New Shells on the Horizon

i won't be making the june 1st deadline. i can rationalize not making the deadline several ways: 1) lack of purple shells; 2) ordered shells won't arrive in time; 3) i wouldn't want to carry the delicate project in a minivan full of boys, husband and boys' grandfather on a five hour trip to the graduation ceremony. there is sure to be breakage!

the fact, though, is the deadline was an overly ambitious deadline—not an excuse, just a statement. the reality is that working out before work makes me pretty tired when i get home, so little progress has been made this week. plus, creating her valentine is an enjoyable event, so i would rather not rush, but take my time and think the design out carefully. right now i'm mulling over the center medallion and how to do it. i've been planning it out in my head and i'll know when its time to start working on it. i just need inspiration to simmer on it a bit.

but i have ordered the shells from www.seashellhorizon.com and i'm pretty psyched to receive them. my new deadline is to have the valentine ready so when she comes up for her birthday, i will give it to her then. i am pretty nervous about the transporting of the valentine...

SV01: Starry, Starry Night—Image Catch Up

Here is the first image, showing the comet tails finished and my first attempt at the first starry night sky...the picture below shows two sections of the starry night sky finished and an initial idea for the center medallion. i had the center flower on hand, but its there as just a placeholder. its smaller than what i am thinking it will end up being. i'm thinking either a large single rose or a big rose with encircling, smaller flowers.


i've been playing with how to make the transition from the starry sky to the medallion. you can also see the purple spiny octagon ger thinks it great. it does draw the colors together. as i mentioned earlier, i ran out of the purple coquina for the starry night—will have to rush order those shells this week! this evening, i'm working on the center medallion and the outer border.

SV01: Starry, Starry Night—Heavenly Shades of Night

Its working, its working—but i have hit a few snags! i can't wait to go back home and upload the images. all the comet tails are finished. i have two starry night portions done, but i'm scrapping the barrel for right side all purple coquinas. curse my fondness for making purple waterlilies! that really cut into my stash. i will have to order some on rush. in the meantime, i've started the center and feel good about the initial results. ger especially loves the purple spiny octagon. i think about gerda reid's valentines—she does these fantastic spiny designs with delicate shading [featured in Sailors' Valentines: Their Journey Through Time]—and i have a whole new respect and understanding for her work!

i'm using all the colors kayleigh wore when she was a little girl—so its all purples, pinks, blues, greens and yellow. i'm also trying to work it a few turquoise chiton shells, too. that's a very kayleigh color, as well. i'm starting to get pretty excited about the project. tomorrow i will load the pictures, stay tuned!

tomorrow we will pack up the box and i'll carry the valentine home on my lap. i'll make the large center flower tomorrow night. it may be one very large rose, but then again, it might be several.

another great seashell art resource is Helen Krauss' Shell Art. it is the first book i purchased way back.

SV01: Starry Starry Night—Working the Sky

Memorial Day Weekend is dedicated to working the sailor valentine, as well as working the vineyard. i purchased a sturdy tool box from home depot, loaded it with my shells, grabbed photos, ger packed us up and away we went. this morning i worked hard on the background—i'm using a mix of purple coquina and baby blue mussels. small stars are represented by pearl umboniums.

i have to say, i'm fighting myself here. i see the exuberance in van gogh's brush strokes, and i see differences in stroke sizes and direction. when i was working on my comet tail, i had seen the geometry of the shells, the shapes and the colour all coming together in a very clean way. determined to add some exuberance into the starry background, i mixed the purple coquina and the blue mussels in a semi-random way, sometimes working with the geometry, sometimes not. after looking at the results—now very permanently glued to the board—i worry what i intentionally made random may now just look like poor design!

i have been thinking of interesting flourishes, though. i have dentalium comet sparks coming out of the astraea calcar comet heads. i think that part is successful. i'm going to keep plugging away at the design, but i'm thinking i will need to be very structured and geometric in all the other areas, if this random exuberance is going to come off well.

i am taking photos along the way, but it seems i've left the transfer cord at home!

SV01: Starry, Starry Night — I Started It!

making a Sailor Valentine is not for the faint-hearted. although I've dreamed, plotted, and planned out several valentines in my head—actually physically starting a valentine is something all together different. it came down to push or shelf it. a leap of confidence had to be made. no more hiding behind design, choosing shells, or applying paint. time to crack open the 527!

the above image is of the comet/star trail and a few of the spiny ferns i've created (they aren't in place yet). so far i'm pleased with the initial results but i want to incorporate a sense of liveliness into the design—less uniform application of shells—and i think the purple/blue smaller star area is the place for it. that happens next....

SV01: Starry, Starry Night — Good Theory, Needs Work

OMG. 13 more days until graduation. i was just trodding along—a fix here, a shell purchase there, a ponder, ponder, ponder. then i made the countdown clock widget and pow. a renewed sense of urgency hit me. we came back from the farm and i started looking at the possible shell designs and the colour interaction underneath. i'm glad i had made a scrubby test version. its been instructive as to what i wish to do for the real event and the spring green background is perfect for the green spiny ferns. i also realize i can't plan for flowers much larger than the apple blossom flower bud i had left over. and that the center has too much detail for the size of the box. i'm thinking over many ideas when i should be a girl of action!

i'm testing out the ideas i had for the starry sky middle ring. the photo to the left shows some experiments in aligning the purple coquina and blue mussels. i think i'll get more playful with the differing two shells. maybe within the line of purple will have a couple of accent darker blue mussels to give it that dashed brushstroke feeling.

SV01: Starry, Starry Night — Background Colour Experiment

here are the materials i think i need to start: an extra sturdy slice of cold press illustration/watercolour paper, 527 glue, a stylus and carbon transfer paper and a pallet of cheap watercolours and sumi brush.

i'm using a lighter weight cold press/watercolour paper because my local michaels craft store has a limited fine art supply section—but i think this will be ok. in looking at sailor valentines, many of the traditional valentines are built from a board, then a layer of cotton batting that is coloured. sometimes the artist employed coloured paper in the background or they used fabric. why am i thinking so much about the background colour of the sailor valentine?

the important thing about colour is that one element's colour characteristics is affected by its surroundings. holy chevreul's principal of simultaneous contrast! so i think a cool white background will deaden the colours of the shells, as the light bounces around in the box. i've decided to run a little experiment with the heavy water colour board and the cheap watercolours.


the left picture shows my pattern that traced upon the watercolour paper using the carbon paper and stylus. i'm working on this at night and at the farm, so the colour is off from other images you will see here on this blog. the right picture is a colour corrected image that shows my messy water colour practice. i won't worry too much about staying within the lines, as 1) this is practice and 2) shells will cover the design. the outer ring is a spring green, as i'm going to incorporate my green urchin spine fern leaves and tuck little flowers about them. as you can guess, this would leave me with the potential of seeing the white board. colouring the background will help enhance the illusion of the garden ring. same goes for the blue background and gold accents.

i have great plans for my starry night middle ring. the seashells will mimic van gogh's brushstrokes and will be lined up, one after another (see the purple coquina and blue mussel shells to the left). as you can see, the white background is going to pop up. i thought, why not try a blue/purple coloured background and see how it comes out? for my next post, you will see the valentine background cut out and shells laid upon it to see if my experiment works. i'll also be working on creating urchin spine ferns and little flowers for the border.