Loved By You

Etsy Treasury

2010-12-21T22:18:00.005Z

Folksy Friday - Boutons

2010-06-18T18:31:00.007+01:00

"Forget about buttoning up our overcoat – beautiful buttons should be framed and hung on the wall." Mario Buatta, 20th century designer/lecturer

Boutons - Stitches in time will be exhibited at the Mona Bismarck Foundation from June 4 through August 14, 2010

Ripple Blog - Helping The Victims Of The Gulf Oil Spill

2010-06-14T13:00:00.008+01:00

Ripple - mixed media, ink, sharpies, digital

This week Illustration Friday has a special topic to raise money for The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies and The International Bird Rescue Research Center.

Each 2.5x3.5 illustration submitted for the "Ripple" theme will be made available to purchase for a $10.00 donation to these charities helping animals affected by the Gulf Oil Spill. Every penny from the sales of these cards will go directly to the charities.

So far over $1500 has been raised, check out the Ripple Blog to see all the submissions available for purchase.

Business Enterprise Course

2010-05-28T15:08:00.005+01:00

Since I've been unable to work I've been keeping myself busy painting and developing my art skills, although I began painting to entertain myself friends and family were soon asking for paintings and I decided to test the water to see if I could sell my work to people I didn't know.

I set up a Folksy store selling handmade gifts (even though I was a bit unsure after having a stall at a local school fayre a not selling a single thing!) thankfully I had my first Folksy sale within hours of listing my first item. Since then I have joined the team of Vintage Pretty sellers at Buffalo Bar and I have opened my second Folksy store selling prints and paintings.

As my sales have increased I've been considering becoming self employed and working on my art full time although I had no idea where to start so I signed up for a Business Enterprise course with the Prince's Trust. I attended the 4 day course this week in Merthyr and it's been a great learning tool, covering everything from advertising and sales to taxes and bookkeeping. It has shifted my mindset from painting as a hobby and doing the occasional commissions to putting the same effort into sales as I did when I was in work.

During the week I worked with a great group of people who are also setting up their own businesses: Zoe Roberts who is the first female tattooist in Merthyr Tydfil: Chris Evans, a qualified locksmith from Abergavenny: Gavin Davies from Blackwood is setting up business cleaning windows, guttering and patios: Greg Owens is offering a mobile valet service throughout the Rhondda Cynon Taff and Jamie Baldwin is also setting up and outdoor cleaning service in the Blackwood area (see below for their contact info)

Good luck to all of them with their business ventures and a big thank you to Margaret Adams from the Prince's Trust for all her help and support.

Contact Details:

The Prince's Trust offer free business start up support to young people aged 18-30, visit their website here for more information.

Zoe Roberts: 07929 272373 zoe.roberts95@yahoo.com
Greg Owens: 07724 869954
Chris Evans: 07925 629122 clsafelocks@hotmail.com

Cardiff Graffiti Art Workshops

2010-05-13T14:44:00.005+01:00

I'm not sure when my interest in street art began, I vaguely recall hunting down pieces and using them as my profile pictures on Myspace so it's been, well, a while. I've spent many a happy hour wandering around the back streets of Bristol looking for hidden gems and chatting to the alternative funeral director about 'the time Banksy did a coffin' for them. I took the trip to the Cans Festival in Leake Street rolled up bright and early for Banksy vs Bristol Museum and I've watched all the graffiti documentaries I can get my hands on. It's fair to say I love graffiti.

I'm hugely inspired and influenced by street art but I've always wanted to master the spray can myself. Obviously there's nothing to stop me 'having a go' on the great expanse of white wall on my patio but I don't think my neighbours would be too impressed if they woke up to discover a wall of experimental graffiti on their doorsteps, thankfully there is an alternative:

I recently heard about Illustrate Project, a group of CRB checked artists who hold local graffiti workshops in Cardiff and put my name down for a place at their next event, the 3 hour session covers the basics of graffiti art, the worldwide culture, drawing skills and painting techniques.
I'm hoping I'll be able to put my new skills to use in my paintings and maybe one day have a go at that wall, I'm sure my neighbours will be delighted!

To book a place at one of the upcoming workshops and to find out about the other services Illustrate Project offer pop on over to their website here

Also check out the Graffiti Art Workshop event page here for more details

The Cans Festival, Leake St 2008.

No Soul for Sale at The Tate Modern

2010-05-13T12:54:00.004+01:00

As part of the Tate Modern's 10th anniversary celebrations the gallery will be hosting No Soul for Sale, a festival of consisting of 70 artist collectives, non-profits and independent art spaces.

One of the organisations taking part is the Museum of Everything whose below request for submissions I stumbled across recently whilst hanging about on Twitter:

"Are you a marginal or self-taught artist? Do people call your work strange, amateurish, obsessive, even ugly? Have you received a calling to depict new worlds? Or inherited a book of hand-drawn doodlings? Or are you simply an artist with a disability, whose creativity has yet to be discovered?

If this sounds like you, or someone you know, we exhort you to submit a work on paper or modest canvas to Exhibition #2 to be held on May 14th, 15th and 16th 2010 at London's Tate Modern".

As far as I know nobody has ever called my work ugly or strange although I admit that sewing over 1,000 buttons to a canvas could very well be considered obsessive. I do however have a disability which is probably the reason behind me taking up art again in the first place. Since I have been unable to work I have spent my time painting, crafting and trying to learn the skills to enable me to create what I can see in my head.

I've scoured books on photoshop and fashion illustration, found out how to create interesting paint effects with black bags (from a guy on youtube who sprays cars for a living) I've learnt the hard way that there are rules for painting with oils for a reason and that you can ruin a huge amount of brushes by leaving them covered in acrylic paint while you nip off to make a cuppa.

It hasn't been the easiest of tasks, anyone who suffers with my condition, Chiari Malformation*, will know that even the slightest physical exertion, including painting, can leave you unable to move for days (not to mention the inevitable arm numbness, eye problems and general feeling of being a space cadet who's had a head on collision with a small meteorite) but for some reason I still do it. I guess that's where the obsessiveness comes in, I know it's likely to make me ill but I carry on regardless.

So, bright and early tomorrow morning I'm heading off on the 5 hour trip to London to present my portfolio to the Museum of Everything's panel. Hopefully by the end of the day I will be able to say that I might not have a clue what I'm doing but I've 'exhibited at the Tate Modern'.

*Chiari Malformation is an uncommon condition where the bottom part of the brain descends into the spinal canal putting pressure on both the brain and spinal cord and blocking the flow of CSF.

Vintage Pretty #4

2010-05-11T14:56:00.005+01:00

Vintage Pretty is back at Cardiff's Buffalo Bar on Saturday 29th May (12-5)

There will be 20 of the finest designers, creators, crafters and artists selling their clothes, jewellery, accessories and toys. The first 10 customers through the door will once again each receive a goodie bag jam packed with gifts from the sellers.

Look out for a special Vintage Pretty 'Folksy Friday' on the 28th showcasing some of the items available on the day. For more info and details of future events visit the Vintage Pretty Facebook page.

One and Other - Oh, those were the days!

2010-05-02T21:10:00.004+01:00

Once again I've found myself procrastinating and reminiscing about One and Other, whilst avoiding doing anything productive today I have written a little song about the plinth, loosely based on and to the tune of Mary Hopkin's Those Were The Days (see video below) Enjoy!

Once upon a time there was a pedestal, upon which we would have our hour due.
Remember how we laughed away the hours and dreamed up all the great things we would do?

Then the busy months went rushing by us, we had our 'fifteen minutes' on the way,
If by chance I'd see you all on Twitter, we'd smile at #oneandother and we'd say...

Those were the days my friends, we hoped they'd never end, they'd keep the feed for ever and a day, we'd watch the stream we choose: an hour we'd never lose, for we were art and surely we should stay.

Just tonight I stood below the pedestal, nothing was the way it used to be, on the plinth I saw a new attraction and wished up in its place that I could be.

Through the square there came familiar faces, I saw your hour and played the plinther game.
One and Others gone but not forgotten, for in our hearts it always will remain.

Those were the days my friends, we hoped they'd never end, they'd keep the feed for ever and a day, we'd watch the stream we choose: an hour we'd never lose, those were the days oh yes those were the days.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep,
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep,
Beep, beep, beep, beeeeeep,
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep,
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep,
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep,
Beep, beep, beep, beeeeeep,
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.

If you have no idea what this is all about you can read about my hour on the fourth plinth here

Artist Spotlight - John Myatt

2010-04-30T10:07:00.007+01:00

John Myatt (born 1945) is an English artist who, although extremely talented, struggled to get a break in the art world. In the 1970's he had written the top 40 hit 'Silly Games' but what he really wanted was to be recognised for his art.

Myatt had discovered a talent for mimicking other artists' styles so, in 1985 when his wife left him with two young children to care for, Myatt placed an advert in Private Eye selling 19th and 20th century fakes for £200. What began as a legitimate business venture would soon spiral into what is now known as "The greatest art con of the 20th century".

Whilst Myatt had always been honest about the nature of his work John Drewe, a regular customer of his, had been re-selling the paintings as genuine works. When Drewe later told Myatt that he had successfully sold one of his paintings to Christies for £25,000 and handed over an envelope stuffed full of cash, Myatt knew he had crossed the line.

He was surprised that his crude fakes were passing as genuine works, Myatt often painted with household emulsion adding K-Y jelly to the paint as a thinner. He admits "I took no trouble technically. There was a negligence to everything I did."

He went on to produce an estimated 200 paintings in the styles of artists such as Giacometti, Chegall, Matisse, Bisierre, Dubuffe, and Le Corbusier. Drewe began forging provenance for the paintings and managed to sell the works to auction houses such as Sothebys and private collectors in London, New York and Paris.

In September 1995 Myatt was arrested, he immediately confessed and was later sentenced to 12 months in prison for conspiracy to defraud. He was released four months later. Drewe was sentenced to six years for conspiracy and served two.

Only 60 of the 200 paintings have been recovered by police, the rest apparently still believed to be genuine by their owners. Myatt says he will never identify the remaining works.

Since his release Myatt has become a successful artist in his own right, selling 'genuine fakes' his paintings can now reach £45,000, he has presented a number of art programmes teaching his tricks of the trade and now works along side law enforcement to expose other fraudsters.

John Myatt will be presenting 'Made in China' on Sky Arts, Saturday May 15th.
"Generating over £20million in sales in 2006, the Dafen art community supply over 600 galleries, filling homes and businesses across the globe with convincing reproductions. Want to be greeted each day by Mona Lisa’s smile? Speak to Dafen to get hold of a copy for as little as £20. Made in China meets these prolific copy-artists to find out what in the name of art, is going on" -Sky Arts

To view Myatt's current work visit his website

Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art is available now at Amazon and Audible.
“It is nonfiction, but its hair-raising investigative reporting reads like a thriller that just might knock you right out of your beach chair.” - Bookpage.com

Folksy Friday- Home is where the art is

2010-04-30T08:32:00.006+01:00

This world is but a canvas to our imagination - Henry David Thoreau

Folksy Friday - Vintage Pretty

2010-04-22T22:34:00.006+01:00

A selection of items from this weeks Vintage Pretty sellers

Please note these shops may be in holiday mode until after the event.

The first 10 people through the door at 12pm on Saturday will receive a goodie bag, be there early to get yours!

Folksy Friday - Babushka, Babushka, Babushka.

2010-04-16T00:00:00.007+01:00

The first Russian nested doll set was carved by Vasi ly Zvyozdochkin from a design by Sergey Malyutin, who was a folk crafts painter. The doll set was painted by Maliutin himself. Maliutin's design was inspired by a set of Japanese wooden dolls representing Shichi-fuku-jin, the Seven Gods of Fortune.

New Work

2010-04-10T15:13:00.010+01:00

I realise it's been a while since I've uploaded any of my own work on this blog so I thought I'd post a quick update on what I've been up to lately...

After setting up a new portfolio recently I realised that as the majority of my paintings are commission based, there isn't a cohesive theme through my work and I don't really have my own 'brand identity'. Being an ex visual merchandiser (whose main objective was to maintain the integrity of other brands) it's important to me to make my work recognisable.
I've also been asked to exhibit some of my paintings in local businesses so it's the perfect opportunity for me to work on a new line and build on my portfolio.

I've started with digital work and found a great photographer T iago Chediak who has allowed me to use some of his pictures for my portfolio.

The two themes I've been concentrating on are lace and a grunge/graffiti style, this week I'll be working on some paintings along the same lines, I'll be uploading them to my portfolio as I go along.

Look out for my second Folksy store featuring prints and originals coming soon!

*Update New Store now open!*

Folksy Friday - Punk

2010-04-09T01:27:00.007+01:00

Rock and roll doesn't necessarily mean a band. It doesn't mean a singer, and it doesn't mean a lyric, really. It's that question of trying to be immortal - Malcolm Mclaren RIP

Helen Frik - Difficult

2010-04-09T00:03:00.006+01:00

Exhibition Preview April 1st 2010

Now and then we all heave a sigh and wish that things weren’t quite so difficult. But what if all difficulties vanished? What if there were no complications, no struggle in order to get where you wanted to be? Life would probably not be worth living…

Recently I wrote about some handmade toys I was making for an exhibition in Cardiff, last week I went to the preview and finally got to see all the toys in situ! You can see the full album on my Facebook page.

My toys ...cascading down the pile at the exhibition

A signed print from the artist which was given to

everyone who contributed handmade toys

'Difficult' is showing at Chapter Art Centre, Cardiff until May 9th 2010

Folksy Friday - Breakfast at Tiffany's

2010-04-02T17:55:00.005+01:00

"I don't want to own anything until I find a place where me and things go together. I'm not sure where that is but I know what it is like. It's like Tiffany's."- Holly Golightly

Inspiration or Infringement?

2010-03-30T14:47:00.015+01:00

Last night I stumbled across some familiar fashion illustrations for sale on Zazzle.com, I immediately recognised the 12 images as the work of Lauren Bishop an illustrator whose previous clients have included Topshop and Ikea. It seemed a bit odd that such a successful and well known artist would be adorning Zazzle products with their images and of course it turned out Lauren didn't know anything about it, the seller had simply downloaded images from her online portfolio and set up shop claiming the images as their own.

Copyright infringement has become somewhat of a hot topic lately, since Hidden Eloise discovered her design had been traced and sold on to Paperchase, examples of copied images have been popping up in the Twitter feed with alarming regularity [in fact another Paperchase case has come to light while I've been writing this post]

Hidden Eloise's design and the Paperchase products.

The designer of the Paperchase items eventually admitted to tracing the outline of Hidden Eloise's figure although she maintained she had no intention of copying the character. In Lauren's case the Zazzle seller hadn't altered the images at all, a clear cut example of theft.

NiftyKnits a finalist in Harry Hill's K Factor, recently found copies of her character 'Harry Hill Meerkat' had popped up for sale on Ebay. The seller, apparently unaware that they had done anything wrong, swiftly removed the item from their store.

These recent cases have made me ponder the differences between inspiration, a 'helping hand' with your design and blatant infringement of copyright. We are all inspired by great artists and most of us would never dream of passing off somebody else's work as our own but it seems some of us may be crossing the line without realising it.

I regularly use photographs as a reference for my work, one of my best selling paintings before I began doing personal commissions was a portrait of Marilyn Monroe. Obviously never having met Marilyn myself I based the design on a photograph, being under the impression that if you alter an image by 20-30% you aren't stepping on anyones toes. Apparently this isn't the case. The fair usage policy (according to painting.about.com) is in fact just 10% of the original design, the rule of thumb being that if you place the two images side by side and can tell that one is a derivative work of the other it has crossed the copyright line.

The original photograph and my painting

You could argue that photos of famous icons are reproduced so often that it would be impossible to sue everyone who used the images and in these cases nobody is getting hurt; but where do you draw the line? I was recently commissioned to paint a portrait of a well known model (as a gift to her from a family member) I was thrilled to find so many great photographs of her to use as a reference, assuming that she would be happy for me to paint a portrait of her I didn't consider that my painting was a derivative and possible copyright infringement of the original photograph.

Whilst my icon paintings were never a true (or intentional) 'copy' of a photograph there is no escaping the fact the original image is still evident in the final design. The vast majority of my commissions are from personal photographs which I have permission to use but for future work where I do need a photographic reference Creative Commons images will be my new best friend!

For more information on copyright for artists and where to find reference images see http://www.painting.about.com

To purchase legitimate work from the artists mentioned in this post please visit their online stores by clicking the images below:

Folksy Friday - Vintage Pretty

2010-03-26T12:08:00.014Z

A selection of Folksy listings from sellers who will be at Vintage Pretty tomorrow...

Please note these stores may be in holiday mode until after the event.

Cardiff Twestival

2010-03-24T11:59:00.016Z

"On Thursday 25 March 2010, people in hundreds of cities around the world will come together offline to rally around the important cause of Education by hosting local events to have fun and create awareness. Twestival™ (or Twitter Festival) uses social media for social good. All of the local events are organized 100% by volunteers and 100% of all ticket sales and donations go direct to projects"

Cardiff Twestival is taking place at Buffalo Bar, Windsor Place. Tickets are £4 in advance (£5 on the door) and all proceeds go to Concern Worldwide

Along with some great bands and guest DJs you can bag yourself some pretty amazing prizes in the Super Sonic MEGA raffle! Tickets are just £2 and the top prize package includes flights from bmibaby, a Banksy print and a pop art portrait from yours truly!*

*Handpainted acrylic portrait from your own photograph on a 40x40 canvas (worth £40)

Other great prizes include a years free office space from the lovely people at Indycube and an ipod touch!

If you can't make it on the night you can still enter by purchasing tickets here
Go on, it's for a good cause!

For more info, including a complete list of raffle prizes pop on over to the Cardiff Twestival website

PS, if you should happen to win the Banksy print and don't appreciate it *quite* as much as I would, I'd be happy to give you my soul in exchange. Hey, I might even throw in my goldfish Jeff for good measure...

Enough rambling from me, go get yourself some tickets! Good Luck!

Folksy Friday

2010-03-19T08:43:00.012Z

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful"
~William Morris

Look out for next weeks Folksy Friday featuring a selection of artisans selling at Vintage Pretty!

By the Power of Twitter

2010-03-18T04:34:00.006Z

We all know how great Twitter is for networking, socialising and a fair share of time wasting but if you're lucky you might even bag yourself a few goodies along the way!

I was lucky enough to be the first winner of a free sketch by Matthew Warlick (@warlick) A Dallas based freelance illustrator, just by becoming his 290th follower. I did sit refreshing the page for 20 minutes and pounce when #289 came around but the result would have been worth sitting there for hours!

Matthew asked me to choose a character, being a life-long fan of She-Ra (aka Princess Adora) there was only really one option:

I've won some great things on Twitter but this has to be the best by far! Thanks Matthew :)

@warlick is continuing to offer free sketches to new followers and a free commission to #400!
To be in with a chance of winning you know what to do! You can see more of Matthew's work here

Get following and good luck!

Vintage Pretty

2010-03-17T02:15:00.008Z

Featuring:

Dolly Dearest... Tinker's Infinity... Dod's Vintage... Split Endz...
World of Oddy... Pouss... Craftalie... Spiralcraft... Dotty-May... April Is Forever...
Shush Jewellery... Red Mutha... By Kirsty... Art By Adora... beautiful bits and bobs by Siobhan... Vintage clothes and finds from Sam...

I will be at Vintage Pretty: Buffalo Bar, Cardiff on Saturday 27th March '10.
I'll be selling handmade notebooks, journals, up-cycled stationery, sketchbooks,
scrabble tile pendants and hand painted canvases.

There are some great sellers lined up for the day, we're there from 11-5 come along and say hi!

Click here for directions

Artist Spotlight - Gormley's Greats

2010-03-15T00:00:00.017Z

It will come as no surprise to those of you that know me that I have chosen the English sculptor Antony Gormley as the subject for my first 'Artist Spotlight'.

In 2009 I was lucky enough to be chosen to become a living piece of art by participating in Gormley's One and Other project in Trafalgar Square, London. 2,400 'plinthers' as we would later be known, stood on the empty fourth plinth in the square for an hour each for 100 days,
by doing so we collectively created a living portrait of Britain today. At the end of the project when asked if this was art, Gormley replied "Well, who cares?"

On the plinth as part of One and Other

Gormley's most famous work is undoubtedly the Angel of the North a 66ft steel structure with an impressive wingspan measuring 178ft and weighing 200 tonnes. The form of the Angel is based on Gormley's own body (as is much of his work) and is hollow to allow for internal inspection. The structure has been built to last 100 years and withstand winds in excess of 100mph. Overlooking the A1 and the A167 in Gateshead approximately 33 million motorists pass the sculpture each year.

The Angel of the North

Gormley said of the sculpture:

“The hill top site is important and has the feeling of being a megalithic mound. When you think of the mining that was done underneath the site, there is a poetic resonance. Men worked beneath the surface in the dark. Now in the light, there is a celebration and visibility of this industry.

“The face will not have individual features. The effect of the piece is in the alertness, the awareness of space and the gesture of the wings - they are not flat, they're about 3.5 degrees forward and give a sense of embrace.”

“It is important to me that the Angel is rooted in the ground - the complete antithesis of what an angel is, floating about in the ether. It has an air of mystery. You make things because they cannot be said.”

“I’m just very interested in loosening things up and making the world a more exciting place to live.”

Another Place

Another favourite of Gormley's projects has found a permanent home on Crosby beach, England. Another Place consists of 100 cast iron figures spanning 2 miles across the Merseyside shoreline, each figure stands 6'2" tall, again: casts of Gormley's own body. As the tide comes in the bodies which all face out to sea, are submerged under water. An eerie sight indeed.

Gormley is due to make his US public art debut later this month when Event Horizon, a piece originally homed on the streets of London is installed in New York. 31 Gormley-esque figures will be dotted about the city from sidewalk to rooftop. As installation begins the emergency services are already receiving calls from concerned citizens worried that somebody is about to jump from the rooftops.

Event Horizon

Other notable works include: The Iron Man, Birmingham and
Field for the British Isles for which Gormley won the Turner Prize in 1994.

With AG at the final hour of O&O

www.antonygormley.com

Sunshine Award

2010-03-14T23:30:00.002Z

Thank you to Steve at CherishedStainedGlass for awarding me the Sunshine Award for motivational and inspiring blogs. I'll post my nominations shortly!

Working from home is great....isn't it?

2010-03-03T20:03:00.008Z

Those of you who read my Chiari blog will know that two years ago I had to leave my job due to illness. After a struggle with the DWP and being deemed not sick enough for sickness benefits but too sick for jobseekers allowance I decided to go it alone and start my own business. So, I finally get to be my own boss and work from home, how great is that?! As many of you reading this will know, it's not always that great.

Although I appreciate the flexibility I have working from home I miss the structure of a conventional job, weekends seem the same as any other day and I find it hard to switch off from work. There's also the Snowdon sized task of motivating yourself, there's nothing like a huge pile of work to make the ironing seem like a fun option. Tax return time? Don't forget you urgently need to steam clean the entire house before you do that.

What I really needed was a routine, a change of scenery, to get dressed once in a while and talk to someone other than my cat, thankfully I found it.

I came across a link on Twitter about casual co-working (aka Jelly) and I was intrigued, I could go to work in an office, armed with my laptop and whatever else I needed for the day and work with other people. The greatest thing about this was it was completely free!

I attended my first Jelly event at IndyCube on Monday and I wasn't disappointed, the offices are based in the ITV studios a short drive from my house and I was greeted with a warm welcome from both the ITV staff and everyone at IndyCube. I arrived to find a lovely spacious office and was shown around by Mark, the events organiser. I found myself a space, grabbed a coffee and got to work.

It was great to be in a work environment again and to have a team of people around without the inevitable office politics that come with working for any company. As much as I enjoyed the day at IndyCube the best part of it was coming home after a full days work and switching off. I'd had a great time and met some lovely people but now it was time to relax.

I'm planning to make causal co-working a regular part of my routine. Although I have a studio at home I lack the self discipline to work set hours and days. I look forward to weekends having some meaning again and re-gaining a bit of structure to my work patterns. The greatest benefit for me is that I feel part of the system again without the added stress of feeling I'm letting people down if I can't make it to 'the office' on any given day.

Working from home does have its advantages but it's even better with a bit of Jelly and free coffee.

Thanks to Mark and Zara at IndyCube and Nick Jenkins for the photos, I'll see you all again next week!

For more information on Cardiff Jelly and IndyCube's price plans go to www.indycube.biz

LOVE Buttons

2010-03-03T19:39:00.004Z

A while back I had an idea to create a canvas using different materials, I've always liked Robert Indiana's LOVE sculpture and decided to create my own piece using the letters L.O.V.E

Initially I wanted to create each letter with a different fabric but eventually stumbled across the idea of filling each letter with buttons. I had an old canvas lying about the house and a ream of suede I'd never known what to do with so I was all set. I ordered 100g of mixed buttons from ebay convinced that I would have enough to finish the project.

Unfortunately the canvas I was using was rather large 1x1m so the size of the letters was pre-determined, after 2 hours of sewing and almost half way through my first letter I ran out...

Another 3 button orders, 10 hours and 1,177 buttons later I finished my first LOVE buttons canvas.

Despite the endless sewing I really enjoyed making this piece, the buttons are all so different, there are plenty of vintage designs and the little plastic duck buttons my nana used to sew onto my cardigans when I was little.

I'm working on my second LOVE buttons canvas now, we'll see how long I can sew for before I start the HATE buttons line!

Handmade Toy Project

2010-02-24T10:36:00.007Z

Following on from my previous post this week Handmade Toys Wanted I have finally finished my submission!

The brief for Helen Frik' s forthcoming exhibition was to design and make 'weird' handmade toys that will be clambering to get to a light source.

I took my inspiration from Matryoshkas (Russian nesting dolls) I wanted each doll to appear as though it had climbed out from the last to reach the light. I've never made toys before so this was a bit of a challenge for me! I used a cake decorating mold for the clay faces and made the bases from some old denim fabric. I'm pleased with how they've turned out and can't wait to see them with all the other handmade toys in the gallery.

The exhibition showing at Chapter Art Centre, Cardiff will run from April 2nd to March 9th 2010

A New Medium

2010-02-21T09:21:00.007Z

After a recent Twitter discussion with @5erg and @LauraFungArt over which paints are easier to use, oils or acrylics, I have decided to put it to the test!

I've always painted with acrylics and have been scared to even attempt anything with oils until now (I'm still haven't overcome my fear of watercolours, we won't even go there!) It's interesting how different mediums can strike the fear of god into some whilst other's find them the easiest to use!

So far I have attempted two oil paintings, I didn't quite appreciate how different they are to acrylics but I am enjoying using them. It's much easier to re-work oils which has helped me loosen up a bit and not worry about making a mistake. I'm not a trained painter in any medium so it's nice to have a play about with different paints and styles to see what effects you can achieve.
The major downside of oils (for me) is the drying time, I can have an acrylic canvas complete and delivered by the next day but I have spent the last few days moving these two canvases around the house to find suitable, safe drying places: somewhere clean, bright and out of reach of my inquisitive cat who has already made her mark by treading in my paint pallet (in the black of course)

I'll let you know how I get on with the rest!

A Big Thank You

2010-02-21T09:14:00.003Z

to Creative Boom Cardiff for featuring Art by Adora on their website!

Link here

A Great Loss

2010-02-21T08:19:00.005Z

Like many I was very saddened to hear Alexander McQueen had committed suicide last week. As one of my favourite designers he was hugely influential in my interest in fashion and subsequent decision to train as a make-up artist. I was inspired by not only his designs but the theatrical aspect of his catwalk shows. Britain has lost a great talent but I'm sure his work will continue to inspire up and coming designers for many years to come.

Handmade Toys Wanted

2010-02-21T07:41:00.006Z

Chapter Art Centre (Cardiff) are looking for 200 handmade toys to use in a new exhibition.
'We are excited to be working on Helen Frik's forthcoming exhibition at Chapter. The exhibition, entitled Difficult will run from 2 April - 9 May 2010 and will feature the installation 'Higher Up, where to', which will fill an entire room of the Gallery. The room will be darkened with a vague light emitting from a greatly enlarged bedside lamp and an array of 'toys' will be placed trying their hardest to reach the lamp, to soak up it's warmth and energy.'

For more information contact Chapter here

Here's a sneak peek at my design (drawn very badly with my laptop pad!) 'Weird' handmade toys aren't something I've ever considered making before so this will definitely be a bit of a personal challenge for me, I will post updates of my progress as I go along!

(Content from www.chapter.org)

Wow Thank You

2010-02-21T07:25:00.003Z

WowThankYou is launching March 5th 2010!

The site showcases handmade products made in the UK and having had a peek at the web design the site looks great! Wow is a joint venture between Georgena and Tracey who have been working around the clock to get all of the new sellers signed up and our products listed.

I've been working on some new lines for the launch and can't wait to see them up on the website!

If you're interested in becoming a Wow seller you can find more information on their Facebook page

2010-02-20T15:25:00.001Z

Hello World and welcome to my new blog Art by Adora* I thought I'd start by introducing myself and telling you a bit about me so here goes:

I've just turned 30 and I live in the Welsh valleys with my cat Suki, here she is helping me set up my website

I paint, craft, DIY and generally faff about with things that result in me having a very messy house. Because of this I've converted my loft into an art studio where I can make as much mess as I like and nobody will ever see it!

I like to turn the contents of my recycling bin into lovely things that can be used again like these envelopes made from an old exhibition catalogue.

I have a big brain, its actually so big it doesn't fit in my skull properly!

I love random things like finding people sitting in sinks

....and fairies at the bottom of the garden