Wednesday 9 February 2011

Japanese Kusudama Flower

I have been having great fun at college lately with my flower project. Bringing you up to date since my drawings, I have tried my hand at marbling- didn't really go very well as part of the bottle of yellow ink (which isn't supposed to come off) EXPLODED in my face!!! It went EVERYWHERE! All over the sink, the floor, the window, the radiator, the window ledge, me!!! I looked like I was turning into an oompa loompa! It was quite funny for my friends I suppose, but I was wearing a white top....and as far as I know, it doesn't come out...Still, I suppose it could look arty.  Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of my little mishap so I can't show you what a sight I looked. The marbling wasn't even that good in the end as the paint which did manage to get itself into the tub was too thick for the paper and it still hasn't dried (bearing in mind I did this the other day and it has been sitting by a very hot radiator).
The technique which has been working well for me is a kind of origami, the Japanese Kusudama flower (click on the link to see how it is made). I think it is really pretty and although I was initially daunted because the pictures of the final thing looked quite complicated, it is actually really simple and can be made out of all kinds of papers and fabrics.
So far I have kept it quite simple, using papers...


...,fabric and acetate....



Apparently the original idea behind these flowers is that you put 12 of them together so that they make a ball, and then they were used for incense or pot pourri- now though they are more commonly used for decorative purposes and very pretty they are too! :D

(Half of a Japanese ball)

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