Interior decorating involves a
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
In My New Studio Today
Working on my first project in the new studio and its fabulous; although its still technically under-construction.
I still need:
A TV ~ ( I am a TV addict. I don’t watch it when I work but the sound keeps me company since its mostly just me and the dogs when the hubby is at work. I am so used to it being on that working in this new room with no sound is creepy.)
A rolling office chair for my sewing table. (This one would be great)
A barstool for the work table ~ Just stole one from the kitchen for now, I want this one from Home Decorators Collection . I like the back since I am getting old and hunched over from overwork! And I love the swivel. I wish it was on rollers though.
And last but not least flooring ~ I will have to wait on that one for awhile.
I’m doing rough color studies for a new series of birds and flowers. For this project I am using a combination of watercolor pencils and traditional watercolors. I print out my sketches first on Bristol paper and try to rough out the colors first so I know what I am doing on the final draft. This saves me lots of time, effort, and paper since it takes me a few tries to get it right.
When I get a new set of watercolor pencils ( or regular colored pencils for that matter) I usually do a color chart so I can see what they look like after water has been applied. I do a small swatch of variegated color and label it with the pencil brand and number. Most watercolor pencils change significantly once they have been wet and then more after they dry. This is a good quick visual reference but I still need to do mock ups to be sure about the colors I am using and how they will blend together.
Watercolor pencils are great for me because I tend to do small , detailed images and I don’t have a ton of experience with fluid watercolors. I am learning though!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Diane Gilleland ~ Kanzashi in Bloom
I ran across this book on Amazon the other day and was instantly hooked.
It shows endless possibilities for folding fabric into lovely flowers of all shapes and sizes.
You know how my mind works ~ I immediately saw thousands of applications for these pretty posies.
I emailed the author the lovely Diane Gilleland to ask a few questions about how she got into this art form.
Diane with her lovely book
Jackie ~ How did you first hear about this art form?
Diane ~ I spend a lot of time looking at all kinds of crafts on the web. Somehow, somewhere I stumbled onto some images of Japanese Kanzashi. I was gobsmacked at how detailed and delicate they were, and I wanted to learn more. If you go to YouTube and search "Kanzashi," you can find a whole lot of interesting video showing the traditional Japanese way of making these flowers. But that process is way too exacting for me, so I set about trying all kinds of simpler methods until I'd developed a process that produced nice flowers without too much specialized skill or equipment.
Jackie ~ Can you give a quick history of its origins?
Diane ~ The word "Kanzashi" actually translates from Japanese as "hair ornament." Kanzashi date back to the Edo period in Japan (roughly the 1600's), when there was a rather sudden change in hairstyle fashion. Women stopped wearing their hair long and loose, and started putting it up. All kinds of elaborate combs and pins began to emerge as Japanese artisans invented new adornments for these upswept styles.
Floral kanzashi have always been part of the Geisha culture in Japan. Geisha adorn their hairstyles with these flowers for public occasions. There are specific Kanzashi for each month of the year, too – you'll see Geisha wearing silk cherry blossoms in April and silk chrysanthemums in October. There's just a handful of master Kanzashi artisans left in Japan, but luckily there's a whole new generation of enthusiasts helping to keep this art alive.
Diane has also developed a product with Clover Needlecraft that makes the construction of these flowers so easy it ridiculous!
Watch this short video to see her demonstrate hoe to use the Kanzashi templates.
Isn’t that amazing?
I’ve already ordered my book, now I have to track down some templates.
* all pics courtesy of Dianne Gilleland
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)