I have a new pattern I’m loving and it’s the pinwheel. It started out earlier this year when I was seeing this pillow by Fine Little Day all over the craft/art/design blogosphere.
Seriously. I was obsessed. The things I loved the most about it was the use of a wide range of colors, AND that the color application looked very handmade. It didn’t look like a store bought and manufactured design, it looked like someone just colored on this pillow with some markers.
Next I saw this awesome garage door on pinterest. How can a person not smile while driving by this house?
Then a couple weeks ago I saw this post by Elise Blaha. This girl is awesome, if you don’t already follow her blog, do so now! Turns out I wasn’t the only one inspired by the pinwheel. She made this lovely painting above, WITH a tutorial on how to make your own to boot! I think I will be making one of these shortly for our new home. (I love to say that)
The pinwheel is so cheerful I think. This week I present to you my pinwheel mailart, tada!
I’m starting out with my favorite, which was also the last card I did in the series this week. I painted all the yellow and then had the idea to draw in a floral pattern like some of the vintage fabric I have. The solid yellow is watercolor and the flowers are colored pencil. I’m so in love with this, don’t be surprised if I do a whole series based on this idea for next week.
Thinking about it, it makes perfect sense, the fabric inspiration and the pinwheel. The pinwheel pattern in a very common quilt pattern. My mom is a quilter and I was regularly taken to quilt shows as a child. The pinwheel pattern inspiration really touches on this art, design and quilt kind of a thing for me.
The three above were the last three I did.
And this is where I started, with the variety of colors and the apparent texture in mark making.
Fun, no?
I made the cards using a variety of colored pencils, water colors, dry pastels, sharpies and highlighters.
I hope you enjoyed my cheerful pieces this week!
Awesome post! I think it is very cool that the yellow roses look so much like a fabric I had to look again when you wrote you’d painted them. :-)
I have been pie chart obsessed lately – a version of pinwheel!