This fan (inspired by an antique fireplace fan) uses a wonderful pressed paper form (from Germany) for the background. Colorful theatre sheets set the scene, and a vintage looking paper doll stands center stage in clothing that you will design and create out of found images. (dresses and hats 'hang' from the dolls, so you can easily display your fan however you want!) I have also added a vintage 'mother of pearl' handle to replicate the look of a vintage fan. In my first sample I 'antiqued' the pressed paper form, and used a festive background, giving a feel of a summer ball in progress. Our little lady dons a ocean~mermaid inspired ensemble and then changes into a music paper summer party dress.
ANN GRANHAMMERClass Description:
Miss Rose has crepe paper petals surrounding her hand-molded Fimo face. Her dress is fashioned from a variety of papers and trims. Peek under her skirts and a magical scene is revealed - an inner dream perhaps? Or her own fairytale conclusion... Miss Rose stands approximately 15 inches tall.
Tuesday: I had a restless night filled with nightmares of earthquakes and horses stampeding through my studio! I plot the final 48 hours on paper, with 'Clean Bookshelves' on top of the list. An hour into the bookshelves, my husband phones from work and asks how things are going, and I collapse in tears... I'm tired, overwhelmed, excited, anxious, nevous, and a complete basket case. It feels as if my Menopause has become a dragon and is frying me to the bone! Ever calm and supportive, he tells me "Its time to call in the troops Ulla!" I make a few phone calls and re-plot my battle-plan.
Here are two Before and After photos of my bookshelves. I am still amazed at how something as simple as re-positioning a stack of books, and weeding a few out can make such a big difference!
Tuesday afternoon: I take an hour off and go over to our neighborhood Nursery and spend $45.00 on a crate of Annuals to fill 4 small pots. This will be the ONLY money I spend that has anything to do with the shoot. Actually it was more of a 'feel-good' purchase, as I wanted to add a little color to the deck outside my studio windows. (Ultimately no photos were taken of the outside - so it was pure selfish pleasure on my part...)
ullam.typepad.com/ullabenulla/2009/03/index.htm...
Here are two Before and After photos of my bookshelves. I am still amazed at how something as simple as re-positioning a stack of books, and weeding a few out can make such a big difference!
Tuesday afternoon: I take an hour off and go over to our neighborhood Nursery and spend $45.00 on a crate of Annuals to fill 4 small pots. This will be the ONLY money I spend that has anything to do with the shoot. Actually it was more of a 'feel-good' purchase, as I wanted to add a little color to the deck outside my studio windows. (Ultimately no photos were taken of the outside - so it was pure selfish pleasure on my part...)
Isn't this French 17th century Reliquary Box wonderful? I love how the embroidery so perfectly frames each relic, and how the softness of the flowers invites us in for a closer look. Was this kept on a shelf or perhaps carried around when most in need? A truly stunning treasure!!
“Kind hearts are the gardens, Kind thoughts are the roots, Kind words are the flowers, Kind deeds are the fruits, Take care of your garden And keep out the weeds, Fill it with sunshine, Kind words, and Kind deeds.”
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quotes (1807-1882); poet
“I believe that friends are quiet angels who sit on our shoulders and lift our wings when we forget how to fly.”
Hippies And A Ouija Board (Everyone Needs To Cling To Something)
2003-2004, Suitcase: cast and carved dehydrated bone calcium and bone dust from every bone in the body, microcrystalline cellulose, cold cast iron and brass, rust, antique syringe, crushed velvet, leather, thread, water extendable resin, typeset Bottles, medicines, and Ouija board: cast and carved dehydrated bone calcium and bone dust from every bone in the body, typeset, homebrewed moonshine (potato derived alcohol), wine health tonics (water, sugar, fermented black cherries, yeast, gelatin, tartaric acid, pectinase, sulfur dioxide, oak flavoring, fortified with 100-year-old hemlock oil, Devil's Claw, witch hazel bark, swamp root, powdered rhubarb, pleurisy root, belladonna root, white pine tar, coal tar, dandelion, sarsaparilla, mandrake, mullein, scullcap, cramp bark, elder, ginseng, horny goat weed, tansy, sugar of lead, mercury with chalk and tin-oxide; calcium potassium, creatine, zinc, iron, nickel, copper, boron, vitamin k, crushed amino acids, home-cultured antibiotics, chromium, magnesium, colostrum, ironized yeast, ground pituitary gland, ground wisdom teeth, ground sea horse, shark cartilage, coral calcium, iodine & castor oil) Records: various 1960's 45 rpm records cast in prehistoric whale bone dust, typeset, 42 x 23 x 19 inches, Collection of the Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
"...a tangled diorama covered by a large bell jar... Inside, a lump of earth seemed to sustain a few examples of scraggly plant life, as well as a scattering of dead leaves and a couple of brightly coloured butterflies. Above it, a larger plant might have given the scene some shade were it not made entirely of clear glass. This strange form gives the lie to the rest of the construction: every element in the piece, from the pine needles to the ladybird that can be spied in the undergrowth, is realistically rendered in coloured glass... Its preciousness shouts down the melancholic echoes indicated in its title – one ghostly form rising up over other (differently) ghostly forms, all of which conjure some bucolic and cutesy illustration of a hedgerow wilderness that is itself a ghost of something that perhaps never existed."
GHOST, Jim Hodges, 2008, hand blown glass.
Sometimes I get so busy I don't know where time goes... Here is a photo of my studio table this morning, at the end of one project, and just before beginning a new one. There is litterly 9 different projects in progress here, not including the finished one! YIKES!!!
And a little peek at an upcoming project in the works below...
Come take an imaginary walk in the woods, while creating this unusual journal. Using copper mesh and a variety of papers, transparencies, and ephemera, you'll design pages that are held together with eyelets and rivets and then tied to the journal cover with silk ribbons. You'll also learn how to distress and tarnish copper, and how to use twigs, leaves, beads, and other found objects as embellishments.
Fee: $165.00, includes all material, but feel free to bring your favorite woodland theme ephemera, papers, photos, and small found objects.
Here young Matilde and her dear friend Fanny take a trip to Europe via Balloon. Many adventures happen along the way as they experience a Grand Tour like no other!
I remember when I was young, my father used to tell me that if I dug deep enough I would reach China! Perhaps it would have been easier to dig into an Atlas!
The Castle In the Air class schedules for the Fall are finally here, and I truly believe this is the best selection of classes we have offered yet!!! My first class this new session is a delightful Globe de Mariee known as a French Wedding Chair. These highly collectable antique treasures were created to hold the brides wedding bouquet after the ceremony and kept as a treasured keepsake. Filled with symbols such as 'rectangular mirrors' marking years of engagement, 'oak leaves' for longevity of union, 'roses' for love, grape clusters for prosperity, and 'diamond shaped mirrors' for how many children the couple desired - these charming chairs tell wonderful stories on their own. My miniature version is approximately 10 inches tall and created of wire, Dresden trim, and hand dyed velvet. Castle Class Description follows:
Ulla has designed a magical wedding chair resembling those contained in Globes de Mariee, or Wedding Globes. Popular with the French bourgeoisie in the 1800s, Globes de Mariee are now highly collectible. The elaborately decorated chair contained within was fashioned to display the bride’s coronet and flowers after the wedding. Ulla’s version has a tufted velvet seat and a fanciful back featuring traditional motifs crafted from Dresden paper trim. The Dresden looks just like the ormolu of the originals. This is a truly delightful and joyous piece! Fee includes materials.
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This truly delightful paper collage is from Poland, and was created in the early 1930's. It shows a bridal couple and bridesmaid. Researching the folk costume reveals that it is from Warsaw. How wonderful that the artist used photos for the faces, along with printed papers for the clothing. I adore the flowers around the couple as much as the costumes.
www3.hants.gov.uk/museum/dress-and-textiles/bee...