Becher Grid

It took me a few days to figure out what items I wanted to photograph to make this Becher Grid. I needed to find something that I owned 16 of or go out on location somewhere to find 16 items. I loved the idea of leaves being the huge nature lover that I am, but alas, it was already done. I considered my son's Angry Bird collection but he only owns 12 even though it feels like 100 as they propel through the air in endless hours of enthusiastic play.

It then hit me that I have an immense sewing supply stash that I utilize every Nov./Dec. as the gift making frenzy starts and my overwhelming urge to "Get Crafty" takes over. So I pulled out the spools of thread. My only regret was my limited color choice. Apparently I love blues, reds and greens. Missing were the pinks, yellows, and oranges. Forget about purple, I have a strong distaste for that shade and I reject any mention of it in my home. It literally makes me feel ill to look at it. lol

As I was working my way through the assignment, (L-O-V-E the video tutorials Prof. Ballard!!!) I began experimenting with the values when I strayed from the RGB tab and started altering the individual colors of Red, Green & Blue. By doing so, this allowed me to pull out the natural reflected colors from the shadows. I was thrilled with the results! One problem I could see with the Becher Grid was the inconsistency with the white level. I wanted all my squares to have the exact same brightness but that was difficult because of the reflected color coming from my spools of thread. By bringing out the natural hues in a very strong way, I was able to create a color rich environment, in some cases using complementary colors. I decided to make a black background and go for a warm and cozy quilt look with my Becher Grid. Overall, I am very happy with how it turned out and I hope you like it too!