Kaffe Fassett - a colourful life

What a pleasure to talk to Kaffe Fassett last week. Here are lots of pics of his work, and a few thoughts from Fassett, one of the most important textile designers of his time, that did not make it into the paper.

On textile being a medium that gives the artist great colour control:

When I first started knitting lots of people were into Fair Isle -  that scattered colour into little tiny facets. I was so thrilled by all the colours sitting in the  basket, and saw them as units, and I began to build those geometric patterns into bigger patches of colour. I like pools of colour.

On everyday beautiful:

I remember knitting a hat for a little child. The father came to me three or four times and said, "you have no idea the amount of beautiful aesthetic information you put into that hat". He was living with it and realizing how special it was.

On colour and contrast:

The other day there was amazing mist when I was in Mt Pleasant -  a thick mist on the just-turning autumn leaves. We were just tripping on it. I think my appreciation for that kind of palette comes from antique textiles — old faded, dirty patchwork – in which the colours have gradually become more harmonious and muted and less sharp. Beautiful.

 

A young and handsome Kaffe Fassett with the (under-appreciated?) 60s fashion designer Bill Gibb

 

Chenille, lurex and pearls for Bill Gibb

 

 

Incredibly, Fassett had two clients paint over wall murals he'd been comissioned to do. "Never again," he vowed, after I invited him to come to my house and do one, with the promise it would stay forever. "I poured myself into those and to see someone come and just make it disappear..."

 

 

Sumptuous, subtle colours. Fassett points out that his colour pairing for quilts are always low contrast.

If this has you dying to learn more about his work, you'll want to know that Fassett tells his fascinating life story in a beautifully written and illustrated autobiography, Dreaming in Colour (www.melaniefalickbooks.com. About $30 on Indigo.ca and Amazon.ca.)