2015 Round Up: Faces, Triptychs, Abstract Art {curated by Hazel Agnew}

Good evening everyone. Leandra with you.

Here we are at the final summary post highlighting what a wealth of information our fantastic team of bloggers have brought to you in 2015.

I do hope you have appreciated it. They are a dream team to work with. And we hope to bring you another bunch of amazing topics for 2016. We have a few new faces coming to the blog too which is always enjoyable for us all! All will be revealed very soon!

I cannot thank enough the amazing team we have behind the scenes, from Darcy and Gillian who help with admin, editing and formatting, through to all of the 40-50 regular contributors, and the numerous less regular contributors. Every single person brings something new, exciting and interesting for us all to appreciate. We are all different, we all like different styles, genres, colours and that is exactly what this blog celebrates and encourages you to discover within yourself: your own precious individuality.

We are pretty sure that you enjoy how this blog works, and we certainly love how you have joined in the fortnightly challenges to show us your interpretation of the topics.

So here we are at the last night of reminiscing. Who better than Hazel to share with you her highlights for the final 3 topics of 2015. 

Kick back and relax as she guides you through her picks - oh so hard to choose!!

Leandra

Hi everyone, Hazel Agnew here guesting a review about some of this year's highlights. 

I have started by showing a picture of the item that I am most proud of this year. Tis my decorated bottle with clay stopper and surround. Good old Treasure Gold has transformed the clay into metal! I created it in January and it sits in pride of place on my mantlepiece!

This year for me has been very exciting creatively! The new format here on the PaperArtsy blog has suited me perfectly, enabling us to meet new challenges, enjoy instructional videos and guest designers and experiment with fresh ideas.

The interaction with like minded crafters continues. We are all learning and growing in confidence and Leandra has introduced us to some exciting topics and exciting people. I still need to calm down a bit and experiment with techniques more, but have found that the challenges have extended me out of my comfort zone.

Topic 19: Faces

With a wealth of stimulating ideas and cracking videos presented by Leandra, the faces topic took off like a rocket. People loved the "How to" video by Dina Wakley and debut faces popped up and thrilled us all.

Julie Ann produced this fabulous Butterfly with a face. To me, Julie Ann's work reflects an ethereal quality and her storytelling is incomparable. I love the way that she sketches, scans and prints her faces for a variety of topics. The combination of human faces and animal bodies adds a mythical touch, which I love.

Deb Wainwright's Broken Doll totally entrances me. What strikes me about Deb's work on faces, and, in her work generally, is her ability to present them in a myriad of mixed media ways.

This one develops from a patchwork background, has textured hair and the cracked face adds a mysterious fascination. 

What can I say about our own Darcy! Her attention to detail is awe inspiring. Here in her Clock Face, the shadows created by the butterflies and moths define her meticulous style, and the layering on this piece is brilliant...all finished off with the all seeing glassy eye!

When we get a topic like this, we get such diverse challenge entries. Did you see Tracy Easson's Art doll.She describes her methods so carefully and I really need to push clay through a garlic press! Bet that its really therapeutic. I think that we all fell in love with Gertie.

Did you see the challenge entry from Julie Bell. Soooo different, using crackle paste and rusting powder on her....but not literally....face! If you missed it, you can visit her blog HERE.

And here it is!

Topic 20: Triptychs

Next came Triptychs. This opened up so many exciting possibilities. Lynne Perrella sprung to mind straight away, but, as usual, there were triptychs coming from every style and genre. I did a little research and found that the work of Francis Bacon and David Hockney on triptychs was very thought provoking.

We kicked off with a stunner from the professor of techniques that is Alison Bomber and her piece entitled ....thrice blasted, thrice infected.

In my opinion, Alison has such an enthusiasm for the world around her, that she absorbs art from every aspect of life and interprets it into her work. In this piece, she combines snippets of Shakespeare with botany and a touch of nostalgia. How cool are those curved bottles! I must admit to having stalked Alison a little bit and have learned so much from her that I have considered creating a notebook just with tips from the maestro!

Later in the week, Florence Adam presented us with her elegant Vintage Parisian Trio.

I just love the elegance of this piece by Florence. The understated tones enable the images to sing together in perfect harmony. Her first blog post and I certainly look forward to further installments.

But lets not forget the talented Helen Chilton, who approached her gorgeous piece rather like a jigsaw puzzle. She carefully selects all the pieces to come together magically. The wired beads and snowflakes are the perfect topping to her Winter Wonderland.

Someone who underestimates her ability is Lesley Ebdon. Lesley produced some eye-catching wall art. 

Lesley's triptych is so delicately beautiful with watered down shades of the new Limited Edition paints. She has added touches of crackle that resemble cake icing, recently disturbed. The finished effect displays simplicity, but when you look carefully, Lesley has used many different techniques to achieve this.

The challenge entries were fantastic, I hope you saw this post by Sam Butler. Sam, to me, is the ultimate stamping pro. Her stamping is par excellence! Here, her clock triptych is just perfect. She lets the stamping speak for itself! You can find her HERE!

Topic 21: Abstract Art

Moving onto the topic of Abstract art....I think that a lot of us were confused as to the definition. It can be different things to different people. But, once again, fired up by the excellent examples and encouragement on the PA blog, we were treated to a wealth of talent and diversity.

I adored Jo Myhill's post of "Two Reeds", which kicked off the fortnight. Jo's ability to express moods in the simplest of terms is enviable. To me, Jo is the ultimate "Grungemeister" and her techniques are so atmospheric as she builds so much depth into her work. Whenever I look at Jo's work, I want to be able to touch it, and I am always inspired to get going and create something myself.

If you seek something a little bit out of the box, then look no further than the lovely Lucy Edmondson! Lucy can always be relied upon to come up with something a little different. Her Colour Block Christmas Tree is fresh, innovative and makes great use of old wooden stamp blocks.

Lucy has used the new Limited Edition paint colours, creating a modern, yet, at the same time, retro feel.

She obviously has loads more patience than me in carefully preparing the blocks. What a great tip to loosen the glue in the microwave!

A technique that I really want to try is the "Geometric Backgrounds" by Pavla Hozikora.

Pavla describes this as a simple trick, but the detailed layering, including stamping, painting, stencilling, the cutting of the shapes, inking, assembling is a true labour of love with exciting results. Open for plenty of free expression too!

I just could not leave out the work of Ruth Mescall ! I look forward to seeing her work, which has great style and elegance.

The proportions in her "Textured Canvas" are just perfect. The contrasts between the dry brushed grunge paste and the opulence of the gold and pink foiling are genius. I think that this photo does not do it full justice and the detailed pic from her blog shown below shows the metallic and texture detail much more clearly.

The first challenge entry for this topic popped up very quickly from the very talented Etsuko. Her abstract is stunning and would look most at home in the finest gallery!

You can look in more detail HERE.

And Finally from me....

How about an item that links all 3 of these topics? Well there's a challenge! I decided to make a large picture this time! I had rescued a large framed picture from a charity shop and created my work on the hardboard backing. It measures 15x20 inches. My work was inspired by 2 people. Lynne Perrella and Deborah Wainwright. It has random torn squares of mop up paper and bought paper as a background. I drew the face and then brayered bright fresco colours over everything. I stamped LP images onto dominoes and transformed the frame with Little Black Dress and Ruby Treasure Gold.

Finally, thank you for looking at my review of these three glorious topics. May I take this opportunity to thank you all for your friendship and encouragement this year and also to apologise to anyone whom I have left out of this review! It's a bit like delving into a box of chocolates....soooo many favourites but not allowed to indulge myself with them all!

A great time to wish everyone the best 2016, health and happiness!

So, it's Hazel Agnew....@craftroomgran......Mellifluous Meanderings...and anything else that you wish to call me, signing out! Thanks for looking.

As a parting gesture to 2015, here is a summary video that Darcy shared of her journal in which she explored all the PaperArtsy Blog topics of 2015. It was created in a junk-journal style, ie experimental, so it was not intended to be a book of 'finished' pages, more a series of ideas and exploratory fun. Enjoy!