Welcome to Suspensions Design - the online portfolio of George Reynolds. Below us an overview of the arts which currently capture my creative energy. And visit my Etsy site!
Marbling is the traditional art of "painting on water" and then transferring the painting to paper, fabric and other media. Mobiles are of course the sculptures invented by Alexander Calder. These arts overlap in my work by using the designs created by marbling as components in mobiles and other sculptures.
But why Suspensions Design you may ask? I am very interested in art which in some way defies gravity. Many art forms do this: Dance often challenges the dancer to defy gravity just for a moment as they leap through the parabola it inevitably creates. Marbling seems to defy gravity when paint is suspended on a medium while a design is created, then frozen on paper, fabric or other substrate. Mobiles appear to defy gravity when set in motion by a wind current. The goal? To set the spirit free to defy the gravitational force of the everyday and just for a moment see the joyous.
But why Suspensions Design you may ask? I am very interested in art which in some way defies gravity. Many art forms do this: Dance often challenges the dancer to defy gravity just for a moment as they leap through the parabola it inevitably creates. Marbling seems to defy gravity when paint is suspended on a medium while a design is created, then frozen on paper, fabric or other substrate. Mobiles appear to defy gravity when set in motion by a wind current. The goal? To set the spirit free to defy the gravitational force of the everyday and just for a moment see the joyous.
Traditional Marbling
The marbling of paper and fabric and other materials is an ancient art known in Europe, Turkey and Japan for hundreds of years. These techniques involve creating a liquid solution on which paint can be suspended and manipulated. Once the paint has been added and a design created on the surface of the liquid, the design can be "printed" by carefully placing paper, fabric, tiles, leather or any "surface" that will receive the paint, on the surface of the liquid. It is then carefully lifted off the surface and the design is transferred to the receiving surface.
Silk Scarves
A silk scarf created using the marbling techniques described above. Paper and Silk require the application of Alum prior to the application of the marbled design.
Marbled Greeting Cards and Tiles
We create marbled designs using traditional marbling techniques with acrylic paint. Some of these designs are rendered directly on the receiving surface such as a tile. fabric and even leather. What results is a one-of-a-kind work of of art which has both aesthetic and functional uses. In addition some sections of these designs are digitally scanned and printed on onto greeting cards and tiles suitable for many uses.
The Art of the Mobile
Most of the art we look at remains passive as we view it. Looking at an oil painting may change the viewer, but it will not alter the art itself. What intrigues me about mobiles is the opportunity they provide for the viewer to participate directly in their creation and evolution. Not only is the viewer affected by observing these airborne objects, but the objects themselves are noticeably reconfigured by the viewer. This could be a process as subtle as approaching the mobile and stirring air currents that set the piece in motion. It could as direct as reaching out to touch and spin the mobile and to watch the dance that follows.
Garden Mobiles
Stainless Steel is a marvelous medium in which to create sculpture and mobiles in particular. Malleable, strong and eternal, Stainless Steel presents the perfect material to challenge the forces of nature. Below is a video of a mobile dancing in the wind animating a garden. Click here if the video does not appear.