Experiments in rusting.

I've been wanting to have a go at transferring rust to fabric for a while, since I found out it could be done, so now I've finally given it a go and here are the results. 

I mixed three parts vinegar with one part water and soaked my fabric in it. I had some plain fabric, some patterned, some lace and some ribbon. I think you're meant to use white vinegar, but I didn't have any so I used ordinary vinegar instead. It seemed to work very well though. If you're trying this, you might want to do it outside ~ the vinegar can create quite a strong smell.  :o)

After a few minutes, I put the fabric on an old rusted piece of metal making sure it was all in contact with the rust.

I put the whole lot in a plastic bag, leaving it open for the air to help in the process, then left it for a day.

After the day in the bag, I washed my fabric, dried and ironed it and it turned out like this:

It works on cottons and synthetics, so you can rust whatever you want; fabric, ribbons, metal buttons or other metal objects to use in the project. It's quite fun to do as well. Now I just have to decide what to make with my rusted fabric.

Anything rusty can be used to achieve this effect. I think it gives a lovely colour and the patterns it creates on the fabric are completely random, so you don't quite know how it will turn out, which is really exciting.

If you would like to find out more about rusting, you can find it by clicking here: createmixedmedia.com/make/rusting-fabric-and-trims 

May/Beltane and the Herald of Spring

May is here already. Where has this year gone? One minute we're eating Easter eggs, the next we're dancing round maypoles. No, I don't really do that. :o)

May day is traditionally a celebration of spring and the coming summer, known as Calan Mai in Welsh. It is also called Beltane, a name which goes back thousands of years. The native British Celts celebrated the beginning of summer with bonfires symbolising the sun and its growing strength. There were various rituals involved, including one where they would build two fires and drive their animals between them in a cleansing ritual. They saw fire as a purifier.

So, to celebrate this time of year, here are some of my photos and drawings of tulips, as tulips are the first flowers, along with daffodils, to appear. This has lead to them being called the Heralds of Spring. Anyone who saw my Twitter posts this time last year might remember that I had a bit of an obsession with the tulips growing in my garden. :o)

I'd planted loads of bulbs the previous year, so it was wonderful to see them springing up and providing lots of colour along with pollen for bees. Here is one with raindrops on it. I don't know what it is about droplets on flowers but I think they look beautiful.

 

When I was a child, I used to trail behind my parents at garden centres saying, "Can we go now?" My mother would reply with "In a minute." That minute seemed to stretch out for ages.  :o)
It was one quite a boring thing for me at the time, though having said that, I did enjoy helping my parents in the garden when they were planting flowers. Now, I actually like going to garden centres to see all the plants on display and choose ones I like, particularly if they're good for bees and butterflies.

 

 

I love these tulips with the red streaks. They remind me of raspberry ripple ice cream.  :o)

There is a lot of symbolism with flowers. Tulips mean perfect love, fame, eternal life, opportunity, adjustment, advancement and aspiration. As they grow back every year, they are symbolic of resurrection and determination and they also represent attainment of spiritual awareness.

The colours of tulips vary their meaning, for example, red means love; pink means affection; yellow: cheerful thoughts or unrequited love, depending on where you look. Purple is symbolic of royalty; cream means 'I will love you forever'; white is symbolic of heaven and purity. The variegated ones are meant to mean 'You have beautiful eyes'.

You can find more on flower meanings by clicking HERE, HERE and HERE 

My mother bought some cream tulips to put in a vase a while ago and I ended up drawing them. I think the lovely thing about them is that they're not fussy, they have a simple shape and elegant form that let the colour do the talking.

I've begun painting tulips too. This is my first test painting.

 

I'm really interested in the symbolic nature of flowers because it brings more meaning to the art work they're in. It's not just a flower or plant that's represented, it's an emotion or message. The Pre~Raphaelites used symbolism in their paintings, such as the ivy in the image below, which adds to the story they were telling in each picture, showing the situation of the figures involved. Ivy is symbolic of the eternal. 

 

 'April Love' 1855~56 by Arthur Hughes

May this season be a good one for you.