Medieval Art of Sri Lanka (Gajasinghe) in Quilling

Gajasinghe is a drawing of a mythical creature, which is part lion & part elephant. This dates back to the period we had kings ruling our nation somewhere in 377 BC or even before.It was in 1505 that the foreigners invaded our country and the end of Kings ruling. Mythical lions paintings at that period was common as the then Sinhala people in our country believed that they were descendants of  a lion and a human girl, who had a son and daughter together. The Lion symbol plays a major role, to date, in our country and is seen in our country flag too. These old paintings can be found even today in ancient temple walls. The colouring they used at the time must have been excellent cause even many centuries later the paintings are still visible.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              I enjoy turning and twisting the strips as I have got used to doing it now. So expect more of these pictures cause I intend doing more of these medieval paintings of Sri Lanka in quilling

Hansa puttuwa (Entwined Swans)

                Hansa Puttuwa is a traditional and a very important & popular motif coming down from ancient Sri Lanka. May be from the Anuradhapura Era. Probably around the 4th century BC. This motif is commonly used at traditional Sinhala Buddhist weddings, from Jewelry to back drop decorations at wedding ceremonies.The stage (Poruwa) where the couple stands for the rituals,  is decorated with this motif using various raw material like coconut palms or flowers in a very rich manner. The brides necklace is often in silver or gold, engraved with this motif.                                                                                                                                      I have quilled it in line art or graphic method. I would call it creative quilling. The paper of course is A4 and the strips are 1/8 inches. It took me some time cause it wasn't easy to twist the strip to shape. Hope you enjoy it. Happy quilling till I come again :)

Quilled Mandarin duck near water garden

Don't quill often now not because I have lost interest in this hobby but I am into other craft & I do not want to add those, on to my quilling blog. May be I will start another blog for those. Another reason for not quilling is I have lost ideas for quilling. I like to quill something that has not been quilled before. Now to this particular quilling. The mandarin duck is a beautiful creature like the peacock that it's beauty never cease to fascinate me. I love the bright colours and is a great idea for quilling but every duck I googled was different in colour from each other. So I quilled my own version. The entire picture is quilled with A4 coloured paper cut into 1/8 inch strips. I am a bit sad cause the real picture looks better than this & I cannot show it to you. Hope you like it :) 

Ancient African tribal princes in Quilling

African paintings fascinates me always. They add a lot of beauty on any wall in any place. The people of Africa, love multi colours & it looks so pretty. It never bore me to do quillings of this sort. Came across this picture on the internet. I did it my way, in quilling. Hope you like it

A quick & simple method of making a flower for a card

A lady in a quilling group on Face Book had commented on a picture of mine that the group admin had posted. It was the picture of my comb collection on my blog. She had referred to this particular comb tool in the above picture, as " torture device" and could not make out the purpose for it. It made me laugh but also made me think. So I stopped my current quilling project to quickly do a tutorial on how I make flowers with it. Now dear friends don't bother torturing  your brains on how to get one like this. I have used part of a hard tooth tintin hair brush that comes with some hair product. I got it from a friend so I have no idea what it is. But I can give you an idea how to make one. Call it AnastasiaW style ha..ha.. My way of creating tools. Just an eraser and 6 needles or pins. Insert it the way it is in the picture and create a flower. Happy quilling :)

Video demonstration on quilling a flower

Today I would like to share a video tutorial on how I create this flower with a homemade tool. All you need for the tool is an eraser and 5 needles or pins. Also I have demonstrated a very easy and accurate method of doing the mount and valley fold & all you need to do it is a strp of aluminium foil. This is how I do it may be you too do this way but this tutorial is for people who do not know it :)

You can make the flowers big or small by the spacing of the three pins in the straight line. This design is suitable for earrings too. The mount and valley fold method is useful, if you don't have a crimping tool. Hope this video would be helpful to you. Have a nice day friend & happy quilling :)

Peacock design on a vase in quilling

A quilling with out a plan I call this. With no idea of what I should quill, I see a vase sitting in a corner & think why not a vase in quilling :). So this is the result. I do only wall pictures and no cards so it is a problem with ideas. The pattern is not clear so I have to mention that the dark brown at the top and bottom is in beehive design (invented by Susan of Susan's cards & quilling). I will do a very easy tutorial on how to do the flowers very quickly, in my next video. It is not much of a quilling but kept me busy from doing nothing ;)

Quilling - Birds in love

Managed a very quick picture in quilling. The entire picture is quilled in the manner of my tutorial, on a quick and easy way to quill a sprig of leaves making your own tool. Check out tutorial on You Tube. I am really enjoying this method as the projects are quicker to complete. Happy quilling & have fun :)
Will be back with a new tutorial soon

Quick and easy way to quilling a sprig of leaves with your home made tool

After I posted my tutorial on how to make a sprig of leaves with a comb, I had many emails from quillers, who could not find a comb like the one I used. I did a lot of experiment  & came up with a very simple tool that you can make at home and turn out even nicer sprigs very quickly & pretty neat too. All you need is three needles or dot pins with the head chipped off and an eraser. The space between should be even. With experience you could create lots & lots of designs to add to your bouquets, sprigs and flowers to fill in .I have created many designs with just this one tool. It's all imagination & creativity. My jungle fowl project is created with this design only. 

Quilled Jungle Fowl = The National bird of Sri Lanka

It's nice to be blogging again after a long time. Sometimes we feel that nothing is quite interesting in life and spend our precious time watching the idiot box. I feel that is the most appropriate name for the TV. I have been doing this for the last month or two not being in a mood for hobbies. Now I am back with my first project for 2014 & hopefully create more new designs in quilling.

 A LITTLE DESCRIPTION OF THE BIRD TAKEN FROM WIKIPEDIA

As with other junglefowl, the Sri Lankan Junglefowl is strongly sexually dimorphic: the male is much larger than the female, with more vivid plumage and a highly exaggerated wattle and comb.

The male Sri Lankan Junglefowl ranges from 66–72 cm (26–28 in) in length^[3] and 790–1,140 g (1.74–2.51 lb) in weight, essentially resembling a large, muscular rooster.^[4] The male has orange-red body plumage, and dark purple to black wings and tail. The feathers of the mane descending from head to base of spine are golden, and the face has bare red skin and wattles. The comb is red with a yellow centre. As with the Green Junglefowl, the cock does not possess an eclipse plumage.

The female is much smaller, at only 35 cm (14 in) in length and 510–645 g (1.124–1.422 lb) in weight, with dull brown plumage with white patterning on the lower belly and breast, ideal camouflage for a nesting bird.^[4]

The Sri Lankan Junglefowl is most closely related to the Grey Junglefowl,^[5] though physically the male resembles the Red Junglefowl. Female Sri Lanka Junglefowl are very similar to those of the Grey Junglefowl. Like the Green Junglefowl, Sri Lankan Junglefowl are island species that have evolved side by side with their similarly stranded island predators and competitors. Uniquely complex anti-predator behaviors and foraging strategies are integral components in the long evolutionary story of the Sri Lankan Junglefowl.

Hope you like it and will be back soon with another creation. Happy quilling till then :)

Paper Quilling = Black African, Model :

I have not been quilling f or a while now, but my passion for quilling makes it impossible to keep away from it for too long. This entire quilling project is done with left over paper strips. The model is made of over 5000 tiny paper circles, of 1/8" paper strips. Took me some time as it was too small and a strain on the eye.

Hope you like it. May not quill again for some time as the Christmas season is beginning and all the work  that comes with it, will not give me time for quilling. May be a few cards, but no major project.

I prefer to do big pictures rather than cards as it could be made use of as wall hangings after framing and I am sure it will last somewhere for some time and  not end up in a bin as most cards :(
Will be back when time permits with another quilling. Take care and happy quilling till I am back :)

Quilled puppy in a gift basket

A little pup as a birthday gift in a basket, with flowers. The idea was from an embroidery design site. Most of the strips are 1/8" and a few in 1/16".Hope you like it. Happy quilling till I am back with another project :)

Landscape Quilling of Black African Woman in Village

It's been sometime since I did a bit of quilling but here I am with a favorite of mine :) African art fascinates me. The way they draw their women & landscape is beautiful that I wanted to do a picture of African art in quilling. This is my first but won't be the last cause I have decided to quill more of African art. Sorry friends for the long delay in posting. Will try to post another soon. Happy quilling till then.

Sigiriya Frescos (Sri Lanka) in Quilling

Not been quilling for sometime but here I am with a quilled version of the world famous Sigiriya frescos. I would like you to know a little bit of Sigiriya & how important it is to us Sri Lankans. So I am posting an article too, taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigiriya

.sigiriya (Lion Rock, Sinhalese - සීගිරිය, pronounced see-gee-REE-yah) is located in the central Matale District of the Central Province, Sri Lanka in an area dominated by a massive column of rock nearly 200 meters high. According to the ancient Sri Lankan chronicle the Culavamsa the site was selected by King Kasyapa (477 – 495 AD) for his new capital. He built his palace on the top of this rock and decorated its sides with colourful frescoes. On a small plateau about halfway up the side of this rock he built a gateway in the form of an enormous lion. The name of this place is derived from this structure —Sīhāgiri, the Lion Rock. The capital and the royal palace were abandoned after the king's death. It was used as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century.^[1]

Sigiriya today is a UNESCO listed World Heritage Site. It is one of the best preserved examples of ancient urban planning.^[2] It is the most visited historic site in Sri Lanka.^[3]

Hope you like it. The quality of paper was not very good and the picture did not turn out as nice as I would have liked it to be. Will be back soon with another picture soon. Happy quilling :)

Zentangle/Doodle art of a temple elephant

Most of you visit my blog to view my quillings but quilling is not my only hobby. I am a multi handy crafter. I do saree painting and cutwork,dress making, cookery, pencil drawing, quilling, knitting, crocheting ,flower making and many more handy craft. I got stuck into quilling as I love it the most, of all my hobbies. But I am a bit fed up with quilling at the moment. I have run out of ideas too. Coming back to this picture, it is the first attempt of zentangle or doodle art of mine. It would not be as nice as I liked it to be but I leave it to you, to judge. Your comments would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

Rainbow Dash - In quilling

I do not know much about this character but I thought it would look nice in quilling. So here he is. The garden is my imaginative paradise where I go to relax & get away from earthly problems. Dash is quilled with 1/8" strips and the background strips goes to even 1 mm . The leaves on the left are quilled with a strip a little broader than a thread. Hope you like my picture. I take this opportunity to thank my 399 followers an all who visit, for keeping my blog going. Love you all. Please leave your valuable comments cause that is my inspiration

Double-headed eagle, in quilling

The article is taken from WIKIPEDIA,  to let you know what this quille bird means. The double-headed eagle is a common symbol in heraldry and vexillology. It is most commonly associated with the Byzantine Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, the Russian Empire and their successor states. In Byzantine heraldry, the heads represent the Emperor having authority over both secular and religious matters, Byzantine emperors were regarded as Christ's vicegerent on Earth. It also signified the dominance of the Byzantine Emperors over both East and West. In the Holy Roman Empire's heraldry, it  represented the church and the state. Several Eastern European nations adopted it from the Byzantines and continue to use it as their national symbol to this day. This symbol is used in many ancient flags of Sri Lanka too. The country I come from :)

It's been a month since I quilled anything. Sometimes you get bored doing the same thing all the time so I had to take a break. Hope you would like this too. Thank you my dear followers and visitors for keeping my blog going :)

Quilled Carnations

Another experimental quilling that turned out into a carnation flower. Could not find a design to suite my mood for quilling, so I ended up with a whole lot of experimental quillings. After sometime of serious thinking, the idea of a carnation hit my mind.Could not show you only carnations, so I created this quilled flower arrangement. This could have been used on a corner stand if it was real but as it is not, it could go on the wall of your sitting room.  Shall be back with something better next time. Happy quilling till then
 

Graphic Quilling of "Navanari Kunnaraya"

Navanari Kunna Raya - decorative elements of the Kandyan period

The history of Sri Lanka begins around 30,000 years ago when the island was first inhabited. Chronicles, including the Mahavamsa, the Dipavamsa, the Culavamsa and the Rajavaliya, record events from the beginnings of the Sinhalese monarchy in the 6th century BC; through the arrival of European Colonialists in the 16th century; and to the disestablishment of the monarchy in 1815. Some mentions of the country are found in the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the books of Gautama Buddha's teachings. Buddhism was introduced in the 3rd century BC by Arahat Mahinda (son of the Indian emperor Ashoka the Great).

From the 16th century, some coastal areas of the country were ruled by the Portuguese, Dutch and British. Sri Lanka was ruled by 181 kings from the Anuradhapura to Kandy periods. ^[1] After 1815 the entire nation was under British colonial rule and armed uprisings against the British took place in the 1818 Uva Rebellion and the 1848 Matale Rebellion. Independence was finally granted in 1948 but the country remained a Dominion of the British Empire.

A little bit about my country taken from  "History of Sri Lanka - WIKIPEDIA" in order to understand my picture. For centuries starting from the stone age people have been artist in my country. This picture was a painting done by artists in the 16th century during the reign of our last king known as the Kandyan Period. It is formed by 9 women to the shape of an elephant. I did it in quilling. Hope you enjoy it without a head ace cause I had one when I was quilling it .lol.
 

Quilling with Comb - More ideas

A few more ideas of quilling with comb. The design in the 8th window of the top collage too is done with part of the hair brush comb. When the comb brush was split in two, the top of it  had 5 teeth on top and one about 3cm below the third tooth. It came in handy to create a design like the one in the bottom last window and the one above it (5 petal design at the bottom of the 6th window)