Inspiration

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Made For You




I was honored to be featured recently on Made For You Blog, where you can find great art and handmade articles and read about artists from all over the world. My son took my photo, and then I cropped out all the (clean) laundry and magazines that were behind me on the sofa. You know, to get rid of the messy, mundane details that I'd prefer not to think about. But I still have my work apron on!

Anyway, go take a look at the blog and find how the featured artists work and what inspires them!

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Mini Mosaic Art


I've recently begun making tiny mosaics as a way to offer affordable original art work to everyone who'd like to have it. A lot of artists offer art that is accessible to those who can't spend enormous amounts on art (people like me!), either prints or reduced-in-size original works. These are the first of my line of tiny works of art, about 6 by 4.5 inches, with metallic charms and a special message in each one.



Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Decorator Fabric


I discovered these upholstery fabrics at the fabric store this past week. I was looking for some heavy weight fabrics to make a few large tree collages for an upcoming exhibit. I think I found just the right thing! I'll cut the tops of the trees (or leaves) from these, and add some reddish orange fabric for the trunk and branches. And in the trees, I'll put some brightly colored fabric birds.


Anyway, the prints are so amazing, much better in person. And there were some in red/orange too. They are reversible, so the quality is the same on both sides. The largest flowers measure over 6 inches in diameter.









What would you make from these fabrics? Any ideas?



Wednesday, February 11, 2009

French Silk


I found this gorgeous silk and cotton blend fabric at the open market in Lyon. It's sumptuous, with pumpkin and peach-colored floral accents. And I really wanted to make a pillow set. So here are mama and baby bird silk accent pillows!




Friday, February 6, 2009

Luneville plates


I found these Luneville plates for 0.90€ at the second-hand shop last week. Luneville is best-known for lovely beadwork which was produced in this town in the 18th century. Pottery was also produced there and still is, apparently! I fell in love with the floral pattern which looks as though it was stenciled on. It's all around the edge and there were three plates, plus a dark blue one that was one of it's kind. Maybe the others in the set were broken, but I would have liked to find a whole stack of them, the deep blue is gorgeous!



And here's one of my birds, cut out from a terracotta slab, printed with lace, fired, colored and waxed, already glued to a board, soon to become part of my next mosaic.


In fact there are three birds on the board, and I was looking for the perfect printed plate tesserae to put under their little feet. I'll have to show you how it turns out!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Lady in Archway

I'm always amazed when one of my pieces is included in a treasury. This little lady in an archway was one of my first mosaic pieces and I loved making her tiny face and hair. That's my favorite part in fact, sculpting the faces of my ladies.

This treasury is full of beautiful collage art: