Arts Decoratifs

Rozzie's lovely repurposed book journal has been gracing my desk for too long, my appologies fellow artists.

I have been in a bit of a slump and really just working lots and not doing much else. The above pages are mums spread. I used her materials and hope she likes it.

These pages are my spread and I carried the gold stencilling across to join us together.

Its a new year and I need to try and get on top of things.

Art Deco At the Beach

This Journal was a bit out of my comfort zone.... out of my collection of craft items the one thing I don't have is anything Art Deco!!!

So decided to make my own Art Deco background

Loved the idea of using this Art Deco original address book .. Very Cool

I ruled the design up first in Roz's Journal, chose papers 

 Then cut the pieces of different textured paper to fit the design

 fixing each one to the pattern drawn on the page

 Loved the beachwear of the era 

Added some advertising and frame....Wallah!!!

The Great Gatsby Party

Janie's collaged creation in Roz's Art Deco journal; my theme is a Great Gatsby Party.

This is the background paper I chose which was printed for me by Spoonflower. Roz's journal was a most unusual size as each page was approximately 7 x 11 inches, making a double spread about 22 inches wide. I decided to make separate but similarly themed pages. 

Left hand side page; spraying with Lindy's iridescent sprays and adding collaged elements sourced from Pinterest.

Left hand side completed; "The arrival"

Right hand side completed: "The dance"

AASJ7: Sharon's Pages in Roz's "Art Deco" Journal

Hi Everyone

 

 

Sharing my pages in Roz's Art Deco themed journal!

I love how Roz has used an old art Deco themed hard cover diary for her journal base - a clever idea and I loved that I would apply thin layers of paint/stencilling and still have the deco themed pages showing through!

 

 

I started with a thin layer of gesso so I had a base - love that you can still see the page lines and pics through the gesso!

 

 

Next I used some soft pastel coloured chalk paints through an Art Deco style stencil.

 

 

I then added the Deco style collage elements from Art Tea Life which I printed and fussy cut!

 

 

Hope Roz likes the finished pages!

 

 

Sharon

 



Art Deco Pelican

Inside Roz's beautiful Art Deco address book are many wonderful illustrations by designer, Julian Robinson. One of them is a fabulous painting of two girls swimming at the beach with yachts floating in the distance. The diver has such great balance...

This illustration goes perfectly with the antique pelican bookends I found made by Edgar Brandt in the 1930s. He created such gorgeous birds from wrought iron, one pair with dishes or bowls, the other pair drinking from a fountain. I'd love to buy them but its a tad out of my budget! lol :)

Above : I stuck tape down the spine and painted out the address lines with white gesso, leaving the gypsy in the corner.

I then scribbled out bunches of ideas including the pelicans, borders, corner swirls and shells then set to work measuring out where they'd all go. Then I erased it all because Art Deco is all geographic and symmetrical (ish) so I had to at least try to have straight lines!

After drawing in coils and triangles (inspired by an old light fitting), I then adding a bird flying in from the sea on the right, inspired by a lovely wooden bird from a brooch (might have been a frame). Using my new favourite scissors, I cut out the pelicans printed from the 'net... one of each as I was still undecided about which one to use, I love them both!

I painted the background using acrylic paint in a mix of grey with a tinge of blue, leaving the shapes of the bird, ocean and coils.

A dark blue was used to paint in the coils and other elements. After trying to match the original print, I made a saner decision and ignored that it didn't match... "it'll be fine" I said to myself (turns out I was right! not bad hey? lol).

I glued one of the pelicans with the fountain to the page, cutting the "water" to make it shorter, to fit the page.
Where the seas met, I added a zig zag edge / joiner... zig zags are sort of geometric and triangular, therefore in my mind, def Art Deco!

Little boats of black and white sailed into the page along the bottom. Much better than little shells!
Easier to paint too :)
After giving all the blue elements another coat, I used white paint to straighten lines.

Here's a pic of the whole double page spread. The gypsy doesn't look too out of place either, as if she's keeping an eye on it all.

Thanks so much for reading my blog post. Thanks also to Roz for such a challenging but fun project. I hope you like it Roz!

Have a happy creative day!
:)
Jenny

Bats about Deco in Roz's journal.

What a wonderful topic, who doesn't love a bit of Art Deco. Crisp,clean lines and plenty of glitz and glamour. 

I started my page with a covering of gesso to add a bit of texture. 

Followed by some stencilling. 

First coat was a turners yellow and then hightlighted with a brighter orange/Yellow.

I found this lovely image in an old magazine. There is a black and white image beneath the coloured verson,so she stands proud. 

Added a splash of  gold and bling and she suddenly came to life. Just one thing missing, 

A stylish bat..( thank you Jenny's Mum for the design and Jenny's Dad for the carving ) and we are all done. 

I hope you like it Roz.

Roz's Art Deco Journal

I remember as a teenager my Nanna talking about the time in which she lived, she was born in 1919. The first thing that comes to mind is when she told me about how the ladies would wear their hair, she specifically mentioned "the kiss curls". Since receiving Roz's journal, it's been a fascinating researching fashion styles, architecture, decor etc..., what an era it was, so rich and glamorous, even those who preferred to remain humble in their approach to fashion and decor in this time, still portrayed an essence of glamour, it is no wonder that this era remains to this day absolutely relevant.

I began with small sketches:

Once I settled on the sketches, I began to choose colours and mediums to fill them in with. I used mixed media: Jane Davenport's power pastels and alcohol markers, and a mix between a fountain pen and thin black liner for the details.

I tested out alcohol marker colours.  After finishing these ladies (you'll see them in more detail in the following pictures), I decided I needed a centrepiece, this part I found a little difficult to think about, I knew I wanted something different, I thought of Picasso.

These two faces work a practice run, I came across this image on Pinterest, I decided to put my own twist on it. The body fussy cut I obtained from Jane Davenport's paper pad. I didn't want the body to be perfectly fussy cut, because my vision for this centrepiece was a kind of off-kilter/Picasso expectation. I decided I wasn't happy with the face, so I drew another one.

Next, I decided on placement, I brought different embellishments and materials in and out of the design to decide on what I liked best. Oh, and also: I used Liquitex Professional Gesso on top of the pages, waited for the pages to dry and then chose these two acrylic colours to help the images and surrounding embellishments stand out.

In this picture, there are a couple of embellishments that I didn't end up using, I decided to go with something else, seen in the next photo.

I wanted to see what it looked like in black and white.

And the end result. I wanted to make sure I included patterns and writing style from the era as well. I also added brass cornerings to each end of the pattern; as you can see I have also added various other elements that I thought might illuminate all the pieces of the Art Deco puzzle.

Thank you so much Roz, for the opportunity you have given to contribute to your journal, I had so much fun xo

Lisa playing in Roz's Art Deco Ladies Journal!

It's always a bit terrifying  worrying making the first entry in someone else's journal, especially if you're not totally au fait with the theme (like that? 😉 - Art Deco did start in France...)  Luckily, Roz's last journal was Art Nouveau so I kinda knew the difference.  But still had to check with my friends at Wikipedia!

Anyhoo, Art Deco was around in the 20s and the fashion was really interesting around that period, so that's what I focused on.

Firstly I found lots of pics in Pinterest and then drew some of these ladies using white cartridge paper.

Then I concentrated on my background.  I love vintage-looking papers, and found some music paper, French and Italian book pages, part of a vintage French map and an old post card in my stash. 

I then white-washed the pages with white gesso to give it an old feel.  But didn't take a pic...

Next I set to colouring my girls.  My usual media of choice is watercolour, however I felt that the cartridge paper would warp too much.  Then I considered Copic markers, but being alcohol based, they're not friends with water based fineliners.  Did not want smeary bits.  So I settled on Derwent coloured pencils, and I'm glad I did, because I think it adds to the vintage look!  (But geez, can't remember the last time I used these pencils 😲!)

I did the majority of this spread while Scott and I enjoyed a mini break down at Ocean Grove.  Of course, we were down there the only time this summer that it hasn't been 35 degrees and sunny...

...But it was still lovely to be away!  Except that when it came to fussy cutting my girls out, I had to sit in the kitchen there under the brightest light I could find, which was not bright at all, squinting the whole time!!!

Finally I glued my girls in, using Liquitex matte gel medium - my favourite glue.  Then, I added some metallic gel pens as accents, and a quote from Coco Chanel, and voilá! 

Hope you enjoy it Roz!  It was a fun spread to make.

Happy Arting!  Cheers, Lisa