Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Please NO!

I really don't understand this. In a country where you can find so much remarkable art and wonderful handcrafted objects you would use ugly advertising posters on a wall in order to prove being chic and trendy? Please no!

When I found this interior design photo of a dining room in Thailand I was exceptionally disappointed because the possibilities to find suitable wall decoration there are galore. So why these ugly posters?


To be honest I don't like these chairs and the table either but at least they go well together with the room itself and the window setting.

If I had a say in this I would immediately exchange the wall art for these:


The wall art on the opposite side is in fact a fine art print of a crop of a silk painting. The original silk painting belongs to the Magic Landscapes series and is shown below:

"The Valley"
(from the Magic Landscapes Series)
silk, 21" x 40"
©Petra Voegtle
 

The other art piece is a wood block print and acrylic painting on heavy paper:

 "Sari 2"
(from the Prints series)
15" x 20", acrylic on paper
©Petra Voegtle

~~~

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Too much Contrast

Although I like clear lines and a minimalistic decoration in a room depending where it is and what the surroundings are, I find this one to contain too much contrast. In tropical landscapes you have plenty of light and the abundance of vegetation often needs a counterpart of simplicity. In this case though the contrast is too harsh in my opinion and the placement of the two additional colour spots increases the contrast even


This could easily be softened by different artwork above the bed such as this wall hanging and the silkcarving on the opposite wall.


The wall hanging above the bed is an art quilt made entirely of silk and handquilted with silk. The small wall hanging on the opposite wall is a silk carving, also made of silk and hand stitched with silk. Both have been painted with silk dyes and metallic pigments.


"Apsaras"
52" x 69", silk art quilt
©Petra Voegtle

You can read more about this art quilt here. There are also more detail photos to see.

 
"Apsara"
( from the Angkor's Faces series)
silk carving, 14" x 14"
©Petra Voegtle

The above silk carving has been mounted on stretcher bars and is ready to be hung with or without additional frame.

~~~

Friday, September 14, 2012

GUEST POST: 10 most unusual Candles

We will soon experience a significant loss of light again - as it is usual for this time of the year in the northern hemisphere. So it is the time for candles gain and their wonderful warm light that soothes heart and soul. A great guest post by Lily Fox might lead you to some unusual ideas how to add a special accent to any room:

10 Most Unusual Candles


Candles have developed over the years to take many different forms. Typical candle designs include pillars, scented candles, and tealight candles, as well as more traditional candelabras and outdoor lanterns. However, it is also possible to find some more unusual candles, which take strange shapes, and imitate familiar objects. Some of the best and most unusual candles consequently include those shaped like eggs, or wads of money, and those that are made to smell like bacon or coffee. Other candles take creative approaches to projecting shadows and other patterns from their light, and make for great decorative touches around the home.

scented pillar candles

1 - Egg Candles

These candles are made to look like a boiled egg sitting in a glass container. As the candle burns down, the ‘shell’ melts away, and the wax that dribbles out is coloured yellow to resemble yolk.

image source

2 - Bacon Candles

For the many people that love the smell of bacon, but can’t bring themselves to eat it, bacon candles provide an unusual solution. These candles are triple scented to give them the scent of cooking bacon, and can be placed to recreate its aroma in different parts of the home. Probably not the best gift idea for vegetarians or vegans, though.

image source

3 - Lumen Candles

These imaginative candles by artist Adam Frank are housed in stainless steel lamps. As they burn, the candles throw distinctive silhouettes onto a back wall, with shapes including trees and plants.

image source

4 - Money to Burn Candles

People that have always wanted to burn a money note with a cigar, but have never had the courage - or the money to spend - can use this alternative. A candle shaped like a stack of dollar bills, the Money to Burn candles gradually melts away the artificial money.

image source

5 - Indian Corn Candles

Designed to look as much like real corn as possible, Indian Corn Candles are even coloured to resemble originals. Although why anyone would want to have this as a form of decoration is questionable, the candles do melt away over time to reveal different layers.

image source

7 - Sushi Candles

Made from beeswax, sushi candles use a fibre wick and futomaki and spam sizes to resemble different pieces of Japanese sushi. Ideal as a decorative piece, they also look unreal enough to avoid the danger of someone trying to taste them.

image source

8 - Cheese Candle

Another of the many candle designs that emulate food, the cheese candle, as the name suggests, looks like a block of cheese. As the wick burns down, the wax melts to leave holes, and gradually breaks down the lump.

image source

9 - Lego Candles

An ingenious example of using candle holders in a creative way, Lego candles involve building up wax blocks, which then use the holes in the Lego design to place tealights. Lego Candles can be arranged into different configurations, albeit always remembering to be safe in terms of balancing them out on a surface.

image source

10 - Cappuccino Candle

Installed within a glass cappuccino mug, this candle is designed to make its top and wick resemble a mound of foam, which gets eaten away through different coffee and chocolate layers. Scented candles that use cappuccino and other coffee aromas are also available.

 image source

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Thank you Lily for this amusing post

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Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Fossils in the Bedroom

No - it's not what YOU are thinking - I am talking about a painting that depicts the theme of ancient fossils i.e. ferns. It was one of those crazy ideas - hanging a painting horizontally although it was painted vertically but I thought it just made sense when you placed it above the headboard of the bed.

The image that sparked this idea was the photo of a bedroom that I felt missed a little bit of drama (I love to play the drama queen regarding interior and art). The colours in this room are very appealing though, warm and inviting.


What I also did not like was the little window just above the headboard. From the Feng Shui oriented point of view it is never a good idea to have an opening - the window - behind your back and I personally would have covered it and hung a painting instead. Whether you believe in Feng Shui or not - a window behind your back weakens your position and causes an insecure feeling:

"Why is a bed under a window considered bad feng shui?
At nighttime your body needs strong support, as well as protection, in order to do its best with the work of regenerating itself. This is the reason a good solid headboard is highly recommended in feng shui. In addition to a good headboard, you always want to have a solid wall behind your bed. When you sleep under the window, your personal energy tends to get weaker in time, as it has neither proper support, not protection.(read more)"



The original painting was painted in acrylics on rayon. I am collecting minerals, crystals and fossils. But not only that - I am also digging them up, when I find the time and the right place. It is so much fun. Currently though I am rather painting them and so it came that a couple of paintings became a series about Minerals and Fossils such as this one, called Triassic Prints II. The name comes from the imprints of fossils you can often find in rocks. Ferns are the oldest plants on our earth - I love them.

This painting was created with a special technique that is normally used with silk painting: dye resist painting. This means, that certain parts or patterns are covered/created by using a substance which is removed after painting the rest. This process has been repeated several times on this painting although this is not silk but textile paints and acrylics on cotton. The result was a kind of "printed" pattern of the ferns with many additional "ghost prints".

"Triassic Prints II"
(from the "Fossils" series)
40" x 13", acrylic on cotton
©Petra Voegtle

~~~

Addendum:

I am extremely suspicious towards statements of people that claim to be Feng Shui EXPERTISES but of course there is a lot of truth in this 1000 years of knowlege - actually "the history of feng shui covers 3,500+ years before the invention of the magnetic compass. It originated in Chinese astronomy dating back to 3500 BC." Briefly said "The goal of feng shui as practiced today is to situate the human built environment on spots with good qi. The "perfect spot" is a location and an axis in time."(Wikipedia) Therefore I have added a few interesting links about Feng Shui:


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