A Mini Gallery

Spirit of the Griot

It's been a while since I have posted my ATC's.  Following is a little tour of my recent works.  This is a little painting of a baobab in Pebeo's Moon Effects enamel paint.  The background is color pencil.  The baobab is a remarkable tree in the landscape here in Senegal.  In the countryside it is often the only tree in the dry landscape.  I have titled the card Spirit of the Griot because there was a practice of burying the musician/historians known as griot in the trees.  You can learn more about this practice here. 

This ATC is a small painting with textile paints on watercolor paper is one of the series of ATCs exploring the work of other artists.  This is a copy of Manet's Asparagus painting.  That painting has a cute story.  Manet painted an additional spear of asparagus to send to art collector Charles Ephrussi after he was over paid for a larger asparagus still life. 

Madame du Barry

This one was designed for an artists choice exchange.  I dipped lace in paint and created a print on two cards.  I cut out a heart and added a paper flower and photo of a Madame du Barry ceramic doll.

Little House

This ATC is to be in the shape of a small house.  Little houses and buildings are a recent trend in the world of ATCs.  This cottage is in oil pastels.

After Don Li-Leger

Another ATC in the series inspired by artists, this one after the work of the artist Don Li-Leger. His painting are of flowers in soft jewel tones and earthy colors. Many of his paintings are also sub-dived into squares and rectangles. He aims for an Asian inspired, meditative mood in his paintings. My ATC is painted with acrylics, enamel, pen and oil pastel.



Cool Garden by Don Li-Leger



Senegal Art Spotlight: Village des Artes

Kine Aw in her studio

A small group of members from the Dakar Women's Group visited Village des Art in January.  The Village was originally built to house workers for the large soccer stadium and was turned over to the Ministry of Culture.  The Ministry of Culture opened it as a venue for studios and galleries to support working artists in 1998.  It is a cultural center of art in Senegal and is open to all visitors; although it is wise to call ahead and arrive sometime after noon. 
There are at least forty five workshops on site and my video below only covers some that were open on the day of my visit. During our visit we met and were privileged to speak with many of the artists and see their work environment.  Artists like Kine Aw, who shared her thoughts on abstracted figures and Issa Diop who explained the process of creating bronze sculpture using the lost wax process in his outdoor studio.  Many of the artists are also employed outside the village teaching in the schools and universities, exhibiting in Senegal and other countries and as art therapists.


Issa Diop explaining the lost wax process of scupting bronze

 I love the concept of a state supported art village.  It can be very difficult to make a living as an artist even with backing.  Senegal is drenched in art and the existence of this village shows the importance of art to Senegalese culture and identity.

One of the potters in residence

The outside of some workshops reflect the art within



 

Photos by Penney Hughes, except the photos of Kine Aw in her studio taken by Susan Graf

 

Music in the video:  Ya Oumana by Noura Mint Seymali used under a Creative Commons license from Live on WFMU's Transpacific Sound Paradise with Rob Weisberg - Sept 28, 2013 (Noura Mint Seymali) / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0



Hands and Feet Keepsake Stuffie

When my boys were little I offered to sew each of them a little stuffie.  I instructed them to draw a simple shape on a piece of paper for the pattern of the body.  We cut it out and then they got to go through my stash for fabric and to the shop and pick out button eyes.  I helped them stuff it and sew up the bottom opening.  Now that my daughter is getting older it seemed about time to allow my daughter the same fun.  Interestingly, all three children have chosen to create a bird. 
When my boys were in preschool they made keepsakes for me tracing their hands.  I still use the Christmas Banner with my oldest boy's hand print every year.  My daughter is not in the kind of school that makes these things so I was inspired to trace her hands and feet to add them to the stuffie template she drew.  Her hands are the wings on this stuffie and her feet make the tail feathers.  I added a little embroidered beak and line around the eyes.
If you want to try a project like this, make sure your child's fingers are splayed out enough to create a small seam allowance, or use felt if you prefer not to sew those fussy fingers.  Toes can be traced with the big toe separate and the rest of the toes just traced along the top.
Now I have a keepsake that I can inherit from my daughter once she grows tired of it.

Senegalese Artist Spotlight: Manel Ndoye

Manel Ndoye allowed the DWG Art Committee a visit days before moving his tiny studio from Ouest Fiore, Dakar Senegal to his family home in Thies, Senegal.

large painting with the postcard grid

He shared with us that when he attended the university Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts de Dakar, he was required to select a primary theme for his work and he quickly chose the women from his ethnic group, the Lebou, and their traditional dance.  His painting continues to explore those themes. Manel told us a little about the background of the dances.  Fishing and farming are traditional occupations of this coastal tribe and the dances of the women are based on exaggerated motions of casting and bringing in nets, movements of the pirogues and farming.  The women wear matching boubou (dresses) with a section pinned up.  The custom of wearing matching boubous arose with the custom of polygamy.  The idea is that each wife should have the same dress so they are not jealous of one another.  The women wear 3-4 pagnes (skirts) to preserve modesty while they are dancing.  Because they are imitating men’s work they wear the men's style of shoe. Manel takes artistic license with the dresses, changing the colors to suit his paintings.  The dances are done in lines of four to ten women, often more than one line dancing together.
Some of his paintings are made with postcards adhered to the canvas in a grid and then painted over.  His use of the postcard is symbolic; as postcards are used send messages the dance also conveys tradition and culture.  The postcards also break up the space of the painting, imitating the way looking through a fishing net changes how one sees what lies beyond.
Some of his paintings are based on photos but most are drawn and painted from memory and observation.
Recently, Manel has been working on collaborative efforts, such as his work with Barkinado Bocoum for the Collaboractions show and his painting with another artist as in this Figuro Abstro performance on Youtube.  This is new development as he generally tries not to be influenced by the work of other artists.

Manel will be exhibiting in France in February and March outside of Lyon with Alioune Diagne.

Great Barrier Reef Designs

The theme for this week's Spoonflower design contest is Great Barrier Reef in honor of Australia Day.  Above is my entry, a very textural illustration of the sea teaming with poisonous and dangerous animals found in Australian waters.  Included in my design are lionfish, box jellyfish, blue ringed octopus, stone fish, cone shell, and sting ray. Please consider voting. 

This week's theme inspired several additional designs based on tropical fish, shells and sea urchins.  These designs will soon be available for sale at my Spoonflower shop.

Pretty Princess Pink

My daughter picked out a yard of Robert Kaufman fabric 'Girl Friends' while we were in the United States last summer.  It seemed the obvious choice as you may know if you have been reading the blog for a while or if you have met my daughter. 

With this fabric in mind I picked up a couple of other coordinating fabrics from Spoonflower; peacock pattern dots pink smaller scale by katarina and Dragon Girl Towers by Zesti.  The peacock pattern I used in the bodice and the Dragon Girl pattern is shown on the pockets.  Stocked with these fabrics I was ready to try my next foray into boutique sewing for my daughter.
This dress is adapted the free infant pattern Pretty Party dress from the Pretty Prudent blog. I used the pattern pieces for the bodice and resized them for my daughter.  I also added fullness to the skirt.  Since we live in a hot climate, I left off the sleeves. 
In other news, the Floral Cheater Quilt Fabrics are for sale and the coordinating fabrics will be available soon.

Spring Floral Hex Cheater Quilt



Floral Hex Cheater Quilt Mock-up Flat, queen size



Floral Hex Cheater Quilt Square, fq






















Floral Hex Cheater Quilt Center, 1 yard

With the New Year I am back to participating in Spoonflower's Fabric Design Contests.  This week's entry is for a spring floral themed cheater quilt square.  A cheater quilt is a printed fabric that looks like a pieced quilt.  It allows a quilter to skip the piecing and quilt the layers.  Floral Hex Cheater Quilt Square is my submission to this week's contest.  It uses the limited color palette Spoonflower has selected for the entries and fits a fat quarter of fabric.  Please consider voting for my entry here.  If you do vote, deciding who to vote for will be particularly hard in this contest.  There are so many excellent entries.


Horizontal Floral Hex Cheater Quilt Chevrons

Vertical Floral Hex Cheater Quilt Chevrons

 I decided that along with designing the quilt square, I would also design other coordinating components to create a easy quilt.  The top right photo shows a mock up using my elements. On the bottom, is a sample mock-up as it might look on a bed. The Floral Hex Cheater Quilt Center is a one yard design.  The Chevron designs are basic repeating patterns.  All designs can be used on their own.  If you are interested in creating this quilt, please visit my Spoonflower shop.  The fabrics will be available for sale soon.


Floral Hex Cheater Quilt Mock-up