SALE!

This weekend there is a sale on Ella Thomas original acrylic paintings. It applies to lo-tech sales only I am afraid. You can check them out either at . . .

Silo Park Night Markets and Cinema
5-10pm
Silo Park
Corner of Beaumont and Jellicoe Sts


'Land of the Long White Cloud' is screening at 9pm

or the first fabulous

Handmade Titirangi Market
10-2pm Kaurilands Primary School
109 Atkinson Rd
Auckland

New Manu

Well, my trusty printer threw a wobbly and refused to print on the 270gms watercolour paper that I so loved. Actually I am amazed that I got away with it for so long as I would have to run the dehumidifier for at least a day before printing to get it to go through the machine. On the bright side, it encouraged me to take the step of getting some works professionally printed and I am thrilled with the results.

Ruru 2011

They are prints based on original watercolour illustrations that I did. They are then printed using archival pigmented inks upon Hahnemuhle William Turner paper, which is 310gms in weight and designed specifically  for creating archivally sound digital reproductions.

Huia 2011

 Another wonderful thing about this paper is that it is matt and has a similar texture to watercolour paper. It also has a lovely velvety effect within the dark tones of the images, which reinforces the depth that I try to achieve in the layering up of different hues.

Piwakawaka 2011

I am also stoked not to have to be stressing about sourcing the crazy paper and battling with my printer anymore. The number of times it nearly got thrown through the window!

Should you be interested in checking out these new additions to the ellaQuaint aviary, further images are available for viewing on link to Felt.

Mr and Mrs Z Huia

Mr and Mrs Z Huia 2011

This work was so neat to paint, I had gorgeous vintage photographs to work from for the human elements of the paintings. It was sad however working from images of stuffed birds for the huia.

I so love checking out old photographs, the expressions, what people wore and the attention to detailing in the workmanship.

I did this work in response to hearing that the last known breeding pair of huia, who were meant to make it to an offshore Island in the hope of saving the species, ended up in some English gent's managerie back in the Mother Land. Victorian's and their collections! The 'Z' in the title of the work refers to 'Zachariah' which was taken from the title of a very bleak book I read when in my teens.

If you are interested in seeing more images you can find this work on Felt

Fun Fair

A shot of the stall . . . so tempted to replace my head with that of a birds

Life has finally balanced out after the mad momentum that we got into getting work ready for the Auckland Art and Craft Fair. It was so much fun meeting people and seeing the plethora of creative ideas that other aritsans have. Very inspiring to be amongst so many talented folks. Here you can see some Photos from the Fair and check out the gorgeous goods that were available for purchase

I didn't manage to wander around and take any of my own as it was soooo busy. I can't wait until the one around Christmas.

A big thank you to my mum Sue for being such a super-dooper help xx

Put a Bow on It . . .

Not too much longer until the Auckland Fair. We have been busy trying to realize a whole load of fresh ideas but whether we get them all sorted remains to be seen. However, it is fun trying . . . Here is a little design for a wee gift card that I have had swirling around in my head for a while. It makes sense to me to combine a gift card and a decorative bow. This series is printed on 100% recycled stock which makes it ethically frivolous! If there is such a thing . . .

Check out some of the other fabulous artisans via the Auckland Fair Blog

better get your move on . . .

19 days and counting until the Auckland Art and Craft Fair! It is all very exciting, we have so many ideas for works to try and get completed for the date. Check out the link here to see what other fabulous sellers will be having their work there as well as seeing our interview :) Auckland Fair

Piwakawaka Wikitoriana

Piwakawaka Wikitoriana
2011

This is a little work that I completed before the Auckland Artisan Market in Parnell. Again it continues on exploring ideas based on connecting our manu native birds with Victorian society.

Here is the old photograph which I based Piwakawaka (fantail) on, the expression on the lady's face is quite confident and twinkly, just how I see the wee birds themselves.

Piwakawaka traditionally are viewed as being an omen of death, if one flies into your house, it is believed to signify that someone is going to die. When Maui was trying to defeat Hine-nui-te-po, the sleeping Goddess of Death, Piwakawaka was so amused by Maui's technique attempting this, laughing so loudly that Hine-nui-te-po woke up and then killed Maui. This is where this sweet wee bird developed it's terrible reputation from.

Detail of
Piwakawaka Wikitoriana

 When dealing with notions of extinction and conservation, using Piwakawaka symbolically is very appropriate.

Further images and information are available here; ellaQuaint on Felt

Latest Pieces

Well we have been head down tail up getting new work together for the Parnell Mother's Day Market on Sat 7th May.

Oops, taking over the flat . . .

Over the years I have collected a huge range of old fabrics, table linen, inherited sewing trimmings and other pretty stuff I have just hoarded. We thought we could up-cycle these gorgeous snippets of fabric and create a range of works that are more affordable that the original paintings that Ella produces.

This bear was sourced from a vintage etching.

 Lovely old drawn thread-work provides an effective base for this elegant horse.

  

This wee bear has green ideas.

Also we included some images from a book I discovered in my mum's things. 'Alice though the Looking Glass' . It features the original illustrations by Sir John Tenniel. I love the inscription on the inside of it

Here is one of the works that got created in response to the delightful drawings.

If you are at a loose end on Saturday, come and check out the ellaQuaint stall. We will have cards, printed and original one-offs, illustrated prints, unique up-cycled canvas works (like above) and last but definately not least, some of Ella's fabulous manu paintings. Follow the link for more details

Mother's Day Market

Blue Birds' Moon

Well I have completed a wee series of collages in photoshop based on blue, birds and moons. I think that they are tomtits, not bluebirds and they are not nocturnal . . . but hey.

There are so many amazing resources online that you can add to your own. I had just as much fun creating these images as I do with more lo-tech collage techniques, normally I dislike using the computer too much.

Vintage patterns have been brought into all of them, in some cases ever so subtly, which work wonderfully with the retro imagery. I think these will become a card pack as they lend themselves nicely to that format and are cute and chirpy.

Huia and Tui

I had been thinking about experimenting with combining old Victorian photographs with our native manu for quite sometime. As usual, I over-researched and then got farrrr to many ideas and images so it took a while longer to get started than I had hoped.

This was the image that I used for Huia and Tui; a diptych that I recently completed. I am stoked with how well it turned out. Subtly layering up the washes to render the fabric of the blouse. I tried to show the fragility of the huia through having it more transparent, symbolising its eventual disappearance.



Huia and Tui 2011

 This work continues on with my Wikitoriana series that I started earlier this year. It is available for purchase from Felt

New Favourite Illustrator

In Your Soul are Infinitely Precious Things That Cannot
 Be Taken From You

Artists that explore the relationships between people and animals, people and people and people and the natural environment capture my interest. Those that have great technical ability combined with an inventive approach I am likely to love. Fumi Mini Nakamara is one of those. This first work is from the Our Hands Will Eventually Destroy Everything Beautiful series. More can be found here
Fumi Mini Nakamura's website 








 

Your Secret is Safe with Us



Her works are just beautiful, she uses coloured pencil with subtley that can only be described as sophistocated. Here we can see the artist trying to convey the responsibility that we as humans have to the environment around us. Nakamura's clusters of natural forms, animals and humans reinforces ideas of the interconectiveness of all things, a notion that appeals to me greatly within my own work and others. 

 



 

Every Promise is Meant to be Broken

These two works are from the Himitsu Series that she produced between 2007 - 2009. Here Nakamuru explores the connections between people and birds, such lovely lyrical works.

You can also follow this link to a great article in Hi Fructose Fumi Mini Nakamara in Hi Fructose

Fresh on Felt

Wikitoriana Lace by Ella Thomas 2011

We have made it onto Felt. Even better there is an image of Wikitoirana Lace featured on Fresh on Felt, one of the blog posts that the site runs.

http://www.felt.co.nz/blog/

Layer upon Layer

The darker a painting is, the more washes of paint that went into it. Tui in particular take quite a bit of working up to achieve the depth of colour that creates a similar lustrous effect like that on their feathers.

The first couple of layers rough out the shape, while the next ones start defining the tui's form.

Once the form is starting to take place, the planes of the feathers are worked up; until lastly the details within her plumage.

 

Finally she is finished, with the addition of her poi and collar feathers.

You can see additional images on Toggle, where she is available for purchase
http://www.toggle.co.nz/ella-thomas.html

Buried Treasure

Attempting to tidy up my studio, I came across some old letraset that I had forgotten about. In the pile was this sheet of flourishes of used on old copperplates.

They are just fantastic referencing Victorian printing and publishing. Previously motifs I have used have been based on kowhaiwhai and whakairo patterns. There is potential mabye for them to be combined?

'Korimako Iti' 2011

Gregory Euclide, one of my favourite artists uses swirls wonderfully within his work. They have strong calligraphic references, and add an energy and dynamicism to the compositions, often framing smaller scenes; vignettes within the larger work.

'Sea no Evil Benefit' Gregory Euclide

He too explores ideas relating to the environment and his work successfully fuses traditional painting techniques with contemporary drawing techniques; including using 'trash' materials like stickers and felt markers.



'Shook Suspension on Hidden Marsh'  Gregory Euclide

This work has a rather unfortunate connection to recent natural disasters within New Zealand. Euclide produced it in 2005, so quite some time ago.

You can see more of his recent work here, his relief scenes, installations and flat works are brilliant . . . enjoy
http://www.gregoryeuclide.com/

'Korimako Iti' is available on
http://www.toggle.co.nz/ella-thomas.html

Here is an article on Euclide's latest reliefs which are fantastic, hopefully you can read spanish
http://www.designaside.com/9664/arte/gregory-euclide?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+designaside+%28Designaside%29

Step by Step

Someone had the brilliant idea that I document my painting process. Because I layer up the acrylics in a manner similar to oil paint glazes, it allows for a subtlety to the paint work that you wouldn't otherwise get.

Painting is a layering process so to get richness and depth to the colours, I layer them up considerably. This also helps the whole image / subject to link together visually.

Once I have the basic form roughed out, I then start to add the details. My feathery paint brush work has been described as OCD . . . um maybe. The final finished painting 'Piwakawaka Iti'  is documented in my other blog, http://ellathomaspaintings.blogspot.com/

Enjoy

Fresh Beginnings

Well after many hours thinking about it, wistfully discussing it I am back in the saddle. It looks like it might not be just myself either which will be fantastic. My crazy cousin Liz Thomas, who is also an artist has come up with many projects that we could work on together.

Because the array of ideas that we have had has been ridiculous, I have decided to branch out and dabble in other areas apart from just paint. Illustration has always been a passion and I am so inspired right now by the many, many talented people that are out and about. However, my manu (birds) will not be forgotten. In fact there are many schemes my brain is devising as to how to explore them further . . .

A new beginning needs a fresh identity.