For Queen and Corgi the micro business that I started with my friend Sabina Rose got a colourful and humorous feature in The Journal newspaper today.
The pictures spanned two pages and there was even a teaser on the front page.
Northern Englanders can pick up a copy from newsagents today, everyone else can read it here. Thank you Jane Hall at The Journal and photographer Paul Norris. Our hand painted, Jubilee inspired bags can be bought from the Stencil Library shop or on line at Folksy.com
This large canvas is the work of Tricia from Zoom In.
She has stencilled, painted, decoupaged, gilded and generally made an interesting piece. She calls it Thank You Mr Edison and in her post Tricia shows you how she created the picture. I can tell you that the large chandelier stencil was code no VN210 but for all the other details like paper singeing, gilding with sparkle dust and other intriguing details you'll need to visit her blog.
Pearl Earring was painted by Michael Chippendale for Art Tour 2010.
She was one of four celebrity portraits that he created for the occasion. Many people admired her. Pearl was bought from us last week and I went to hang the painting in it's new home.
She now looks totally comfortable at the foot of a staircase at the end of a long gallery. I'm not sure who was happier with the result, the new owner or I.
The painting is my husband's interpretation of the famous Girl with a Pearl Earring by Vermeer. Vermeer's portrait inspired the book and more than one film of the same name. Chip's version is painted in uniformly sized dots that resolve themselves into the recognisable image as the distance from it increases. The new location allows Pearl Earring the space to be appreciated, she can be viewed close up and at distance. Her new residence is stunning, it is the home of an accomplished artist and features a lot of the artist's own work.
I think Pearl looks very much at home there. For a while she leaned against the wall in Chip's studio watching him paint. You probably would not guess from this picture that the face that he is working on is Muhammad Ali. The other two portraits in the collection were Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn. Since then he has added George Washington, me and Queen Elizabeth to the collection. Some have been featured at the Chippendale and Morris site and I'll get the others on there soon.
I was trying to help a reader with a decorating dilemma customer yesterday and recommended that she check out the blog of Stephanie Jones at Mr & Mrs Jones paint finishes because I knew that Stephanie had designed a stencil that may be the solution to my readers problem. A little later I found myself with a few free minutes and decided to spend them checking in with the aforementioned Mrs Jones. Imagine my suprise when I found that a current post showed a very pretty and unusual use of our own Chinoiserie Tree stencil. Now I have seen photographs of other projects that Stephanie has created with this stencil, it is a pricey one so I am glad that she is getting lots of use from it. Fabulous chandelier ... I am experienceing sparkle envy. I met Stephanie at a stencil convention in Memphis TN a couple of years ago have mentioned her blog on a couple of occasions, it is always a treat.
Other creative blogs that are on my speed dial are Theresa Cheek at Arts The Answer. She has just self published a beautiful looking portfolio of her work and this post tells how she did it.
Regina Garay at Fauxology gives us delicious champagne inspired decorative finishes for a fizzing New Year.
Di Overton at Designer's Block shares alternative festive decoration ideas with leopard spot cake and a life size lichen covered tree in the lounge.
I was going to link you to Angela at Spinach Tiger's recipe for anniversary red velvet cake but chose blue cheese with purple potatoes instead. Dribble, enjoy.
Melanie Royals author of DesignAmour visited a stencilled house over Christmas (no it was not mine). She stayed with her family and gave us a tour of the lovely finishes that were achieved in their home with a handful of stencils and a great deal of flair.
Pink Bow brings us beautiful images of a north east English winter in her Christmas post. See circus acrobats, outdoor movies in our city's streets, steaming coffees and tree decorations. The ordinary made extraordinary...drrreamy and gorgeous stuff.
Whilst I am having a couple of days of over New Year I shall be visiting more of my favourite blogs and finding out what other creative friends are working on, but for now I am closing the office for the weekend, putting on my coat and visiting the winter carnival in Newcastle. Happy New Year.
Helen x
If you are in or around Hexham, Northumberland you have until December 10th to see Icons and Abstracts a collection of works by artist Susi Bellamy. The exhibition is showing at the Robinson Gay Gallery. Susi used to be a resident of Florence, Italy. Whilst visiting the Accedemia Museum in Venice she was trapped by the twice yearly floods that hit the city. Susi spent the hours wisely, she sketched the key components of Italian iconography.
Susi employs techniques of gilding, collage, print and is now incorporating stencilling into her work. She reckons that she is drawn to collage from her days as a fashion editor for Conde Nast. She says I can not help but crop and edit!
She has just sent me some photos of the work with stencils, they are looking good. Another time I will show those.
Helen.
Meet a hugely talented decorative artist Gina Wolfrum.
I am in awe of Gina's talent and admire the decorative landscape that she creates. Her painted ceilings, I think are my favourite.
Look at the detail, when she sent me the photo it was titled 'night sky-3,600 Swarovski crystals'. Eeeek, I thought that my guestroom was sparkly with it's 600 crystals .... but it looks a little pathetic compared to these. Gina writes 'I should note that all I ever use are Swarovski crystals... nothing shines like them... and pictures never do them justice' She might be right, click on any picture to enlarge it.
I met Gina recently but had read about her work in Modello By Design Vol 1. Published by Melanie Royals.
Gina often employs masking patterns made by Melanie Royal's company Modello Designs.
Modello are masking patterns cut from an adhesive film and this makes them extremely useful for creating intricately patterned painted ceilings. The Modello books volumes 1 and 2 feature inspiring photographs of works created by artists using Modello patterns.
You can preview or buy Gina's own book Elegant Ceilings by Elegant Finishes. Luckily the lady is not afraid of heights, I got giddy just looking at the pictures in her book!
Gina is based in Ohio and never seems to be short of work. Her repertoire is not restricted to ceilings....You should see what she does with walls and floors.
Helen.
An unusual and inventive way of using the Allium stencil appears on this manicure bar at The Chicago Lash Lounge. The decoration at the lounge, is pink, playful and lots of fun.
It was the artistic creation of artist Morey Curtis-Dunbar of Painted, Brookfield, Illinois. Morey stencilled the allium seed heads over another stencil of funky checks that she bought from The Stenciled Garden.
A quite different interpretation of the allium stencil came from Spike Morris at The Stencil Library. Spike stencilled the alliums onto a plain wall, not quite as inventive as Morey was...but then he is a cat.
Helen.
I was totally thrilled to receive photographs of the first stencil projects from two students that attended our recent introduction to stencilling day. The first pictures to arrive were sent from Muriel Cavaille.
She has used the designer blossom stencil from the larger than life collection. The blossom stencil is made up of lines and dots. The stenciller fits them together to make their own pattern, no two will ever be the same.
This was the work in progress
and now the bed is back in place.
I noticed that Muriel's stencilled colours echo those in the fabric. She thanked Rachel for helping her choose paint to stencil with and wrote 'In the end I went for pewter, the nice dusty pink, and mixed some crimson with a bit of metallic rust to take a bit of the brightness off. I also used some cream emulsion and some pale gold that I had already.
Muriel added "I'm very pleased with the result, I'm not sure I set off to do something so bold but I'm happy with the way it turned out, it's a definite statement and I'm very proud of it"
I reckon she should be.
A day or two later Gail Rusieski emailed pictures of her first stencil project since taking the class. Gail has used stencils based on designs by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
She wrote "I've been putting my new skills to the test at home, I thought you might like a quick look at my results so far. There's a border in a bedroom, plus very quick but effective jobs of 'upgraded' cushions and a lampshade in the living room."
I am impressed that she stencilled a curved, plastic lampshade, that's a tricky surface especially for a new starter. Gail continues "I'm very happy with how they have turned out and I'm planning another couple of larger projects too, now I've gained a bit of confidence and experience. ... It's so satisfying to make something original and personal without having to be Michaelangelo!"
I don't have any more classes scheduled for this year but we arrange private ones for small groups and there is a demonstration of stencilling techniques on our tours of the Stencilled House. See side bar for dates of the next ones. Rachel and I appreciate seeing the work of our customers and thank you Muriel and Gail for letting us show them. I rather like Gail's quote about Michaelangelo too!
Helen.
Whilst I was away last month Chips painted a portrait of me.
Can you tell that it's me? Not yet, I hope.
Here I am 'hanging' in the studio.
The painting of is the latest in the series of Modern Mosaics that Chips has been creating for our Chippendale & Morris collection. The choice of using my face instead of the usual bright young things that he selects was not just a romantic gesture, no, the pug dog face that Chips painted last month was the romantic gesture. This was a test to make sure that he could make portraits from customer's photographs. He said it was tough to find the right photo and he had to view quite a lot before he saw a picture strong enough to disassemble into dots then reconstruct as a recognisable image.
This may not have been the actual photo that he used but it's pretty close. I am wearing one of my favourite hats, I bought it at Subiaco Hatters,West Australia and it has travelled the world with me.
The dot painting of the pug dog deserves a post of it's own...it's coming soon.
Helen.
I am away until 10th of August.
I shall be visiting Pennsylvania, New York and Virginia in the USA then British Columbia in Canada. I hope to find interesting ideas, places, people and product to introduce you to.
First stop is the annual convention and expo for stencilers, faux painters,muralists and other interested parties. I will be teaching two classes, both are intoroductions to the versatility of the stencil tool. I am hosting 'Double Vision' with Melanie Royals of Royal Designs and Modello Masking Patterns. It will be four hours of the pair of us trying to share loads of knowledge and experience whilst teaching twelve of our signature techniques. We will be showing loads of slides of our own work and those of other stencil artists that we admire. Some of these artists will be teaching or selling at the convention.
The other stenciling class that I offer whilst in Hampton is a basic grounding in how to use stencils successfully. Students receive the stencils in the photo above and over the next few hours we will experiment with loads of techniques
This is what the International Decorative Artisans League. have to say about their convention.
The International Decorative Artisans League will host its 26th Annual Convention and Exposition in Hampton, Virginia from July 20 to 24, 2011. This historic city, currently celebrating its 400th anniversary, sits at the confluence of the James River, Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. Hampton offers IDAL attendees a great urban location in the mid-Atlantic region. Minutes from the Hampton Convention Center is Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, the cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach, and local sandy beaches. The downtown waterfront area has a vibrant tourist and social scene, with museums, galleries, shopping, clubs, restaurants and numerous water tours of the scenic James River, Chesapeake Bay and Norfolk Naval Station, the largest U.S. Navy base in the world.
IDAL looks forward to welcoming our members, teachers, vendors and guests to Hampton in July of 2011. Pack your tools with your beach towels and join us in Hampton!
Tempted? You do not have to be a member of IDAL to attend the expo part and there will be demonstrations of many techniques and products. It is open to the public on Friday 22nd noon til 6 and Saturday from 10 til 6. I'll be there signing copies of my last book, the new one won't be ready in time. My friend Carolyn from Stencilwerks.com has a booth where she is selling my stencils along some that she designs herself. She will be demonstrating stenciling at the booth.
If you are member of IDAL you can join classes on stencilling and many other decorative arts or related business. They are hosted by some of the best teachers in the world. See the whole list of the teachers, read their bios and link to their classes here. Teachers have traveled from The Netherlands, France, Sweden, Great Britain, Canada and several states in America to share their knowledge at this convention. If it is too late for this year then check out IDAL's site, become a member and get in early for the next one.
Speak to you soon... or see you there!
Helen.
