Quilling
A teacher friend of mine recently re-introduced me to the art of Quilling. It was an artform I’d seen before but completely forgotten about until she showed me what she was creating with her 4th grade students! I was immediately hooked and have been slowly researching about the craft with the hope of one day integrating it into my own art. The pictures above and below are some of her students’ work! Amazing, aren’t they?!
If you’re like me and enjoy learning a little history along the way, here’s some info on Quilling you might find interesting:
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Quilling is the art of coiling thin strips of colored papers and shaping them to form patterns and pictures. Over the years this craft has been called PAPER-ROLLING, PAPER-SCROLLING, PAPER FILIGREE, MOSAIC, AND QUILLING; today you will know it most readily by the name QUILLING. This craft is believed to date back to Ancient Egypt, and over the centuries quilled art has matured into many forms. In the 16th and 17th centuries nuns in the monasteries of France and Italy perfected the craft, and later the genteel ladies of Europe built an even greater range of technique to the artistic possibilities of quilled art. Nuns decorated reliquaries and holy pictures, adding gilding and much ornamentation to the coiled paper making it difficult to tell that it wasn’t real silver or gold filigree. Ladies of leisure in the 18th and 19th century Europe enjoyed creating panels and coats of arms, as well as ornamented boxes, frames and even tea caddies. In the past century quilling has continued to grow in popularity.
At its infancy this artform was reserved for the church or the elite and “leisure class” crowd, but now it is an art readily available to everyone. There are many places you can purchase supplies, books, and kits to get you started and I’ve included some links below.
Happy Quilling!
Quilling Resources:
Check out Cecilia Lorett’s wonderful creations on her ETSY site.
Where to get Supplies:
Book recommended by Cecilia Lorett
Reference & Research: HERE, HERE, and HERE
Inspiration: Eggs
I am working on egg images at the moment, and having a lot of fun playing with my watercolors. Eggs are fascinating to me; all the colors, sizes, and varieties … they’re simply gorgeous!
When my boys were little they always loved eggs. I remember them begging me to buy the REALLY expensive container of tiny little quail eggs at the grocery store just to keep in our refrigerator to look at (we weren’t allowed to cook them). To this day I love dying Easter eggs, and when I was a little girl I would blow out the insides of eggs, paint the shells, and make egg ornaments. Eggs symbolize life, rebirth, nurturing, and renewal, but beyond all those deeper meanings – I just plain like the way they look.
I found this book in my picture book collection that I had forgotten I had ~ An Egg Is Quiet by Dianna Aston and Illustrated by Sylvia Long.. The illustrations are fantastic!
Pushing my comfort zone
I love watercolor. I love the way it washes an image with flowing color. I love the loose, carefree way it bleeds and no one worries. As if to say, “You’ll be ok. Just give it a minute.” And sure enough, in a minute all is well. I love how imperfect and imprecise watercolor allows an artist to be, yet still holding volumes of depth and detail. How is that possible?
I’ve attempted painting in watercolor on MANY occasions. I thought I had mastered it in college, only to be discouraged shortly afterwards. I hate discouragement. It gives the vulnerable child inside you the chance to quit, and that’s just what I did for years, and years. My confidence has always been in pen and ink, color pencil, and acrylic, but never in watercolor. At least that’s what I have told myself. But not anymore. I’m pulling out my dusty set of watercolor paints (a set I got for my birthday a couple of years ago – I may need to buy some fresh tubes) and I’m going to give it a try again. We’ll see how it goes. If I could say anything about the process of watercolor paint it is that I feel stressed when I use it. Silly, I know, because I know more artists than not who absolutely pick watercolor over any other medium because it is so relaxing for them. I’m not sure what that says about me, but I do know that I, too, feel exhilarated when that bead of watery paint cooperates and flows its way into a perfect spot on the paper, as if it was heading there all along and all I needed to do was give it a little push.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
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