original art

and here is the second piece of art, i dont know where she is from let alone what era!

original art for sale

i simply love birds, here is a piece that i will deliver to the solander gallery tomorrow

chocovenyl    www.chocovenyl.co.uk   are selling my christmas tree wall decal on their etsy web site,

i love the way they have shown it here, it looks so fresh!

50's firniture

 this mid century lounger will go well in our new garden!

50's style

i'm so excited, now that we have a new 50's house i am constantly on the look out for 50's furniture pieces,

I found, haggled and bought this drinks cabinet today,

I love the patterned panel inside the door, don't you think this design could have been created today?!

festive tree cookies

with the festival coming up i thought i'd make a few festive biscuits,

I made the cutter by cutting plastic strips into a tree shape,

i iced them with lemon and sugar icing and finally piped colourful stars etc by combining 3 egg whites and 4 cups of icing sugar beaten till white and glossy,

as always with me they seem to have a 50's feel!

festive paper decorations

apart from making tons of paper stars for our up and coming twilight festival, i have been having a great time trying out different ideas with paper and have come up with these paper garlands.

i have simply cut discs out of paper in all sorts of sizes and colours and stitched them together.

i love the way the circles become all different ovals depending on the angles, they look festive too!

i have been playing around with book ideas,

this could be fun, what do you think?

good news! we have sold our house and bought a new one,

it was built in the 50's and clearly has a mid century vibe about it, i can't wait to get in and decorate, watch this space!

this week i have at last been able to focus on my art!

these pieces are for an up and coming exhibition, they are 30x30 cm's in size,
what is it about me and wings?!

christmas decorations

hi friends!

it's my birthday this week and my sister, jutta's a day before mine (we are 1 day short of a year apart in age)

i had recently bought a vintage cake decorating kit and decided to surprise her with a completely over the top birthday cake covered in icing flowers (she's a keen gardener)

i spent hours and hours attempting to make them, it's not that easy, believe me! finally i popped the trays in the oven for safe keeping till i could add them to the cake. little did i know that my darling husband, paul had decided to start cooking dinner and proceeded to turn the oven on. before i had a chance to grab them out of the oven, they had begun to brown, what a disaster! now they look even more vintage don't you think! i don't think she will mind, it's the thought that counts!

i have also been playing around with star decorations, they are very easy to make;

start with a 6x6 inch square

divide it up into 1 inch concertina strips

fold like a fan

find middle and staple

cut a diagonal at the end to make points

open out and stick together

you can add extra cuts to make a snowflake
to make the 12 pointed stars, i simply folded in 1/2 inch folds

christmas tree art

summer is here at last, yes it's hard to believe we have christmas on the beach, my british friends are finding it hard to adapt, they are thinking of hiring a snow machine!

i thought you might like to see some of my latest finds,

 i especially love the red container in the first pick, i have started quite a collection, now i need room to display them all!

and here are the final designs, yes i have made a few changes, i like to leave them overnight, the next day a fresh set of eyes can help see weak spots!

its been a while since you've heard from me!

here are the first scans of the christmas cards i've been working on, i can see a few changes i would like to make so watch this space for improvements!

and here they are! finished at last!

At Home With Ellen Giggenbach

Issue 38 Oct/Nov 2010
 

Tucked away in Eastbourne, Wellington is an artist with an eye for colour and a home bursting with heart and personality. 

Words Lucinda Diack    Photography Kate MacPherson


Overflowing with personality, colour, texture, patterns and a never ending collection of things which inspire, the Sutherland-Giggenbach family draw you in. “We are a very happy and full-on house,” shares Ellen with a smile, “it’s a fun place to be when we are all here.”

While at night the living and master bedroom of the home appear as they should, during the day while sons Austin (14) and Louis (10) are at school and husband Paul is at work, the two rooms are turned into Ellen’s ‘studio’.  Creating hand cut and assembled works of art, from coloured paper, Ellen produces one-off pieces for companies around the world. Whether for a range of gift cards, a wall decal, large scale art works or more recently home and giftware, each and every piece is created by hand in the family living room. “I used to buy all the paper I worked with, but I found the colours too limiting, so now I simply paint A4 sheets to the tone I want and go from there. Each work is like a puzzle. Often I have no idea how it is going to turn out, but it is about getting the individual bits to work together.” By cutting out shapes from the coloured paper and layering them together, Ellen produces intricate one off images designed to catch the eye.

“My inspiration for each range of work comes from what I surround myself with. From pretty china to old record covers. I love collecting and my latest thing is old board games.” Whether inspired by mid-century design or European folk art, every piece produced is bound by Ellen’s beautiful capability to play and layer colour. “Each is a montage of shape and colour which I play around. I know it’s finished when I no longer want to move anything around! Then I glue it down.”

“I work standing up so I can look down at the work and get a birds eye view as to whether the work is coming together or not. So paper and cut out shapes are spread from one end of the living room to the other! Then it is all packed away in time for the boys' arrival home from school and then it is their turn to transform the living room into lego land.” Even with the stunning shapes and colours of Ellen’s work packed away her artistic eye is present. Drawers and small tables can be found around the home, which have been upcycled by Ellen with stencilled icons to act as storage units for her collections. “I grew up with craft, my father made furniture and my mother taught us how to sew and was always giving us little projects to do, so it only seems natural to create things with my own mark on them for the house.” And Ellen has certainly made her mark on the house.

While no two rooms are painted in the same colour, the house is perfectly composed and each room complements the one before. “When we first moved in together I think Paul wondered what he had got himself into; all the ‘clutter’ and colour. Yet when we renovated he surprised me by selecting canary yellow for the kitchen bench!”

For this bustling young family, home is certainly where the heart is, and home would be nothing without mum’s natural talent for composition and placement.

You can follow Ellen's work online at www.ellengiggenbach.blogspot.com

ABOVE The master bedroom also plays home to Ellen's desk and sketching workplace. The paper lampshade was made by Ellen for a stall at the local Eastbourne market. From china tea sets to wooden figurines and old record covers Ellen collects and is inspired by things from every realm of life.         

i seem to be having a few problems posting at the moment, as soon as i type under a picture it turns into a link !

anyway, these latest designs are for a series of greeting cards, i have yet to add captions as on the wedding design, there will be 4 more to add to the range with a christmas theme.

print and pattern  www.printpattern.blogspot.com  recently published a post featutring my latest designs for lagom  www.lagomdesign.co.uk,
they look nice with matching envelopes.

bowie has also included me in her next print and pattern book which is due out next year, what an honour. 
also for all new zealanders, you can now have my wall decals by going onto this gorgeous site
www.uniqueboutique.co.nz/ellen-giggenbach