Top Talent Thursday.

Welcome back to Our Creative Corner.
It is with utmost pleasure that I present to you this Thursday, a lady who appears to have special abilities in all forms of crafts, and to justify this statement just read the paragraph below....

“I love Scrapbooking, stamps and inks, I paint (watercolour, acrylic, glass, and mixed media) I love to draw, decoupage, crochet, knitting (though I prefer crochet), woodwork, pyrography, candle making, servietten technique, sewing (machine and hand) cross stitch, tapestry, latch hooking (is that the right verb?!), patchwork, pottery and cake decorating. I love making dolls house miniatures. I studied photography and still am passionate about it..”

Please welcome the ebullient but modest and this weeks Top Talent:
Laura- Laurart

I have been well informed that Laura loves the art of conversation, so this should make for some interesting reading!

1.)Where do you live?
I live in Hertfordshire with my wonderful husband, artistic daughter, musical son and a very moody cat.
2.)  Describe a real life experience that inspired you artistically.
It will sound very cliche but becoming a mother inspired me very much artistically. I have always loved art and crafts but didn't do much. When my daughter was about 6 months old I made my first mini scrapbook album about her. It was making that first album that really sparked my fascination for crafts. I loved it so much I began to make mini albums for family birthdays and Christmas. My interest then extended to many other crafts. As my daughter grew I began to teach her crafts as well (she made her first 8 x 8 scrapbook by herself when she was two years old and she was featured in a scrapbook company magazine) Her wonderful view of life, music, literature and art continues to inspire me.
3.)  If you could only use three craft supplies for the rest of your life, what would they be?
Distress inks - How I ever made anything before these I will never know. They have transformed my work totally.
   Serviettes - Because they are so versatile and I have a huge collection...with a bit of mod podge they can be used to decorate anything
    Balsa wood - Otherwise my dolls house is never going to be completed!!!
4.) CAS or layering? Why?
Layering - I have always been and always will be a layering person. My early card making and scrapbooking work were full of layered pieces of different texture card and papers that had been torn and chalked (pre DI days) edges. Layering has always appealed to me and I think it fits in with how my mind works - I never ever know when to stop! Sometimes I do have to remind myself that I am not building a tower here!
 5.) Do you pre-sketch a design or do you just wing it? How long does it usually take you to make a project?
I never pre-sketch tags, cards, ATC's and scrapbook pages. My preference is to just go with it and see what happens. For most craft things, to sit and plan takes too long - I'd be wasting vital crafting time! Having said that, for my larger projects like this shadow box, I do need to plan and sketch first because I can work out all the measurements - This was essential to making the box accurately. For this creation it really wasn't possible to wing it. Sketching a design has occasionally been an urgent matter too - While watching 'The devil wears Prada' I saw a scene where Meryl Streep is sitting by a gorgeous cabinet. Luckily I had pen and paper to hand and I sketched the quickest, roughest sketch ever of that piece of furniture in the few seconds I had left to get the details. I know, I could have hired/bought the film and watched it again - but I had to make that cabinet straight away! I am a 'do it now' person when the inspiration strikes! That cabinet is now one of my most treasured pieces of furniture that I have made for my dolls house!
Because I make so many different types of crafts, the time spent really varies. A tag can be done in under an hour...A few hours is average for most things but major creations can take weeks. The longest I have ever spent planning a project was a scrapbook album gift and that took about about three months to plan and the longest it has ever taken me to actually make something was a very large acrylic painting I did of Oaxaca Cathedral and that took me 6 weeks to complete.
6.) If you had a time machine, that worked only once, what point in the history or the future would you be most inspired to visit and why?
I adore the 1920's so I would definitely travel there. There are so many things to inspire me from this decade that it would be impossible to just state one. Although I am far from being a fashionista myself, I am interested in the history of fashion. 1920's fashion was such a dramatic change and also such a beautiful one. I love using those fashion images in my work as they really do represent elegance and glamour. It was also a fantastic era for film and I adore the silent movie stars and have always loved the films from that time. I really would love to have been a makeup artist on the set of those early films.....costumes, film stars, creating faces and cinematography - That would be my ideal time travel experience. It would be such an wonderful decade to see.....

And now sit back and enjoy her Shadow Box...

 
Thank you Laura for being our 'Thursday's Top Talent'  and sharing such wonderful inspiration with us!
If you want to see more and the details on construction visit Laura here;
http://laurabomber.blogspot.co.uk/

If you want the chance to be part of Top Talent Thursday on Our Creative Corner, then just join in our current Challenge- “Create a Cake Creation” here, you still have some time to participate.

Smiles:)
Sue

"The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it."
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe