Inspiration and Childhood Memories

I came across this picture of two pretty little flower fairy girls when I was browsing the website of my favourite art shop. As soon as I saw it it hit me; My sweet grandma had a big poster of this picture up in her guest room where I always stayed when I visited her. I used to love that poster. Me and my sister used to sit and stare at it and pretend that we were little fairies in a tree

The artist is Cicely Mary Barker, who was an English woman born in the late 19th century. Her illustrations focused on fairies and flowers, and she published several Flower Fairies books and cards from the late 1910's to the 1970's, but she was the most popular during the 20's and 30's.

I think my grandma had a few Flower Fairies posters and smaller images, cause when browsing through Cicely Mary Barker's work I seem to recognise quite a few of them.
I'm tempted to buy one of these books as these fairies really remind me of my childhood and my lovely grandma. Who knows... perhaps I'll get inspired by these pretty illustrations and paint something similar myself :)

The fairy-like lady in the forest - acrylic painting from 2010

I don't know what I was inspired by when I painted this acrylic painting back in 2010. I had bought this massive canvas, and I just wanted to create a fantasy world - a little bit fairy-like. I wanted to achieve a contrast - gloomy and mysterious forest colours with that fiery red hair. Don't ask me why I painted a naked woman in the forest only wearing a necklace with a dragonfly, cause I honestly have no idea. I never in beforehand decide what I'm going to paint, but it just happens... (unless it's a portrait of someone I know) I know I had just read a book a few months earlier that mentioned a dragonfly necklace, so I guess I was influenced by that.
I am not very happy about the proportions in the painting - they look quite unnatural. But I do like the overall look of it - I really worked hard on the colours.
If I had the energy I would change a few bits in it, but after all this time I really can't be bothered. It might just make it worse!
What do you think?

Inspiration on handmade silver rings

My first inspiration post!

As some of you may know already I am taking an evening course in jewellery making at Leeds College of Art and Design. So far I have tried working in both copper and silver, and I must say that silver is my favourite, even though it's more difficult to work in. (I accidentally melted my first attempt of a silver ring while trying to solder it... oops!)

My first ever ring was just a plain copper ring, and the first one I made in silver was also just a plain one. My next step is to do something more creative (=more complicated) and I've started making a ring in silver that goes around the finger 2-3 times with swirly ends. We'll see how it turns out. I promise I'll keep you posted :)

For now, here is some inspiration on handmade silver rings. Hopefully these will get my creativity going.

Although I have put these selected images together they do not belong to me, and if any of them are yours and you wish to have it removed, please just drop me an email to say so.

A selection of handmade silver rings to get me inspired

Tattoo Art

Some people claim that tattoos are not a form of art. I think the opposite!

If anything, you can say that tattoo art is the ultimate art... it stays on your skin permanently after all, and you take it with you wherever you go.

This is not a new trend, as some people may think, but the art of tattooing is ancient. Just look at the Maori tribes of new Zealand and their tattoos. Every symbol has a meaning, and their tattoos tell the story of their family and themselves. Perhaps that is the secret to a great tattoo: get something personal rather than going for the trends.

I have 4 tattoos myself - all designed by me - and I am proud to wear them!

Tattooing in progress - half way there

My tummy tribal tattoo - dark brown

My flower vine tattoo in brown and pinkish purple

 People compliment me on my shoulder blade tattoo all the time, and that makes me feel appreciated as an artist. I'm not saying you should get a tattoo just to show off your art (cause it's not like you carry your paintings around everywhere you go) but I am just trying to make you understand that tattoos are an art. Then there are of course the amateur made tattoos that should be hidden away from the world forever.... Even if the design you have made is great, it might get destroyed by the person tattooing you. So for god's sake, make sure that the tattoo artist you go to is a well respected one with years of experience, and ask to see some of his/her work first. Also, most importantly; make sure you have a proper think about what design to choose... It's no fun if you change your mind in the future.

Jewellery making course

I recently started an evening course in jewellery making at Leeds College of Art and Design. So far I've only been to two lessons, but I'm already learning a lot. I'm not talking about putting beads on a thread here, but proper metal work.

Our first task is to make a ring made of copper. We've learned how to measure ring sizes with the help of a steel wire - this is important to get the right amount of material for the item you are making. You don't want the ring to get too small or too big! We've also learned annealing - which is a technique of heating up metal with the help of fire. After that we cleaned the copper in some kind of acid (I can't remember what it was called), followed by trying to bend the copper stick into a ring with some tongs. Easier said than done!

After having soldered it together we used a wooden hammer and a thick metal stick (the kind you use for making rings - I can't remember the correct term for that either) to make the ring perfectly round.

Next lesson we're gonna make the ring all shiny, and ready to wear. Exciting!

I've got my eyes on this jewellery book from Amazon. A girl in my class bought it, and it includes all the basic techniques you need to know, plus a lot more. There are lots of pretty pictures in it as well :) I really need to read up on the techniques, as I'm clueless about what the teacher is talking about sometimes. I blame it on the fact that I'm Swedish :P The book is only £13.97, so it's well worth it!