In the winter months, instead of designing vegetable gardens, I write or get into my project piles. This year I have many project piles that are calling to me! I’m not a hoarder, I just have a lot of treasures. I collect anything that I find appealing, especially things that have potential to beautify my surroundings or that could be used for thrifty up-cycling projects.

I found this empty shadow box for a couple of dollars at the thrift shop. My idea was to fill it with knicks and knacks and then hang it as wall decoration. The first step I took was to decide which theme the entire project would have. That got me thinking further about design elements and design principles. What exactly are all the design pieces that go into creating a great work of art? Curiously, I looked it up.

“The seven principles of art and design are balance, rhythm, pattern, emphasis, contrast, unity, and movement. The seven elements of art and design are line, shape, form, space, value, colour, and texture”. That’s a lot to consider! I accepted the challenge and attempted to incorporate all of the design principles and design elements into this shadow box piece using treasures from my collection.

Balance – enough in each box without overpowering other boxes

Rhythm – repetitive elements. I focussed on repeats of 3 and 5 for this project. I was hoping that the repetition would securely bring all of the elements together. There are 3 fabrics, 3 different burlaps, 3 boxes with silver metal, 3 butterfly boxes, 3 boxes that contain circles (1,3,5), 3 pieces from nature (poppy, pinecones, twigs), 3 floral references (2 are fabric, 1 poppies), 3 twigs, 5 pinecones

Pattern – several changes in pattern to add interest, random in this piece.

Emphasis – the large butterfly and my message with it is, “Not all things fit into a box”

Contrast – ample colour and texture contrast for statement

Unity – Every piece has something in common with some/all of the others.

Movement – the wings of butterflies, twigs angle, poppy reaching for sunlight

Line – the straight grid lines of the box itself

Shape – variety of shapes from straight to curved

Form – the way objects are arranged in the boxes

Space – the space around the two smaller fabric rectangles

Value – the differences in colour intensity beige to dark brown

Colour – a simple pallet of neutrals and metal

Texture – burlap, smooth, shiny, wood, embroidery

I am pretty happy with the result of my “design” journey this morning. What do you think? I’ve learned a lot from creating this little piece and can’t wait to move on to my next project at Junco Studio!

Art feeds the heart!

Cheers Lynda