Colorful Interviews : Melanie Testa

Today's post is an interview with my friend Melanie Testa. An artist and art quilter who has dyed a lot of her own fabrics and has a passion for white fabric, as it can be turned into anything!  Melanie has a wonderful book called Inspired to quilt,and has a NEW book coming out in May, Dreaming from the Journal page.

http://melanietesta.com

 

Name 5  you think are "ODD" together....  or weird combos?

Burgundy and Burnt orange

Mushroom and teal

earth brown and red

Plum and deep dark red

yellow and grey

 

Is there a color you find you always use? 

Yellow Ochre. I love yellow ochre, it is so rich and steady, it doesn't pull any punches (fuchsia pulls some punches), mixes well with other colors and clearly states it own personality. 

 

three colors you use most together?

Indigo, Yellow Ochre, Grass Green 

 

 

Can you relate your favorite color to something in your childhood?

Plum is my all time favorite color. The first (autumn) coat I bought with my own money, from my first job was plum color wide whale corduroy (which is also my favorite all-time fabric). This coat was hip length, had patch pockets, a cinch at the waist line, a funnel collar and was lined in cotton flannel. The plum color was rich, saturated and comforting.

I know this is not part of the question but wide whale corduroy is my favorite cloth because my mother made me a rag doll from rust colored wide whale corduroy. The doll's name was Attach Baby. I scratched the corduroy against the grain as a soothing comfort. 

 

 

What color makes you feel happy? 

light pastels make me happy, they are fresh and clean with lots of white mixed in. 

 

 

Can you tell me why?

I am going to answer this question in a manner it was not intended. 

I love color, thinking about color, abstracting why a color combination works well together, discerning how a color is mixed, I love thinking about color names and what they say about the color they describe. Color is an interesting topic and can be a lifetime of exploration. I like to dabble in color, use it according to whim, mood, need. Color is a 'draw', inviting the viewer to take a look. Color is often the first thing a viewer is attracted to, composition will help a viewer to connect but color starts the conversation. It doesn't matter what you are making, a quilt, a painting, clothing. As a result, color is a very important topic for an artist to create relationship with.

 

I love painting, with any sort of media I can get my hands on. After learning to use watercolor and gouache at The Fashion Institute of Technology, I took a few classes in learning to use Procion MX dye on cloth. When I found out I could thicken dye and use it just like paint, it was like I had gone to heaven! It meant I could paint on cloth without that heavy plastic feel that can be found when you use acrylic paints on cloth, in school we talked about the 'hand' of cloth and painting with dye certainly gives good 'hand'. So I started to paint images in two layers, using both cotton broadcloth and silk organza. The organza is sheer and becomes the topmost layer of my quilts, the sheer nature of the fabric lends itself to being collaged under and that is when the beauty of the technique really begins to shine. That is where I can cut butterflies from commercial fabrics and place them between the layers. The painted and printed organza lends the commercial inserts a painterly feel and the whole piece starts to seem magical and rich. 

I think that whatever media I use, layering is the most important thing, I want to create depth and visual intrigue. I want my viewers eye to dance across the quilt, the painting, the page and to settle with a sigh of relief on the central portion of the image. I know that color really draws the viewer in, so learning color mixing, staying present to what color really highlights and plays well with its neighbor is important. Playing with tones, value, hue, and not being afraid to make mistakes is key, beside which, making mistakes helps you learn and creates opportunity for more exploration.

 

Thanks Melanie. Your art works are inspiring as are your palettes of color!