Since I can remember, Cuba was a place that I dream of, a constant source of inspiration, a place that makes me smile. I have never set foot on this gorgeous island and it;s a dream that I continue to dream….
It made me so happy to hear that Cuba is free… as free as it can get. You wonder why I talk about Cuba on a lace making blog and an art blog…..
Let me tell you why!
Cuba is the inspiration for my next WIP fashion accessory collection ..so stay tuned and hopefully we can show you a little bit of Cuba here in Australia.
The pieces will be bold, colourful and inspired by the white ginger La Mariposa the national flower of Cuba!
And since it;s getting hot here Down Under, it;s time for a Mojito! Recipe here
When it comes to art, I think it;s best if you try a lot of different brands out and make sure your hands are getting used to a lot of different pencils, brushes, colours, etc…. Try, try , try and for an opinion.
I studied art and when you do that you kinda work with so many brands and in this time of learning you form your opinion on art supplies.
Being half German I guess it made it easier and I did not have to trial and arrow my way into the art supplies world! I grew up using Faber-Castell and Stabilo as well as Pelikan , etc…
The other half being Romanian I grew up colouring with colour wheels. In Eastern Europe it;s the way to go, and I can only recommend Koh- I-Noor Brand from CZ.
By now you should know, I colour and everything has to be bold and colourful…. so typical of Queensland LOL … I guess specially after living for a few years in New Zealand, ( those who lived there and are not true KIWIS , know what I am talking about) you are tired of seeing black …. Yeah it;s elegant, bla bla … but Black onion look is not IN anymore and it;s damn boring….
But back to the Pastels!
Like all artists I l have one brand that I love to work with when it comes to pastels, specially SOFT-PASTELS I love to illustrate with Pastels from MUNGYO
This brand is from KOREA and is doing an amazing job!
My favourite medium when it comes to illustration is to use watercolour. Well since UNI I liked to experiment and mix colours… I use these Soft Pastels like I use Watercolour Pencils.
Try to draw a line with the soft pastel…. Add a little water to your brush and start colouring.. Are you amazed now? The pastel, specially the soft pastel, acts like wonderful watercolour.
I do not collect stamps even though I found them very interesting and the most interesting part was to see what other countries have as stamps.
I found some amazing examples of stamps from all over the world that actually celebrates lace makers, lace making and crochet. Unfortunately I never found an example from Romania, celebrating Romanian Point Lace, a sad moment since we are so famous for lace making.
Here are a few examples from Germany.
There are many more countries that have great lace inspired stamps. I guess it;s a pride and identity moment once these stamps are released.
You send a postcard place a stamp on it and it goes around the world. It represents a part of your country shows value and beauty.
A cultural moment that is celebrated not only in lace making but also in introducing it around the world. Early advertising I guess.
Brazil has a long history on lace making and crochet, since the slavery time so I guess it;s quite natural that they have some stamps celebrating lace.
But what do you think about the stamps from Australia? Quite funky I guess to see the bobbin lace tools. I love the stamp from France it’s so bold and so delicate.
This one from Hungary is amazing, the Halasi lace, the colour and design is stunning.
Spain of course has a lace stamp as well. A very traditional design with a fabulous pattern. Spain is very famous for bobbin lace.
So how do you see stamps now? Do you collect them?
Adult colouring….. it;s not only a trend I hope so….
Adult colouring is about finding the time to relax, to battle with insomnia, with anxiety and stress.
I started a while ago to teach Art therapy and understood years ago what it means to colour, to deal with colours , via my day job as a designer. Understanding the colours and the way they make us feel, is not a light subject, and maybe via this wonderful art adult colouring books trend, it will be easy to understand for more people.
While teaching art therapy it became clear that colours are very important to people, probably more then they think or see. So I continue to dig deeper into the world of art therapy and did a course on Reiki and art therapy. It;s like a new world of possibilities open up and even I as a pro on colours understand it better.
I started to work a while ago on an adult colouring book that actually triggers the therapy part of the colouring. The way the elements are put together for example the water lily dress in the image above… it has a colour combination that is relaxing… green for the leaves that not only stands for HOPE , relation to nature and love and self -love. It symbolises also a balance of give and take. Because it sits in the middle of the colour wheel, it shows that it’s capable of a great visible balance.
The complementary colour is RED so the water lilies can be red or red related…..
I believe that by using to colour this page, with the corespondent colours, Green, white, red, etc…. to match reality it;s relaxing for the heart. Every colour is measured in Terahertz. GREEN for example,has a frequency of 580-530 thz.
The associated Chakra for Green is the Heart and the related organs are the Heart and the breasts. So, you see how colours are very important!
It;s also very important that when you colour, maybe try to escape and relax into a fantasy world of colours. Fact is you deal with reality all the time so it;s time to escape into a world of colour.
The image above is an escape into a world of fantasy. A cocktail glass with a landscape inside and a pack of fries with a lipstick in it. Have a giggle and relax! Life is short to be so serious!
Or how about this one a funky sunflower crown portrait with funky waffle blueberry pendant earrings? So go crazy and colour!
Soon this book will be available as a PDF format. You ask why pdf? Well many reasons…. I did some research and some serious thinking how to publish , how to make is convenient for people. So here are my PROS for bringing it out as PDF format.
You can pick the paper you actually want to use, that way you can pick your medium easy as well.
So if you want to work in watercolour, most books can;t take water, because it will bleed on the other page and it will might be damaged
We all have in every book a favourite page and post of us start to colour that particular page! Well when it;s in a pdf format, you can reprint as many as you like and try to colour that same page in many other colours, building a series of the same piece.
You can frame it easy with out damaging a book.
It makes a great gift, if you want to give a single art piece to a loved one or a friend.
Another benefit is that you can change the size of the page and make it larger or smaller according to your needs
I believe one more benefit would be to be able to colour online as well, if you would like to do that as well. It can be easily be transformed into a desktop background.
I know the CONS would be that you need to print is first and that you can;t have it hand first, but once that love for colouring is there is should not be such a burden.
I will bring it out as a PDF first and if the demand is there I will bring out a limited edition version of it as a traditional book. But the limited edition one needs to be pre ordered! It will be available on the website in the shop section Books, Kits and Pattern.
What do you think about adult colouring books? Would you buy pdf or hand copy?
Lace has always been something you wear, or something you decorate your home with… well not anymore!
Lace is changing the environment and our world. Artist like NeSpoon change our grey world and make it fun! Please check out her work it is amazing.
So next time you think Graffiti, think detailed instigated lace work, because NeSpoon left a mark on Warsaw, and the world. She made some sad parts of the city smile again.
Enjoy!
xo,
Lorena
PS: Two more thread introductions, and the long awaited top ten threads will be uploaded soon!
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How do you use Pastels, if any?
Brazil has a long history on lace making and crochet, since the slavery time so I guess it;s quite natural that they have some stamps celebrating lace.
