I have never made a personal flag that I can recall, and when Ken/@thekingslacker, announced this month's Bee Sewcial prompt, I'm afraid I responded with my typical, "Oh dear."
Our flag was to represent our 4 Ps (personality, principles, place, and priorities). Ken said not to overthink it or stress over it, so of course I did both. Here are the thoughts behind my piece:
- Personality - I am an introvert, so that was expressed with "I" blocks.
- Principles - The first one I thought of was honesty, and when I realized turning an "I" on its side would result in an "H," I stopped there. Or shall I say, I continued on and made a variety of sized blocks.
- Place - I was born in California, The Golden State; and have lived in Washington, The Evergreen State, since I was 9 months old. Thus the main colors were determined by state nicknames.
- Priorities - Right off I thought of my family, and that led me to create a family tree of sorts, built of those green and golden I and H blocks.
So you don't think I always get these things right the first time, I'll show you my first block.
Though a fun mix of improv blocks, my tree got totally hidden, didn't it? So out came my seam ripper and more scraps in a contrasting colorway. I pieced improv stripes, one of my trademarks to some, and filled back in around my yellow and green blocks. Still abstract, but the 'tree' is much more visible, to me at least. Can you see it?
What a conglomeration, in a way, but I 'read' alot in it, and am pleased with the finished block, which measures 16" x 19", very close to the equivalent of the suggested two 12 1/2" blocks. And I did confirm with Ken that our 'flags' did not have to fly horizontal, so I'm good there. Very interesting assignment, for sure.
Thanks for sharing your first try at the prompt. I can definitely see the tree more clearly in the second version, and I like all the thought you put into selection of colors, shapes, and layout. I have never thought of making a personal flag, it would make me need to pause and consider a lot, too!
ReplyDeleteThat is very cool!
ReplyDeleteGreat process story, however I'm not a big fan of labeling or self labeling anyone. People are too complex and that saying, 'Walk a mile in my shoes,' rings true with me, judging anyone should be done carefully and never on a whim.
ReplyDeleteBut I am a big fan of your improv/color projects and I'm always inspired when I visit your blog, thanks for sharing.
I love reading about your thought process. your bee sure does make everyone stop and think with their awesome prompts!
ReplyDeleteI really love where the prompt took you! And thank you for sharing how you got there. :-)
ReplyDeletevery thoughtful. I'm impressed with how you pushed yourself.
ReplyDeleteYour typical response of "oh dear" sums up how I'd feel about a lot of those BeeSocial challenges. It was nice to see how you went about solving the prompt. Well done.
ReplyDelete