Mexican Sunrises

Since I was 16, I have been in love with Mexican art.I had been unwell for 6 months and this bright, vibrant art from across the Atlantic was one of the catalysts for my recovery. The positivity I was starting to again feel shone through in the drawings I diligently sketched and I pored over books on this varied country and the art it had produced over the centuries. I ended up making a large mirrored mosaic - a Mexican sunrise, that I have kept to this day to remind me of however bad life maybe at that time, it can and will get better.  

10 years later, I am still fascinated by the art, culture and traditions of Mexico. 

The Mexican Sunrise Plate. 

 The sun is a recurring theme in the art of Mexico. From early cave drawings to the Aztec Stone of the Sun, known in Spanish as Piedra del Sol. In modern times the image has become a symbol of national identity to the Mexican people and continues to recur in folk art. I wanted to capture what this image has meant to me and to use it as a symbol of how I have overcome so many obstacles in my young life. I decided to carry on my theme of painting onto porcelain plates and so designed my Mexican Sunrise dinner plate. 

Floral, vivid patterns are also synonymous with Mexican art. Found on textiles, clothing and mosaics I have always found them pleasing to the eye. I wanted to create a floral design that was modern and again held some significance to me. I decided upon an English rose design, but painted in a traditional Mexican style, creating the Fiery English Rose plate. My family often referred to me as an 'English Rose' as a child and I am known for my passionate and somewhat fiery personality!  

The Fiery English Rose Plate. 

I am hoping to add to this theme in my Etsy shop and introduce some sugar skull and Day of the Dead designs soon. You can find these designs and more at www.etsy.com/shop/KatieNeko

Photographing work - where's the light!

Unfortunately I do not own a decent camera. I have just started out on my journey to publicise my artwork to a larger audience. One of the pitfalls that I have succumbed to is the lack of quality photographs of my work. At first, I borrowed my partners' Fuji Film camera. However it is ancient and well, it shows on the finished picture. So I have resorted to using the in built camera on my smartphone which is a middle of the market, reasonably priced smartphone. Either way, I have been left with grainy and dull photographs of my work. 

My saving grace is as all artists with this same dilemma will know - natural light. Problem No2. I live in the UK. Sunny days are few and far between and I am much more likely to be found in a beer garden with a pint of cider in my hand than taking photographs at home on these days. Now we are in December, the winter solstice has just been and it has been raining, a lot. I have resorted to using the flash on my camera phone which leaves my work looking stark and harsh. 

The Canon EOS 5D 

The answer is obvious, buy a decent camera. Recently i have been lusting over the Canon 5D. With high performance in low lighting, offering rich colours and crisp detail, a camera such as this is exactly what I need. Problem No3. The cost. Spending over a 1000 pounds for a decent bit of kit makes me feel slightly queasy and light headed. Which leaves me with resorting to an inferior, but within my price range camera. There are alternatives on the market and Canon themselves offer the 600D for half the price of the 5D. 

But for now, I will continue to scramble for my phone every time i see a ray light through the clouds! 

Dinosaur Discoveries

Dinosaurs are fascinating creatures. The variety of sizes, shapes and the continuation of new discoveries in the past few decades is very exciting. I wanted to make something that focused on the discoveries made by paleontologists and the people that drew the very first illustrations of fossilized skeletons of these amazing creatures. During my research I found numerous illustrations, some of which dated back to the 19th Century. Not wanting to draw from these directly, I still wanted to capture the wonder and awe of these discoveries. 

An illustration of the skeletal anatomy of a plesiosaurus by William Conybeare in 1824.

I started to think about in what state were these fossils found. They wouldn't have been found in a manner in keeping with the side on, anatomical illustrations so painstakingly drawn. The remains of the dinosaurs would have been discovered the way they fell. Often images depicted skeletal remains curled in a foetal position or laying prone with back arched in an unnatural way. However, I still wanted the finished pieces to look clean and sharp. What I wanted to achieve therefore was to merge the foetal shape the fossils may have been found in and the early anatomical illustrations.  

My interpretation of a 'newly discovered' Stegosaurus fossil. 

A curled Plesiosaur skeleton. 

As my chosen medium was ceramics, or to be more exact plates, I knew that not all of my chosen dinosaur fossils to depict in the curled foetal position would appear authentic. The concern was there between creating something that looked realistic and what would be aesthetically pleasing. For the Plesiosaur design, I thought about recurring shapes in nature. One of these is the spiral. I wanted the design to appear as though it were beginning to form a spiral and that the eye would naturally be drawn to this conclusion.