How to Make Victorian Juice Lid Ornaments - by Annette Labedzki

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How to Make Victorian Juice Lid Ornaments

 

The traditional Victorian picture ornaments form one of the best Christmas decorations. Simple to make, they can be created out of discarded and recycled household items, like juice can lids. Once you understand the basic technique of these ornaments, just let your imagination soar. The source of pictures can be varied, including old Christmas cards, discarded books, wrapping sheets, etc. Another good source for high quality pictures can be the internet. Just get the print of your favorite image and get down to work. The instructions below will help you design your own Victorian Juice Lid Ornament in few easy steps.

 

Material Supplies

·        Lid with smooth edges from juice can

·        Suitable holiday picture – card, wrappings, print outs, etc.

·        A pair of craft scissors

·        Glue

·        Ribbon

·        Lace

·        Craft bead strings or ornamental cords

·        Metallic paint

·        Velvet fabric, white fur cloth, laces, or wired ribbons

·        Glitters, mirrors, decorative badges (floral or holiday themed), craft Christmas bells, etc. as per choice

 

Steps for making Victorian juice lid ornaments:

·        Basic Construction:

§         Step 1. Measure the circular portion of the lid inside the rim.

§         Step 2. Use the measurements to cut out the required picture or background image, in a circular shape.

§         Step 3. If you want to superimpose some designs or figures over a base image, cut out such designs neatly along the outlines and keep aside. Skip this step if you wish to go with a single complete picture.

§         Step 3. Stick the background image inside the rim.

§         Step 4. Paste the cutouts of the desired elements over the base created in Step 3. If the entire picture is a single piece, skip this step.

§         Step 5. Paint the visible rim of the lid in some metallic color, like gold, copper, or silver.

 

·        Decoration: Before embarking upon this area, plan the type of look you want for your ornament. Gather the resources accordingly.

§         Step 1. Take a length of velvet or fur strip, ribbon, lace, or the like. Its length will depend upon the size of the lid.

§         Step 2. Flip the prepared lid. Glue its backside along the edges. Apply a second round slightly inside the rim.

§         Step 3. Gather the material of your choice from Step 1 and paste it along the rim, such that it has a ruffled appearance.

§         Step 4. Flip the lid to its frontal side.

§         Step 5. Glue the beads string or ornamental cord on the inner rim of the lid or as a border of the pasted circular image or base.

§         Step 6. Make a hanging loop for the ornament with the help of a ribbon.

§         Step 7. Use decorative craft material, as mentioned above, to give the final changes.

 

 

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His Most Famous Painting (Portrat des Albert Paris von Gutersloh) - Egon Schiele - by Annette Labedzki

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His Most Famous Painting (Portrat des Albert Paris von Gutersloh) - Egon Schiele

 

Austrian painter Egon Schiele (1890-1918) was a well-known 'Expressionist' artist of the early twentieth century. His paintings were often pronounced as disturbing, with his creatively erotic paintings leading the front. The intensity of his work however, has been appreciated over the years. Schiele painted several portraits in his lifetime, most of which are his own. The human figures he created always 'Symbolized' something. They were the carrier of expressions Egon wanted to demonstrate. In 1918, Schiele painted his magnum opus, a portrait of his friend Albert Paris von Gutersloh, called "Portrat des Albert Paris von Gutersloh." This portrait corroborates the degree of contortion and agony Egon liked to depict in his paintings.

 

"Portrat des Albert Paris von Gutersloh" is an oil on canvas work with the dimensions 55 1/4cm X 43 ¼ cm. The picture shows a very garish and strikingly convoluted image of Schiele's fellow Austrian painter Albert Paris. In the midst of a flame like bright reddish-orange background, Albert Paris is seated on a sort of an emotional electric chair. He is dressed in an off-white shirt, blue trousers, and a royal blue tie. His clothes are wrinkled and his whole body seems to be shaking under the effect of convulsions. His eyes are in a state of great shock and there is not even a hint of smile on his countenance. It seems like he is undergoing immense psychological turmoil. The hands of the protagonist are raised upwards with the right palm facing the viewer and the left hand raised up to his own shoulder. Both the hands are twisted. Schiele has dexterously used bold contour lines to create three-dimensional effects in the picture.

 

"Portrat des Albert Paris von Gutersloh" is the typical of Schiele's style of painting, compelling and distorted, with thick brushstrokes. Like most of his pictures, it too depicts anxiety and torture. It seems as if the protagonist is reacting to a major electric shock. The portrait is an unfinished work. The painting speaks aloud not just of Egon's recorded observation of Albert's physical appearance, but also conveys his own then state of mind. Similarly, most of Schiele's other paintings too are 'Expressionist,' where the use of dark, exaggerated lines & very bold colors is made, and the painting strives to show its hidden connotations. To serve this purpose, the symmetry and the beauty of the painting had to be compromised slightly by making it twisted and painful, as visible in Egon Schiele's "Portrat des Albert Paris von Gutersloh."

 

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