LOVE IS IN THE AIR!

LOVE IS IN THE AIR is the theme for the Valentine window in the One Craft Gallery this month.  Red hearts, collaged hanging hearts and lettering plus a range of Valentine cards and gifts made by members completed the picture...

  

VALENTINE CARDS FOR THE GALLERY!

It will soon be Valentine's Day so I have made some cards to sell in the One Craft Gallery.  This year I have kept away from the traditional pinks and reds and tried some different colour schemes.  I have used screen printed or hand painted backgrounds and added hearts cut from hand painted papers.  In addition old maps and cut out lettering was collaged onto some of the cards below... 

SNOWDROP AND HEART WINDOW WINS A PRIZE!

Last weekend was the Shepton Mallet Snowdrop Festival and Storm Dennis!  Despite this, it was a huge success and the festival goes from strength to strength.  At the gallery we had put together a hearts and snowdrop window to celebrate both the snowdrops and Valentine's Day. Our window won the prize for best dressed window at the festival, due in part, I am sure, to the enormous snowdrop and gorgeous cushions made by Liz Oliva - see top left pic.  Liz is a member of the gallery who makes fantastic hats...

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

My valentine cards this year are pure collage, using painted papers and text, with extra marker pen embellishment.  Each card has at least one heart that is outlined in a broken line simulating a running stitch which provides a focal point...

LATEST VALENTINE CARDS!

Here are my latest valentine cards.  This year, I have tried to give my cards an urban twist!  For the backgrounds I have painted layers using acrylics and black and white markers.  The idea was to replicate graffiti sprayed walls. On top I have added bright shapes and text.

The above cards are made by cutting up experimental pieces of artwork that I have done, but didn't work as a finished works of art.  Once they have been cut up and a few strategically placed shapes added, they have a new lease of life as cards...

The card above right was done as a commission.  I was asked to make a valentine card for a guy to give to his girlfriend with a Lisbon theme.  This is because they would be staying in Lisbon on Valentine's Day!  I took a fantastic copyright-free photographic image by Daniel Angele of an alleyway in Lisbon as my background, and collaged on the birds and bunting which has LISBON and the date spelt out on the hearts...

CUBE ART FOR VALENTINES!

I have been working on art for Valentine's Day, as that is the next event in the retail calendar.  It is good to have plenty of cards and small items to sell in the One Craft Gallery...

These art cubes were made with this in mind.  The one above has made use of old copies of the New Musical Express to add 60s song lyrics and typography.  The cube below has used some of my favourite punches and hand-painted papers...

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE!

As it is Valentine's Day tomorrow, I am showing you the window dressing at the One Craft Gallery, that I did with fellow member of the co-operative, jeweller, Caroline Tetley.  We used old lexicon letter cards to spell out - 'All you need is love' and a red and white colour scheme. This included red hearts - some that I had collaged a few years before, using suitable paper napkins and old dress patterns!

RECYCLE OLD ARTWORK FOR VALENTINE CARDS!

One advantage of clearing up is finding old sheets of experimental artwork that can be recycled!

I found these two pieces which were done several years ago.  I thought the colours would be ideal for Valentine cards, so I cut each one into four, and worked on them.  I added collaged papers - some my own hand painted ones, and other bits from magazines. I used matt medium to attach the papers. I then outlined the cards in black felt tip and mounted them onto cream card stock. The cards above come from the background shown on the right.

I did the same for these cards - background shown above.  Once the artwork was cut up, I looked at the shapes, lines and patterns to help me decide which way the design should go...