HEDGEROW WINDOW DRESSING

As it is the end of Summer and beginning of Autumn, we, at the One Craft Gallery, have gone for a hedgerow countryside theme with briar roses, grasses, seed heads and boughs of greenery.  I made the roses from paper, which I painted and then waxed, to give a translucent finish.

My fellow window dresser,  jeweller, Caroline Tetley, turned up with half her hedge, which we have hung from various points in the top of the window! We have a feeling that it will dry out and turn brown as the Autumn season develops!

I have just decorated some 'hedgerow' gift bags to go with our theme, using watercolours and felt pens.  The gift tags were made from recycled packaging material, and the finishing touch was some self-adhesive glittery dragonflies...

WORKING IN LAYERS

My mixed media paintings are made up of many layers.  I feel it adds depth and interest when glimpses of what lies beneath can be seen.  To illustrate this, I have taken photographs of my latest work in its various stages in development.  It is called 'hazy, lazy days of summer'.  It was inspired by recent sunny weather and the feelings, sights and smells you get when lying in a wild flower meadow with the sun on your face.  Even better if tea and cake is on offer!

I decided on yellow as the main colour as I keep being struck by vibrant yellow fields of rapeseed and buttercups everywhere I go. I put together a mood board with my photographs and those of my friend, Dawn Porter.

Stage 1 - a 50cm square wooden panel is primed with gesso and painted with bright yellow acrylic paint.  Pages from a vintage magazine were torn up and stuck down with matt acrylic medium.




Stage 2 - patterned paper napkins were separated into their layers and torn up and applied with medium.




Stage 3 - pictures and words from a newspaper were cut out and added.  A border to represent the edges of a cloth thrown onto a wild flower meadow was applied and the area inside given a thin layer of gesso.




Stage 4 - texture is created  in the meadow area with modelling paste scraped through flower stencils and left to dry thoroughly.




Stage 5 -  the meadow area has a yellow glaze wiped over it and acrylic paint and gesso added to highlight the flowers and texture.  A green marker pen was used to add grass-like marks.  A piece of wood and cork was used to stamp on gesso to the tablecloth area.

A black felt tip pen was used to sketch the teaset,  cakes and more words onto a layer of napkin tissue.  Some paint was added before these were stuck on with medium.


Final Stage - now that the layers and foundation for the design are in place extra colour and details are added.  I painted on some dilute walnut ink for extra depth and acrylic paint and gesso to define the teaset and cupcakes. Flower shapes punched out of old letters  and bits of relevant sentences from old paperback books were stuck on with medium.  Next marker pens were used for extra detailing and metallic gold paint splattered over the entire surface.  It was all protected with a layer of UV varnish.

'hazy, lazy days of summer' (50cms x 50cms)