The Paper Art of Isabelle De Borchgrave

I have just discovered the art of Isabelle De Borchgrave, a woman from Brussels who creates the most incredible paper "fabric" sculptures.
She paints paper then sculpts it into costumes, mostly iconic pieces from history, but often with her own whinsical twist. Among other things she has created a whole collection of historical garments but changed the colour palette to just white to show the design details in the garments.

She observed images in ancient portraits and as she was curious to see right around the clothing, she studied it's construction and used it as inspiration to construct like garments in paper.

It's hard to believe that the pieces are not made of fabric, such is her skill in catching the lie of the cloth, the texture of the embroidery, or the heft of her embelishments.
I've only ever seen her work online or on paper - I would love to see it "up close and personal", but I know that the first thing I would want to do is touch it, and I'm sure that would not be the done thing!

Delphos Dress 2006 2007 Inspired by a design by Mariano Fortuny.

Detail of Neopolitan Woman 2010.  Inspired by a 1635 portrait by Massimo Stanzione in the collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

If you would like to see more - try the website link above, or just do a Google Image search - it's well worth the clicks!

New Zealand Glass Art Book

Early last year I was asked by the New Zealand Society of Artists in Glass to put together a submission for a "coffee table" book of...New Zealand glass art.
It was published in October last year....and here it is.

it's available at www.Fishpond.co.nz and I see that it's even on special offer at the moment for NZ$44.95.
I'm actually in love with a piece in the front of the book called Te Tau Hou by Te Rongo Kirkwood. It's a gorgeous piece that uses it's own reflection as part of the work.
This is a gorgeous book, with so many beautiful images that it's a visual feast!

OK, so here is my page, just in case you can't get it or find it at the library.

Putting images together for book printing purposes is quite a business and I had these ones take professionally. I think that the process actually changed the colours a little - especially the red, but they still look good, if not actually true to the original piece.