Art-and-Craft on Late Blooms

Quilling Fun

Sat, 29 Apr 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This post about Quilling is in response to a question I had on Facebook “What’s involved?” You need strips of paper in different colours, a quilling tool (with purple handle in photo below) and glue. A pair of scissors would be handy - although you could easily tear off the paper. My own experience with quilling is very new. In the condo where I live, we had a Sunday afternoon craft workshop recently and all of us in attendance were introduced to the art of paper quilling. Paper quilling has been around for a long time. “The art of quilling dates as far back as the 16th and 17th centuries when the French and Italian nuns and monks would decorate reliquaries, holy pictures, and frames with quilled pieces.” (Paper Quilling for the first Time) It’s very easy to do and fun. After that introduction to quilling, it was something that I wanted to explore. I found myself online looking for quilling supplies and ordered a beginner’s quilling supply kit. Since then I’ve been having lots of fun.

Summer Garden

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

[caption id=“attachment_500” align=“aligncenter” width=“584” caption=““Summer Garden””][/caption]

Today, September 22nd, is the first day of Fall. This Summer has gone by very quickly. Before going completely into Fall mode, I wanted to create a collage to celebrate the season just passed.

I took all the photos in this collage. The image in the top left hand corner is a piece that I created myself and called “Summer Garden” over twelve years ago. The materials that were used include ceramic tiles, stained glass, pebbles, stones, jewelry, and paint. I was just beginning to want to express myself “artistically.” It is in my home and I enjoy looking at it very much. I never knew when I created it that I would one day use it in a collage.

Mosaic

Sun, 08 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000

[caption id=“attachment_280” align=“aligncenter” width=“584” caption=“Elephant Mosaic”][/caption]

The elephants in this collage and the background were done by me. I don’t have any formal training in art and I don’t consider myself to be an artist in the traditional sense of the word. Even before I had retired from my day job, I started to have an urge to create. It came up just as subtly as was my desire to have a pet. I followed these urges and have been fortunate to have been able to try different expressions of this creative urge. Many people I am fortunate to know have always expressed themselves in artistic ways so I was somewhat lucky to have these kinds of friends to emulate. These feelings may have come from viewing the work of my friends. Otherwise, it was a longing of my soul.

Tapestry

Thu, 31 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

[caption id=“attachment_201” align=“aligncenter” width=“584”] Tapestry[/caption]

A few weeks ago, my friend and I visited a fabulous fabric store in Toronto. She likes to sew and was looking for some fabric. The photos in this collage were taken there. It was delightful to admire all the tapestries with their beautiful colours and diversity of patterns. Quite suddenly, I thought of the weavers who had spent countless hours to produce these priceless works of art.