it yourself. Below are four of seasonal paintings by Itten. Can you guess the season that each represent? You can find the answer key at the bottom of this blog. Also, make note of the color study that you find most appealing.

4 Ways Subjective Timbre Affects Your Relationship with Color

Itten observed that people had varying reactions to the color palettes. This prompted a series of experiments with his students. In the end, he came to several conclusions related to Subjective Timbre.

1. Everyone has an affinity for one of these palettes over the others.

Which seasonal palette do you prefer? Now, take a look at your favorite object. Does it reflect this same color palette?

One of my favorite objects is this carpet that I purchased while living and teaching in Turkey.

My preference for an autumn color palette is reflected in my favorite rug.

Lea’s favorite rug from Turkey

2. Based on personal coloring (skin tone, hair color, eye color) a person will look better when standing next to one of these color palettes. Here are photos of me standing in front of 2 pieces of art that I created. One of these pieces reflects my personal color palette. Can you guess which seasonal palette I prefer?

Artists look better standing in front of works done in their preferred seasonal palette.

Lea in front of Crossing Over. Autumn palette.

Artists don't look good standing in front of a palette that doesn't match their personal coloring.

Lea in front of Puppy Love. Spring palette.

Itten’s work on subjective timbre became the basis for personal color analysis applied to makeup and wardrobe selection (ie: Color Me Beautiful), and interior design.Think about your favorite outfits, or articles of clothing. What seasonal palette is reflected in your favorite wardrobe choices?.

3. A person’s preferred color palette, the one they are naturally drawn to, is the same palette that is consistent with their skin tone, hair, and eyes or their personal coloring.

Are you noticing a pattern here? Are the colors of your favorite clothes consistent with your preferred color palette?

4. Finally, as artists, we do our best work when we are using our preferred palette.

Apply Subjective Timbre to Your Color Choices

Understanding subjective timbre and your personal color preferences can be helpful in your own creative journey. Think about your best artistic works. Are they done in your preferred palette? Also, consider pieces that you have created, and hated. Is it possible that the color palette is a factor?

I found that this is true for me. My preferred palette is autumn. Visit my Portrait and Genre galleries to see how this plays out in my work. You may notice that I occasionally stray from my preferred scheme. Depending on your preferences, you may find this pleasing, or not.

When seeking advice from others related to color, be aware that they are likely to respond based on their own subjective timbre. Likewise, when creating a piece of art for someone else, be considerate of their subjective timbre.

The point of this article isn’t to say that you always need to work in your preferred color palette, but rather, understanding subjective timbre can help you be more successful when working outside of your natural comfort zone.

Blame it on Subjective Timbre

Have you ever . . .

…attempted a guild challenge to use a specific fabric or color scheme with unfavorable results?

…attempted a new work of art based on the identified “color of the year” and struggled to make a composition work?

…seen work by an acclaimed artist and thought, “I know it should be working for me, but it just isn’t.”

…received an article of clothing as a gift from a dear friend, or relative that you deem hideous.? They saw it, loved it, believe it is beautiful, but you won’t be caught dead wearing it.

Understanding your personal relationship with color helps to make sense of all of these situations.

Learn More in My Color & Composition Class

Subscribe to this blog for future summary updates on topics covered in the Color & Composition class.

ANSWERS to Seasonal Paintings

Winter, 2. Summer, 3. Autumn, 4. Spring.

My color palette: Autumn

Positive and Negative Space in Art Quilting

Effectively using positive and negative space is key to creating compelling art quilt compositions.

Positive space is the area of the composition that is happening, or of interest

Negative space is the area around the positive space, and the area that is NOT happening, often referred to as “The Resting Space”

You can’t have one without the other, and both serve attention.

Manage Positive & Negative Space in Art

Negative space doesn’t have to be boring to be effective. It is possible to focus the eye and draw attention to the positive space, but not waste the negative space.

In my portrait quilts, I often create the figure, then audition it on several backgrounds to see what works best. White space worked well for my tribute to Malala, but something with more color and visual texture was needed to offset the solid mass of the figure in Busy Signal.

Malala, by Lea McComas, 30″ x 50″, 2019.

Mottled and textural print fills the negative space to contrast with the bold figure irepresented with solid spaces.

Busy Signal, 25 in x 36
2017.

Auditions for Negative Space

Selecting appropriate fabric for negative space in your art is a skill that can be practiced in isolation. As with any skill: repetition builds proficiency. I suggest you do the following exercise in a deliberate and thoughtful manner. This experience will increase your knowledge base and make the process easier in the future.

Select a small motif. Begin with something simple, but repeat this process with more complex motifs.
Select a group of fabrics to audition. Look for connections to the motif, i.e. color scheme, shape, line, texture.
Place the motif on each of the fabrics and take a photo reference.
Make notes about the effect and the appeal of each combination.
Also, not the kinds of contrast that are at work: color, value, pattern, line.

a simple seashell motif is auditioned on a variety of fabrics.

Auditions with simple motif.

options to fill negative space with complex motif

Auditions with complex motif.

Notan: Light-Dark Harmony

Notan is a Japanese terms that means light-dark harmony. This is a way of looking at positive and negative space in terms of value.

The concept is that a composition works well when the light and dark spaces appear in balanced proportions and they work together to create interesting shapes. The light areas should group together and the same for dark areas. Notan commonly done in 2 values, can also work with 3 or 4 values.

Easy Notan Exploration

A simple exploration of this concept is to create mirror image compositions. The photos below show the process with a simple tree drawing, and black and white fabrics.

Begin with a simple drawing. Add lines to indicate where the design can be cut into 2 halves.
Transfer the drawing to paperbacked fusible and iron to black fabric
Cut the design in half and then cut the tree from the background.
Fuse the back pieces onto white fabric as shown.

simple tree drawing for notan exploration

Explore notan using a simple design.

Mirror image tree with 2-value notan.

Here is another version of this experiment using 3-value notan.

Mirror image tree composition created with 3-value notan.

Evaluate Positive & Negative Space Using Notan

The concept of notan can be used evaluate or develop a pictorial composition that is balanced and pleasing. Here is a 5-step process:

Open an image in a photo-editing program
The Long Goodbye
Grayscale the image
Composition in grayscale.
Posterize at 2 levels.
Composition posterized in 2 values.
Change mottled areas to white, or black.
Composition in 2-value notang.
Evaluate the interaction of black and white shapes. If the interplay between black and white; positive and negative space is interesting, this is an indication that the composition is appealing.

Managing positive and negative space is no guarantee that you will create a masterpiece. Consider this just one of the ingredients in the recipe for success.

Learn More in My Color & Composition Class

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Suffragette Movement: Lucy Burns on Women’s Work

Lucy Burns (1879-1966)

Lucy Burns on the quilt Women's Work, stands in the foreground holding a sign in front of her that reads "Votes for Women". She wears a white dress with a blue stripe sailor collar.

Lucy Burns, voting rights activist.

Lucy Burns, a key figure in the Suffragette Movement, appears on the Women’s Work Quilt at the very front, holding a large protest sign that reads, “VOTES FOR WOMEN”. She was a dynamic force in the National Women’s Party. Her courage and sacrifice helped lead to the passage of the 19th amendment.

An Apt Scholar

Lucy was born in Brooklyn, New York into an Irish Catholic family in 1879. She had a quick mind, an engaging spirit, and a gift for language. After attending Packer Collegiate Institute where she received instruction in social graces and religion, Lucy went on to study at Columbia University, Vassar College, and Yale University. She earned a teaching degree and taught English at Erasmus High School in Brooklyn for two years, but had a strong desire to continue her own studies. She was lucky to have a father who encouraged, and financed her education. Lucy headed abroad to study at the University of Berlin in Germany, and Oxford University in England. She used her linguistic skills to charm audiences with her spoken, and written words.

Trading Education for Experience in the Suffragette Movement

In England, Lucy learned about the suffragette movement. She abandoned her studies and took up the cause. Lucy practiced her skills and became an eloquent “Street Speaker” who was arrested four times for being a public nuisance. While in jail, she met and became good friends with another American, Alice Paul.

Together, they brought the militant tactics they had learned in England to the suffragette movement in the US. However, as members of the National Women’s Suffrage Association, they were impatient with progress and split to form a new group that eventually became the National Women’s Party (NWP).

The Suffragette Movement: Silent Sentinels at the White House

suffragette movement deploys women to line up in front of White House to pressure Pres. Wilson to support 19th amendment inspired the presentation of Lucy on the Women's Work quilt holding a picket sign.

Silent Sentinels picket the White House

Suffragette Movement Women hold large banner on display when dignitaries visit.

Large banners for special visits.

Lucy organized protests and edited The Suffragist, a weekly NWP journal. A key player in organizing the “Silent Sentinels”, Lucy oversaw more than 1000 women who picketed in front of the White House during the Wilson administration. When important dignitaries visited the President, Lucy made sure that extra large banners with messages such as, “America is not a free democracy as long as women were denied the right to vote.” we’re prominently on display.

Woodrow Wilson found the protests irritating. In a letter to his daughter he wrote that these women “seem bent on making their cause as obnoxious as possible.” He also encouraged the police to crack down on the demonstrators. Police brutality increased, and they began arresting the women for charges such as “obstructing passage on the sidewalk.”

Lucy Burns was taken to this three story stone building, along with other suffragettes, in paddy wagons.

Suffragettes taken to prison for protesting at White House.

Officers took the women to the Occoquan Workhouse, outside of Washington, DC. Conditions were dire. There were maggots in the food, the water was dirty, and the bedding was filthy. Arrested six times, Lucy never backed down. She led a hunger strike within the jail. For this, the warden put her in solitary confinement. She persisted, and he initiated forced feedings. This was a brutal practice that involved strapping the victim to a chair and shoving a tube down her throat. As time passed, the sentences increased in length, and the brutality worsened.

Suffragette Movement and The Night of Terror

The most brutal events occurred on November 14, 1917. Thirty-three women, who had been

Lucy Burns sits before a jail cell door possibly holding newspaper containing published account of the Night of Terror.

Lucy Burns in Occoquan prison

peacefully protesting, were arrested and brought to Occoquan. They demanded to be treated as political prisoners. Exasperated, the Prison Superintendent instructed his guards to teach the women a lesson. They drug the women down a hall and threw them into dark, dirty cells. Through the night, the women were beaten and tortured. Guards threw them against iron beds and benches until some lost consciousness. They cuffed Lucy’s hands to the top of her cell door so that she was forced to stand through the night. One woman, witnessing the violence, had a heart attack, but was denied medical treatment until the following morning. By that time, she had died.

Lucy kept a diary of her experiences in the jail, and others shared their stories. Published accounts of what became known as “The Night of Terror”

Suffragette movement gains public support as Lucy Burns and others were finally released from Occoquan. One women helps another, wrapped in a blanket, as they walk away from Occoquan prison

Prisoners released from Occoquan.

prompted public outrage. The Prison Superintendent, under pressure released the women. Eventually, the women received pardons on all charges With public sentiment now on their side, this night became a turning point in the campaign for the 19th amendment.

After passage of the 19th amendment, Lucy withdrew from prominence in the suffrage movement, and she performed charity work for the Catholic Church until her death in 1966.

My Personal Take Away…

The courage and determination these women determined to gainthe right to vote astounds me. Even more, the brutality of the opposition startles me. In the present day, I know that my right to vote is now secure, but I’m also aware that the voting rights of other US citizens is at risk. Just as others fought for me, I feel compelled to fight for equal treatment of all citizens. However, we live in strange times where truth and fairness are under assault. I’m left wondering: What am I willing to endure? and, When the time comes, will I make the necessary sacrifices in the name of justice?

What about the Workhouse?

The Occoquan Workhouse has been converted into the Workhouse Arts Center. It now offers over 800 arts education classes and workshops in a broad spectrum of art disciplines. Each year the Workhouse Arts Center provides more than 100 exhibitions, 300 performances, and it hosts multiple large-scale community events for the region. The Arts Center also houses The Lucy Burns Museum.

The Workhouse Arts Center is located at: 9518 Workhouse Way, Lorton, VA 22079. If you can’t visit the museum in person, visit the website. Hear the words of the suffragettes read aloud by museum staff from the original diaries and writings:

See the Women’s Work Quilt

Lucy Burns appears on Women’s Work holding a picket sign as she might have done in front of the White House. The Women’s Work Quilt will debut as a featured work in the exhibit Women’s Voices, Women’s Votes, Women’s Rights, at the Clinton Presidential Library, in September 2021. Look for more details on the Events page of this website.

Learn More About Lucy Burns and Women’s Work…

Lucy Burns Museum. https://www.workhousearts.org/lucyburnsmuseum/

Nappier, Terri (August 17, 2020). Of Prison Cells and Suffrage. The Source: Washington Magazine. University of Washington in St. Louis. https://source.wustl.edu/2020/08/of-prison-cells-and-suffrage/

Pruitt, Sarah, (4/17/19). The Night of Terror: When Suffragists Were Imprisoned and Tortured in 1917. https://www.history.com/news/night-terror-brutality-suffragists-19th-amendment

Dolores Huerta on Women’s Work

Find Dolores Huerta (1930- ) Women’s Work standing on the upper level holding a sign that says “HUELGA” (Strike). She is chosen for her efforts to improve the horrible conditions of farm workers in America, and her work to organize grass roots activism in communities that struggle. Today, in her 90’s, she continues to fight and organize.

Activism in her DNA

Dolores Huerta was born in a small mining town in New Mexico in 1930. At 3 years old, her parents divorced and she moved to Stockton, California with her mother and two brothers. Her father, Juan Hernandez, worked as a miner, a farm worker, and was a union activist. Dolores had little contact with her father after she moved to California, but she too, would become a force for worker’s rights. Dolores credits Alicia, her mother, for teaching her to fight for others. Involved in community and church organizations, Alicia was known to be kind, and fair to all in her business and community interactions.

Early Activism

As a teenager, Dolores was active in many school clubs and groups, and she was a girl scout through high school. After graduation, she earned a provisional teaching license from the local community college and began teaching elementary school in Stockton. In the classroom, her heart broke for the poor children of farm workers who came to school barefoot and with empty stomachs. At the time, field hands worked from sun up to sundown without a break, access to cool water, or toilets. For this, most earned a wage of only 70 cents hour.

Inspired to address the economic injustices of the agricultural industry, Dolores became an activist organizer. She joined the local Community Service Organization (CSO) and started the Agricultural Workers Association. She helped to organize voter registration drives, and campaigned for local legislation to improve the lives of local farm workers. It was in the CSO in 1955 that Dolores met César Chávez, and discovered a shared interest in improving conditions of farm workers. Together, they quit the CSO, and founded the United Farm Workers’ Union (UFW) in 1962. By the end of 1963, Dolores’ had successfully lobbied the State of California to obtain disability insurance and aid for families of farm work. This was a first law of its kind in the US.

Power Through Action

From the beginning, Dolores knew that the farm workers did not have the money to fight for

Boycott Poster

laws to protect them. She realized that they had power through action, so she organized boycotts, voter registration, and grass roots campaign events. Inspired by Gandhi’s Salt Boycott in the 1930, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott in the 1950’s, the UFW organized the Delano Grape Strike. It lasted from 1965-1970. During this time, Latino and Filipino farm workers joined forces. They refused to harvest grapes in protest of unbearable working conditions. Strikers walked 300 miles to protest at the state capital. Other unions, churches, and civil rights groups gave them their support. Eventually, more than 17 million people boycotted grapes and wine from California.

Non-Violent in the Face of Violence

The UFW organized the strike with a strong emphasis on non-violence, knowing that support would disappear if the workers were seen as aggressors. Grape growers had money and political power on their side. They had local police and goons hired by the Teamsters Union attack workers on the picket lines. The police attacked Dolores and they broke three of her ribs and ruptured her spleen. She spent months recovering.

The strike was long and difficult for workers. Frustrated, many advocated for violence to achieve their goals, but César and Dolores were determined that the movement remain non-violent. In the end, the table grape growers signed a contract that guaranteed better pay, benefits, and protections for farm workers. Dolores continued the work and helped pass the Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975. This law allowed farm workers to unionize and bargain for better wages and working conditions; another first in the US.

Si Se Pueda!

The UFW organized similar strikes in other farming areas. In 1972, the Arizona legislature passed a law to prevent farm workers from organizing and

poster shows women farm workers wearing hats and bandanas over nose and mouth to protect from sun and chemicals. Image of Dolores Huerta holding sign to strike superimposed in background. Border reads, "Women's Work is Never Done"

Broccoli Harvest Strike Poster

striking, as they had done in California. Dolores and César went to Arizona to help fight this statute. Over and over, their challenge to locals to unite and fight was answered with “no se puede,” –No, it can’t be done. Finally, Dolores responded, “Si, si se puede!” (“Yes, yes, it can be done”), and this became the rallying cry for workers in Arizona. Later, Barack Obama used this phrase in his campaign for president. At first, he gave credit for the slogan to César Chávez, but later he apologized, and corrected this mistake in the ceremony where he presented Dolores with the Presidential Medal of Honor.

Feminist Inspiration

Dolores was constant, and outspoken in her fight for worker’s rights. She stood toe-to-toe with men, refusing to back down. Even though it was not her goal, she became an inspiration to women across the nation who were also fighting discrimination. During the grape boycott, Dolores met Gloria Steinem, and she found another kindred spirit. Moving forward, Dolores broadened her focus to address equal rights for women, along with worker’s rights.

The Work Never Ends

Dolores actively campaigned for people she believed would help her causes. A supporter of Robert Kennedy, when he was shot and killed in Los Angeles, she was only steps away. She fought against the use of pesticides that were poisoning farm workers. Most recently, she fought the Trump administration roll back of pesticide restrictions.

At age 90, Delores continues the work she started in her 20’s. Today her work is carried out through the Dolores Huerta Foundation, and non-profit with a mission to inspire and organize communities to build volunteer organizations empowered to pursue social justice.

Dolores seeks to plant seeds of activism in poor and working class communities by personally meeting with families in their homes to talk about the importance of voting and civic involvement. She believes that this approach, while labor intensive, will change the path of families for generations to come.

(add photo of migrant protester in DC)

A 2017 film titled Dolores: Rebel, Activist, Feminist, Mother, tells the story of her life and work.

My Take Away…

Discuss coming out from the shadows of men

See the Women’s Work Quilt

See Ida B Wells on Women’s Work in person. This quilt will debut as a featured work in the exhibit Women’s Voices, Women’s Votes, Women’s Rights, at the Clinton Presidential Library, in September 2021. Look for more details on the Events page of this website. Follow this blog for more stories of amazing women. Follow this link to see more of Lea’s Portrait Quilts.

Alice Paul on Women’s Work

You can find Alice Paul (1885-1977) on Women’s Work, standing tall as one of the three central figures on the quilt. They are the Visionaries, at the top of the stairs. She holds out a glass to toast passage of the 19th Amendment. Immediately following, she began to write the Equal Rights Amendment.

Alice Paul, Susan B. Anthony, and Hillary Clinton stand together at center of quilt.

Three central figures on Women’s Work represent The Visionaries.

Suffragette from an Early Age

Alice was born on January 11, 1885 in Mount Laurel, New Jersey into an affluent Quaker family. As Quakers, her parents believed in working to improve society on many fronts. Alice was enlisted to the fight for women’s rights from an early age. Her mother was a suffragist, and frequently brought Alice with her to meetings and events.

Formal and Informal Education

With a strong family commitment to the education of women, Alice had excellent schooling opportunities. She attended Swathmore College where she earned a degree in Biology in 1905. She then earned a Master’s degree in Sociology from New York School of Philanthropy College (now Columbia University) in 1907. Next, Alice took 3 years to travel in England and study their system of social work before returning to the US to earn a Ph.D from the University of Pennsylvania in 1910.

While in England, Alice met Lucy Burns, another American. The two friends joined the women’s suffrage movement in England, a movement that was much more radical and aggressive than in the US. Eventually, Alice and Lucy brought the militant tactics they learned in England back home to the states. Alice learned about protests and hunger strikes, and how to use the media to generate publicity and support.

Bringing the Fight to Washington

In 1912, Alice joined the National Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA), a group dedicated to establishing the right to vote for women in the US. This group, however, focused on earning the right to vote in individual states. Alice strongly disagreed with this approach, broke away, and started the National Women’s Party (NWP). Her group focused efforts directly on Congress and demanded a constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote.

Women marching in Washington, DC, to demand right to vote.

Women’s March in Washington, DC on March 3, 1913.

In 1913, Alice helped organize a march on Washington, held March 3, the day before President Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration. Nearly 8000 women marched down Pennsylvania Ave. with banners and floats demanding the right to vote. After inaugruation, President Wilson refused to meet with Alice and members of the NWP. Instead, he insisted that it was not yet time for a constitutional amendment. The fight continued.

The Silent Sentinels

In January 1917, Alice helped organize the Silent Sentinels,” a group of over 1000 women who picketed in front of the White House for 18 months. Each day, women would stand at the gates with sign that read “Mr. President, how long must women wait for liberty?” and “Kaiser Wilson”. The women endured harsh weather conditions, as well as, verbal and physical attacks from onlookers. Rather than protect their right to free speech, police, beat and arrested the protesters on trumped up charges of obstructing traffic.

In the face of police brutality, Alice remained fierce. When she was sentenced to 7 months in jail, Alice organized a hunger strike. Doctors were brought in to force feed her. This involved strapping her to a chair, holding her head back, shoving a tube down her throat. Doctors also threatened to declare her insane and send her to an asylum.

Young woman stands holding banner that reads, "We Demand that the American Government Give Alice Paul, a political offender, the privileges Russia gave Miyukoff

Suffragette demands fair treatment for Alice Paul

Newspaper accounts of the treatment the women were enduring in prison prompted public sympathy and support for the cause. Finally, in 1918, President Wilson publicly announced his support for the suffrage movement.

The 19th Amendment

Passing the 19th amendment remained a slow process. Once taken up by the Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives must approve the amendment, and then at least 36 states must ratify it. This took almost 2 years. but the 19th amendment was finally adopted as part of the US Constitution on August 26, 1920. Alice Paul on Women’s Work holds up a glass to toast the passage of the amendment. It was actually a glass of grape juice, as Alice was against drinking alcohol.

Alice and NWP members sew stars on ratification banner.

Alice Paul stands on balcony with star banner hanging down. Many women standing on ground below looking up.

The Star banner unfurled to mark 19th Amendment ratification

What about the Equal Rights Amendment…

Following the passage of the 19th Amendment, Alice immediately turned her attention to the Equal Rights Amendment. After all, with its latest amendment, the Constitution guaranteed women the right to vote; nothing more. The ERA guaranteed equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. It would end distinctions between men and women in cases of divorce, property ownership, working conditions, pay, and a host of other issues. Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman introduced the ERA to Congress in December 1923. The bill languished for many years until it gained massive support in the 1960’s. The ERA was passed by Congress and the Senate in 1972. By 1977 only 35, of the required 38 states had ratified the amendment. Alice Paul died in 1977, knowing the amendment, while close at hand, was not yet a reality.

My Personal Take Away

Alice Paul stands on Women’s Work as she stood her entire life, committed to equality for women, in fact, all American citizens. I’m struck by her unwavering dedication to the cause, and what she was able to accomplish as a result. I’m in a period in my own life where I feel constantly distracted from the task at hand by frivolous videos, news reports, ads for things I don’t really need. In my studio, I’m hanging a photo of Alice Paul holding up a glass as a reminder to focus on what is important, and to turn off the rest of the noise.

See the Women’s Work Quilt

Women’s Work will debut as a featured work in the exhibit Women’s Voices, Women’s Votes, Women’s Rights, at the Clinton Presidential Library, in September 2021. Look for more details on the Events page of this website.

Learn More About Alice Paul

Michals, Debra. “Alice Paul.” National Women’s History Museum. 2015. www.womenshistorymuseum.org/education-resources/biographies/alice-paul.

“The Nineteenth Amendment: A Crash Course.” National Park Service website. 2020. https://www.nps.gov/articles/2020-crash-course.htm

History.com editors (2/8/2021). “Alice Paul.” A&E Television Networks. https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/alice-paul

Kathryn Elizabeth Colohan, Jill S. and Krista Joy Niles (2018). “ERA History” Alice Paul Institute. https://www.equalrightsamendment.org/history

Create Depth with Atmospheric Perspective

Art quilters can create the illusion of depth with atmospheric perspective when they apply four key color concepts in pictorial quilts. Creating depth with atmospheric perspective was one of the topics I discussed in my monthly Color & Composition class. Read on for a summary of that part of the discussion. If you are intrigued, information about future Color & Composition class sessions is at the bottom.

The Illusion of Depth in Art

There are two types of perspective that can be employed in your art quilts to create the illusion of depth in a pictorial work such as landscape or seascape. The first is linear perspective; the use of 1 or 2 vanishing point with lines in the composition converging on those points. This is the most commonly recognized and used method for creating that illusion of depth. Raphael’s painting, School of Athens, is a great example. Notice that the architectural lines lead to a single vanishing point in the center of the composition.

School of Athens by Raphael, 1509-1511.

A second method is to create the illusion of depth with atmospheric perspective. This method relies on manipulation of color to create the illusion of depth. Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata, by Jan van Eyck provides an example of this. Compare the elements in the foreground with those that appear to be far in the distance.

An illusion of depth using atmospheric perspective is evidenced in this painting of 2 priests in brown cloaks kneeling on the ground among rock outcroppings with city visible in the distance.

Jan van Eyck, Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata, 1430

Keys to Create Depth with Atmospheric Perspective

With the great masters as our inspiration, let’s shift our focus to art quilting and the selection of fabrics for landscape quilts. There are 4 key considerations.

Texture

Represent the textures of items that are close to the viewer such as plants, rocks, clothing, furniture. Less textural detail should be visible in elements that appear in the mid-ground, and eliminate textural detail in the background. Quilters also have the option of adding texture with stitching and surface embellishments.

Fabric selection based on texture and depth.

Value & Value Range

Moving from foreground to background, the value range should narrow. Render elements in the foreground with a broad value range from very light to very dark. Reduce the value range to make elements appear further away by eliminating the lightest and darkest values. Also, shift the value range to the lighter end of the value scale because darker values are lost to a greater degree than lighter values.

2 grayscales, fingers show use of values used in atmospheric perspective. Light to dark used in foreground. light to medium dark used in background.

Value range for atmospheric perspective

An illusion of depth using atmospheric perspective is evidenced in this art quilt of park bend on outcropping overlooking receding ridges of tree covered hills in a snowstorm.

Winterscape

Clarity

Elements become less defined as they move to the distance.This is related to texture. Texture would be how you represent the surface of a object, Clarity focuses on the shapes of objects The edges of your shapes will soften and become more blob-like as those objects move to the distance. Below is a simple seascape composition that I created as a class sample. In the detail view of the palm trees, notice how the outline of the palm fronds is simplified in the tree on the right. Id I were to add a third tree further in the distance, the palm fronds would have gentle curving edges in contrast to the jagged edges of the foreground and mid-ground trees.

Beach scene

An illusion of depth using atmospheric perspective is evidenced in the tops of two palm trees showing greater clarity in the foreground tree

beach scene detail of palm tree tops

Temperature

Warm colors advance and cool colors recede. When selecting fabrics for a composition, make note of the colors that will appear in the foreground, mid-ground, and background. For colors that repeat at various distances, selected warmer versions to appear closer, and cooler versions to appear in the distance. For example, the color red in the foreground could be a warmer red-orange, while red in the distance could be a cooler red-violet. Look below at Crossing Over. The water in the foreground is a mix of blue and blue-green, but is rendered in blue-violet in the background. The foliage on the distant back is green near the water’s edge and blue-green on the more distant hills.

diptych of 2 native American men on horseback crossing a river. On left panel the man turns to look at the viewer. On the the right panel, the man is riding away from the viewer.

Crossing Over, diptych by Lea McComas

Water detail in Crossing Over

Figure & background detail of Crossing Over

Create Depth in the Sky

When it comes to the sky, we often forget to create depth using atmospheric perspective. Treat the sky as an element of the composition. The top of the composition is the foreground, and sky near the horizon line is the background. Sky should be a warmer, more saturated color at the top of the composition and move to a cooler, less saturated color at the horizon. A common mistake is to use a solid blue fabric, or a printed sky with cloud fabric. The problem is that these fabrics present a static representation of the sky that make it appear flat. They fight the illusion of depth, rather than support it. I suggest a hand-dyed or ombre fabric to support depth using atmospheric perspective.

Sky with clouds

Flat sky color

blue square with vibrant color at the top and pale color at the bottom

blue sky ombre

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