I found these beautiful paper works today online while surfing Colossal.com. I was first drawn to the beautiful patterns, but was then enthralled when I found out that they were all made out of thin, cut & rolled strips of paper!!! Amazing.

“Rabie” – by Gunjan Aylawadi…

“Against The Wind” – by Gunjan Aylawadi…

“Derweze” – by Gunjan Aylawadi…

According to Colossal.com…
The Sydney, Australia-based artist Gunjan Aylawadi creates intricate, colorful sculptures that appear to resemble woven textiles. However, upon closer observation, her work—inspired by patterns and motifs in Islamic art—are made entirely from curled paper. The process, long and intricate, can cost the artist months on a single artwork. And not just any old paper will do. For example, “Against the Wind” is made from hand-cut strips of paper from old music books, which are then individually hand rolled and assembled. Although complicated, Aylawadi’s reasons for making art are simple: “What I enjoy most about making my work is the experience people have when they look at it,” she says. “They stop for a moment to have a closer look and the moment turns into long minutes of being fascinated by the beauty a simple medium like paper can add to the work in front of their eyes.”

Kind of reminds me of my old high school days… playing with the old paper craft of quilling. Now if only I had Gunjan’s work as inspiration back than, imagine what I could have been doing?!!! A little bit more than this old “sampler” I made many years ago. And no, I haven’t kept it all these years. My Mom found it when they were packing to move and passed it back on to me. Now what to do with it???

First off… this is a pretty darn impressive plate.
Second… I love the swirling, spinning, ever-changing patterns in the colored slip.
Third… looks like my Beginner’s will get a new slip demo next class session!!!

Click here to watch the beautiful demo video.
And seriously, the music soundtrack to the video is pretty incredible too.
It makes the whole process “sound” like so much fun too!!!

As seen on (and borrowed from) www.ThisIsColossal.com…
As a person who’s spent more than a few hours at the seat of a potter’s wheel I can attest to the strangely soothing act of doodling around with wet clay sludge (called slip) before or after throwing a pot. As fun as it is, it’s still somewhat surprising to see the act elevated to this level of artistry by “Michael Gardner” who blurs the line between performance and visual art as he creates pattern after pattern on an empty wheel. FYI: the artist’s name is a Google translation from Russian via YouTube, if anyone have more concrete details on the performer/artist, send it over.

Bowls are trimmed… detailed… and drying… and “arranged.”

And I still love the shapes & patterns they create when they’re set together as a group. Reminds me of this sort of traditional Arabic or Moroccan geometric pattern.

Not quite so obvious from the side…

After a very “sweet” breakfast with Taylor and the rest of my family, I decided to go into the studio to take advantage of my “syrup-sugar high.” I was a little unfocused on what to start with… so you know that when that happens I pretty much always make MUGS!!! So I started with a dozen – and went on from there!

After getting some great response & comments about the fluted bowl I made from my class demo, I decided I might want to capitalize on that and make more!!!

I love how the shaped bowls line up and make a great pattern as a group. The negative space between the bowls are almost as much fun as the bowls themselves?!!!

Okay, you’ve asked for it… many times. And I just kept putting it off.

Well, today I FINALLY tackled my first stamping demo video.
While I’m no Steven Spielberg, but I’m fairly pleased for my first attempt.
And I’m pretty sure the next one will be better… or at least shot in a horizontal format?!
Let me know what you think.

Click here to watch my VERY FIRST demo video!!!… which is now also on YouTube!!!

Another cold Saturday. It’s snowing again.
And there’s more frost forming on my windows. Love the feathery crystal formations!
Guess I “need” to stay inside today…

C’mon… don’t they look like feathers??? I love the delicate swirls.
The repetition of lines. The organic way they’re all “growing” out from the center.

One good thing about this morning’s Winter sun…
it totally hit the stained glass in my dining room in just the right way! A great
“art-fair-trade” with stained glass artist Richard Diens of Goodwood Stained Glass Studio.

Getting ready for my Christmas at home with my family.
MOst of my presents are wrapped, by nbags are packed and I just finished making my hot fudge cheesecake I’m bringing with for Christmas Dinner. I hope I can wait that long… might look bad if I showed up and there were already a few bites missing. huh!?!

Here’s the third batch of textured pillow tiles… the smallest size of the three. My goal is to have the three sizes so people can pick & choose and create their own “constellations” to hang on their walls. But the BIG question is… What to call them??? The “working title” has been “Textured Wall Pillows.” But I’d like to come up with something a bit catchier. Any suggestions?!

While my computer has been down, I’ve been getting a lot done in the studio. Coincidence?!… maybe I should “break” my computer more often?! Anyway, I’ve been working on some new pieces with a lot of textures & patterns. Here’s a couple sneak-peeks…

So here they are… I’ve been making some pieces that I hope will hang on the wall. My plan is to make them in a couple different sizes so people can put them together for a great wall hanging piece! We’ll see if my plan comes together…