Change of plans

So my plans for the screen have changed (big wow) – now the positioning of the screens has changed, with the panels being at each end, and the panels are being painted rather than printed on red chiffon. I’m also painting the meanings panels too, and i’m sandwiching a sheet of blue organzabetween each sheet of red to deepen the colour to more of a burgandy than the current pill box.

The design has also changed radically – as i was planning to use printing rather than painting as an homage to the woodcut Marsailles deck I’ve been considering something more of an Aubrey Beardsley style. My grandmother had a pair of Beardsley style mirrors in her front room, which i used to stare at as a child in the same way as i’d stare at the tarot card displays in waterstones. I found the Art Nouveau styling beautiful and fascinating in equal measure, and I want to try to capture some of that enchantment in this screen. So, preliminary designs:

the figures are based on ‘Peacock skirt’ and ‘Dancers Reward’ but they’ll probably evolve over time. I’m starting the panels this week, beginning with the written section to give me more time to work on the design for the diptych.

I’ve also been working on the frame of the screen, which has been given a couple of coats of antique gold enamel.

Next I’m going to be using a mix of red and gold enamel dripped down the pipework from the top, with a darker version dripping up from the bottom. Expect much swearing.

Also this week I’ve been experimenting with the video function on the camera, and it’s actually not bad – i haven’t used it with any editing software yet but i got this nice shot from the window;