The urge to decorate is at an all time high, and less is more is not everyone’s mantra. Neither is good taste. So let’s all take a deep breath, calmly walk past those cars with red nose antler combos, and find solace in the fact that it will soon be over. It’s a safe bet that a few flapping birds will not elicit any intense, negative feelings. Besides, they’ll be safely inside your home.
Remove all thoughts of that cheesy perfume from the seventies and think eggs, exquisite, luxurious Russian made eggs. Peter Carl Fabergé was a famous Russian artist-jeweller, and the creative genius behind the House of Fabergé, makers of fine jewelry, accessories and silverware. His immense talents came to the attention of Tzar Alexander III, who appointed him goldsmith and jeweller to the Russian Imperial Court. A commission for an Imperial Easter egg soon followed, and because of its impressive design, technical innovation and craftsmanship, lead to the commission of others. These luxurious eggs were considered masterpieces made with precious metals, gem stones and enamel. Some even opened up to reveal surprises in the centre like miniature carriages or ships. Today, they are considered some of the most important art treasures ever made, and serve as the perfect inspiration for making ornaments.
Most of us need a steady supply of greeting cards throughout the year for various occasions, but never as much as now. These Jackson Pollock style splatter cards are easy and fun to make, so let the assembly line begin.
I’ve always had mixed feelings about crayons. There’s no denying the pleasure of opening up a fresh pack of those perfectly chiseled tips, and having them stare back at you in a wonderfully satisfying range of colours. Then the first one breaks, paper gets peeled off, and that perfect little box transforms into a plastic tub filled with broken, waxy, crayon bits. In this project, the crayons never get to the broken bits stage. They just melt into a glorious rainbow of colours. Hats off to the person who came up with this great idea, which my daughter and her friend stumbled upon in cyberspace.
Filed under crayons
Portugal produces about half the cork harvested annually in the world. So it’s not surprising that I came across field after field of strange looking trees while visiting this summer. I thought maybe Tim Burton had a hand in this, but it turns out these were cork oak trees whose trunks had been stripped of bark…which is the cork. It’s harvested every nine years giving it enough time to grow a new layer, and continues for about 125 years, the life of your average cork oak tree!
While cork has many uses, keeping our wine bottles happily sealed is what it’s best known for. So what to do with all th0se corks? Make hairy little people of course.
Polymer clay is a wonderful, versatile material used to make an amazing range of things including jewelry, decorative boxes, and an endless parade of creatures. With a little patience, kids can easily be taught how to make some basic canes and some impressive marbling. Strange and wonderful results await.
Filed under polymer clay
Back in 2008, Apple dramatically changed our fingerpainting options by offering a painting application called Brushes for the iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone. No more drop sheets, no more gooey paint, no more cleanup. Its popularity has surged, particularly since Jorge Colombo’s painting landed on the cover of The New Yorker magazine.
That same year, David Hockney got his first iPhone, began working with this App, and the rest is history. His current exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum, called Fresh Flowers, shows what he created using Brushes. Needless to say, I left the show very excited about trying out this medium for myself.
While I found Brushes a bit pricey compared to other drawing Apps, it was cheaper than a bottle of wine, and got the most favourable reviews. Purchase made. It’s been a lot of fun to use even if you can’t draw for toffee. And if you head to YouTube, you’ll find an amazing selection of paintings to inspire you.
The coolest thing about this App? Watching your drawing being created in playback mode, the fact that you can use it anywhere, and of course seeing how much kids enjoy it.
Filed under Artists, David Hockney, virtual art
The artist Niki de Saint Phalle, was a french painter, sculptor, and film maker. Today would have been her 81st birthday. Much of her work is naive in style, and has a playful, whimsical quality. The Tarot Garden in Italy is a perfect example of this, with its large scale sculptures covered in brightly coloured mosaics. So is the Stravinsky Fountain in Paris, filled with water-spraying sculptures made by Niki and her husband Jean Tinguely.
Of course it’s all much too happy looking for Halloween, but as luck would have it, she happened to create a unique looking assemblage called Portail de La Mort providing the perfect inspiration for this unusual, quirky little Halloween project. Trust me to sniff out one of the few colourless pieces she created! Joyeuse Anniversaire Niki.
Filed under Artists, assemblage, Halloween, Niki de Saint Phalle
Sounds a tad creepy doesn’t it? It’s really just a term used to describe what happens to acrylic paint when it’s mixed with Pouring Medium. Once dry, the paint becomes flexible and is referred to as an acrylic skin. And since I have LOTS of Pouring Medium left from pumpkin decorating, I thought this would be a great opportunity to make some Halloween inspired designs. They can easily be turned into pins, magnets, or anything else that inspires you.
Filed under Acrylic Mediums, Halloween
It seems once you enter the world of acrylic mediums, there’s no turning back. They’re highly addictive because they alter paint in such neat ways. They create distortions, crackling effects, and produce all kinds of textures and finishes. This time, I was lured into trying out Pouring Medium to create some wonderful drippy marbling effects on white pumpkins. It turned out to look quite cool.
Filed under Acrylic Mediums, Halloween, painting
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