Advent Calendar 2011

this the advent calendar I made for my daughter this year. it was a bit more time consuming than the previous year as I decided to make a 3D Christmas tree out of toilet paper rolls. To pull that one off you need to plan your thing month in advance to have the 24 rolls before the first day of December, you can also use kitchen tissue paper roll that you cut to match the length of the toilet paper roll.
I wrapped the back end of the roll with newspaper bits, then painted each roll in green individually before gluing them together in the shape of the tree. I then cut 24 circles out of recycled green paper (you can use craft paper as well) on which I wrote a number in 3D gold liner paint, then stuffed each roll with a little present before pasting the green circle  on each end sealing the goodies inside, and then used 3D green glitter paint to define each circle. I added a star cut out from white craft paper and wrapped in gold leftover gift wrap paper that I then pasted on top of the tree. Time consuming but a really stunning result for this one.

Advent Calendar 2010

In Switzerland it is traditional to have an advent calendar for your kids to countdown the days until Christmas, and my mom used to make one every year wrapping 24 little presents for each days leading to the big day. And I wanted to carry on the tradition for my daughter for her second Christmas and this is what I came up with.
The calendar is fairly simple, and while you can’t really see it all the gifts are tied to a cardboard piece I cut in the shape of a Christmas tree and painted silver and pasted the thing in the door frame of my kitchen. I used a star shape to draw little tags out of yellow craft paper, used 3D liner to line them and wrote the number of the day into each one before pasting them to the present. I used a moon shape to make the 24th tag and placed it on top of the tree.

Patchwork Painting

I started this one in August 2011, shortly after we relocated to Mumbai to brighten our dinning area, and finished it in November 2011.
I wanted to make something, bright, a bit quirky, and more in tune with my fast style of painting. This is not saying this painting actually took little time, but the dynamic and the fact I split it in smaller area to work on individually made wonder for my limited patience, working on one tile at a time layer by layer is far better in my book than obsessing over a waterfall for hours. I first divided the canvas in a grid, then painted each tile a solid colour, then added a completely individual pattern to each tile, then painted a bigger brighter figure in every alternate tile often using 3D lining paint to add some depth to my painting, and lined each tile with a blue grey line, to give a tiled or patchwork effect to it.
I think this one will look stunning in a rustic or baroque natural wood frame, if I ever find something this one will probably end up being framed for a more dramatic effect.

First Painting since in India

I made this one between March and July 2011, after we moved into our new apartment in Bangalore, my husband likes landscapes and I like water, so I decided to make a waterfall.
I am aware this one is not a particularly great painting, as I’ve never really been the type to enjoy doing landscapes and portraits when it comes to painting, and I spent a ridiculous amount of time on that one without being completely happy with the outcome all along. The then salmon pink walls didn’t help, I admit it looks better in our current apartment where the walls are white and natural light comes in our place in abundance.
I favour acrylic paint, and this is exactly what I used here, and this is probably the last landscape I’ll ever paint.