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The 2 vintage boxes above grabbed me today and got me thinking…. I found them on one of my trips to France in a little old messy antique/secondhand corner shop in Asnieres sur Seine. I kept them as an item I thought I would eventually sell in my vintage shop Ateliernostagi
Now, I find them too precious to let go of. Instead I’ve decided to use them in a future art project.
Look at those marks….
Life is too short to hold onto precious things and pack them away into boxes and cupboards. Waiting for the perfect time to use them or, pass onto family and friends, who really aren’t as interested in them as you are.
Enjoy and use them while your still here!
To me, they look like some sort of storage box that may have held wooden or metal letter stamps. Maybe a hold for jewelers burs, or counters…
Too hot to go to the studio today (43 C – 110 F) so I’m working in the house studio. Messing up the the large table, workbench, I just painted for Xmas dinner. It will now become stained and marked until, I paint it for the next event, or next lot of visitors.
Making collage with vintage and rust papers.
The process of tearing and pasting helps me to slow down and be in the moment. Something I need right now after the rush of appointments and Christmas.
I’m using lots of old paper and pages from antique French magazines disintegrated from age and torn from the long trip back in my luggage, from Paris.
So, I have been using them in my mixed media and collage projects.
On one trip to France I bought home a heap of middle eastern cake papers. I think they were $1 a pack. So I got a mix of colours. They are great for adding pattern and texture.
The inside of window envelopes have great patterns for collage. I often use envelopes to make little books and peepholes in the book pages.
New collages and paintings now available in my gallery
Collages – created from vintage papers on 300gm thick water-colour paper. Some of the water- colour paper has been dyed and baked to give an aged appearance. Size 29 x 19cm.(Unframed) Signed with “Certificate of Authenticity”. ( Please click on images to purchase artworks )
Paintings – Bright & bold abstract painting’s with splashes of deep, bright colours, with layers of marks and lines. On deep sided canvas. 92 x 92 x 2cm. (Unframed) Ready to hang. Signed by Artist with “Certificate of Authenticity” ( Please click on images to purchase artworks )
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Exploring objects and textiles is keeping me away from painting in the studio at the moment, but that’s ok, because I’m not just a painter…..
Today, I have been working with time and nature but, now it’s too hot to do anything much, as the temp in the valley has reached 39 Celsius and getting hotter.
I get torn between contemporary and lush, extravagant. Old bones, textiles, rusted wires, watch faces, bits of stick with moss , vintage cosmetic bottles and handmade French influenced, embellishments are on my bench.
Memories and feelings keep flooding back from my times spent in France. Especially touched by Versailles palace and other places in Europe and England. Old history feeds my creativity.
Old rusted wire and found textiles are twisted and sewn with gold threads and remind me of couture and Versailles decadent history.
Formed into fragments that will probably be part of something else.
This one looks like a weird kind of bird.
I’ve also had the de-clutter bug lately so its feels liberating to use up stuff Ive been hoarding for ever.
Art and recycling goes hand-in-hand in the textile and mixed- media side of my arts practice.
My artworks are often
created from old, discarded clothing, vintage and antique textiles,
papers and found objects. I enjoy making use of stuff that has had a
life already; a life that is often purely functional and as far
removed from ‘art’ as you can imagine.
I’ve been recycling all my life to make art. As a child, I pulled apart, old clothing and nylon stockings “I used to collect fabric waste from mum’s sewing and knitting basket, making wall hangings out of that.” Nowadays, I cut up my own clothing and others, antique quilts, vintage linens, fancywork and men’s suits.
The process of searching and collecting materials, is also, a very important part of my art’s making. It may take weeks, months, even years, to find a piece that talks to me. Most of the time though, a fragment of fabric, clothing or object, will trigger off the idea. I collect and document many of the pieces I find, by labeling or remembering, its history of when & where it was found. This gives me another layer to work with.
The search for
materials has taken me to many weird and wonderful places over the
years.
The sometimes, dodgy, back streets of cities, in Barcelona, Italy and France. Markets and charity shops in Australia, France and England. Underground spaces, abandoned buildings, coast lines and vacant beaches. Friends, family and strangers, have also, donated materials to use in my work.
By transforming old,
recycled and reused materials, it enriches the stories I like to tell
in my contemporary art and gives a new life, to materials destined to
be wasted and thrown away.
3 New mixed- media collages on 300gsm watercolour paper (Unframed).
I like to create new visions, by recycling and dissecting vintage papers that I may, or not hand paint with acrylic paints and inks.
Process – On a background of strong 350gsm artist water- colour paper, I add layers of acrylic paints, fragments of vintage papers and random marks, using French ink pens.
I grew up in a “make do and mend” family, where nothing much was thrown away and would be mended or, re-purposed into something else, therefore, many of my textile pieces are hand- made, created from antique & vintage sourced materials and may include, discarded, abandoned, found objects. I have been working with textiles all my life. My mother was a dressmaker and as a child, I would collect the fabric scraps and make wall hangings and soft sculpture.
“TurkRedghost” series
Sometimes the antique textiles I work with, seem to yell at me, but mostly, they lay silent, as I make my own marks alongside, others gone before. Ragged bits, old and new stitching, tracing marks left behind on old textiles are a reminder, of a time when women, had many obligations and few choices. I feel comfortable, as I stitch, tear, dye and reinforce the fragmented pieces. Somehow, I hope, in a small way, by reclaiming and reworking the textiles, I can give a voice to those women.
After exhibition blues has hit! I’m all painted out at the moment, but still enjoying some textile pieces Ive been playing around with for a while now. Looks like some old photos and found objects will make their way into the project too. Please see “Spaces Below” exhibition details in the sidebar on the right.
Ragged bits , old and new stitching, tracing the marks left behind on, 120 yr old textiles.
Memories and ghosts from the 1800s, remind me, as I work, of a time when women had many obligations and few choices.
A time when, women were completely controlled by their fathers, brothers and male relatives and their sole purpose in life was to find a husband, reproduce and then spend the rest of their lives serving him.
If you were to break free, you would be crucified, ridiculed and seen as “not normal, insane, bullied and tossed aside.
The textiles from the 120 year old quilt toppers I work with, sometimes, seem to yell at me, but mostly, they lay silent, as I make my own marks alongside others gone before.
I feel comfortable, as I stitch, tear, dye and reinforce the fragmented pieces.
Somehow, I hope, in a small way, by reclaiming and reworking the textiles, I can give a voice to those women.
Just like in my own life, when I was powerless, art gave me a voice to express myself, where once I had none.
As a small child I pulled things apart. Even, before I could talk, I ripped apart dolls and toys. I used to make little displays, installations of the fragments and other discarded things. Today I still pull things apart. I find fragments more pleasing and sometimes, even more interesting than the original object.
Recently, I pulled apart an old chair that had been hanging around for years. The wood was still good. The cloth and leather had grit and rust, just perfect for sculpture. The rustic bits and pieces also related to some textile fragments, I unpicked from an 1800’s, quilt topper. I’m still working on outcomes and painting has crept in too. Below are some pics of the process.
As, mentioned in an earlier post , (Vintage Pulp Fiction Collages) here are some photos of my published article last year, in “Sew Somerset Summer 2016” magazine. (Now Sold Out) I have also included below, how you can to make your own mixed – media collage and drawings from damaged books. I get really addicted to making these little artworks and love reclaiming, tattered books, destined for the garbage, giving them a new life.
Supplies:
Supplies: Damaged vintage “Pulp Fiction” books, or any other book Acrylic gesso paint. Coloured pencils, pens, inks, crayons etc. (I wouldn’t use felt pens as they might seep through) Vintage fabric. (Damaged, stained, vintage tablecloths, tea towels, even old doilies) Glue stick Needle Threads (any colour)
Equipment Cutting mat Box knife or scalpel Scissors Sewing machine (Optional) Small cheap paint brush or, sponge brush A few rags for wiping paint or glue
Instructions Carefully cut or tear out a page from the book. This will be used for your artwork base.
To stabilize the delicate book page, paint each side with acrylic Gesso paint, leaving sections of text, and images showing.
Now for the fun part. Once the Gesso paint is dry, draw, paint, scribble and smudge, onto one side of the paper only. You can use paint, coloured pencils, ink, pens etc. Start gluing on bits of found text and images, cut from other pages in the book. It doesn’t have to make sense. It’s fun creating nonsense “gibber jabber”
Next, cut a piece of vintage cloth, about 1 inch – 2cm. larger, than the book page.
Leaving the edges of the cloth raw, hand or machine stitch the cloth to the page, on all 4 sides. Without being too precious, make random marks, by stitching and detouring across and through the piece, as you like.
Continue working on the collage with more stitching, marks and text, until satisfied.
Note: On the underside of the collage the stitching will have left some very interesting marks. Two artworks in one!
Displaying your artwork
The finished artwork could be displayed in a conventional frame, or in a double sided, glass or acrylic frame. As an installation, hang a piece of string from the ceiling and peg the artwork to the string. Both sides can be viewed when it swings around. Several collages could be used for journal pages, book making, or just as a piece of artwork to sit on a shelf in a special place.
Tips
Using damaged vintage books and vintage fabrics, adds to the character of the artwork and saves it from landfill.
Collect found papers, textile scraps and text to make collage.
Old books can be found cheaply, from second-hand shops, flea markets and library throw outs.
A sharp scalpel is very good for cutting close to the book spine.
Add a tiny amount of water to your Gesso paint to make it more translucent.
To give your page a more aged appearance, stain with a tea dye. Put any amount of tea bags in a sink, 1/4 filled with hot water. Plunge and leave until stained, then bake the page in a low oven for around 10 minutes.
The process of transformation. Time, change, erosion and decay are qualities I like to celebrate. I examine and explore, the properties and possibilities, of my material and want to push the boundaries of something to get a deeper understanding.
In my latest project, I’m working with textiles over a 100 years old. I want to work with the worn and deteriorated textiles and collaborate alongside those, who in the past, so carefully stitched, mended and created, the pieces for comfort and warmth.
Each piece was once, carefully hand -stitched and now, breaking down and worn. I have very selectivity pulled apart and unpicked areas, and kept some intact.
Some areas of fabric, are so badly worn it breaks in my hands, so I have to reinforce it. Most pieces though are just left in their original state.
I then, like to push the process further with, natural & rust dying methods, mark making, hand stitching and painting with caste iron, botanical paints.
Numerous times, I expose the materials to the elements to experience the changes.
Getting to the essence of my material helps me to translate and describe its being. I rarely know the outcome of my projects and just go with the flow.
To construct my 3D objects, I have used various methods: eco rust and Japanese Shibori dyeing, molding, casting, curing, sanding, chiselling, engraving, embedding, propagating, tearing, burning, sealing and finishing. To create the pieces, I combine hard and soft materials: industrial concrete, found packaging, lichen, moss, seaweed, vintage glass, cloth fragments and rusted found objects.
Congratulations on having your artwork and article published in Sew Somerset!
Earlier this year I was approached by Stampington & Company in the USA. to write a feature article, about my mixed- media collages, for their magazine.
Today I am happy to announce my article and artwork has been published and is featured in the latest, “Sew Somerset Summer 2016” magazine.
My paper mixed media collages, are created from old, damaged, vintage pulp fiction book pages, vintage pieces of linen and more. I will post photographs of the article and where you can buy the magazine soon!
Rust & Shibori. Vintage Cigar Tins. Work in Progress.
A heap of vintage cigar tins in the process of change.
Vintage buckle, Japanese Shibori dyed scrap. Rusty fence wires and Victorian silk buttons were purchased from Penny’s antique and vintage mixed media supplies. Faginsdaughter
Old rusted door lock and fence wire with weaving made from beach- combed finds and indigo cotton string.
The beginnings of a textile book.
Rust and indigo dyed wall piece
Finally, another tin. Metal detector find, central Victoria, 1800’s suspender buckle, rusty wire and rust indigo dyed doily scrap. Unfortunately the beautiful buckle broke in this installation. It could be made from gold, as it was very soft.
I may use some of these artworks in my next solo exhibition, “Wallmatter” in July
A couple of altered postcards. I call them “postacards”. When I’m in a creative slump, I pull out a box of vintage postcards, found papers and tear, cut & paste. Weird things happen when you throw in unrelated images together. A whole new narrative is created.
Vintage cards collected from all over the world
This is one of my first postacards I created using paper off-cuts from other projects. Its a bit of a time- machine embeded in an underground chamber.
D’arc time capsule
This one is untitled for now. 3 ominous figures, guardians or threatening invaders.
You may remember a couple of years ago I wrote a post ‘Letters from the Border” about my entry into Landfillart Projectwhere I had to create art on a car hubcap . Below is the latest update video I received about the project.
On June 1, 2011 The Associated Press released a wonderful wire service news story about our international Landfillart Project.Our story was featured in hundreds of newspapers and many broadcast television news stories.