Dreaming in colour
Week 48's colours are Heather, Sea Green, Peach & Caramel
Knitting, crocheting or even sewing are skills I don’t really possess but I really admire people who do this with ease. For this week’s Coloricombo prompt I would like to highlight someone who has had an influence on my career as artist and designer from very early on.
I can remember very clearly seeing Kaffe Fassett’s work in a book when I was a textile design student in the late 80s, Back in the day, colourful hand knitted jumpers were all the rage and Fassett’s big and bold designs together with his unapologetic use of colour had an enormous influence on me.
This morning I’m heading into London to meet up with FreeSpirit Fabrics who are in town. Every year I create a fresh quilt fabric collection with them, have a look here at the latest one that will be in shops next month.
One of the designers I’m honoured to be represented alongside is Kaffe Fasset himself: as an eighteen year old student, I never dreamed that that one day we’d both be designing for the same quilt fabric manufacturer.
Let me tell you more about this multifaceted artist. When asked in an interview if he has any favourite colours he answered:
“No! Goodness no! That’s like saying ‘have you got a favourite bit of air to breath?’. It’s my air, it’s oxygen.”
Born in San Francisco in 1937, Fassett took an unconventional path to becoming one of the world’s most celebrated textile designers. He spent much of his youth in Big Sur, California, where his parents had moved the family to transform an old cabin purchased from Orson Welles into the landmark restaurant, Nepenthe.
Fassett was granted a scholarship to study painting at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, but left after just three months for London, where he eventually settled in 1964.
His transition from a fine artist to a textile designer is an amazing tale. In 1968 he was visiting Scotland with the designer Bill Gibb and bought twenty different colours of Shetland wool yarn. Eager to try something out, he asked fellow passenger on the train home if she knew how to knit. She did, and after a twenty minute lesson Fassett was set. His bold, painterly approach was soon recognisable in the hand knitting works and he started designing knitwear for both Bill Gibb and Missoni and was featured in magazines such as Vogue with celebrity clients like Lauren Bacall and Barbra Streisand.
What makes Fassett’s work distinctive is his fearless and intuitive use of vibrant colour combinations and intricate patterns. His approach to knitting is from the standpoint of a painter and he encourages knitters to let the intuitive, creative part of themselves guide their work, rather than overthinking it.
Further explorations led him to needlepoint, mosaics, rug-making, tapestries, fabric design, theatre design and quilting. In 1988, Kaffe became the first living textile artist to have a one-man show at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
Now in his late eighties, Fassett continues to create, teaching workshops worldwide and collaborating with companies like Rowan Yarns and FreeSpirit Fabrics. His books and patterns have inspired generations of textile artists to embrace bold colour and pattern in their own work.
I’m in awe of Fassett and am sharing one of his paintings with you. You’ll know by now that I love to use pebbles as inspiration, so this painting with softer pastel colours appealed to me. Have a look at more of his paintings on his website.
Read an interview with Fassett here and take a look at a review of his exhibition, A Life in Colour which coincided with the release of his autobiography Dreaming in Colour here.
‘‘Pebbles on Sand’, acrylic, Kaffe Fassett, date unknown
Colour Combination
The colours this week are Heather, Sea Green, Peach & Caramel. Use the colours along with a contrasting dark and neutral light colour to create an artwork in any medium or style. Share this post with someone who likes colour and might enjoy a weekly dollop of colour and creativity.
It is fun to see what you create with the prompts, thank you for sharing your creations. If you’re posting on Instagram, please tag #coloricombo and #estemacleod and join us in the private Facebook group Creative Prompts.
Cyber Monday
If you missed my Black Friday discounts over the weekend, here’s the last chance to grab a 20% discount of any listed online course or product in my store: limited edition giclée prints, silk scarves and originals.
Use code CYBERMONDAY20 at checkout for courses, the discount will be applied automatically in my store. This offer expires at midnight PST, Monday 2 December.