Tentacles!

I have a sort of obsession with octopus. Well, not just octopus but all things cephalopod. There's just something about their weird alien-ness, from their  tentacles to their intellect, there's just something a bit otherworldly about them.

I also adore the steampunk movement; the rich colours, the industrial imagery and the idea of an alternate twist to Victorian history. Plus octopus tend to feature quite heavily in the literature and aesthetic! So for the latest challenge on the 13artsblog, it seemed only natural to combine these two loves.

I made these covers for a new journal. The tentacles were made from tinfoil and 13arts wine red stain powder and glass beads. I also used fine grain grit to create texture on the background, various sprays and paints for the colouring and some 7dots studio stickers and papers for detail. 

I'd also like to enter this into the 7dots challenge for steampunk this month.

Ocean blue

I adore the sea. It is at the same time both tranquil and soothing, and wild and unpredictable.  From the waves lapping on rocky shores to the great unexplored deeps, it evokes such fantastic imagery and inspiration. And the creatures that live within the vast oceans! From the strange and bizarre yeti crabs and nudibranchs to the awesome majesty of the ocean giants like humpback whales and manta rays.

One of my favourite sea creatures however, is one of myth and legend; the Kraken. Whether the stories are of gigantic sea creatures rising from the black depths of the ocean to destroy unwary sailors or as a monstrous figure in Greek tales for sacrificing virgins to and as a tool of the gods' wrathful vengence, I love the thought that there may be kraken still, lurking in the abyssal trenches of the ocean.

The quote on the journal page below is from one of my favourite stories, Kraken by China Mieville. Here, the Kraken are ancient gods, worshipped by a cephalopodic cult in an alternative London landscape. The papers and tags are from 7dots  Destination Unknown collection, with some netting, pearls and metallic foils and paints, plus some texture stones.

I'd like to enter this page into the metallic colours challenge on the 7dots blog.