Channeling Mondrian

I love bold, graphic, high contrast patterns and Mondrian is one of my many favorite artists! Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) was a Dutch painter, who was a leader in the modern abstract art movement. It amazes me that over 100 years ago this man created these simple yet powerful patterns using primary colors in fields of white with black lines. Today, these patterns can frequently be seen in design or decor and attributed to this brilliant man.

Using his patterns as a starting point, I have played and played. One of the results was a class I developed where we create a Mondrian cane, reduce a portion of it and create a veneer that is placed in a wooden component developed by Banyan Bay Studios. I will be teaching this class for Bead and Button in June (register here). Tuesday, June 5th from 6pm to 9pm to be exact!!

Whenever I take a class, I always go home and ask myself. Okay, I can duplicate the project but now what?  So, as a part of my classes I always like to show some examples of what else you can do with what you have learned. Students will certainly leave my class with a large piece of a Mondrian cane (or two), so what’s next?? Well, I judge my success as an instructor by how well I plant some seeds of an idea as a starting point for each student.

 

My class examples show some simple applications of this cane in pendants, earrings, and bangles. I have varied the scale of the cane and turned it on an angle. But there are so many variables to play with, change the colors, the line weight, or the line angles. And this is just the beginning . . . .

So, if you are in Milwaukee the beginning of June, come and join the fun!