Thinking about color...

My Parson's textile class had a field trip today to The Color Association of the United States in NYC (www.colorassociation.com). My instructor is on the Men's Committee and arranged for us to have an "inside look" at what they do. It was interesting to learn how they go about forecasting color and we were given last year's forecast including sets of fabric swatches of the colors (usually distributed to Members only). Who knew that a whole committee of people have already decided what color sweaters we will buy in 2012?

After that, we went to Mood, the amazing fabric store in the Fashion District. We spent some time talking about textiles and selecting fabrics for mood boards. I stayed after class and collected swatches for my class project. I have a lot of editing to do and will probably add and subtract several times before my final decisions are made. Here's what I've got so far... a nice variety of textures and fabric types - now to figure out what I would make out of what fabric!

My "inspiration" comes from some photos I took at Squam Lake while on my nature hike. I noticed the patterns of the cracks in the rocks and the spring green moss growing in them. Inspiration can come from anywhere! Something so seemingly small has sparked a series of ideas that I will apply to my projects for my Parson's classes and for some art quilts I've got on my mind.

Some of the photos I took are shown on this post. I've seen cracked mossy rocks before but have never looked at them in quite the way I am now.

Next week the same class will visit the textile archives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Style Council. I'm looking forward to both trips and to continuing to make decisions about my class projects.

Today was fun (well, my feet aren't too sure about that...) and I remain excited about the classes. I have zero idea of what I am going to do with what I am learning, I am just enjoying the process!