The flowing, ostentatious language of Mannerist art in the 16th century grew out of the High Renaissance. But Renaissance naturalism and realism was replaced by heightened, exaggerated drama, and fabric played a vital narrative and compositional role. Moving beyond reality gave artists a newfound, expressive freedom, and drapery was given a life of its own,…
Turbulent Times: Fabrics in Italian Mannerist Art
This is a great project to try out with younger kids, and a handy way to use up your scraps of left over fabric. You can encourage your child to come up with their very own character and help them make it into a DIY pattern, by simply drawing it out on a piece of…
HONEY BLOSSOM Linen’s sumptuous pink flutters through Jean-Honore Fragonard’s decadent Rococo scenes, tinting ruffled skirts, diaphanous veils and the blushing cheeks of hopeful young suitors. Nestled amongst cool, watery greens and dusty blues, this colour brings the fresh, peachy glow of spring and summer into his works of art. But it also symbolises the blossoming…
This summer I walked out my back door and groaned. The mulberry tree dropped a plethora of berries on the patio. There was a berry every two inches in each direction. Some berries get mercifully eaten by wildlife. Most just seem to await their fate of returning to soil. I’m tempted to be annoyed because…
“Painters of the Northern Renaissance clothe their figures in a fabric that has the friable angularity of carvings made from wood.” Andrew Graham-Dixon During the 15th and 16th centuries, the enlightening ideas of the Italian Renaissance spread throughout Northern Europe, lifting it out of the Dark Ages into the wonder of a new era. Much…
Teaching your kids and teenagers to sew is an admirable achievement, yet instilling the confidence to use the skills they’ve learned to go off on their own and make something independently is a gift for life. Having taught children and teenagers to sew for almost a decade, I would love to share how to encourage…
One of the greatest colourists of all time, Pablo Picasso brought radiant yellows like that of EGYPTIAN YELLOW linen into many of his most famous artworks, infusing into them a golden, glowing light. Born in Spain before relocating to France, Picasso remained patriotic to his home country throughout his career, and he would have been…
Fabrics-Store has many well designed patterns to inspire the possibilities of what to make with their lovely linen. In my over two decades of sewing I don’t think I have sewn more than one piece that is cut on the bias. The NICO Dress Pattern was a very good pattern for me to stretch myself…
“Dress was employed by the Renaissance elite to manifest rank and magnificence.” William J Connell, contemporary historian. In High Renaissance Italian art, virtuoso paintings convey an extravagant world of thick piled velvet, metallic embroidery and glossy, stiffened silks. This fabric allowed artists to tell wondrous, exotic stories, whipping and swirling in the wind, circling and…
Fertile moss greens of GREEN Linen are a vital ingredient in Pierre Bonnard’s paintings, bringing into them an energising, ambient glow. A leader in the early 20th century intimiste movement that observed the quiet intimacy of ordinary life, Bonnard made private, simple observations come alive through luminescent colour and scattered strokes of paint. Earthy greens…
I have been on the hunt for a classic white shirt for years. Since starting a capsule wardrobe, or well-worn wardrobe as I like to call it, this closet staple has been on my project list. I finally found the style I was looking for in the Cameron Blouse pattern and recently spent a Saturday…
“Fabric was more than décor; it became part of the story.” Alan Riding, writer Sinuous, flowing drapes of fabric flow across early Renaissance paintings, wrapping the contours of bodies and breathing into them dynamic life. Taking their cue from the sculptures of Ancient Greece, artists of the Renaissance period produced diaphanous veils of colour and…
Natural dyes have been with us since the dawn of civilisation & before the creation of synthetic dyes they were the sole source of colour for the fabrics, fibres and textiles of our lives. They have a rich and fascinating history, valued, traded and transported throughout the ancient world. It always fascinates me to learn…
Cold, white light runs through Pierre Auguste Renoir’s paintings, leaving dark, mysterious shadows in its wake. The mossy shade of FERN Linen coloured damp, dark corners of his outdoor scenes, soaking into them a weighty solidity and substance. World renowned for his sparkling qualities of light, Renoir helped lead the French Impressionist School to success,…
“Queen to b4, knight to F7, bishop to H5…” I couldn’t help but overhear an older man talking to himself as he replayed one of the great chess games of history. He held an orange book with tattered corners in one hand while swiftly moving the pieces on the board in front of him with…
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