Posts Tagged ‘versailles palace’

Time & Nature

Sunday, February 3rd, 2019

Exploring objects and textiles is keeping me away from painting in the studio at the moment, but that’s ok, because I’m not just a painter…..

Today, I have been working with time and nature but, now it’s too hot to do anything much, as the temp in the valley has reached 39 Celsius and getting hotter.

I get torn between contemporary and lush, extravagant. Old bones, textiles, rusted wires, watch faces, bits of stick with moss , vintage cosmetic bottles and handmade French influenced, embellishments are on my bench.

Memories and feelings keep flooding back from my times spent in France. Especially touched by Versailles palace and other places in Europe and England. Old history feeds my creativity.

Old rusted wire and found textiles are twisted and sewn with gold threads and remind me of couture and Versailles decadent history.

Formed into fragments that will probably be part of something else.

This one looks like a weird kind of bird.

I’ve also had the de-clutter bug lately so its feels liberating to use up stuff Ive been hoarding for ever.

Château of Versailles and the beginning’s of something.

Saturday, November 12th, 2016

Château of Versailles and the beginnings of something.

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Walking through the hundreds of rooms at Château of Versailles, I couldn’t help but notice, the old, stuffy smell and the sound of squeaky, footsteps upon the ancient floors. So, I made a sound video and took close up shots of the wallpapers and other surfaces.

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I mainly had a fascination with the “over the top” décor, decorative surfaces and patterns.

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Below the surfaces of this show of power and extravagance, was a history of passion, debauchery, sex, treachery, brutality, corruption, torture and death. I imagined the exotic and beautiful people, the power of the Kings, the abuse of women, Marie Antoinette and the peasants who starved in villages.

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I also was taken back to my childhood, when, I enjoyed being in my own little world creating, away from the real world. My mum used to make gorgeous clothes with beautiful fabrics and trimmings and I was given the leftover’s. I taught myself to make collage’s, wall hangings, to decorate my room from a very young age.

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When I was older, I decorated my bedroom with scarves, scraps of fabric and tacked up old bedspreads, made from cotton and woven fringes. The bedspreads became a wallpaper backdrop for my bed that I made into a couch.

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I made heaps of cushions and would sit for hours reading, Go Set and TV Week, magazines. The pop star posters were stuck onto the other 3 walls and ceiling.

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Since returning from France, I haven’t forgotten the over the top extravagance of Château of Versailles and have been playing around with a few ideas and may look into having an arts residency, nearby in the future.

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More textures from Versailles Palace and Chateau d’Asnieres sur Seine.

Wednesday, October 5th, 2016

More textures from Versailles Palace and Chateau d’Asnieres sur Seine.

Inspirational surfaces I found at the Palace of Versailles and the Chateau d’ Asnieres sur Seine around the corner from where my daughter lives.

Versailles Palace. Patterns and work in progress.

Tuesday, October 4th, 2016

Versailles palace and grounds in France are extremely lavish and over the top, with gold everywhere. During my visit , I enjoyed the eclectic mix of textures and patterns of the wallpapers, the swaths of lush  curtaining at the windows and the textiles on the furniture, elegant and beautiful.

Each piece in the palace was finished off to perfection with lots of intricate patterns and pure gold, gilding. The floors were creaky, but full of character. There were, extravagant marble walls, flooring and decorative marble fireplaces everywhere.

Below is a sample of some of the surfaces at Versailles and work in progress I am making from my little studio in France.