Design Inspiration. Planet Stencil Library.

The Mandurah Wearable Art Showcase 2019

The Mandurah Wearable Art Showcase 2019 is on now! I was nearly too late with this news the last day is tomorrow and if you are near Mandurah in Western Australia then run don't walk to book your ticket. The rest of us can visit the online gallery of the exhibits. The work, creative imagination and skill in these pieces is breathtaking. Here are a few from them from the Mandurah Wearable Art site.

I don't use the term awe-struck often but on this occasion, I will. On some of them, the term 'wearable' is dubious but 'art' is abundant. I am a total fan of theatrical outfits and my favourite designers are Alexander Mcqueen and John Galliano especially the latter's Dior years. Does it matter if you can't sit for dinner or run for a bus in these creations? No..that is not the point of them; just stand there and let others admire them, like a 3D painting.

I had been following the progress of Jacqueline Gibson because she is a close friend, extremely talented and was stencilling hundreds of butterfly shapes with our SIB15 Butterfly stencil. Jacqui wouldn't show me what she was creating until the official pictures were taken by Stephen Heath Photography and published to the wearable art gallery. Her garment is Suburban Splendour and is a wearable art piece which is surprisingly wearable.

After the Mandurah Wearable Art Showcase on the 15th and 16th of June 'Suburban Splendour' will appear again the Contemporary Art Spaces Mandurah from 9/8/19 - 22/9/19. Photos are by Stephen Heath Photography and Jacqui Gibson. Search YouTube to enjoy a film of the 2018 exhibits or follow my link.

PS. Jacqui wrote in the comments section of this blog and adds some interesting extras to the post, this is part of it. ' The Mandurah Wearable Art Showcase was fantastic, the designers are very talented and the garments exceptional; I am still surprised and very proud that Suburban Splendour was chosen to be part of it. I had been experimenting with felt birds to create the headpiece but they were not producing the ethereal effect I wanted when I read your post on your butterfly stencil. I am a great admirer of Philip Treacy’s work and knew then that your stencil would help me create my own version of the butterfly hat he made for Alexander McQueen and also add another floating layer to the main garment. Involved were lots of wire, dyes, acrylic paint, an old roller blind and things that would make a sewing machine repairer weep.'

Helen

 

Take a tour, take refreshment, take home something you created.

Last year I offered a new event at Stocksfield Hall, it was great fun and I fancy doing another. This time I am not setting dates. If you can get 4 to 8 people together and we can arrange a mutually acceptable time I will host it. Here are the details and a couple of pictures showing where you will be and what we will make.

TOUR OF THE STENCILLED HOME, TEA & STENCILLING A CUSHION

This is a variation on our traditional, tried and tested 'Tour of the Stencilled Home'. You get the full guided house tour around 12 rooms at The Stencilled Home. You'll be served with an 'afternoon tea' or an evening version. Then, everyone gets to stencil a cushion cover with an elaborate tile and border design (they take little room in luggage). It's an ideal creative, social get-together for a group of friends. Allow 3-4 hours.
DATES: By mutual arrangement. Ask us for availability. PRICE: £38.00 per person. Minimum 4 participants, maximum 8.

 

 

If you'd like more information or to book an event contact me.

Helen.

I think Carey Mulligan might be wearing my kitchen!

An image was sent to me a while ago and the sender wrote 'I think Ms Mulligan is wearing your kitchen, was this your inspiration?' Well, no it wasn't but it certainly looks that way when you see the two subjects together. I can not credit the photographer of Ms Mulligan but I think her dress designer was Gucci. I can tell you about the kitchen though; The stencil on the floor is from our range of tile stencils and the name is 'AM60-Hip To Be Square' you can order it from The Stencil Library website. A trailing flower and vine design winds over the dress and over the kitchen.  The stencil on the walls and gilded cupboard fronts is 'CH28 Mandarin' from our range of repeating Chinoiserie stencils in our Chinese Style collection. The gold bird features the same blue colouring as the teapot, stove and colander, the red is echoed in my kitchen accessories....which are of course stencilled too. I have just rediscovered the picture, I don't know whether the dress was a couture piece or available to others. The stencils are available though so you could create your own outfit to match with your kitchen.....or mine. 

Helen.

A stencilled border on a wooden floor, frames a room.

I have been corresponding with a lady in the USA who wants to stain her wooden floor and stencil a border around it so I thought it timely to show one that I did at home. It may help her and inspire you. The border could not be more simple it is a row of diamonds framed on either side by a solid line.

The solid line needs bridges or ties in it to stop the stencil from flopping but they can be painted out with ease, one just moves the stencil along a couple of inches and fills in the gaps with paint.

I used black acrylic paint to stencil the border and butted the edge of the stencil against the skirting board. Registration marks cut into the stencil facilitates a regular pattern repeat.  I could have mitred the corners in the room but I chose to put a motif in each corner. The motif sits inside a black square stencilled with the same paint.  Putting a square in the corner effectively chops off the border in a neat fashion so that you don't have to fuss with measuring to make the corners symmetrical.

The motif that sits in the black squares is a CS86 a Tudor rose motif from our Budget Collection. It fits with the style of the room and complements the border.  When the stencil work was completed I diluted the same paint with a bucket full of water to make the wood-stain and then just wiped the floor with a cloth dipped in the mixture. I decorated this floor more than twenty years ago and acrylic varnish was not as sophisticated as it is now. This floor had an oil-based varnish applied to protect it. Since then my floors are protected with acrylic varnish. It works well if one applies four or five thin coats. Acrylic varnish dries quickly so this can be done in a day.

The sisal floor mat was also stencilled, see how it was done here.  I hope you agree that the room looks so much better for having a frame of stencilled pattern around the edges.

Caserta Palace, painted and gilded ornament.

During a visit to my family that lives near Naples, Italy, I made an overnight excursion to the Royal Palace at Caserta. Built in the baroque style for the Bourbon King of Naples it is one of the largest royal residences in the world and has gorgeous decorative paintwork, gilding and trompe l'oeil. It has beautiful floors, highly decorated ceilings and some very fine furniture too but they can be featured in a separate post.  For now, we will take a look at the wall decoration, especially the hand-painted details including stencilling and marbling.

Caserta is described as the Versailles of Italy. I stayed in the 'Ma Maison B&B, Caserta' in an airy, spacious room that was shouting distance from the palace doors. From my balcony, I could watch the visitors arriving for their tours. I spent ten hours in the palace and garden but could have much spent longer. Take note, both are closed on Tuesdays...a fact that I missed when I booked my accommodation.

My first hour at Caserta Palace was blissful, I strolled empty enfilades and enjoyed close up views of the decorative painting, fabrics and furnishings before the school parties and the tours arrived....and when they did there were hundreds of children emitting the same excited screeches that I was guilty of when lessons were replaced with an outing. Above the din a teacher would yell "Silencio!" and all fell to a quiet hum ...but only for a few seconds. It was good-natured and amusing but I decided to visit the garden then tour the house again at four when things may be quieter.

The room attendants were interested to know why I was taking pictures of peeling paint on shutters and simple decorative effects such as pinstriping on the walls and close-up details of silks and wallpaper.

They would then show me fancier decoration such as pietra dura tabletops, fine gilding work and a birdcage clock hanging from the ornate curtains...complete with Linnet!

At The Stencil Library, we make classical-style stencils of borders and motifs similar to many found at Caserta; a good place to start looking is in our range of Regency and Empire style stencils.

At the end of this post, I will give a couple of useful links to help plan a visit. Meanwhile, I will let you enjoy a little more of the painted decoration in the palace without the Italian schoolchildren photo-bombing you.

Yes, it's painted. Caserta is around a half hour train ride from Naples; my sister in law drove me there and collected me the next day. There is a large car park under the palace grounds. There is a restaurant on site and several more in the town. I booked in advance but you can buy tickets on the day.

Initially, I decided to visit the palace after seeing artist Steve Schriver's beautiful snapshots of his visit there and then I was prompted to finish this post after receiving my newsletter from Schumacher wallcoverings and fabrics, in which Dara Caponigro and Francesco Lagnese wrote their memories of The Palace of Caserta, the town and their photo shoot for Schumacher.

Last week I was at Salon Chamonix 2019, where I was part of a gathering of international decorative artisans. Some of my friends at Salon paint this type of decoration and restore the decorative paintwork in such palaces and places as Caserta. The painted marble below was shown at Salon

and is the work of Chantal Siebens at Doublefaux  DoubleFaux, Antwerp, Belgium.

Pierre Finkelstein of Grand Illusions NYC USA is showing how it is done. Watching everyone paint is a delight. In a future post, I hope to show some work from previous Salon's, along with more of the interior and the gardens of Caserta....but for now, Ciao.

Helen.