© Alison Day
Showing posts with label pink. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pink. Show all posts
Thursday 16 July 2015
Thursday 14 February 2013
Tuesday 24 January 2012
Invisible Body
Recent artwork of Peruvian artist Cecilia Paredes’ has her disappearing into the backgrounds of her artwork like a chameleon to his habitat - not through magic but with paint. Via Design Taxi
Wednesday 16 February 2011
Women of Clay - Hilda van Popta
Flying through the streets on my Vespa, destination
Paddepoel, for my next artist interview in Northwest Groningen. I arrive
outside an ex-office building from the 1970’s, which whilst waiting for new
tenants and in the care of anti-squat company named AdHoc, it is
filled with a number of small businesses. Number eight on the eighth floor are
my directions, as I gingerly step into a rather antiquated and scary looking
lift, which reluctantly shudders and shakes me up to the eighth floor.
Each level of the building is built around a central
lift house, the rooms of which are large and spacious. Hilde van Popta,
favourite colour pink, greets me; she loves bright colours, and has a smile to
match. She shows me around the different rooms: one where she conducts regular
workshops, (filled with partially finished female figures on tables and
ledges), another that exhibits examples of her finished works, followed by a
large room, which is the photographic studio of her sister, (a photographer and
visagist). The rooms are filled with images and trinkets, masks, beads, clothes
and scarves; a feast for the eyes, but what makes me smile is a bright pink,
feather-covered Barbie-esque 1960’s telephone, pontifically placed on what must
have been the reception desk in days gone by, and, it actually works!
Over a cup of coffee, I find out that Hilde is a
trained nurse and presently still works in the health sector (in an
administrative capacity). With no formal art training she dabbled in acrylic
painting as a hobby, but it was a six month clay-modeling course that became
the turning point, and her women in clay figures emerged. Her figures then
developed further as although she found them interesting in shape they lacked
something. Out came the acrylic paints, and she proceeded to paint them in
bright colours to “pimp up the images” as well as decorating them with fabrics
and other miscellaneous objects.
I ask her about her colour use, to which she says
that she loves bright colours; the colours pink, red, black and white feature
regularly in her work. Also, she uses acrylics because one knows what the
outcome will be, unlike glazes, which are generally a surprise until they leave
the kiln. However, she would be interested in experimenting with the latter in
the future, as she believes that it is important to continue to develop oneself
as an artist.
Subject-wise she chooses women, due to the fact that
women in their diversity are a great source of inspiration, and also her
clientele often recognize themselves in her work. There is no deep and
meaningful message behind her figures, with a lot of them coming into existence
quite intuitively, often making her laugh.
I ask her if
finance was no object, whether there is an artistic project she would like to
realize in the future. Quick as a flash she tells me of an old empty factory
she drives past every day, by the side of the motorway. She would like to buy
something similar, do it up, and convert it into an enormous artists’ market.
With her as the owner, it would be a hive of artistic creation: with artists at
work, little individual shops, workshops and music would pervade the air.
If
you would like to become the proud owner of one of Hilde’s ‘Women of Clay,’ why
not take this opportunity and use the 10% discount voucher on this page? The
offer runs from 01 January 2011–30 June 2011.
Alternatively,
if you would like to take part in one of Hilde’s workshops you can contact her via:
hilde@vrouwenvanklei.nl / 06-21955117
To view her work: Vrouwen van
Klei
Tuesday 1 June 2010
The Language of Flowers
The language
and the giving of flowers (known as florigraphy) can be said to have started as
far back as the 1700's by the Persians, as discovered by Charles II of Sweden,
who then introduced the practice to Europe. But it was the Victorians (during
the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901), who developed this into a whole
new language and their practices are best known today, because much of it has
been well documented in books and journals of the time.
In their
very protocol dominated society, the Victorians often replaced words with
symbols and gestures, and flowers became an integral part of being able to
express one’s thoughts and feelings to loved ones. The species, colours, number
and grouping of the flowers were of great importance and as there weren’t as
many flower species as there are today, each flower had a specific meaning. A
particular favourite was the red rose, symbolizing passion and love, and
meaning “Be mine’, whereas primroses stated, “I can’t live without you,” purple
hyacinths, “Please forgive me,” and pink carnations, “I’ll never forget you.”
For roses
there is a particular coding, but this can also be applied to other flowers as
well. Red roses mean romantic love, purple signify that the giver had
fallen in love with the recipient at first sight, coral and orange means
desire, yellow is joy and friendship, pink roses express gratitude and appreciation,
light pink roses show feelings of admiration and sympathy, peach can either
signify either sympathy or gratitude and white roses show reverence and
humility.
The
messaging didn't shop there, how the flowers were worn or presented was also
highly charged with meaning. If the flowers were presented upright it was
positive, upside down and you were less fortunate. Also, how a ribbon was tied
around the flowers was of importance; it referred to the giver if tied to the
left and the recipient if tied to the right. A question could be answered
depending on which hand the bearer had presented the flowers with. If it was
the right hand the answer was "yes" and the left hand "no".
Should you have the misfortune to receive a bunch of dead flowers then not only
did you now have nothing for your vase, your love had been totally rejected.
In order to
attract positive chi in Feng Shui, flowers and their placement within the home
play an important part. Dried flowers should be avoided at all costs as they do
not ensure a good energy flow. Sunflowers bring stability and endurance,
cyclamen bring passion and romance, the spider plant encouraged calmness,
whereas African violets attract fame, or recognition. For calm regions of the
house such as bedrooms, pinks are best for harmony, for busy areas,
balance-inducing lilies and orchids are suggested.
These days,
giving a bunch of flowers is more about the sentiment behind the gift than its
actual meaning. We seem to have all but lost (with a couple of exceptions) the Victorians’
language of flowers. So go on, next time you give a bouquet, really say it with
flowers.
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