Yes I know the old saying "Better to Give Than Receive" and I do subscribe to that sentiment most of the time.....but in this instance I have to say I was way more thrilled to receive!
Last week I got my 5 art squares from the Swap sponsored by Jillayne @ http://quiltingfabrications.blogspot.com a wonderful fabric artist whose work I admire. I was so excited to be a part of something I had never done before and I am so glad I did! As much fun as I had making my 5 squares for the swap I have to say receiving back 5 squares from various artists was WAY more exciting!!!
Being a consummate artist Jillayne made these lovely gift purses to hold our 5 treasures! A beautiful card and precious little cloth heart was included!
And now onto the other gorgeous creations .......
This lovely quilted bird was created by Lucille, a dear friend of Jillayne's who hasn't joined the blogging world yet but I am so looking forward to when she does. Aren't the buttons and topaz colored jewel for the eye a wonderful touch? Lucille also took the time to quilt this beautiful piece! I love the colors, subtle and Autumnal perfect for this time of year!
This amazing artist is named Genevieve and note how the center of this piece is 3 dimensional! It's like looking through a window at two friends exchanging gifts. She added a rich red velvet backdrop that just shouts Christmas to me and sets the holiday mood! The detail on this piece is unbelievable!
http://spunbyme.blogspot.com/
What can I say, this is so precious! Who doesn't love a sweet little girl with her crown and magic wand at the ready to bestow happy holiday wishes on everyone? This wonderful artist is named Marie and her art work is such a treasure.....note the glitter on the wand and the music sheet in the background, it is a piece of fabric! There are vintage buttons added for a homey Christmas feel. As soon as I saw this little girl I thought she should be named Charlotte!
http://appleshoe.blogspot.com/
Imagine how excited I was to see this little cutie....I love birds and this little fella looks like he is going to come flying right at you. Appleshoe I had never owned anything felted before and now I can see why it is all the rage! I love the texture and dimension, the bright red berries add such a wonderful punch of color! I love the shiny filament around the edge as I am a big fan of anything that sparkles. This little guy's label says he is a Tufted Titmouse! I love the little black bead eye as it seems he is looking right at you!
http://nookcrannygifts.blogspot.com/
And finally the last Holiday treat is this fabulous piece by Michele who has a lovely blog with her mom where they create beautiful vintage pieces that speak of a time when family was all you needed to make a holiday special.
The background is a music sheet "Home Sweet Home" appropriately with a sweet picture of grandma reading to the little ones in front of a fire. The special touches that Michele and her mom added are a little wooden boy in a lovely gauze bag adorned with a rusty jingle bell! A sweet bit of vintage green lacework runs along the side! Wow!
I can still not believe the work everyone put into this swap! I am so honored to have been a part of it and again I have to say ..thank you Jillayne, for all the work you put into it (and it was a huge amount of work) for your help and patience. Getting to know you and all these lovely artists was the real prize! I am so looking forward to devising the perfect way to display my precious squares for the holidays and for many years to come whenever I bring it out for Christmas I will be reminded of all you wonderful ladies and your very talented hands!
Sweet readers.....do yourself a favor and please do visit the wonderful blogs of all these lovely ladies, it is well worth the time!
Tina xo
Well my five pieces of art are finally done for the art swap organized by Jillayne @
http://quiltingfabrications.blogspot.com/2010/08/swap-update.html (Big thanks to Jillayne for being the inspiration)!
Each artist had to make 5 little pieces of art in whatever medium they chose. The only restriction was they needed to be 5"x 5" with a Winter/Christmas theme.
Each artist will receive back 5 different pieces by 5 different artists...isn't this exciting?
I'm not even sure how many participants there are but I am sure it is going to be a smashing success!
I decided to do a bit of mixed media. I had an idea of what I wanted to do but it took some planning to finally get it to where I wanted it. I started with bristol board and used it as a frame of sorts. I took some soft fine fabric I had and used it as my painting surface. I decided to use gouache and tempera (which are water based) so I had to seal the back of the fabric to stop color bleed through. Then I chose to pad the back of the design with cotton batting for a raised effect. Some ribbon sewn around the outside edge helped raise the design, and the addition of silver glitter, silver paint and then clear glitter around the outside edge gives it the icy winter look!
So tomorrow 5 little Snow Princesses are winging their way to British Columbia to make their debut at the Art Swap....I am going to miss you little guys..sniff!
But I can hardly wait to see what everyone else chose to do!!!
I just love to paint but taking the pictures of the painting is another story altogether!
It seems hard to capture the subtlety of some of the color applications. Oh well I probably need a special lens and right now I have to make do with the camera I have.
Still I think most of the colors do stand out a bit but I wish you could see it in person!
I do the background in acrylic but ended up covering the canvas with oil paints. The silver edge and dark green edging are acrylic though. I added micaceous iron oxide paint to the green as it adds a bit of texture and a very subtle glow.
I have some ideas for a series of pastel paintings of roses that I hope turn out the way I am envisioning them.
But first I have the Art Swap challenge I need to pull together, being sponsored by Jillayne at A Fine Seam @ http://quiltingfabrications.blogspot.com/2010/08/swap-update.html
I am sure it is going to be the most fun ever!
