An oriental jar full of colour

You may remember my visit to the Kaffe Fasset '50 years of colour' exhibition a couple of weeks ago, click HERE to take a look at my visit to the exhibition.

Well as you can see I have been playing with colour. Inspiration Avenue came up with the exciting challenge of creating a piece of work in the style of a favourite artist.

Its easy to assemble a quick still life.... a china cup, a pomegranate ( don't you just love those jewel like seeds!) and a little  treasured oriental jar which belonged to my mother. I assembled my little collection on some bright butterfly paper.

I used this wonderful paper to work on, it is made from bamboo and is excellent for mixed media projects.

I used a combination of gouache  and neocolour crayon. Once dry I dabbed white gesso  over the surface to mute the lines. I noticed in Kaffe's  colour drawings that he did not have hard edges on his objects, and I really liked the way his patterns almost blurred into one another.

Kaffe Fasset

Of course I didn't want to copy the magical Kaffe, I wanted to capture the feeling of joy his colour studies bring and also keep my own style....
So it seemed right to add some gold flakes, metallics feature in most of my work, I just love these shiny pieces of magic. I am sure I must have been a magpie in a past life as I am drawn to anything glittery!

Oriental jar

linking up  this week to Inspiration Avenue

The joy of colour!!

A picture heavy post this week, and to be honest pictures speak louder than words!

I have returned from spending the weekend visiting the Kaffe Fasset 50 years of colour exhibition in the Scottish city of Aberdeen. His first solo exhibition in Scotland.

I made it by the skin of my teeth, the final day of the exhibition.I had been excited since I heard of its imminent arrival but had had to wait till Saturday to experience for myself the glorious explosion of Fasset technicolour!!

 As a textile student in the 1980s  Kaffe Fasset was hugely influential, both to me and many other textile students
 I still adore his use of pattern, and opulent colour. As soon as I walked into the exhibition I was filled with Joy.... The joy of colour!

Each section was themed,

faces and animals

squares

early works

with a huge inspiration wall

And insights into how traditional Kilim designs were translated into knitted designs.

Abstract and geometric patterns in both knitted and quilted designs

fabulous florals.... and  his trademark cabbages

the displays were mouthwatering

I adore this fruity chair covered in fruity needlpoint. The  duck egg blue is so beautiful!

The quilts were amazing

This one I particulary loved.

Also  on show were some of  his wonderful paintings used to inspire his work.

I love this painting......

And this knitted hanging!

having studied Tapestry weaving at University the above tapestry really blew me away.

And finally these two little needlepont plates..... how adorable!!

If you want to find out more about Kaffe Fasset I bought a copy of his wonderful autobiography which is well worth delving into.

Dreaming in colour

Linking up to paint party friday

Beach pebble sunshine

I have been experimenting with my air drying clay

on pebbles I find on the shoreline..once dry I will seal and paint with acrylics.

Plenty more pebbles to work on.... :)

mermaid on a box!

Last week I mentioned I had something under-wraps.

I gave you a little sneaky peep on Wednesday but couldn't show too much as the box was a birthday present for a dear friend who had mentioned she liked my mermaids.

The box was bought ready made from a gift shop. It was just a plain cream box, lined, but apart from that just in need of some va va voom!

I wrapped the parts I didn't want to get messy in newspaper.

So when I was done it was a quick unwrap.

Minimum mess.

Here are a few detailed shots.

The tail was made from collaged aluminium. I painted acrylics over the top and then scratched through. The silver glistens through the paint like silver fish scales.

linking to collage obsession

and take a word

playing with cosmic shimmer WOYWW

A couple of things on the go this week.
Another collaged panel. I am preparing the background layers and will later add some thistles and a Dragonfly ( If you are reading LLJ hope you like the colours so far ;) )

bit of a close up to show you some of the texture, much of it will change with layers and sanding but this gives me a starting point. I use a lot of cosmic shimmer inks, I love them! They are however devilishly messy, but I don't mind about that.

 Secondly, this week another little person started life on the bench. I like to have several bits on the go. I flit between them so when one is drying I can work on the other.

 No... she is not a mermaid!....
To be honest the piece of wood I found as too small for a tail so I gave her a little dress instead. She was blonde... for a while, but as many young ladies do, decided she fancied her hair darker.

Much better....

and this is how far I am up to....

 She now carries a little heart. :)
nearly finished.

Linking up to WOYWW where lots of creative souls share what the week has brought to their workdesks.