a no glass ceiling

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This is something I pulled out from my art archives, LOL. Made around the turn of the century and lying unused in a box in my now almost defunct yet stuffed art closet. 

I needed something for the Small Decorations game organised by splocik and for the last 11 months I've submitted various specimens of tatted lace. For this final month, too, I had a few small pieces and a to-tat list of a few more, which I was going to put together as tree decorations to hang as simple ornaments, to cover baubles, etc. However, this value addition didn't happen when I suddenly remembered I'd never blogged about this project. Had to look through several of my containers to finally locate them, but the search did throw up so many forgotten memories!

 

These are mostly leftover glass paints on transparency sheets cut into rectangles for bookmarks. All are freehand, free-style, painting outlines directly over the bookmark and then filling with colour.

 

The black outline is not fine and even in many of them because the nozzle wasn't cooperating ...perhaps because the squeeze bottle was running low on the colour. Yet I enjoyed giving myself a free hand, LOL.

 

These bookmarks remain unused because at times the paint tends to stick to the page especially in the hot summers we have here. Would a coat of varnish help? While I didn't try varnish, I did try to cover up the painted side with cling wrap. Nah, unless laminated, the wrap just spoils the look.

A failed idea and experiment.

The box contained another painting on an A4 transparency sheet - lot more detailed and fine, but the paint has peeled off in several places. Another one has remained fine, though. My largest glass painting (a Medusa), this one on glass was framed and adorned the study for several years. Now it is wrapped up and closeted.

Would the newer generations remember what a transparency sheet is? Are they still being used for presentations or put to some other use? 

I could've punched a hole at the top and tied a satin ribbon for a tail. But I was just plain lazy to collect the materials and put in those few extra minutes and effort. Part of the reason is that these are not going to be used as bookmarks and are too long to stand in for tree decorations. Hmmm, I could cut around the outline of a few of them, though! Now that's something for next year.

So these bookmarks are my submission for December. You can scroll through the beautiful range of  November submissions here - https://splocik2.blogspot.com/2024/12/male-dekoracje-2024-galeria-listopadowa.html

As requested by splocik, above is a collage of all my submissions for the entire year (there were two submissions in October).

I had tremendous fun thinking of what to present each month! And I didn't always have to make something special, though the game was instrumental in several. Glad I could complete the game!

UPDATE: December gallery - https://splocik2.blogspot.com/2024/12/male-dekoracje-2024-galeria-grudniowa.html ; collage of year-round projects by each participant - https://splocik2.blogspot.com/2025/01/male-dekoracje-2024-podsumowanie-i-3.html

Many many thanks, splocik, for organising such a fun event in a supportive and creative way. So much talent was on display through all the submissions!

Happy holidays to one and all!

Handmade Cards I

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Happy Holidays !

Season's Greetings 

& 

A Very Happy & Peaceful New Year 2015

saying it with an assortment of my handmade cards

(string art on paper, abstract collage, watercolours)

 

String Art / Embroidery on Paper

  

Watercolours

 

Collage Symbolism / Abstract

New Year Card :

The collage candles, my original artwork, has a symbolic message/wish conveyed through the size of candles, their relative placement, & their colours, as well as the intensity of the flames. If the past was black & the present bleak, the future will be very bright. The past is forgotten, the present is waning away, the future is looking brightly ahead. Or the past & present are/will become shining or treasured memories that will remain alive in us (as reflected by the flames). Shadows have not been added, because the black & grey candles (past & present) themselves act as a shadow to our life ahead.
I've used some sort of glossy paper for the candles & thin glossy magazine paper for flames [recycled]. In order to give it depth/3-dimension, the molten wax has not been glued down completely, & the candles themselves are glued over a thicker layer of paper. The telltale shadowy lines indicate the raised candles.

The string art on paper patterns have been taken from a book, the title of which I do not have. If somebody knows, I would appreciate you sharing the info so that due credit can be given ... These were made back in the late 80's, so the book predates that. It was a hardbound coffee-table kind of book with loads of lovely patterns, kindly lent by a friend.

Art I - What Should I draw? Ideas for Prompts

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Craving to draw?

Stumped on WHAT to draw?

If only there was an unlimited supply of ideas?

During my 5-year stint answering questions on Yahoo!Answers daily , especially in the Drawing & Illustration sub-category (of which I am still currently among the top 10 leaders], one of the Most frequently asked questions was : "What should I draw?"
Whether it is a person who is starting off, or who loves to draw, or an art student who needs to fill in a sketchbook, some time or other, we all face this dilemma. We either run out of ideas or encounter a tabula rasa where our brain was once so prolific with creativity & creative ideas !

This post is mostly about generating Generalized Idea Categories, each of which can then contain loads of very specific prompts. I will come to more specific/elemental sub-categories in a future post.  
Following is the first part of my answer (slightly altered) when the asker does not elaborate much :

I have uploaded a few of my watercolors done on card stock. These are almost 30 years old, hence the jaded, faded, & stained look.

In general :

• Nature, the great outdoors, the scene from your window, anything & everything around you, ....can tell a wonderful story.

"Over the Crest, No Time to Rest"
An original, impromptu water-color on card,
a scene through my window. ~ 1985

• From A to Z, think of a thing starting with each letter every day & draw it. eg. A for apple, apostrophe, apparition,... today ; then stuff with B tomorrow; & so on. Think of more than one thing, that will go together meaningfully, for each letter, & compose your sketch.

• Pick up a random word(s) each day from a dictionary & try to write/sketch a composition.

• Similarly with geometric shapes. Choose one (or 2) & develop some images with it. Combine into designs & patterns; play with angles, perspectives; create abstract & symbolic art forms.

"A Flowing Sun"
A simple, abstract composition using simple shapes.

• Free-flowing artwork, stream-of-consciousness type of art. Draw random lines, shapes, elements – line form or solid forms. Then sit back & let an image(s) emerge from the random chaos. Something like Blind Contour drawings but without any pre-conceived image/object. Highlight the images & figures that emerge from within - something from nothing. 

• Try to visualize quotations, lyrics, jokes, quips, tweets, slogans, etc. - give it your own interpretation & impression.

• Ask "what if....?" questions. eg. What if we had only 3 fingers in each hand? What if the stage curtain does not drop at the right moment? What if a character from Shakespeare met a character from Victor Hugo? What if we forgot how to smile? .... When you think up answers to some such  Qs, you can get some unique material for your drawings, besides stimulating your imagination & creativity !

• News items, current events, human interest stories, weather, etc. also offer you a Daily opportunity to draw something. The emotions they generate, the impressions they form/leave behind, the people & psyches you vicariously encounter, …

• Dreams, fantasies, interpersonal experiences, feelings & emotions, colors, ....

• Visualize & draw Traits – human/animal - & emotions, etc. eg. Courage, Love, Fear, Hate, Perseverance, Peace, Joy, Kindness, Naivety, etc. Make lists of words - adjectives, nouns, adverbs, .... Then conjure up images by randomly choosing any one from each list! A never-ending supply of inspiration for ‘stories’ by combining 2 or more elements .

• Depict Life stages or Rites of Passage such as Birth, Death, Adulthood, Maturation, Childishness, Teenage years, Mid-life crisis, Old age, Senility, Marriage, Widowhood, becoming a grandparent,....

• Think of some "story", incident, issue, anecdote, ... & try to depict them through your sketches.

• Choose characters from any book, comic, film, poem, etc. that you like & develop them visually. Draw them as you "see" them – your personal interpretation & impression.

• Mythological characters  & symbols. World cultures, religions, traditions, folklore, …. All provide a vibrant source of material.

TIP : For any or all of the above, you could do a whole Spectrum of emotions, expressions, positive-to-negative, and so on.

Pick one element each, from 2 or more categories to create a meaningful drawing.

INSTANT  PERSONALIZED  PROMPTS

Whenever an idea strikes you, jot it down immediately [yes, always carry some writing implement – pen & paper/notepad/post-its]. You will soon have a stupendous list!

I like the idea of making your own paper cuttings with tips & ideas & prompts. This idea was born from a pdf download of 100 ideas by Keri Smith. 

Write/type & print out Each idea Or each Element on a separate piece of paper. Fold & dump in a jar or bowl. Whenever you are in the mood, pick any one (or more) randomly & implement the idea. It can be like a never-ending Surprise stream of ideas & stories ! Keep adding to the jar whatever you find amusing, creative, any idea, website, activity, project, etc. etc. Oh what a stash you will have collated in no time !

These prompts can also include 

• different art genres/styles - challenge yourself to try something out of your comfort zone.
• different drawing implements - pencils, pastels, ink, paints, graphics, digital, markers, ...
• different times of day/night - play around with light & dark, hues & shades, shadows, ...
• different 'time-zones' - combine the traditional with modern, fantasy with reality, ...

At the cost of repeating myself, Combine 2 or more prompts/ideas to create Innumerable New versions :-)

TIP : Rummage through magazines, old greeting cards, old calendars, online drawing sites, etc. for tons of ideas to include in your prompt-jar.

Happy Drawing :-))

Would love to see your sketches & ideas !