I was recently asked to make a quilled letter for a birthday present. Something not very complex and not too large so that could fit on a desktop. The present was meant for a person whose first name started with "L". This is how my first illuminated quilled letter was created.
As you may know, I lived in Canada for a year, and this certainly influenced my creations. In Canada, you can see guard soldiers wearing a ceremonial red coat — a historic British military uniform, and a bearskin — a tall fur cap. That is because Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy at the same time, with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. Traditionally, the bearskin was the headgear of grenadiers, and is still worn by grenadier and guards regiments in various armies. The outfit is really hard to miss, and I was inspired by Queen's Guard soldiers when I made this three-dimensional quilled miniature wearing a bearskin.
This year's last Easter egg is a birdcage. It is delicate, airy, intricate, and at the same time easy to make. This egg may look simple compared to the Emperor penguin or the super-complex egg with a surprise, but I like it no less than the others.
On an Easter note, I would like to show another quilled egg I made recently. This is an emperor penguin. Emperor penguins are the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and are endemic to Antarctica. In my opinion they are the most beautiful, too. Males and females are similar in plumage and size, so my penguin may be either a mom or a dad, whichever you like better :) And there's a surprise, too.
It's the end of March now, and with Easter around the corner — just the right time to begin making Easter eggs. Have you heard about a lost and found Faberge egg that was almost sold for scrap, by the way? Amazing story.
When I saw Cecelia's quilling work the first time a few years ago, I was stunned by its delicacy. It is amazing what she can do using a very limited number of airy curls. Her quilling is not just the traditional paper filigree we all are used to. It is particularly fine, intricate, expressive, and I would say "laconic". It is different. You can always recognize Cecelia's style when you come across a photograph of a piece made by her artistic hand. I have been wondering how she does it.
You must have already noticed my weakness for insects :-) I started thinking of making a mosquito out of paper when I was working on my praying mantis. I was in search of a gift idea at that time, focusing on insects for inspiration. Unlike the mantis, which have made a lovely gift for my art teacher, the mosquito stays with me. I'm somewhat reluctant to give it away.
