Influences on my work no.2 ~ Animals

This is the second installment of the things that influence my creativity. If you haven't seen the first, you can find it by clicking HERE 

I've loved animals all my life. I realised a long time ago that they bring light and love into life and now they bring light and colour to my work. 

The animals that grace our world are so beautiful. They have patterns and colours in amazing designs and combinations and offer an endless source of inspiration. The tropical birds, for example, are brightly coloured and are an artist's dream to draw or paint. But even what we think of as dull coloured birds have colour. Starlings and magpies are not just black or brown or black and white. They both have a sheen to their feathers which glimmers an emerald green. I haven't yet painted these birds, but I plan to. In fact, I've embarked on a personal mission to draw as many animals as I can! :o)

I have quite a collection of feathers which I've picked up over the years, most of which have come from the birds that frequent my garden. I have countless woodpigeon feathers, blackbird feathers, a jackdaw feather and even a flamingo feather. No, I haven't had a flamingo in the garden. I got it from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre in Llanelli where they have a flock. Years ago, I needed feathers for a project I was working on during my degree so I went there to find some. I had a paper bag full. I couldn't quite reach the flamingo feather, so my mother, who was with me, reached right over to pluck it from the ground (not the bird! They were all feathers that had fallen off). I thought she was going to fall into the flamingo area with her legs in the air and I'd have to pull her out. Luckily, she didn't. Also luckily, she was wearing trousers! ;o)

 This is some of my work from that time. A print of feathers from a lino cut I did.

It's not only tropical birds that are colourful, of course. Puffins are gorgeous with their brightly coloured bill. They're also cute in the way they walk! Here's my drawing of a puffin.

And here's my painting of it.

 

As I'm talking about birds, here's my drawing of a barn owl. I think these are amazing birds. They can fly silently but the downside of that is their feathers aren't waterproof, so they can't fly in the rain.

And this is my rough sketch watercolour of a king fisher ~ another beautiful British bird. See? Our country is not dull ~ colour is there if you look for it.

As I said at the beginning, I love animals ~ all animals. To me they are beautiful souls who we should be grateful to share the earth with. I have had the privilege of sharing my life with three cats and a dog. If you've seen my blog before, you'll know I lost my beloved Rusty recently. I still miss him and wish he was still here. I've shown you this drawing before, but here he is again.

This is my other cat, Boots.

I sometimes wish that I could take all the animals which are in danger or are being treated badly in the world and look after them, keep them safe. We have taken over so many of their habitats and destroyed them, but we should be taking care of them. Animals don't destroy their own environment. They live in harmony with it, something we very often fail to do and they only kill to eat, to survive. 

I feel a deep connection with animals. The natural world is wonderful. Watching wildlife reminds you that there are other souls in the world trying to survive and get on with their lives, reminds you that you are part of a bigger picture.

I heard recently on TV that the hunter~gatherer humans who lived thousands of years ago would have considered the animals around them to be almost like brothers and sisters. They were much closer to the natural world and knew they were part of it. They gave thanks to the animals they hunted for giving their lives so the humans could survive. It's such a shame that we have lost the feeling of being among the animals ~ that so many people feel disconnected from nature and see animals as "things" rather than sentient beings which can feel pain and fear. 

We were wild once. We lived within nature, in caves and forests. Now we're cooped up in buildings and unless you're someone who actively goes to spend time in nature, we feel separated from everything else.
 

Yet in a way, those hunter~gatherers were correct: we are connected to animals. To quote Professor Brian Cox from his book Wonders of Life written with Andrew Cohen,

"All life on Earth is related - connected through our genetic code".

We share DNA with all animals ~ 99% with chimpanzees, 98.4% with gorillas, 97.4% with orangutans and with monkeys like macaques we share 94.9% of the same DNA. We're even related to plants. Prof Brian Cox explains further:

"... this journey can continue all the way back in time through our common ancestors with birds, reptiles, insects and bacteria, and no matter how seemingly unrelated to us these creatures become, we will still find sequences in the genetic code that are identical to the sequences in our human cells."

We're all in a big family tree! :o)

So, I hope you see why I love animals so much and why they inspire my art. They are beautiful and as precious as humans. I try to capture some of that beauty in my work.

From my drawings, I intend to paint these animals, as I have with the puffin, and also intend to translate those paintings into fabric to create pieces of textile art celebrating animals in all their diversity. I hope that whoever sees my work will enjoy it and it will inspire love for animals in others. If it makes people consider animals and their importance to us, along with how we treat them and look after them, even better ~ I'd be really happy.




 


Information from 'Wonders of Life' by Professor Brian Cox and Andrew Cohen. Published by HarperCollins.


 

Time Flies ~ Vintage Rose

Here is the 'Time Flies ~ Vintage Rose' version of the 'Purple Rose' I showed you last time. (See here.)

It was inspired by the same ideas as the purple version but this was based on old sepia photographs, fading handwriting in letters and memories of the past, of things that are no more.  

It was basically made to the same pattern as the last one, except I used a distress vintage spray to colour the fabric, the rose was printed in white and I used gold on the petal edges. 

I've also hand sewn the edges with a thread that has some sparkle to it. 

 

I printed the butterflies and script with a deep brown and the words 'Time Flies' with a white~gold mix.

 

The 'old gold' square around the rose was painted with a mix of gold and burnt umber acrylic.

 

Then I dyed lace with tea and painted patches of it with a mix of gold and white to give a more mottled, aged appearance. I sewed the lace on with machine embroidery around the edges of the square with an 'Old Gold' shade of thread and used the same pattern on the hanging strips.

As a last touch before sewing it all together, I painted the lace with Champagne glamour dust, so as the light hits it, it glitters and sparkles. I think you can just about see it in the main image. (I love a bit of sparkle!)
 
 

Finished Piece: 'Time Flies~Purple Rose'

Well, Easter is over and I'm stuffed full of chocolate. :0)

I've also finished my work in progress which I shared with you a while ago, so here it is:

I've called it 'Time Flies~Purple Rose' because it was inspired by old lace, mottled fabric and the timeless quality of the rose. I hoped to represent the passing of time, slightly faded objects, the idea of things that were once new but have mottled and are beginning to wear away. There's also the idea of looking back, wistfulness for the past.

I began by colouring the background fabric, then I splattered paint over it to create the mottled effect. I printed the rose in the centre, then the butterfly and script around it, along with the words 'Time Flies'.

After that, I painted metallic paint on the edge of the petals and hand sewed them with metallic thread to give lustre to the rose. (Also because I like shiny things :0) )

I applied some purple foil in a square around the rose to act as a kind of frame, making the rose the focal point.

I painted strips of lace with varying shades of red, blue and purple, again to give a mottled, slightly faded look.

Then, I machine embroidered the lace in place around the foil square.

I made strips and embroidered them with the same pattern at the edges and then sewed the whole thing together with the backing fabric.

I'm working on another one now in the same style but a different colour; a 'Vintage Rose'. I hope to show you that one soon.

I hope you're having a good start to spring and the sun is shining for you. :0)