Face lift for TIMELESS ARTS

You will notice that I have changed the look of my site to freshen up everything.

Google has been changing the way my visitors can view the slide shows I have posted to your right.

 If you wish to view all the images on one screen in the DESIGN CATALOG, click on any image in the slide show, then go to the top and click on Ginny’s Gallery. This will show icons of all the slide shows on the site.  Click on the DESIGN CATALOG and you will have the full display of all the images with their corresponding numbers.

IF Google makes further changes I will be sure to update this Blog post.  I think they are in the process of making it more streamlined.

Thanks for your patience!

Also, be sure to visit the catalog regularly as I will post any new images I have created in the catalog.

Welcome to

TIMELESS ARTS

This site is an exhibit of designs I have created, inspired by the artisans of the Craftsman Era as well as a line of my original creations.

I offer these designs on:

Scarves, Linens , Window Treatments, Hand Towels, Table Runners, Wall Hangings , Hiking Bags , Tote Bags Shoulder Bags, Tiles, Coasters, Note Cards , Furniture Embellishments,

and

YOUR SPECIAL PROJECT

I apply each design to a template which I hand cut. I then hand paint the design on with an oil based pigment which is permanent, color fast and can be machine washed. Many customers are afraid to put their linens in the washing machine but I assure you that as long as the material is machine washable, the design holds its bold color.

To order a product, select a design from the design catalog on the right and note its number. Then contact me via email: timelessarts@gmail.com and you can place an order. We can go fron there.

Each item is made to order when received so please allow time for the creation of the article and the application of the design. Don't wait until the week before a holiday as I am usually filling other orders so plan ahead.

Many of my customers order off season and save it for gift giving later on.

Consider wedding gifts, Christmas or birthday gifts, house warming presents, or something special for your own home.

I look forward to working with you soon!

Ginny McVickar

NEWLY ORGANIZED!

In my constant effort to make this site more user friendly I have consolidated all the designs into a master catalog of designs [See slide show to the right] with each one assigned a number. The border designs are grouped together at the end of the catalog. Whenever you want to order a product you will use the design number to refer to the one you want. Please don't hesitate to post comments. I look forward to your input! In the works: Product line, order sheets.

SOURCES OF INSPIRATION

My designs and patterns have been inspired by many artisans of the Arts and Crafts Movement from England to Europe to America.
* William Morris of England who is credited as the inspiration behind the Arts & Crafts Movement in England , famed textile designer, printer and book illuminator.
* M. P. Verneuil of France in the 1890's who was an artist and influential teacher of Art Nouveau decoration using design motifs and elements based on plant life.
* Elisabeth Hallowell Saunders (1906) of Pasadena; botanical illustrator and wife of Charles Francis Saunders.
* The Roycrofters: a school of artisans in East Aurora founded by Elbert Hubbard, also known as father of the Arts & Crafts movement in America.
* Ceramic works by the Saturday Evening Girls, Roseville Pottery, Van Briggle, Rookwood,etc.
* Jewelry-makers such as Peer Smed, Clemens Friedell, Robert Jarvie, Frank Gardner

There were many groups of designers who gathered together to form schools and guilds that had common philosophies on life and art. Such schools were Liberty & Co., Birmingham Guild, Keswick School, Scottish School, Tiffany Studios, Gustav Stickley and the Roycrofters. It was a short era, lasting for the most part,from the late 1800s until about 1915 and the enduring quality and appeal of the arts of that era is the basis for the name of my business, TIMELESS ARTS.

Creating the template

Here are some of the tools used to make my designs. The templates are hand-cut with much attention to detail. There is a wide range of template sheet materials in the current market. I prefer the blanks that have a high poly content. This allows the cutting knife to glide smoothly without the herky-jerky lines found in the acetates. A sharp cutting knife is essential. After many trials and errors I have settled on the Shiva Artstiks for my pigments. They are permanent, oil-based, non-toxic pigments. They are applied dry from my palette so blending is clean and a second color can be applied immediately without waiting for drying time. Once cured the materials are machine washable and fade-proof. I am happy with the pigments as the colors are rich and are easy to apply.
Some of my designs take two or three template applications to achieve all the color details that would be impossible to cut into one template sheet. Brushes are natural white hog hair bristled which take up the minimum pigment needed and allows for the stiff "pouncing" of the colors into the materials. Brush sizes range from 1/4" to 1/2". I prefer this method for my designs. They cannot be mass produced in this manner. All is done by hand. This is the process I enjoy.

"Get your Happiness out of your Work ~~ or you'll never know what Happiness is!"

~~ Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915), founder of the Roycrofters.

Welcome to Timeless Arts!

This is the place to view my designs and to learn more about what thought goes into my creative process. I research and find designs inspired from the Craftsman Era of the late 1800's to the early 1900s. Some of the designs I have adapted originated on the walls of early homes to add decor to the room, to define room divisions or merely to express a mood. Some came from designs seen on pottery, woodcraft, glassware, tapestries and even jewelry. Other designs I have adapted were inspired by 19th Century Naturalists, often women, who found their means of expression of the natural elements through painting, writing or botanical illustration. The Art Nouveau style is plainly visible in many of the designs. I also photograph many natural elements in nature and create my designs from those images.



The Background

Organic shapes, embodied by clean, sleek, curved and straight lines, always balanced and elegant, form the essence of Art Nouveau. The preoccupation with sinuous stylistic forms in Nature, especially plants, played a major role in the artistic expression of the Craftsman era. The first forms of expression in the Art Nouveau movement were made in the mid 1800s in England with William Morris as one of the forerunners in fabric design and his writings. The movement spread to Europe and finally to America but lasted a brief 20 years from 1890 to 1910.

Artists and craftsmen were seeing the results of the Industrial Revolution and an increasingly mechanized society. It had become all to easy for a machine or assembly line to reproduce objects that formerly had been hand-wrought with care and thought and love. HEART~ MIND~ SOUL were the embodiment of those craftsmen who wanted a return to craftsmanship, quality, simplicity and nature. All objects had to be of beauty and use. The movement was brought over to America by Elbert Hubbard who founded the Roycroft Studios in East Aurora, New York where craftsmen could live and create their artwork as well as establishing apprenticeships for those who wanted to learn the art from the masters. Hubbard was the Founder of the Arts & Crafts Movement (with a capital A & C).

I find that my beliefs and philosophy on life align closely with those from this movement and that is why I am drawn to this particular art form.



HOW IT'S DONE

"No Joy is Joy Save as it is the Joy of Self-Expression" ~ Elbert Hubbard

Once I have decided on a design , I draw it on a poly/mylar film and I cut out the design in the form of a stencil. Some designs can take up to 3 different plates to complete the color applications. The next step is to cut out the design and then place the plates onto a piece of fabric. Then using a permanent quick drying oil based pigment (Shiva Artstik) I apply the pigments to the fabric with a stiff hog bristle brush ranging in size from 1/4" to 1/2" using a "pouncing" method which embeds the pigment into the fabric. Through many trials I have settled on this media for its color intensity, permanency, ease in mixing and blending and because it does not sit on top of the fabric as acrylics do. Once the piece is completed, it is machine washable and fade resistant.

I have always been asked, "Why don't you just do silk screening?? It's so much easier and quicker."

'Easier and 'quicker' is not my intent. I enjoy the older methods and it allows me much more freedom in color application, tones and shading. For me it is not the end product that drives me so much as the process of making a piece that brings me such satisfaction.

" Get your Happiness out of your Work or you'll never know what Happiness is!" Elbert Hubbard

A picture can say a thousand words so I will be posting images of the designs.

I sell my work locally in the Willamette Valley of Oregon now and I will soon be setting up a way for you to order on-line.