Monets' Garden

Welcome,

l realise this post is a bit of a departure for me and l really hope it's entertaining, after all this blog is for you.
Claude Monet has been my favourite artist as long as l can remember, l love that he painted exactly how he wished  and dedicated his life to it. What l also relate to is that his paintings were almost entirely inspired by his garden, (more specifially the colour in his garden) and although Monet painted many subjects over his lifetime, his garden/lilypond paintings are the ones everyone remembers, in fact he spent the last quarter of his lifetime painting the surface of his lilypond.



Gotta love those colours.

Oscar Claude Monet is on the right.

A few weeks ago when this post was in the planning stages l thought l would try my hand at his style (again).  After blocking in the actual picture ( left hand picture) l loaded a 3 inch paint brush with paynes grey, yellow and green paint, (acrylic) and started laying down the colour. After placing the colour l fiddled very little with the result just adding a few shadows and flowers, as l wanted it to look fresh and spontaneous. The picture on the right took half an hour to produce and although (hopefully) it looks passable from a distance, as soon as you enlarge it you'll see it's a big mess. Anyway it was a lot of fun, but it's certainly not an easy style to copy.

About 18 months ago l had the good fortune to fulfill a long held dream of mine, to visit Monet's garden in Giverny near Paris. (This is the pic l've tried to reproduce).



Here l am standing on the famous Japanese bridge, staring into deep space, having a jolly old time. It's hard to get the bridge to yourself but...... no matter.

Monet absolutely loved things Japanese and Japanese art in particular, he collected numerous works and had them (still does) hanging throughout much of his house.

I've made this pic really big so you can see the water lillies in bloom and the Japanese bridge in the distance. How lovely is it... so serene. You can see that the crowd has thinned out and at this stage hardly any one was around.

One of his many famous waterlilly paintings. The colours are spectacular.

This is Monets' house where he moved with his family in 1883 when he was 43. He would spend the next 43 years here before he died.



This is the kitchen as it was then and still is today. You are not allowed to take photos inside the house, and in fact if security catch you, they take your camera and delete the photos, and they follow like a dog looking for a bone.
l found these interior photos here galenfrysinger.com  after a huge amount of searching, they were apparently taken from postcards.




One of the bedrooms, you may notice the Japanese art on the walls.

This is the dining room which shows up much more yellow than it actually is.
His decor would have been very " out there" back in the day.


If this post has inspired you to pick up a paint brush, l'll leave you with a couple of Monet's quotes from, thinkexist.com


No one is an artist unless he carries his picture in his head before painting it, and is sure of his method and composition.”


I would advise young artists . . . to paint as they can, as long as they can, without being afraid of painting badly . . . . If their painting doesn't improve by itself, it means that nothing can be done - and I wouldn't do anything!”


Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.”




Did you enjoy this post. l've really loved sharing my special artist with you.


Til next time.


Bron.

Bohemian Royale

Welcome,

It's not often that we see an interior that evokes powerful feelings of resonance, however browsing an old mag from 2002 the other day l found such an interior, for me it's as relevant today as it was then. It seems the deep and authentic reflection of the owners' soul empowers it ageless and timeless. 

Charlie Green is a British born makeup artist and this post is inspired by the interior of her New York apartment, although since the article is so old she probably doesn't live there anymore. l've had to take the photos directly from the magazine (Elle Decoration UK edition March '02) so please excuse the not so great quality of the pics, but l so wanted to share them with you.

The photo to the left is of Charlie Green looking very much at home in her beautiful space. My interpretation is on the right, on the day l took this pic l could find absolutely nothing with a British motif , however the American flag Levis and the Madonna jeans from the 80's still fit the bill nicely. Also included is a antique gold frame, and mirrors, white rosary beads, vintage plastic bangle and velvet roses.

Individually these pictures would not have the impact that they do, simply because they have been pieced together so stylishly.

l really love the creativity of finding, styling and photographing.

You may notice the leopard print heels have never been worn (though l've had them for years), l always knew they'd come in handy for something........

Such a pretty image of the area above Charlies sink,

My re-creation showing feminine pink and white vintage china and rosary beads.

Her Jesus statue reminded so much of mine, l just had to include him. You can see that l've found some gold spoons which much to my surprise had a British emblem on them, which l've placed with a vintage ruby glass.

This pic shows just how eclectic Charlies taste is, also combining an Asian influence with her vintage, bohemian ,religious, British style... Whew!  Really works for me.

Below is an image taken in Melanie Greensmiths'  house which l sourced from villaanna.blogspot.com
Melanie is the founder of the iconic Australian fashion lable wheelsanddollbaby.com which her and her husband Mark McEntee own and operate.

There was something about Charlies' style that reminded me of this image of Melanies' house........ maybe it was the leopard print throw.

l hope you enjoyed this post as much as l have putting it all together.

Til next time,
Bron.

Summer Garden

Welcome,


This week l've been out and about in the garden. Mainly just weeding and deadheading the roses, but even that has been so time consuming. Usually this time of the year is quiet out there, but with all the rain we've had it's an endless (but necessary) task, (especially if l don't want to have to machette my way to the front door).

The garden is quite large (about half an acre) and is divided into sections, not rooms as such, more just large beds planted in differing styles. There is a native garden, a tropical garden as well as English/cottage style areas, amongst others. The garden provides much inspiration for my paintings and given the choice l will paint flora above anything else.

Below is another of the  Australian native paintings l've done. It's a flowering gum and you may also notice the butterfly in there.











The full length of one fence line of the garden is covered in ivy, although it's a noxious weed and should be removed, it comes from our neighbours yard so there's not a lot we can do about it (l think if we removed it the fence would fall down). Having said that, it looks rather pretty and to enhance it's appeal, we've placed a row of lion heads half the length of the fence about 2-3 metres apart, (kindly gifted to me by a friend).
In this pic you may just be able to see the second and third head in the distance. l couldn't get them all in as the ivy is very dense.

Since there is little of Summer left, l wanted to do another outside shoot, so l took out some bright summery sarongs and vintage chinese lanterns (from the 60's). l've then hung the sarongs casually around the gazebo and strung up the lanterns. In the Winter l'll (hopefully) be able to remember what Summer felt like. Of course the minute l stepped outside it began to drizzle with rain, but l persevered none the less....

l had to put my peacock in the pic as he matches the end sarong so perfectly.

The garden chair holds a faux geranium in a terracotta pot, the beautiful pink sari is adorned in gold thread, wish l was brave (and tanned ) enough to wear it.

Below my Oriental Lilly is really putting on a show.

In the tropical garden you can see "Tropicanna Gold" canna lilly,(with the purple leaves in the background), and the common yellow type in the foreground. 

Thanks for dropping by



Bron.

From teatowel to cushion

Welcome,

I'm sure it's been a busy week for many of you with kids returning to school and trying to restore routine after weeks of chaos, ( l remember it well).

l have been trying to finish a couple of paintings for the local Art Show which takes place in March, but although l started about 3 weeks ago l haven't even finished one yet, so l have been trying to get cracking. l find myself distracted by so many, and the smallest of things that l can't settle and concentrate for long. Being an artist has very little to do with talent and a lot to do with concentration and work. Just as well as l don't have to support myself with my art .....l'd starve.

Below is a couple of sketches of famous people (l hope they're recognisable) and l do these every now and then, as a way of really looking and translating that onto paper. It's a great way to know if you've "looked hard enough or well enough" as others either will, or won't, recognise what you think you've seen and drawn. (Am l rambling again... sorry)
Any way to the left is Natalie Imbruglia and to the right is Janet Jackson. These were done in the nineties and weirdly, it seems just like yesterday.

If you want to experiment with portrait work, my advice is not to try and work flat, always put your drawing/painting on an angle (like on an easel) as otherwise the face distorts. Not sure why, but it does.

When l came across this tea towel it just reminded me of the many prints that l have seen lately on French style cushions in the homewares shops, and in magazines and blogs that l've looked at.
Above is the uncut cloth with the trims l used . All the lace was tea dyed beforehand so the cushion would have a more cohesive look.
l just cut it in half and sewed it together with the lace in the middle. After adding the trims l popped in a calico insert to give a neater finish and hold the fill, once that was done a little bit of hand stitching to close it all off and ...Voila!! 

The lace is pleated in the corners so that it sits flat and doesn't buckle.

Image theparisapartment.wordpress.com 


Thanks for visiting.


Bron.

Micro Mosaics

Welcome,

l usually try to keep blog life separate from the news of the world, as l suspect that many people, like myself, use it as a bit of an escape from reality, but sometimes events just can't be ignored and the widespread floods in recent weeks are a prime example.

It's been another difficult week for many people and now the rain has passed they have to go back and assess the damage, and try to put their lives back together. Especially for those who have lost family, friends and beloved pets, their lives are altered forever.

Here's hoping that caring thoughts, constructive community action, and monetary aid relief , allow all those affected (and there are many) some much needed hope and positivity as they move forward in difficult times.

This week l wanted to bring you a story that began many hundreds of years ago when a studio was setup in the 1500's in the Vatican to produce mosaic replicas of altar pieces that were becoming damaged in St. Peters' Basilica. These became popular as momentoes for tourists and so began the story of commercial Micro Mosaics.

Micro Mosaic is when small pieces of either glass, or enamel are arranged in such a way that they represent a figurative image. Very early examples were produced as religious icons, or set into panels on furniture and later as pieces of jewellery. They reached their peak of popularity between 1820 and 1850. Early examples of jewellery are very rare and expensive. Those that are found now are generally early to mid 20th century pieces, and below are some of these.


Shown below are some mid 20th century pill boxes, a bracelet that l suspect may be 1930's and a necklace that is also probably 50's. The bracelet and one of the pill boxes were picked up quite recently so still can be found and bought for a song.
 

Pieces are often dated according to the mount or frame they are worked into, as well as hallmarks on later pieces. It is believed that the backs of gold Victorian brooches are flat and the 20th century ones are generally rounded. If buying an item be sure to check if all the pieces are intact, as it is almost impossible to replace missing parts.

Here are also shown some examples of vintage petit point needlework, including earrings and small perfume bottle which interestingly came with a tiny funnel.

Below l have shown some pics of Patti Silvermans truly beautiful home.See more here.

http://www.countryliving.com/homes/.../rose-vintage-home-0507  

Her house definitely has the wow factor.

Photographer: Ellen McDermott.

Bron.