Swirls, twists and silver

This is a small piece of a wallpaper sample I got from B&Q a while back, known as Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen Cote Couture Wallpaper. 

I picked it solely because of its use of pattern, the damask type of patterns found on fabric where two types or thread are use to create a pattern within the very surface of the fabric.

 

The choice of tone and metallic colour is particularly interesting as it seems to refer to how in traditional damask fabrics, often one thread would be shiny whilst the other would be dull, presenting a pattern that would be shiny, standing out against the dull coloured surface. . 

The damask is made up of floral shapes, petals, leaves - shapes often called paisley motifs as well as vines and other kinds of twists. The paisley itself has particular reference to the Greek motif of a tear drop

The wallpaper itself is not the best kind in terms of practicality, it rips and gets scuff marks quite easily; not the most hard wearing of wallpapers. 

More details about the wallpaper at B&Qs website.      

Peices of emulsion 'rock' forms

These kind of look tasty from a distance (if colourful things had food like taste to them),

but they don't smell of anything and feel very chalky - no surprise as I used matt emulsion

paints to make these by pouring emulsion mixed with a little glue onto plastic sheets,

from which the paint pieces then peeled from.  

I define these more as paintings than anything else, their forms are sculptural but their brush like strokes and spills of colours portray the personality of a painting and are reminiscent of colour field painters - with their staining of canvas, where as I have poured colours from tins of emulsion.  

 

 

 

I was hoping to include these in my degree show somehow, preferably making bigger pieces but because of their fragility I decided against it. They are brittle and crumble very easily, even after mixing three parts paint with one part PVA. Needs more experimentation.

Archived Snip: Independant Traveller 5th January 2013

I just tore this scrap off and recycled the rest, so basically I can't list where the photo was taken.

No doubt a place with beautiful architecture I think.

 

Testing Sumptuous Plum and Teal Tension

Photos form some recent experiments on paper and an old cotton bed sheet,

using emulsion colours from the Dulux range:

The rich teal that becomes more blue than green here

thanks to being watered down and mixed slightly with white.

Bits of Dylon dye powder dropped it begin to absorb the wetness around them.
A 2B pencil drawn set of random lines.

The shiny silver effect upon emulsion is actually quite pretty.

 A bold pink that I have really began to love.

It is a very strong and bold pink - like a hot pink? 

The effect of these strokes is done by putting some white paint down first,

a thick blob that is then brushes out into a line or shape, and then

a bit of a colour on the same brush that is then brushed out on top of the white.

Not too much of the colour otherwise the effect isn't as strong.

Painting on cloth is something that really interests me at the moment -

the way the paint seems to react alongside a material that

rarely carries something so heavy as emulsion or wet ink.

Again white paint is laid out and then some random

splodges of blue are added with a smaller brush.

Unpicking knits, pilling and colour

I had hoped to re-use this knit but as of yet nothing has been done.
Originally a scarf, I am guessing it was discarded because

it was bubbling up (another term is 'pilling'),

but the colours are still really beautiful and

the wool itself is soft with a nice

golden metallic thread running through it.