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

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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.

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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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Sometimes you need a Colour Break...

To furnish and decorate a room, a hallway in matching tones might be desirable for many people but too often the result is boring and tiring. An eyecatcher can create so much difference. I would want any room or place to incorporate something exciting, an object, a colour that really demands some attention. If you have a colour palette that consists mainly in beige and brown tones a break is really necessary as in this hallway:

The original art on  the wall certainly looks elegant with the nice shiny frame but I am sure that after a very short while no-one would look at the art any more - it would simply mingle with the background and disappear from your attention.
The contrary would happen with a piece of art such as this one:
a silk carving/sculpture with glowing colours, nothing you would just oversee.

The silk sculpture was inspired by the Hawaiian legends of Pele, the Hawaiian Akua (Goddess), the fire goddess, mother of all life which comes out of the depth of the earth. 
In Hawaiian mythology women were a powerful source of new life and source of spiritual power. In the Polynesian world Mana Wahine - the power of woman - was a force that must never be ignored. It was Hina (Woman) who gave birth to new life, Hina controlled the moon, the tides and the reefs and Hina had the secret of fire.

Pele incorporates a technique called silk carving©, which is a development by the artist. The intent of this technique was to create a symbiosis between carving and fiber art. The surface of the fiber was transformed completely into a relief. The upper layer of this piece was made from one single piece of silk - nothing was sewn on top to add depth. Additionally paints and pigments were used in a manner to give the visual impression of flowing lava in all its glowing colours and the viewer is supposed to feel the heat. But it is "only" a piece of soft sculptured silk.

 "Pele"

( from the Hawaiian Symbols series)
silk carving, 48" x 17"
©Petra Voegtle

If you would like to see more detail photos please check this link

(This art piece was shown at several art venues in the USA and was featured by art critic Cate McQuaid in the Boston Globe.)

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Wrought Iron Bed and a Golden Nymph

I really love this little bedroom. It is incredibly sweet and full of romantic. And of course the wrought iron bed. I never had one but I find these kinds of beds wonderfully oldfashioned and somehow I always associate a feeling of happy childhood with them. Strange isn't it? Wrought iron beds are definitely not for kids only...

This could be a gorgeous bedroom in a cottage. I could imagine a scenery with an old rose garden and many large old trees around the house and and ...

...and of course I would not leave this room alone, without a single art piece on the wall. I have one that would complement the bed, the colours perfectly:

The silk wall hanging has been entirely hand quilted with silk thread and painted. Even the intricate patterns on the figure's dress is painted with metallic pigments.

"Golden Nymph"
50" x 26", Silk Art Quilt
©Petra Voegtle

Normally this is hung with hand made wooden dowels but the wall hanging could be also mounted on a stretcher frame and additionally framed - see link.

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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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You think Quilts are out? Never....

Do you honestly believe that a quilt couldn't make it into a well designed big hallway? Why? Because you think a quilt belongs on a bed? Not so!
In my last post I was showing a very special art quilt with an exotic flair and motif. This time I chose something with a motif that should be familiar - Cygnes (Swans). I prefer the French name because it sounds much more delicate, more appropriate for those beautiful birds.

Would this beautiful huge entry hall not be predestined for a large art piece such as this hand stitched silk quilt? And would the grand piano in this place not be the perfect complementary object as if made for each other?

The original painting is certainly making a point but an art quilt would be a real eyecatcher - wouldn't it? Something that not everybody has on the wall.

The art quilt was made from silk, hand stitched with silk and finally painted. It is an hommage to one of the most beautiful birds on our planet, a bird that stands for grace, elegance, innocence and love:

"Cygnes"

76" x 54" silk art quilt

©Petra Voegtle

This wall hanging has been part of a project called “Piecing a Quilt of Life” an international project dedicated to empowering senior women by recognizing their creative abilities by Fiber Artist Dottie Moore in Rock Hill, South Carolina. It was part of an exhibition in the Rock Hill Museum for nearly 8 months and was featured on TV in the HGTV channel. More links...

Exotic Flair on a traditional American Medium

What could be more decorative than this art quilt - which means it belongs on a wall not on a bed. It is entirely handquilted with silk and finally handpainted. Inspired by the apsaras bas-reliefs in Angkor Wat in Cambodia and the Indian Epic Mahabharata this beautiful wallhanging will be an eyecatcher for every room. You can find the links to various stages at the end of this post.

There is something very personal about this art quilt because it brought me back to painting. While other artists, coming from the media “painting” suddenly turn their interest into working with fabrics and textiles, in my case it was totally the other way round. While I may go back to quilting from time to time and "test" my inspirations on rather unusual themes and materials again, it was the creation of fabric images and quilting that brought me back to painting, that I stopped doing for various reasons many many years ago.

The “Apasara” motifs existed in my head a long time before I even travelled to Southeast Asia. Memories from the 70′s and Indian influences that flooded the western countries during the hippy era already existed in rudimentary pieces in my brain. Through the years of travelling I developed a greater interest for the culture of the Khmer and I studied many photo documentaries in books and on film.

Although I have never been in Cambodia physically I got to know the country and its people through tales and contacts outside the country itself – many Cambodians still live in exile and have found new homes.

I have shown this art quilt a couple of times in various vignettes and now I want to show you the details of this piece.

"Apsaras"
52" x 69", silk art quilt

©Petra Voegtle

 

 

The following pic shows the back of this quilt which has been embellished addtionally with hand applications of satinee leaves.

The last 3 pics show the hand stitched, intricate details of the dancer's jewellery.

 

 

 

If you would like to know more about the background and "making of" this beautiful art quilt please check this link
Please use these links to get an impression of how this art quilt appears in the environment of a beautiful room: interior1, interior2 and interior3

Btw - this quilt has been juried into and shown at the main show of the big International Quilt Festival in Houston in 2004. Citizens of Houston will know what this means...

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