Photo Friday #36

From Gillian Cross Photography, I wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Gillian Cross Fine Art

Photo Friday #35

No British winter is complete without a lovely robin.

Available as a greetings card.

Gillian Cross Fine Art.

Photo Friday #34

Holly to bring some festive cheer.

Available as a greeting card.

Gillian Cross Fine Art

Winter Sunrise

Vibrant Winter Sunrise

Hanging On

A couple of photos I took this morning after glimpsing the glorious colours out of the window.

These are available to buy as prints and greetings cards. Prices are on my Fine Art website.

Thank you for looking and keep warm!

Photo Friday #33

The weather here certainly has turned frosty so I'll share this photo of frost on a conifer tree. It looks like it's been dusted with icing sugar.

Available to buy as a print or card.

Gillian Cross Fine Art

Photo Friday #32

What was that?

I took this photo earlier this year of a juvenile blue tit. It's distinctive blue cap isn't yet showing but it looks cute never-the-less.

Gillian Cross Fine Art

Photo Friday #31

Coming in to land

I was really pleased to capture this juvenile blue tit coming in to land on a feeder in a flurry of wings.

This will soon be available from the website but if you'd like a copy in the meantime, just get in touch with me. Thanks.

Gillian Cross Fine Art

Photo Friday #30

This is a kaleidoscope picture made from a photo. I wonder if you can tell what it is?

Gillian Cross Fine Art

Photo Friday #29

Jellyfish

This is a kaleidoscope from a vector image I did. The original image was two stylised flowers but once I'd finished the kaleidoscope, I thought it looked like jellyfish swimming out from the centre of the picture.

Gillian Cross Fine Art

Personal Project ~ Quilt

I love taking photographs. I'm so lucky that not only is it my job, but my hobby as well. But it's not all I do. I have other things I enjoy doing to keep me occupied which I think is a really good thing to do.

This morning I took some time off to continue sewing my quilt. You may think that this has little to do with fine art but it has been inspired by art. I wanted to make an arts and crafts - Charles Rennie Mackintosh inspired quilt. I'd visited Blackwell House in the Lake District and loved the designs and colours, especially in the stained glass windows.

The house was the first source of design for me. White for the background with panels of colour.

Blackwell The Arts and Crafts House

I also love the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh so wanted to incorporate some of his ideas into the quilt. You often think of his flowing lines in his trademark roses but he was also known for straight, black lines in his ladderback chairs. I saw a photo of the hallway in Hill House where Mackintosh had used purple stained glass squares in black frames which I thought would translate perfectly into patchwork.

I also had the idea to use nine squares of colour as he often did.

Cupboard in The House for an Art Lover

I decided to do this with a black background.

So I had my idea for the two outside panels. What to do in the middle? The arts and crafts movement was mainly based on natural forms, so I wanted flowers and plants. I thought of four panels - winter, spring, summer and autumn. I always think of irises as being stylised flowers so needed that to be the summer panel. A tulip would be lovely and simple for spring.

We'd visited Levens Hall on the same trip as Blackwell and I had some photos of the fabulous topiary gardens. I used a section of one of them (highlighted red in the photo below) to depict winter as I wanted colour in each of the panels.

Levens Hall

As this panel was a "close up" I decided to do autumn as another close up, of a chrysanthemum.

This left the middle panel. I hadn't quite decided what to do until I'd finished the seasons panels. I decided to do a long strip of all of the fabrics, joined at wonky angles to show off the gorgeous colours. I think this brings together the flowing nature of the season panels, and the geometric lines of the outer panels.

I have yet to attach a border, add the wadding and backing and quilt it all together, but here's a sneak peek of all of the panels together.

Who says fine art has to be a painting or a photograph?

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

You might like to read my post on Inspirations ~ Charles Rennie Mackintosh

All photographs taken by Gillian Cross.

Photo Friday #28

Reeds Blowing in Black and White

Tall, majestic reeds bending in the breeze at Druridge Bay, Northumberland.

You can purchase this print. Prices at Gillian Cross Fine Art

Thanks for looking.

Photo Friday #27

Purple Poppies

It's still feeling summery, well at least in the North East it is! So here's a photo that reminds me of soft, warm summer days.

You can purchase this photo at Gillian Cross Fine Art

Photo Friday #26

Most people love to get a photo of a peacock's tail feathers all fanned out, but I love the colour of the shimmering blue neck feathers.

Gillian Cross Fine Art to purchase prints

Photo Friday #25

Olympic Hearts Ring

This is inspired by the Olympics starting in London today. I've used the colours of the Olympic rings, in the shape of hearts and then created one ring in a kaleidoscope effect.

Great as a greeting card from RedBubble or contact me directly.

Gillian Cross Fine Art

Photo Friday #24

The Light Around the Corner

This was taken at Prudhoe Castle in Northumberland. I love how the cobbles look in black and white and the shape of the sunlight coming around the corner.

Gillian Cross Fine Art

Photo Friday #23

Velvety petals conjure up the scent of summer with this photo of a ruby red rose.

You may be interested to see the kaleidoscope picture that I made from this photo. Click here.

You can also get this photo on an iphone case at RedBubble priced £23.70 plus p+p

Gillian Cross Fine Art

Photo Friday #22

I recently sold a copy of this photograph. I love the zingy freshness of the green and the shimmering raindrops add a bit of sparkle.

Gillian Cross Fine Art

Photo Friday #21

A different type of Kaleidoscope image today. This is taken from a vector drawing I did of hearts. I like the way the hearts have still retained their shape but with extra little tweaks to them.

Gillian Cross Fine Art

Photo Friday #20

Kaleidoscope Stained Glass Pattern

Inspired by today's Wedding Photo Friday of a stained-glass window in a church. I love the patterns it has created.

Photo Friday #19

Can you tell what this detail shot is of? It makes a great greetings card.

Gillian Cross Fine Art Photography

Photo Friday #18

Pink Hydrangea

I thought I'd cheer everyone up in this rainy weather with hopefully a promise of summer to come!

Gillian Cross Fine Art

Photo Friday #17

In honour of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee weekend I thought I'd share this kaleidoscope of a mosaic floor. When I first started this I was interested in the pattern the tiles would make. When it was finished it reminded me of a flag.

Gillian Cross Fine Art

Photo Friday #16

Bass Guitar up close

I used this image to design an iphone case on RedBubble and it is fast becoming my best-selling iphone case. All of the cases are £23.57 plus p+p. I currently have six designs. Don't let the other five feel left out! :-)

Photo Friday #15

This kaleidoscope was made from a watercolour painting I'd done of a peacock butterfly. I love how the edge of the wings has created a circular edge around the outside.

Gillian Cross Fine Art

Photo Friday #14

Feeling Blue

If the weather's making you feel blue then hopefully this will cheer you up. Delicate Glory of the Snow flowers.

Gillian Cross Fine Art

Photo Friday #13

Anemone

I love this image for it's simplicity. When it's printed, the petals and the stamens really look 3d.

Watercolour - Milan Apartment

Milan Apartment

Ever since we got back from Milan a few weeks ago I have now worked on all of the photographs. Hooray, because that meant I could get on and start painting some of them.  This was one of the typical European apartment blocks with shuttered windows and long doors opening onto a balcony. Unfortunately my re-production here doesn't do justice to the soft pink colour of the walls but you get the idea.

Thanks for looking and check back for more paintings of Italy.

Photo Friday #12

 

Cresswell beach, Northumberland. I love taking portrait shots of the beach and sea as I find it concentrates your view more on the movement of the water.

Gillian Cross Fine Art

Photo Friday #11

Red Tulip

The sun's just come out after days of cloud so I'm feeling spring-like for today's Photo Friday with this gorgeous tulip.

Available to purchase as a print or a card from my fine art website.

Inspirations ~ Charles Rennie Mackintosh

After just having watched an excellent programme about Art Nouveau, I thought it was time I wrote about one of my favourite art nouveau artists.

Photo taken by Annan 1893

Charles Rennie Mackintosh was born in 1868 in Glasgow. From a young age he was artistic, going to a private school for artisan-class children and enrolling at School of Art evening classes.

He started work in his mid teens, as an architect and soon transformed himself into a designer and artist as well.

Art Nouveau was inspired by natural forms and structures and Mackintosh used flowers and flowing lines to great effect.

In 1897, Mackintosh's entry to design a new Glasgow School of Art won. The governors though, only had money for half of the building so it was this half-building which opened in 1899. Mackintosh re-designed the western end which was completed a decade after.

While on a weekend trip to Glasgow, I visited the School of Art. They give guided tours. I remember the guide pointing out the niches on either side of each set of wooden doors. Mackintosh's idea had been that these niches would house a single rose in a vase every day of the year. Unfortunately, the romantic idea didn't extend to practicalities - the school couldn't afford to replenish roses every few days!

 I also visited the House for an Art Lover just outside Glasgow. In 1901 Mackintosh, along with his wife Margaret, entered a competition to design a 'Grand residence for an art lover'. Unfortunately, the entry was disqualified due to being incomplete. The required drawings were completed and the design was given a special purchase prize which meant, along with the second and third prizes, they were circulated around Europe.

It is thought that if the submission had been complete, that the Mackintoshes would have won.

In 1987 Glasgow civil engineer Graham Roxburgh came up with the idea of building the House for an Art Lover from the competition drawings.



This dream became a reality in 1990 when building began, although recession in the early nineties forced a temporary halt. A parallel with the building of the School of Art a hundred years previously. The School of Art was responsible for getting the new project moving again.

What I love about Mackintosh's work are the clean, simple flowing lines. I love stained glass, and his designs seem to be so versatile. You could transfer one of his stencil designs to a stained glass window, or a patchwork cushion. I love the jewel like colours and the way he designs using the natural shapes from nature alongside more geometric straight lines.

I was interested to learn that Mackintosh, in his later years, abandoned architecture and concentrated on developing his watercolours. In his 50's, he and Margaret went to the French-Spanish border for a long holiday. Mackintosh produced over 40 landscapes which, although completely different from his design work, still have a stylised quality. Natural forms are broken up into geometric shapes - reminiscent of the architect rather than the flowing art nouveau designer I think.

Rue due Soleil

The Rock

For more information on Charles Rennie Mackintosh please visit the website.

All photographs taken by Gillian Cross and information sourced from "Charles Rennie Mackintosh" by Colin Baxter & John McKean and The House for an Art Lover website.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.