Golden Nymph - Silk Art Quilt

“Golden Nymph” 50″ x 26″, Silk pic 1

Here is another of my quilting projects - this time it is not a bed quilt but an art quilt, a wall hanging and much smaller than the older projects. It belongs to the Asian series. The wealth of Asian motifs and ornaments I found to be very inspirational for a decorative piece on the wall - at the same time it was a reminiscence of my wonderful travels.

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The inspiration for this piece specifically came from a tiny golden sculpture that was found on Java. So I called it the “Golden Nymph”. I cannot even remember where I saw it - the image was burned into my brain and so I made this art quilt.

The gracefulness of this figure which is so typical for Asian women was for me the symbol of femininity. So I did not only want her to have nice hair, made up delicately and adorned with flowers, but also the dress to become something very special and sophisticated.

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Dresses or rather sarongs for special events in southeast Asia are wonderful textile artworks. Either adorned with embroidery or precious stones, pearls and golden threads or all of them, painted and hand sewn they are real wonders of craftsmanship and their production can take hundreds of hours.

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Most of these sarongs are very colourful - I decided to keep the colours more subdued and instead to emphasise the pattern of the dress which has been painted after the quilting, mixing golden pigments into the silk paint. I also added metallic pigments to the figure itself in order to remind of the golden statue.

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In order to create this image on silk I made a simple drawing which then was transferred to the cloth with a “light table”.
If you don’t use such a device very often it is not necessary to buy such a thing. What you need is the following:
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Tip:

2 neon light bulbs which could be connected directly to a socket, 4 cans with the same size (doesn’t matter if you take pees or corn or any other ) and a glass plate or thicker acrylic glass plate big enough to cover the neon bulbs between the 4 cans without touching the glass or acrylic plate. Best is to place the 2 bulbs horizontally in a distance from one another that matches the size of your glass plate.

Now you can place your drawing on top of the plate and the silk or any other thin fabric on top of the drawing and start transferring your drawing lines. Voilà - you have your light table. It helps to use strong marking lines on the drawing and the fabric should be quite thin. Here a 2-ply dupion silk was used.

As I already said the quilting was done by hand before the painting. Quilting on silk creates a lovely relief so that light and shadow form their own patterns. So the background pattern was thought as an additional adornment to the figure. A detailed image as below shows that pattern:

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A sleeve has been added to the back of this art quilt in order to hang it on a dowel. It also could be mounted on a stretcher frame if desired.

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This Art Quilt is for sale.
If you have any questions regarding this or any other piece of work please don’t hesitate to contact me. Your questions will be answered within 24 hours. Promised!

vyala@vyala-arts.com

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The Lovers - Javanese Chest (3)

Now comes why I have chosen the name! The motif is a devine couple as if it were an illustration from the southeast Asian mythologies. The style this couple has been carved in is Javanese, with that typical flat illustration of persons and animals that always remind me of egyptian portrayals in the pyramids, temples and tombs.

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The couple is sitting in a forest of lotus blossoms, the symbol for purity. The lotus plant is a common motif in all southeast Asian countries - so I used it as a reminiscence of the pure beauty of the whole plant.

Below is a detail image of the bas-relief:

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The last picture shows the filigree carving that goes all around the lid. You can also see the brass hinges that were used for this chest.

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The inside of this chest is covered with several layers of crimson red acrylic lacquer - a reference you can see in the post about the Chinese Chest - pic 10.

This Chest is for sale. If you have any questions regarding this or any other piece of work please don’t hesitate to contact me. Your questions will be answered within 24 hours. Promised!

vyala@vyala-arts.com

 

The Lovers - Javanese Chest (2)

Here comes the second part of the documentation. I am a bit behind the posts but try my best to not leave too large pauses in between.

This chest has been carved from pine wood again - please check our the last post below with the photos of the raw wood work. As it was supposed to be varnished with a dark colour again - mahogany colour - I did not remove the knotholes but left them as they were.

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What is different from the Chinese Chest is that the edges have been worked in a different manner - they are rounded. This implied adding another timber (looking like the piece of a cake in cross section) which was inserted between two adjacent panels and then rounded. You can see this in these pictures:

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The working process was the usual one: detailed drawings first which were transferred to the wooden panels - the carving itself took quite some time and finally sanding of the wood. Only after all these works the wooden panels were varnished and finally assembled with wooden dowels which have been glued into the wood.

An additional adornment was chosen for this chest: various parts have been gold plated to highlight the motifs. In order to not let it appear too prominent the gold has been sanded off again slightly to give it an antique look. After finishing that work the appropriate parts were covered with schellac (french polish) in order to protect them.

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(will be continued…)

 

The Lovers - Javanese Chest (1)

On the many islands of Indonesia you can can find incredibly beautiful hand made crafts - especially very filigree woodcarvings. This is the reason why so many tourists buy souvenirs which represent the country’s cultures and crafts, for us westerners a lifestyle with an exotic feeling, a completely different life. I have been attracted to these artifacts also, their intricate workmanship and they have become a treasure of inspiration for my own work. So how could I remain indifferent as an artist after those encounters?

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The carvings tell you stories about the rural life in the villages, their people and their animals. Also you can find an abundance of the whole exotic flora in the motifs of the carvings and paintings. These were specifically intriguing for me because I wanted to utilize these kinds of ornaments for my own work.

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If you have ever seen these motifs in real life you will never forget them. There is a magic spell on these tropical regions of this wonderful planet, regions which seem to own all privileges of a divine creation, which seem to have been preferred by all gods. For us westerners this appears to be the paradise.

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But as usual this paradise has flaws if you consider the fact that the tropical belt it is not only one of the regions of this world with the highest population rates but also inherits the poorest countries in this world. To extinguish the dramatic poverty in these countries seems to be an impossible goal for various reasons which I do not want to extend here.

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Although Indonesia is mainly a Muslim country with many other small religious groups such as Buddhist, Hindu as well as animistic religious beliefs, the lotus plays an important role throughout the whole archipelago.

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The lotus plant is a symbol for purity as the plant never gets dirty (think of lotus effect). Its buds are often used as a religious sacrifice or is part of all kinds of ceremonies. And the beauty of an open lotus bloom is unforgettable. And btw - the roots which grow in large rhizomes is a well known vegetable in all southeast Asian countries.

The lotus bud and sometimes the bloom and the leaves as well are motifs that can be found everywhere in southeast Asian countries. You can find it on carvings, stone sculptures, paintings and textile art.

The lotus plant is specifically affiliated to Buddhism. The lotus bud is even one of the 8 holy objects and represents the course of time.

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For the cover of the chest I chose the motif of a divine couple surrounded by lotus plants. Normally this would not fit into a Muslim country as to the fundamentalist interpretation of the Koran the portrayal of all living beings is not permitted. But as already mentioned there are other religious groups to be found in Indonesia who can practise their beliefs without restrictions and in general things are handled quite liberally.

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(will be continued)

 

Colour Inspiration…

As it is still the season of flowering gardens I have updated my “Blooms and Blossoms” blog with lots and lots of photographs.

The advantage of this blog is that you can search for colours as well as for names. This is something that could serve as an inspirational well for painting. What could be more intriguing than getting inspired by the colours of nature. It makes the creative juices flow and flow and flow…

I have also included not only the German names but the English as well as the Latin names for the botanics among the painters .

Some appetizers like these:

Do you need more?

 

Started Sketching again…

Spend the last few days in my hometown. I needed a break from my work and what could be a better thing to do than leaving everything behind for a few days.

Well - did not really think I would be able to paint or draw while talking of old times with my Mom between cooking and shopping, sleeping and walking the dog - the weather was not quite nice either but then on the very last day the sun was shining, it was wonderfully warm and we could sit in the garden.

So I fetched my little sketchbook I had bought a long time ago, took a pen and some watercolours out of the box and tried to do something I had not done for a long long time.

It felt strange and clumsy but then I thought about  Jana Bouc’s sketches which are always a great inspiration for me - givin’ me more than once a heartily laugh - so I thought what the heck - it’s not important what the outcome is - it’s important to do it!

No - the results do not shine but it was great fun to do something so quickly and spontaneously. I swear I am going to do this more often again…

That’s in the backyard alongside the wintergarden

Same place - only looking a bit to the right where a lovely Wisteria is growing above a pergola…

and this is my Mom - checking out some old photographies in a book…

 

Blog is celebrating One Year Anniversary!!!

On the 16th of June 2007 I wrote my first post with the title “Getting Started”.
The last sentence in that post was …”Let’s see where this is leading to…”

Within one year it led to:

98 posts
192 comments
23423 visits

I can only say that I am amazed.

• I did not think I would be able to keep up this pace and really write continuously for one year.
• I did not think that I would find a such a great pleasure in doing so.
• I would not have thought that so many people would be interested in the same things as I and even read what I write.
• I assumed that this blog would become more of a diary for myself, organizing and documenting my work progress and such but not really of interest for completely foreign people.
• I did not think that I would get to know so many interesting people, even friends with whom I am regularly exchanging thoughts and comments.
• I would not have found all those wonderful blogs and websites which I now visit regularly! What a treasure of inspiration and new ideas to find. And so much to learn from.
• And I would not have thought that I do not only keep one blog live but 5 What a wonderful crazy year!

Thank you all for this! It has been a great pleasure to get to know you and I am looking forward to another year of exciting discoveries and adventures.

 

How the Dragon Chest came to Life (3)

Following images do not only show the detailed carving on the cover with the dragon bas-relief but also the current state of the chest after 10 years of use! The layers of dust sometimes gave it a charming appearance of age…

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You see - there has been some heavy testing about the quality and how the wood behaves after that time in a heated apartment in winter and quite humid summers.
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The chest was filled with stuff, moved around etc. and besides some minor scratches at the bottom from the vacuum cleaner which can easily be repaired - nothing happened to the wood itself. It is as straight and without cracks as before.

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And finally the last image shows the back of the chest where I have added some more ornaments. Backs are usually neglected - not mine!

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End of this story…but there is another one to come…

 

How the Dragon Chest came to Life (2)

In the last post I talked about the negative development of crafts through mass tourism in southeast Asian countries (and of course in other countries of this world as well).

This development is really regrettable, as it was still possible to acquire high quality handicraft items 10 years ago for reasonable prices. What is offered today can be reduced to cheap mass ware and kitsch. Tourists often do not recognize (or do not care about) the low value of these items nor do they differentiate between cheap mass ware and really high quality hand made crafts. This can destroy the reputation of a whole region.

If you are lucky enough to be able to travel to regions where high quality crafts are still produced and where traditional craftsmanship is a prerequisite it is fascinating to watch how fast a sculpture or any other object is made with the simplest tools. Most of the artisans have “inherited” their profession from their fathers from generation to generation. Thus they learn from childhood how to treat the various materials, how to carve the traditional forms. This practice allows them to work that fast. The traditional work does not really permit spontaneity or individual design of a sculpture. One must understand this, recognize and accept the difference from individual art work.

Naturally there are uncounted highly talented artists in Asia who do not work traditionally or at least who do not work in this metier as described above, often even better trained (as in China) than in western countries. I am also not talking about the artists who exclusively work on replica of famous or less known art works and which are flooding the markets in Europe and the US to everybody’s dismay as well. These works - although possibly technically brilliant - are not what we would call a piece of unique and original art. A copy is a copy and a derivative piece will always remain a derivative, be it from China or any other country of the world.

Unfortunately there are enough people who do not want to make a difference and as long as there is a requirement for these replica there will be a market for them. It won’t just disappear. And there are always enough people who just want a bargain and even don’t care whether it has been copied or not.

A positive aspect of doing replica (and declared as such) could be that “art” finds its way into much more homes because it is “affordable”. It could have an educating effect in promoting art to an audience that would have never cared for it otherwise. Thus possibly the spark is planted for the desire to achieve a “real” piece of art work. So every coin has 2 sides again.

What I personally highly despise is the theft of images and works and the act of trying to disguise this. To steal the mental property of another artist (or any other person or company) is simply a crime. Also here the public needs more education as many people cannot or do not want to understand the impact.

Enough of this.

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Returning to my own work - carving a Chinese chest (I wonder what Chinese carvers would be saying about this - although this is truly my own design and not copied from somewhere else) - I decided to use pine wood. It is easy to acquire, relatively light although not quite easy to handle when you want to work very filigree, because you risk splinting all the time. The wood has hard and soft areas within the same piece. It was a challenge.

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Again I used chisel and a small electric chisel for the geometric ornaments, that was meant originally for the use of model construction because the various tools are really tiny but also very good for the filigree work such as mine, especially for the straight parts.

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My inspiration for this chest came from the patterns and motifs of old Chinese porcelain plates and bowls, which often depict images from the life of a rural family as well as scenes from the court or myth tales.

The Chinese letters on this chest are my own invention as I am not Chinese speaking - they are only decoration. I only hope that they don’t have any meaning…

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First step for the production of this chest were detailed drawings which then were transferred to the wood. Partially I used blueprint paper for doing this.
You can still see the lines in the following image:

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Usually it does not matter which kind of pen or marker you use on wood for marking your motif as it is carved away anyway. That’s the practical point.

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After the raw work the wood was sanded and varnished in the colour of Mahogany wood (before the single pieces, front, sides and cover were assembled)

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After drying the whole piece was treated with a finish on the basis of beeswax to make it resistant against moist and dirt - this also helps to avoid light scratches. After that the chest was polished with pure beeswax to give it a velvety shimmer.
In above images you can also see how the chest is assembled: with strong wooden dowels which have been glued into the wood.

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In the last picture below you can see that the chest also received a nice inside: just following the Chinese tradition there are several layers of acrylic lacquer (modern material of course) inside to give it a nice glow through the open work on the front.

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(story continues - please stay tuned…)

 

How the Dragon Chest came to Life (1)

Have you ever been so fascinated by something that it keeps circling in your head and occupies all your thoughts? So it happened with the idea of carving a Chinese dragon chest.

I am fascinated by this symbol and the apparent paradoxon: in our culture the dragon is something menacing, it stands for danger, it is always ready to burn and eat you but in Asian myths it is always a symbol for luck, protection and wisdom. Dragons can be found everywhere.

Well I wanted to bring luck and wisdom into my home and wanted them to stay there. So I decided to carve a dragon chest.

I had enough inspiration from my Asia travels. I was so overwhelmed by the awesome ornaments and wealth of forms that I longed for finding a valve for that in my own work. So I decided to carve this chest.

A chest has always an aspect of hiding and revealing something at the same time. Somehow it makes you want to open it in order to look what’s inside. True? Especially when it’s locked. The more it’s hiding its content the greater the curiosity becomes. Who would not want to find the key and open it - just to get to know which secrets it concealed. But maybe this is only an artist’s way to see things…

Even if you cannot follow this interpretation - the chest should be an eye catcher for a room and thus be a special and unique decoration piece. No more and no less.

And here it comes:

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Travels to southeast Asia have become quite affordable for people - 20 years ago this was a privilege for very wealthy people only. So the interest for foreign and exotic forms has increased dramatically and tourists do not only want to bring their memories back home but also souvenirs. There is nothing wrong with this but the negative effect is that the markets are flooded with cheap imports and also in the original countries touristic souvenirs lack quality in every respect, material and craftsmanship have become low value.

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And there is another problem. Often illegally cut tropic wood is used for these kind of touristic carving (if it is wood at all) and people will face a bad experience after some months when they are home again: in areas where you have a completely different climate, cold in winter, hot in summer you will realize that your wooden sculptures etc. will have huge cracks. This results from wood that has neither been stored long enough nor treated professionally in order to cope with a changing climate.

Carved objects for tourists are often hand made but never originals or unique pieces. This applies even for exquisitely made pieces you could have found more than 10-15 years ago. Mostly these artifacts derive from dynasties of craftsmen, who create these objects since many decades and their forms are standardized. They are traditional, follow the form of traditional requirements as they were originally meant for the adornment of temples and other holy places, in public places as well as in private homes. They are never newly designed and unique originals of an artist. Still they have been of high quality before the mass markets came into being.

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The tradition always requested that the artists and craftsmen did not change the standard versions of all those gods and goddesses which means that the figures we are so fascinated about even had to have the same expressions on their faces. Remember - the original request was to serve as ornament or object of worship in temples not as a souvenir for tourists. The increase of tourism in these countries only was a welcome addition to the family support.

The upcoming mass markets and the export of these products yet destroys the quality of the now offered objects. In the meanwhile you can order these pieces even through the Internet. A consequence is that middlemen make the big money - not the artisans. Although the items are mostly still hand made (because there are enough people to make them and this is cheaper than to buy expensive machines) they have become ugly and cheap mass ware.

It is sad to observe that in regions where tourism has turned into some mass tourism as in Thailand even the souvenirs are of low quality and merely cheap kitsch now.

Stay tuned - the story continues…