Windows to your Soul

I would have loved to see more of this room than only this small vignette because I like the warm colours and the huge mirror besides the bed. So I can only start from here.

with courtesy of http://www.livingetc.com

As usual I was looking into my stock of art pieces and found a silk scroll that would fit nicely into this colour scheme and restrained pattern of the wall:

This silk scroll is a semi-abstract interpretation of the mind's view towards the inner self. As we never can see the whole until we have reached the perfection we will only be able to peek through many little windows. Doesn't this correlate wonderfully?

"Windows"
(painted and stitched) 

silk scroll

 45" x 24"
©Petra Voegtle

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Bonjour Tristesse - but not in the Bedroom please!

Please do not get me wrong here - I find this bedroom extremely elegant, stylish and very well designed. All the elements complement each other perfectly. But it looks really depressing. There is something important missing: a piece of colour!

I know - a bedroom should be kept mostly in  "neutral" colours, because it is meant for relaxing, getting a good night sleep, yadayada. But I would not want to sleep in a room with depressing colours such as these. Yes - depressing because that abundance of greys and blacks would rather remind me of a funeral parlour than a bedroom in which I could feel well.

A single piece of bright colour would do the trick: f.e. with this brightly coloured silk scroll, mounted on a simple stretcher frame without the upper and lower part as can be seen in the original scroll (please see below). But check for yourself. It would not change the design of this room but add a tiny bit of life and friendliness, warmth and excitement and keep off depressing feelings...

The original silk scroll was handpainted and additionally quilted with silk thread to add texture and depth.
This kind of scrolls is reminiscent of ancient Chinese or Japanese scroll paintings - their construction yet is completely different and has been developed by myself.

While traditional Japanese and Chinese silk scrolls are made from very thin painted silk, that is glued to paper which again is normally covered by patterned silk, my scrolls consist of 3 layers of fabric and no paper at all.

The middle piece is constructed like a quilt with a layer of very thin batting between the top layer which is the painted silk and the back. Headpiece and footpiece are normally made from silk as well, which has been fused to a thin layer of rayon fabric.

"Desert"
48" x 24", silk scroll
©Petra Voegtle

Finally top and bottom part of the scroll are sewn with a narrow tube at the end to be able to push a dowel through the fabric which is used for hanging. But as I said already - top and bottom part could also be removed in order to mount the middle piece on a stretcher frame.

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What Walls are meant for...

A lovely room, extremely spacious, with a gorgeous terrace, a great city view and a large wall. A large wall? Why on earth would one choose two tiny pictures which are even partially hidden or overpowered by lamps?
There is so much art out there that positively cries for a place like this one. I would have had a nice option...

What strikes me most in this room are the warm colours which turn the space into a cozy place. Without being too reminiscent of an old farmhouse the wooden beams add only some accents to a modern environment. And then I would have chosen this artwork for the wall above the bed:

Originally this is a silk scroll, painted and hand beaded with hundreds of small glass beads which sparkle in artificial light. But you could also remove the upper and lower part of this scroll and mounted horizontally in a sophisticated frame as shown in the photo below.

"Sun"
55" x 23", silk scroll
©Petra Voegtle

Instead of the original silk scroll I can make this scroll available as a fine art print on heavy cotton canvas in my Etsy Shop in nearly any size.

The image part of the silk scroll contains hundreds of tiny glass beads which were hand sewn and which imitate the tiny crystals within an agate geode.
The image has been inspired by real agates and is therefore a kind of blown-up imitation. The clear glass beads will reflect the light the same way as the tiny quartz crystals. The mother-of-pearl pigments in the silk paint heighten the gloss of various light parts in order to imitate the creamy white calcite parts you would find in nearly any agate.

Here are some details of the original silk scroll:

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A Bedrooom with two Alternatives of Fine Art

When I saw this image of a bedroom I immediately thought - oh how could they leave this huge wall above the bed without any art!

Especially in rooms where you have very high ceilings you need to be careful that the ceiling does not "escape" completely. In this case you have a lovely space to fill with something pleasing and reassuring...

My first suggestion would be to hang a silk scroll such as this one above the bed. The filigree pattern more or less repeats the pattern on the wooden ceiling, the colours are warm and fresh at the same time and the modern style fits into the overall scheme:

This silk scroll was inspired by one of the typical sceneries you can find in southeast Asia - rice farmers harvesting their crops. While we as Westerners find those landscapes simply beautiful, especially when the rice is ripe and turns into that golden colour, we often forget that the rice farmers in those countries belong to the poorest people who have no eye for the beauty but rather fight for their pure survival. These are the different perceptions in our lives.

Ricefields is an abstracted image of these landscapes and the embroidered red triangles represent the farmers with their typical wide straw hats. The patterns of the rice crops have been created with dye paint resists in several layers just similar to the batik techniques only that instead of wax a water soluble gel has been used. The decent use of metallic pigments was only for highlighting the rice crop patterns.

"Ricefields"
53" x 27", silk scroll
©Petra Voegtle

The second alternative is a silk painting from the Minerals series called Spheres.

The original artwork is a silk scroll and is normally hung with two handmade wooden dowels or any other similar device. But this silk scroll could be mounted on a stretcher frame as well without the black silk top and bottom part.
Additionally I can make this scroll available as a fine art print on heavy cotton canvas in my Etsy Shop.

The image part of the silk scroll contains hundreds of tiny glass beads which were hand sewn and which imitate the tiny crystals within an agate geode.
Doesn't the landscape here remind you of a large mystic cave, found beneath the surface of the earth?
When I saw the image of this agate I was fascinated by its spherical quality. It looked as if it were from a landscape of an outer world.

How can this be? The image has been inspired by real agates and is therefore a kind of blown-up imitation. The clear glass beads will reflect the light the same way as the tiny quartz crystals. The mother-of-pearl pigments in the silk paint heighten the gloss of various light parts in order to imitate the creamy white calcite parts you would find in nearly any agate.

 "Spheres"

34" x 34", silk scroll
©Petra Voegtle

Here are some details of this scroll:

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Art on (at) the Wall but please not in this Manner...

When a room is prepared for photographing it is normally "staged" - you would not show a mess in your bedroom to the public - would you? Often enough the newly prepared rooms look though as if no-one ever has lived or will live in it because everything is too tidy, too styled - you would not dare to touch anything at all.

On the other hand who would like to see all the personal stuff of the owner in a house you want to buy? Your own imagination would be spoiled. But I do not want to go into details what to do when you want to sell a home or what you could expect when you want to buy a home. There are enough tips to be found on the Internet or you could even contact a professional home staging company.

Here is an example though where the owner of this room was not well advised regarding placing art as a design element. Somewhere in the HGTV channel I read a comment such as "new artwork can make a world of difference when staging a home to sell".  Now this applies of course to a newly designed room also. But look at this example: the pictures are placed loosely on the headboard of the bed, partially covered by the cushions. This does not look good.

As an alternative I would have chosen a real painting or a large fine art print such as this one, mounted in a nice frame. The original of the artwork I have chosen here, is actually a silk scroll, painted and embroidered and hung on 2 dowels. A picture is shown below.

This is the original silk scroll:

"Panaxia I"
43" x 24", silk scroll
©Petra Voegtle

and this could be the fine art print that could be produced in any size mounted in a virtual frame:

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A cheerful Bedroom could be too nice

The colours of this bedroom are cheerful - there is no doubt about it. They are reminiscent of lazy sunny summer days spent near a lake with nothing but a natural panorama, serene and soft, no noise that tortures your ear besides the one or other bird that quarrels with his neighbour, a place simply to doze off.

Maybe this is the meaning of a bedroom but sometimes we also spend some time there without sleeping and it would be nice to have something in the room where your thoughts and inspirations could focus on - a piece of art is certainly such a focus.

If this were my room I would add this silk scroll. It is not enervating to disturb the calmness but it sends enough vibes to fill you with dreams of a different world and possibly some inspirations and ideas...

The silk scroll is part of a small series about the workmanship of southeast Asian artists and artisans.
The Weaver belongs to a series which portrays the most striking characteristics of people and cultures of the world. These characteristics should not be reduced to common prejudices but simply reflect an impression through the artist's eye: undoubtedly you can find some of the most beautiful people among Indian people combined with the abilities of outstanding craftmanship and artistry for thousands of years not only in the textile category but in many other areas too.

The means of the portrait is a medium which has been used for hundreds of years in countries such as China and Japan: painted scrolls made from paper or silk but another component has been added to this modern and personal version: quilting. The materials used here are silk top, poly batting, viscose/poly backing; painted, machine quilted with silk.
Additionally the patterns on the top and bottom of this scroll have been hand painted and are reminscent of the batik techniques in Indonesia...

"The Weaver"

65" x 21", hand painted silk scroll
©Petra Voegtle

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A Touch of Exotic in the Living Room

My attention was drawn immediately to the gorgeous window arches of this room and the amount of light that would be guranteed by this fact. I absolutely love large windows because then you have a plethora of possibilities for decoration, even converting half of the room into something like a sunroom - especially with plants. But this is not the theme here.

The room has been kept very simple - what can be seen from the photo section here - which leaves the opportunity to add some major objects and of course a  sophisticated piece of art such as this large silk scroll rather than the original picture which looks a bit depressing in this context (see below). The scroll would definitely add an exotic touch to this room.

 original image source and with courtesy of 

http://www.livingetc.com

The silk scrolls has been inspired by the dramatic stone architecture in India. If you would like to read more about the "making of" this extravagant piece and see a lot of large detail images please check this link.

"The Palace" 

( from the Ornaments series)

75" x 23", silk scroll
©Petra Voegtle

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Hornets in the Doorway

Do you like hornets? I do and I can tell you why.

You will soon understand why I try to break a stone for these wonderful insects. The silk scroll (see below) is an hommage to an insect which has a very bad reputation due to many myths which need to be rectified. Exaggerated stories of hornet attacks and the effect of their stings such as "Seven hornet stings kill a horse, three an adult and two a child" simply belong to that world of fairy tales. Such myths which exist for generations have led to the hornet becoming an endangered species in many areas of Central Europe, due to merciless human pursuit.

"Hornets"
43" x 24", silk scroll
©Petra Voegtle

Hornets belong to the most useful insects at all. While most people seem to be afraid of them because of misinformation there is absolutely not need for this. Bees and wasps can be much more dangerous and aggressive. Hornets are peaceful insects as long as one doesn't behave like an idiot and tries to remove their nests. When you have a hornet nest in your garden you should call yourself a lucky person because then you won't have any problems with wasps and other stinging insects such as moskitos and gadflies.

They buzz - this is probably making people nervous. But you should not be. It's a sound that is much more peaceful than the angry barking of your neighbour's dog. Hornets will not attack you and try to eat the jam on your roll or dirsturb your coffee party - they do not eat sugar or other artificial sweets.

Hornets are incredible architects. They build their little palaces with a craftmanship and esthetics that hardly can be compared to anything else from the world of insects. They are real interior designers.

(image source:  http://www.insektenstaaten.de/index.html)

(image source: http://www.rsl-blank.de/Hornissen2008.htm)

Some time ago some rare wood wasps built a nest outside the window of my mom's house. It was at a place that was not a problem. So I had the opportunity to take the wonderful material they created for the nest into my hands after they had all left. It is very similar to the one hornets are creating. I have added some photos I made from pieces of a wasp nest, photographed against light so that you can admire the structures and patterns of these incredible architects:

photography ©Petra Voegtle

And where would I hang the scroll? This doorway would be perfect for hanging this scroll although the original piece of art looks marvellous too. I especially like the connection to wood...

But wouldn't it bring even more luck to you to have this scroll hanging in your house?

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OFF-TOPIC: Climate Change - nothing is static

These days subject #1 is Climate Change. But the explanations of science and rainbow press are equally ridiculous. As if mankind could influence any global changes - ha.
Changes on this planet occur continuously - it is necessary for the universal balance, to keep the planet living. Nothing on earth is static. Climate changes are a necessary element of these changes.

While man certainly has an influence on his nearer environment, pollution of air, land and sea, on the animals and their wellbeing, on plants etc. and while this certainly has an impact on micro climates of cities and adjacent country he has no influence on global climate changes. I do not want to go into details though. It is a matter of common sense.

The melting of the ice caps in the artic region will have some major impact on the whole planet but can we do anything about it? I don't think so. The outcry about this is as ridiculous as about many other issues. This has occured several times in the history of our earth, long before man started to change his environment.

Has anyone ever thought about this being necessary and that if we try to intervene in nature's laws and actions - which we btw mostly still do not understand - we might end up in a chaos? Plants and animals and even man will disappear eventually from certain areas but there will be new ones, new land, new species - continuously. Evolution will never stop.This can be painful but we cannot and should not intervene. What sense does it make to save certain species artificially when the habitat has been lost? Shall we keep animals in zoos only after we have "civilized" all wild land, plastered it with cities? This cannot be the meaning of life and I definitely don't want to live in a world such as that.

We should enjoy the beauties of this world, protect it from greed and overpopulation which is the real scourge of humanity as long as we are here. The secrets of mother nature will never be revealed - we can only comprehend little bits and pieces but never the whole.

This is the reason why I am creating art, beautiful objects which only show a fraction of what exists.This silk scroll has been inspired by the fantastic landscapes you can still find in arctic regions where the ice is carved by mother nature...

"Iceworld"
79" x 25", silk scroll

©Petra Voegtle

If you would like to know more about the "making of" of this silk scroll, please check this link.

And if you would like to see the impact of this scroll on the wall, here are some examples:

interior1, interior2, interior3

This wallhanging was juried into the members show of the Woman Made Gallery in Chicago in 2006.

Follwoing image is and example how this very large scroll could look in a frame:

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