‘Teapots to have, to hold and to stroke’

Meret Oppenheim tea cup, saucer and spoon

 One of German born Surrealist Meret Oppenheim’s most famous pieces is this fur teacup and saucer.  Apparently she got the idea from Picasso who remarked when they were having tea together that anything could be covered with fur.  She obliged by producing the cup saucer and spoon.  the surrealist like to subvert incongruous texture and objects.  The fur used is from a Chinese gazelle and transposes the idea of genteel tea drinking women with a more sensuous  image.  I shall be writing a piece on this artist later.

gerry Congdon art quits

Teapots can be made from any material – even chocolate (as a past post proves).  But fabric is so innovative!  I really like this one from Gerrie Congdon’s Art Quilt Gallery which I think is amazingly quirky and fun.  So lovely, I would be afraid to clean it – in fact how would I clean it?

Fabric teapot by Bombus Design

These fabric teapots are far and few between.  I could hardly believe my luck when I found this stupendous one from Bombus Design .  They have  some beautiful  fabric vessels and even fabric globe dishes!

 For some more fabric teapots, go to ‘And Sew it goes’ blog

Altered Art book: Page 23 The muffled voice

page-23

Page 23 of my altered art book.  It seems so long since I last did a page, lets hope I’m now on a roll lol!  I am very nearly near the end of the first ‘chapter’ (there are 3 altogether I think) and I am already having a problem closing this book!

The text  I have chosen (long ago)  is;

“Back in his own room he wound the tape back and switched to PLAY.  Nothing for long seconds, then a rustling like leaves, then his voice, wrapped up, as if he was talking through cloth.”

 

I thought deeply about WHY I had chosen these words and what they said to me.  The idea of recording an event and replaying it: looking back on a moment that has gone.  The need to TELL.  This made me think of some sort of confessional and inevitably, a grill, a barrier beween the teller and the listener.

page-23-detail-

 Also the idea of talking through cloth, muffled voices: the words indistinct, the voice not being recognised.  Perhaps a yashmak, (a veil worn by Muslim women to cover their faces in public), or a scarf, a gag: voices trying to make themselves distinct through time.  Or when you hear a foreign language and your ears try to pick out words you recognise in your own language (and of course it makes no difference at all, but it doesn’t stop you trying because the urge to communicate is too strong).

Continued tomorrow……

Altered art book page 13 A deadly reminder’

 

 

page-13-altered book

 

The chosen words are: –

‘He listened to his father breathing’

‘And made plans for that lonliness’

 

 

valley-of-the-kings

 

The Egytians made plans for their  death.  They left nothing to chance.    Sometimes a whole lifetime was dedicated to their own rememberence:   Egypt is full of these reminders.

 

 

page13-skeleton detail

 

Memento Mori: this means ‘Remember you will die’ or ‘Be mindful of death‘.  The symbols associated with this reminder of mortality are skulls, clocks, hourglasses, flowers. Sometimes wine, books, musical instruments.   served as ‘vanities’, a reminder of worldly pleasures.

 

‘and made plans for that loneliness’

What does this mean though?  Does it mean coming to terms with eventual death? It could mean a physical reminder that lives on when we are no more. Surely we live on in the hearts of people who love  us?  Why would we need a tangible reminder?

p13-skeleton detail2

Sometimes a place or a memorial can act as a focus.  Like a gravestone, a grave, somewhere we can feel close to the person, as well as a written reminder for others, that our loved ones existed: a way of them living forever: enjoying everlasting life.  On a large scale, the Taj Mahal, India  reminds the world of the undying love of Shahjahan and his beautiful queen Mumtaz.

 

 

taj mahal

 

One of the Ancient Wonders of the Old World was The Mausoleum of Helicarnassus, Bodrum Turkey.  It started out as a memorial for the Persian King Mausolus, by his wife/sister Artimisia.  But when she died, became a mixture of all different styles as artist continued with their own ideas.

 

 

mausoleum-bodrum-halicarnassus turkey

 

Media used; ink, card, gem stone, silk flower, fabric,organza ribbon (wings) and handmade paper stamped with vercemark and chalked.

to be continued……

Altered book: in the beginning

Just getting started

 

I have been interested in altered books for a few years now.  I even contemplated making one as part of a project at University, but I never got round to it.  There is something magical about transforming the written word into a work of art.  The making of such a book incorporates the use of collage, mixed media, paper, fabric and all the media I like working in.  I started this book about 3 years ago.  I did one page and then forgot all about it until I found it again recently. 

 In one day I managed to do 4 pages: the next day I did 2.  Work on it was very sporadic and I hadn’t been going long before I realised that the print was quite small and was being overwhelmed by the images.  It was important to me that some of the original text was retained.  This could be a word or a sentence of my own choosing.  So I went through the first few pages choosing the text.

  I had absolutely no idea of how the page would look in advance, I responded in an instinctual way: the way the words spoke to me!  After I had chosen my words, I then went through the book adding colour to pages (including those I hadn’t chosen the text of yet) and employed different media, like oil pastel, acrylics, pen and ink.  I ripped, punched and clipped pages wherever I wanted with no thought to how the end product would look, I just knew that I didn’t want it to be ‘pretty’ or like a scrapbook.