Quilt project

by Petar Meseldzija

A few months ago,
while I was at IlluXcon, LizAnn Lizotte approached me and ask if I would be
willing to participate in a quilt project. She asked all artists who were present
at the show to do a sketch, or a painting, on a little square of cotton cloth.
She would then put these painted patches together and make a quilt. When the
job is finished, Pat Wilshire will auction it off to raise funds for art student
scholarships.

Other artists of note
included in the project are: Justin Gerard, Donato Giancola, Raoul Vitale, Omar
Rayyan, Vincent Villafranca, Matt Stewart,  Jordu Schell,  John Harris, Chris Moeller,  Allen Williams, Jeremy Caniglia, Eric Velhagen,
Tom Taggart, Didier Graffet,  Soutchay
Soungpradith, among others.

So, I said yes, and
brought my piece of cloth home, in order to make a quick oil sketch
of…something. The size of the cotton patch was about 4 ½ X 4 ½ inch, or 11 X 11
cm. The deadline for delivering the painted patch was the beginning of January,
but because of my busy schedule, I was not able to meet the due date. Then, at
the beginning of February, when I was asked if my little sketch was finished, I
felt bad about not keeping my promise and decided to “punish” myself by making
a little painting, instead of making just a quick sketch in color. So, I did
this little painting of a silly giant.

I was surprised to discover how much fun I had while making this little painting. The cotton cloth was very finely woven and
it was surprisingly easy and joyous to apply the oil color to it. I than
realized that I could do some little experiments and try to find out how this
miniature format would fit me. The experience was very refreshing
and insightful and I decided to do more of this kind of little silly paintings.
If my busy schedule permits it, I might do a couple of them and bring it
with me to the Spectrum Live show. So, if you have always dreamed of having an
original Meseldzija in your collection, but did not have enough funds to
finance this dream, this is your chance. With the help of just a couple of
hundred bucks you might persuade me to sell one of these little paintings to
you.

See you in Kansas City in May!