Happy Bookshelves

Description

‘Happy Bookshelves’ is my largest, and probably cheeriest of these works on paper, with all the bright colours on the book spines.

I paint the shelves in a combination of gouache and acrylic, then colour over them lightly with coloured pencil to bring out the texture. I also outline the shelves roughly in coloured pencil to emphasise the hand-made element. I make the book spines from a myriad of magazine images: curtains, rugs, tiles, cupboards, wallpaper. I piece colours and patterns together and then add details such as chair legs, curtain rods, paintings, to create the effect of fancy embossed elements, or binding. I cut up words from the magazine to create my own titles and author’s names, and dab them with paint to ‘match’ the spine. My favourite element to include are images of mirrors, which create the illusion of reflecting the room behind the viewer.

87 x 62cm (34.2 x 24.4 inches) including white frame.

Note: as this is an original artwork, to prevent excessive fading, do not display in direct sunlight.

All care has been taken to ensure that images accurately reflect the colour and texture (if any) of the art. However, please be aware that monitors do differ, so there may be some difference between how this artwork appears on your device, and what it looks like in person.