Wall painting in Amsterdam part 1

February 15, 2011 in wallpainting, work in progress | 3 comments

I have been spending a lot of time in Amsterdam, off and on, and have been working on this very large wall painting in the library of an 18th century canal house.
The idea is that the wall painting should have an eighteenth century connection, without it looking like we tried to ”fake” it, a modern feeling should be there as well.
As an inspiration we chose the Chinese wall paper at Nostell Priory. It is exceptionally beautiful, it was supplied by Chippendale who designed the chinoiserie furniture to go with it. It is however very ”busy”. I went for a more balanced custom design to fit the dimensions of the room. Also, the brush strokes, and my ”handwriting” will be clearly discernible.

The Chinese wall painting and Chippendale furniture at Nostell Priory.

My design for the right side of the room, with the fireplace:

The room! There are bits of wall to be painted on every wall except the windows.

The base color is finished, it is really three colors on top of each other, the last one very subtly sponged to make the color look less of a solid block.

The sketch. I paint directly on thge wall, I don’t use a magnifier which projects a drawing on the wall. This is of course more difficult, but it is also a lot more spontaneous.

The colors of the tree and the flowers. It is going to be very gay. The crane is almost finished

The bird is talking to the crane. One wonders what they are up to when the lights go out and nobody is in the room…

The painting is finished. Sort of. I am still wondering if I shouldn’t change a few bits here and there. Now the books with all their colors are in their cases, and the pretty knick-knacks are on the shelf, it looks very much integrated into the room.

Corset designs

February 15, 2011 in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

To make things more difficult I want to make this corset, the patent is on line (and expired), I think it looks very interesting. And difficult. But imagine it works!

So I have drawn the design, and colored it, to understand it better.

I want to make it in black and white broche

And I kept on making plans and sketches, a birdcage corset. There are more people who play with this idea, it’s not mine. Alexis of Electra designs corsets has made one.

Mine will be made (if I get around doing it) with double white coutil, and lots of spiral bones, one under each black line which is the bone casing. The bird is a phoenix painted on the coutil

Corsets

February 11, 2011 in Uncategorized | 3 comments

Another sidestep from BIG ART is sewing. I like to make a lot of my own clothes, and since last year I got interested into corsets. A girl from whom I used to buy haberdasheries in the market got me on to it. I brought some materials but I never got around actually making one. But last September I did. (I have been trying to make a decent photo all morning but none of them came out any good)
(so you’ll just have to deal with these rather bad photo’s)
So this is the first one, I used a commercial pattern for it, but I tweaked it around a bit.

And the strange thing is, I love wearing it! Especially if I have a bit of a belly- or back ache! I wanted to finish it for my costume at the sidesaddle competition, (it wasn’t finished in time) There is still a lot left to be desired on this corset.
Anyway, I have made three more! They are all underbusts. I have been experimenting a bit, I made one with the idea it should be usable, comfortable and simple. It is made from two layers of simple black coutil. (coutil is the special fabric you need for making a proper corset)

And then I made this one, which is supposed to be super comfortable, and not constrict breathing when cycling up one of those high bridges in Amsterdam…
It is made of a beautiful flowered Broche, lined with black coutil.

Detail with flossing

And then my super hourglass waisted evening underbust! Made of Chinese brocade, and the busk has little swarovski crystals on the knobs… But the photography wasn’t good enough to capture them.

And I have two more ready to be sewn up! I can’t wait until I am home again and can start working on them!
I am also going to start on making an overbust. :)
Who needs tv?

An Artist’s Interests

February 11, 2011 in work in progress | 1 comment

We had this talk on another blog, and a blogging buddy said something like, ”It is not only art which matters, but also all the things one does besides making art which defines the artist”

That is something I have always agreed with, and which at times I find very difficult to explain, especially to my mother who always thought I was wasting time when I spend a lot of time and effort in one of my ”non-high-art” projects. But I think it is an inevitable part of ones existence as an artist. I don’t think I know any fellow artist who doesn’t have one or more ”hobbies” next to making art. I think we all ”collect” stuff for example. Maybe antiques of an unusual kind, or just simply ”Objects de Virtue”, but I cannot call to mind any artist of my acquaintance who does not collect something.
I definitely am a shocking collector! I collect books, porcelain, jewelery,  antique fans, you name it, I collect it…

I also have many interests which are related to my art, yet also apart from it. I play the concert flute, I have trained as a western saddle maker, I have trained as a silversmith, (I love jewelry) I make my own clothes, I can repair my own shoes, I restore antique fans. I am always busy with some project or other.

So I have decided that for this blog to be complete, I should not just constrain it to the art I make, but also to the interests surrounding it. So I will also be posting on all the other little and big things which occupy my mind and my time.

Blog banner

February 10, 2011 in Arabian, commissions | 2 comments

I have made this banner for a fellow blogger!

She is riding her favorite horse up the dune.

Miss Balmain

October 27, 2010 in Perfume Project, Uncategorized | 15 comments

Miss Balmain was the first perfume I really fell in love with. I was still very young, 15 or something. I don’t remember how I got to own some in the first place. Did somebody give me a bottle? Was it somebodies reject? It was pretty expensive stuff for a teenager…
Miss Balmain is an old fashioned chypre. It was introduced in 1967 (a significant date!)

Anyway, although it’s a pretty hefty fragrance I wore it day and night well into my years at the Royal College of Art. I liked it especially on my own skin, not so much on other peoples skin. But in London, at the Royal College of Art I met a friend who wore Miss Balmain and on her it smelled the same as on me!
When I got a new (large) bottle on my birthday, (thank you generous parents), I suddenly did not like it anymore.
I tried to work my way through the bottle, thinking I was being weird but I couldn’t. I am now convinced it was one of those sneaky, secret reformulations of which they think we, the loyal fans, will not notice.
Well I did. I never asked for, or brought Miss Balmain again.

But, as the homage to my first love I have made a MissBalmain painting.
I am showing some stages to share my anxieties.
This Perfume series is about vintage perfumes, and exploring a more graphic manner of working, and some of the effects of vintage advertisement art.
One very typical style used from the Art Nouveau era onwards was a subtilegradation of shadows, and a very strong dark outline.

So, I planned to do the same on this painting.
here’s a sketch,

 

Here you see the painting (in the Q’s hall which I have taken over as my studio) and the two sketches.

So I had all those subtle shading and I was now going to edge it with a black line. That freaked me out, I entertained the idea that maybe I should go for the easy approach and forget about the Art Nouveau influence…
But I decided to take the plunge, and as I added the line I thought I should document this, so I could think about it later.
So here it is:

The line, eyes and eyebrows completed,

The furry jacket completed, I decided to keep that free of the outline to enhance the fluffiness and create a counter effect.

Miss Balmain
Acrylic on Canvas
30” x 40”

Anything can happen…

October 25, 2010 in Perfume Project, Uncategorized | 2 comments

Another TABU painting, for my Painted Perfume Project, it is just so inspiring…
There is another in the offing, because I get these 70′s vibes from it. The Q likes it in extreme moderation.
I think it will be especially nice with the colder weather coming in. Comforting.
And anything can happen…

TABU, Anything might happen…
Acrylic on canvas
30” x 30”
€500,-

TABU

October 19, 2010 in Perfume Project | Tags: , | 2 comments

You, the Enchantress!
TABU
acrylic on canvas

This very elongated painting is not quite finished, it’s going to have some details in real gold, and as soon as I am back home I will make a better photo too, but as I am stuck for now this is what it is!

TABU is a perfume, very old, very sensual, very naughty!


TABU was the first fragrance produced by the house of Dana. While Dana is now known for rather nasty cheap drugstore fragrances, it used to be a very good house, which has produced many lovely fragrances in its illustrious past. TABU was designed by Jean Charles in 1932. It was meant to be sensual and shocking, the advertisements called it ‘The forbidden perfume”!
It is a ”Floral Oriental” it’s very spicey, the topnotes are Bergamot oil, coriander, neroli, Orange, spice notes, middle notes are Clove bud oil, clover, jasmine, narcissus, oriental rose, ylang ylang, basenotes are amber, benzoin, cedar, civet, moss, musk, patchouli, sandalwood, vetiver. major notes/accord Patchouli, cloves, cinnamon, orange, orange blossom, civet. (These notes were given by a member of Basenotes) (And there definitely is lots and lots of patchouli). Although it is much older I do get a bit of hippy-vibe from it. Must be the Patchouli effect.

I am not quite sure if, or how much, has been changed in the formula over the years, a fragrance of this age will most probably have been reformulated several times, (stuff like civet is forbidden now) and Dana doesn’t make the quality it used to. Some perfumistas revile the version currently on sale.
However, it is quite easy to find vintage bottles of TABU. And actually, it is a Cologne rather than a perfume, but don’t let that fool you! It’s potency is a lot stronger then most perfumes!!!
Apply with care and extreme subtlety in a well ventilated space.

From now on I will also post the pictures of the vintage perfumes I have been able to collect myself, and which I plan to include in the Perfume Project Exhibition. I got a lot of Tabu Bottles in one fell swoop as a job lot in auction!

There are more TABU paintings to come as I find it quite inspiring.

Vintage 1954 advertisement

Another Perfume Painting

September 28, 2010 in Perfume Project, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The next painting in my series based on vintage perfumes and advertisements.
This one is ”Emeraude”

Vintage Emeraude is a lovely fragrance with notes of vanilla, orange blossom, amber and musk.

I’m sorry but I couldn’t get a really clean photograph, the dark green kept reflecting the light.

Emeraude

80 x 100cm
31,5” x 39,4”
acrylics on canvas
€500,-

Little Sparrow

September 23, 2010 in painted diary, Uncategorized | 5 comments

A diary painting, 18 September

It’s already sold!
(Diary paintings are a mere €80,-)

Little Sparrow
6” x 6”
Acrylic on canvas

Aafke Art on YouTube

aafke at you tube

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