Rug hooking is a craft where rugs are made by pulling loops of yarn or fabric through a stiff woven base such as burlap, linen, or rug warp. The loops are pulled through the backing material by using a crochet-type hook mounted in a handle (usually wood) for leverage. In contrast latch-hooking uses a hinged hook to form a knotted pile from short, pre-cut pieces of yarn.
A craftsperson creates a hooked rug by pulling lengths of cloth, usually wool, through a woven fabric, usually burlap.
Wool strips ranging in size from 3/32 to 10/32 of an inch (2 to 8 mm) in width are often used to create hooked rugs or wall hangings. These precision strips are usually cut using a mechanical cloth slitter; however, the strips can also be hand-cut or torn. When using the hand-torn technique the rugs are usually done in a primitive motif.
Designs for the rugs are often commercially produced and can be as complex as flowers or animals to as simple as geometrics. Rug-hooking has been popular in North America for at least the past 200 years.
понедельник, 7 сентября 2009 г.
Glagolitic script (10–11 centuries)
Alphabets that became a basis for slavonic writing were called "Glagolitic" and "Cyrillic" alphabets. The history of their emergence is totally unknown. One can judge upon the ancient forms of glagolitsa only approximately, as the extant monuments of glagolitsa are dated no later than the end of the 10th century. Looking through glagolitsa one can understand that its forms are very ingenious. Symbols as a rule are composed of two elements that are combined one above the other.
Glagolitic script
Such construction can be seen in the decoration of kirillitsa. It usually doesn’t include simple forms. They are connected with straights. Some letters (ш, у, м, ч, э) correspond to their modern form. Resting upon the form of letters one can speak about two types of glagolitsa. The first one – Bulgarian glagolitsa – has roundish letters, and Croatian glagolitsa – called as well illyrian or dalmatian – has an angular forms of letters. Neither of the two types has strict border zones of spreading. Later glagolitsa borrowed many sounds from kirillitsa. West slavic glagolitsa existed for only a short time and was replaced with the Latin writing. But glagolitsa didn’t perish in modern times. It was used up to the beginning of World War II, and was even used for newspapers. It is currently being used in Croatian settlements of Italy.
Glagolitic script
Such construction can be seen in the decoration of kirillitsa. It usually doesn’t include simple forms. They are connected with straights. Some letters (ш, у, м, ч, э) correspond to their modern form. Resting upon the form of letters one can speak about two types of glagolitsa. The first one – Bulgarian glagolitsa – has roundish letters, and Croatian glagolitsa – called as well illyrian or dalmatian – has an angular forms of letters. Neither of the two types has strict border zones of spreading. Later glagolitsa borrowed many sounds from kirillitsa. West slavic glagolitsa existed for only a short time and was replaced with the Latin writing. But glagolitsa didn’t perish in modern times. It was used up to the beginning of World War II, and was even used for newspapers. It is currently being used in Croatian settlements of Italy.
Calligraphy
Calligraphy (from Greek κάλλος kallos "beauty" + γραφή graphẽ "writing") is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of writing (Mediavilla 1996: 17). A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner" (Mediavilla 1996: 18). The story of writing is one of aesthetic evolution framed within the technical skills, transmission speed(s) and materials limitations of a person, time and place (Diringer 1968: 441). A style of writing is described as a script, hand or alphabet (Fraser & Kwiatkowski 2006; Johnston 1909: Plate 6).
Modern calligraphy ranges from functional hand lettered inscriptions and designs to fine art pieces where the abstract expression of the handwritten mark may or may not supersede the legibility of the letters (Mediavilla 1996). Classical calligraphy differs from typography and non-classical hand-lettering, though a calligrapher may create all of these; characters are historically disciplined yet fluid and spontaneous, improvised at the moment of writing (Pott 2006 & 2005; Zapf 2007 & 2006). Calligraphy continues to flourish in the forms of wedding and event invitations, font design/ typography, original hand-lettered logo design, religious art, various announcements/ graphic design/ commissioned calligraphic art, cut stone inscriptions and memorial documents. Also props and moving images for film and television, testimonials, birth and death certificates/maps, and other works involving writing (see for example Letter Arts Review; Propfe 2005; Geddes & Dion 2004).
Modern calligraphy ranges from functional hand lettered inscriptions and designs to fine art pieces where the abstract expression of the handwritten mark may or may not supersede the legibility of the letters (Mediavilla 1996). Classical calligraphy differs from typography and non-classical hand-lettering, though a calligrapher may create all of these; characters are historically disciplined yet fluid and spontaneous, improvised at the moment of writing (Pott 2006 & 2005; Zapf 2007 & 2006). Calligraphy continues to flourish in the forms of wedding and event invitations, font design/ typography, original hand-lettered logo design, religious art, various announcements/ graphic design/ commissioned calligraphic art, cut stone inscriptions and memorial documents. Also props and moving images for film and television, testimonials, birth and death certificates/maps, and other works involving writing (see for example Letter Arts Review; Propfe 2005; Geddes & Dion 2004).
понедельник, 20 июля 2009 г.
Rococo
Though Rococo originated in the purely decorative arts, the style showed clearly in painting. These painters used delicate colors and curving forms, decorating their canvases with cherubs and myths of love. Portraiture was also popular among Rococo painters. Some works show a sort of naughtiness or impurity in the behavior of their subjects, showing the historical trend of departing away from the Baroque's church/state orientation. Landscapes were pastoral and often depicted the leisurely outings of aristocratic couples.
Jean-Antoine Watteau is generally considered the first great Rococo painter. He had a great influence on later painters, including François Boucher and Jean-Honoré Fragonard, two masters of the late period. Even Thomas Gainsborough's delicate touch and sensitivity are reflective of the Rococo spirit. Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun's style also shows a great deal of Rococo influence, particularly in her portraits of Marie Antoinette. Other Rococo painters include: Jean François de Troy, Jean-Baptiste van Loo, his two sons Louis-Michel van Loo and Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo, his younger brother Charles-André van Loo, Nicolas Lancret, and both Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin and Jean-Baptiste Greuze, who were important French painters of the Rococo era who are considered Anti-Rococo.
During the Rococo era Portraiture was an important component of painting in all countries, but especially in England, where the leaders were William Hogarth, in a blunt realist style, and Francis Hayman, Angelica Kauffman who was Swiss,Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds, in more flattering styles influenced by Antony Van Dyck. While in France during the Rococo era Jean-Baptiste Greuze who was the favorite painter of Denis Diderot , Maurice Quentin de La Tour, and Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun were highly accomplished Portrait painters and History painters.
Sculpture was another area where the Rococo was widely adopted. Étienne-Maurice Falconet is widely considered one of the best representatives of French Rococo. In general, this style was best expressed through delicate porcelain sculpture rather than imposing marble statues. Falconet himself was director of a famous porcelain factory at Sèvres. The themes of love and gaiety were reflected in sculpture, as were elements of nature, curving lines and asymmetry.
The sculptor Bouchardon represented Cupid engaged in carving his darts of love from the club of Hercules; this serves as an excellent symbol of the Rococo style—the demigod is transformed into the soft child, the bone-shattering club becomes the heart-scathing arrows, just as marble is so freely replaced by stucco. In this connection, the French sculptors, Robert Le Lorrain, Michel Clodion, and Pigalle may be mentioned in passing.
Jean-Antoine Watteau is generally considered the first great Rococo painter. He had a great influence on later painters, including François Boucher and Jean-Honoré Fragonard, two masters of the late period. Even Thomas Gainsborough's delicate touch and sensitivity are reflective of the Rococo spirit. Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun's style also shows a great deal of Rococo influence, particularly in her portraits of Marie Antoinette. Other Rococo painters include: Jean François de Troy, Jean-Baptiste van Loo, his two sons Louis-Michel van Loo and Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo, his younger brother Charles-André van Loo, Nicolas Lancret, and both Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin and Jean-Baptiste Greuze, who were important French painters of the Rococo era who are considered Anti-Rococo.
During the Rococo era Portraiture was an important component of painting in all countries, but especially in England, where the leaders were William Hogarth, in a blunt realist style, and Francis Hayman, Angelica Kauffman who was Swiss,Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds, in more flattering styles influenced by Antony Van Dyck. While in France during the Rococo era Jean-Baptiste Greuze who was the favorite painter of Denis Diderot , Maurice Quentin de La Tour, and Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun were highly accomplished Portrait painters and History painters.
Sculpture was another area where the Rococo was widely adopted. Étienne-Maurice Falconet is widely considered one of the best representatives of French Rococo. In general, this style was best expressed through delicate porcelain sculpture rather than imposing marble statues. Falconet himself was director of a famous porcelain factory at Sèvres. The themes of love and gaiety were reflected in sculpture, as were elements of nature, curving lines and asymmetry.
The sculptor Bouchardon represented Cupid engaged in carving his darts of love from the club of Hercules; this serves as an excellent symbol of the Rococo style—the demigod is transformed into the soft child, the bone-shattering club becomes the heart-scathing arrows, just as marble is so freely replaced by stucco. In this connection, the French sculptors, Robert Le Lorrain, Michel Clodion, and Pigalle may be mentioned in passing.
вторник, 14 июля 2009 г.
Adam style
The Adam style (or Adamesque) is a style of neoclassical architecture and design as practiced by Scottish architect Robert Adam (1728- 1792) and his brothers. A book of engraved designs made the "Adam" repertory available throughout Europe. A parallel development of this early phase of neoclassical design is the French "Louis XVI style."
Robert Adam's main rivals were James Wyatt, whose many designs for furniture were less known outside the wide circle of his patrons, because he never published a book of engravings, and Sir William Chambers, who designed fewer furnishings for his interiors, preferring to work with such able cabinet-makers as John Linnell, Thomas Chippendale, and Ince and Mayhew. So many able designers were working in this style in London from ca. 1770 that the style is currently more usually termed Early Neoclassical.
it was typical of Adam style to combine decorative neo-Gothic details into the classical framework. So-called "Egyptian" and "Etruscan" design motifs were minor features.
The "Adam style" is identified with:
* Roman style decorative motifs such as framed medallions, vases, urns and tripods, arabesque vine scrolls, sphinxes and griffins;
* flat grotesque panels;
* pilasters;
* painted ornaments such as swags and ribbons;
* complex color schemes.
The Adam style found its niche from the late 1760s in upper-class residences in 18th-century England, Scotland, Russia (where it was introduced by Scottish architect Charles Cameron), and post-Revolutionary War United States (where it became known as Federal style and took on a variation of its own). The style was superseded from the end of the 1780s by a more massive and self-consciously archeological style, connected with the First French Empire.
A revived "Adams" style, initiated by a spectacular marquetry cabinet by Wright & Mansfield exhibited at the Paris Exposition of 1867, competed with revived Sheraton and Hepplewhite styles that lost momentum after World War I.
(wikipedia.org)
Robert Adam's main rivals were James Wyatt, whose many designs for furniture were less known outside the wide circle of his patrons, because he never published a book of engravings, and Sir William Chambers, who designed fewer furnishings for his interiors, preferring to work with such able cabinet-makers as John Linnell, Thomas Chippendale, and Ince and Mayhew. So many able designers were working in this style in London from ca. 1770 that the style is currently more usually termed Early Neoclassical.
it was typical of Adam style to combine decorative neo-Gothic details into the classical framework. So-called "Egyptian" and "Etruscan" design motifs were minor features.
The "Adam style" is identified with:
* Roman style decorative motifs such as framed medallions, vases, urns and tripods, arabesque vine scrolls, sphinxes and griffins;
* flat grotesque panels;
* pilasters;
* painted ornaments such as swags and ribbons;
* complex color schemes.
The Adam style found its niche from the late 1760s in upper-class residences in 18th-century England, Scotland, Russia (where it was introduced by Scottish architect Charles Cameron), and post-Revolutionary War United States (where it became known as Federal style and took on a variation of its own). The style was superseded from the end of the 1780s by a more massive and self-consciously archeological style, connected with the First French Empire.
A revived "Adams" style, initiated by a spectacular marquetry cabinet by Wright & Mansfield exhibited at the Paris Exposition of 1867, competed with revived Sheraton and Hepplewhite styles that lost momentum after World War I.
(wikipedia.org)
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