A Funky Scottish Decade! The Pittenweem Blue Collection...

"The houses are lovely to paint being quirky 

with odd shapes and outside staircases"

- Karen Edward @ Funky Scottish

This year, it's the 10th Anniversary of the launch of the first iconic, East Neuk collection by
Karen Edward @ Funky Scottish!   In celebration, we're producing a special series of blog posts about a decade of her definitive Funky Scottish collections.  You can click here to read our introduction.  As we rewind back through the years to 2004, this week, we discover the inspiration behind the 'Pittenweem Blue' collection.

This collection is inspired by the architecture of the East Neuk and our historical trading connections with far flung places, including Holland.  Discover more via up-close pictures and artist notes from Karen...



"The East Neuk is unique in its architecture due to the connection with Holland and the lowlands. The crow step gables and the red pantiles are all Dutch influenced. The pantiles came over as ballast in the boats. They traded ideas, skills and building materials as well as Scottish skins, wool coal and salt."

"The houses are lovely to paint being quirky with odd shapes and outside staircases..."

"This range I call Pittenweem Blue is a wee take on the Delft tiles seen in many of the East Neuk houses. I went to Delft a few years ago and loved the artistic feel of the city...and of course the hand-painted ceramics in blue and white!!"

Meet us again soon for this artistic adventure, back in time, through a Funky Scottish decade!  Meanwhile, you can discover previous posts in the series below:-

'Sea Pottery'
'Black & White'
'Puffins' 

Also, join us for the Pittenweem Arts Festival - it kicks off this Friday 1st August! Karen Edward will host her 10th Anniversary exhibition in the Funky Scottish gallery.  Find out more about this renowned annual event at pittenweemartsfestival.co.uk.

Stop Press!

One last thing...did you see the news feature about Funky Scottish in East Fife Mail? If not, you can still read it online - click here.

About...

Living by the sea, Karen Edward @ Funky Scottish is naturally drawn to coastal themes and has developing her own unmistakable flair for showcasing the unique character of the East Neuk. Her favourite subjects include the houses, animals, boats and seascapes she observes in and around the fishing villages. Karen will also happily paint bespoke ceramics reflecting your own unique character and interests. Choose a gift or crockery collection to celebrate special occasions including birthdays, anniversaries and weddings. If you'd like to order your own exclusive, hand-painted piece, please get in touch!  

A Funky Scottish Decade - The Puffin Collection

  "it's very restful and I usually sit in my studio, 

turn the music up and get on with it!"

- Karen Edward @ Funky Scottish

This year, it's the 10th Anniversary of the launch of the first iconic, East Neuk collection by
Karen Edward @ Funky Scottish!   In celebration, we're producing a special series of blog posts about a decade of her definitive Funky Scottish collections.  You can click here to read our introduction.  As we rewind back through the years to 2004, this week, we discover the inspiration behind the 'Puffin' collection.

At this time of year, puffins are getting ready to leave the Isle of May, a small island in the East Neuk, which has been their home and breeding ground since springtime. The young, known as pufflings, will be 5-7 weeks old when they're strong enough to leave the island, ready for an adventure on the open seas!  They won't return again until they're of breeding age, in around 5 years. Naturally, these beautiful birds attract a lot of interest. During recent months, countless visitors have flocked to the Isle of May to see the puffins in their wild, natural habitat.

Artists are particularly fascinated with the characterful little birds and Karen Edward is no exception.  Discover her up-close depictions of puffins and via Karen's artist's notes, learn how she transforms her paintings into a collection of cards, tiles, mugs and booklets for you to enjoy.

 

"this range is taken from paintings done in acrylic, then scanned into the computer."

"The images can then be used on cards and note books, which are printed for me elsewhere - they make lovely, popular gifts in the shop. The ceramics are a little more complex.  The images of my puffin paintings are tiled up and sent to a company that makes them into sheets of transfers" 

"...I then apply them to blank tiles and fire them in my kiln."

 "it's a different process from the hand-painting but I love doing them".

 "it's very restful and I usually sit in my studio, turn the music up and get on with it!"...

Meet us again next week for this artistic adventure, back in time, through a Funky Scottish decade!  Meanwhile, you can discover previous posts in the series below:-

'Sea Pottery'
'Black & White'

Also, join us this August for the Pittenweem Arts Festival.  Karen Edward will host her 10th Anniversary exhibition in the Funky Scottish gallery.  Find out more about this renowned annual event at pittenweemartsfestival.co.uk.

About...

Living by the sea, Karen Edward @ Funky Scottish is naturally drawn to coastal themes and has developing her own unmistakable flair for showcasing the unique character of the East Neuk. Her favourite subjects include the houses, animals, boats and seascapes she observes in and around the fishing villages. Karen will also happily paint bespoke ceramics reflecting your own unique character and interests. Choose a gift or crockery collection to celebrate special occasions including birthdays, anniversaries and weddings. If you'd like to order your own exclusive, hand-painted piece, please get in touch!  

A Funky Scottish Decade - Black & White Collection...

"anything stripy, spotty and funky appeals to my sense of design"

- Karen Edward @ Funky Scottish

This year, it's the 10th Anniversary of the launch of the first iconic, East Neuk collection by
Karen Edward @ Funky Scottish!   In celebration, we're producing a special series of blog posts about a decade of her definitive Funky Scottish collections.  You can click here to read our introduction.  As we rewind back through the years to 2004, this week, we discover the inspiration behind the 'Black & White' collection.

Inspired by the black and white styles of the 1950s and 1960s, Karen has created a range of striking, hand-painted ceramics.  These include plates and tiles - which make fabulous statement pieces for the home!  Take a closer look at this timeless range, with artist's notes from Karen....

"I've always loved 50's and 60's black & white pottery and have a collection from years ago bought in junk shops, fairs...and e-bay! My own range is influenced by pieces like these.... 

Anything stripey, spotty and funky appeals to my sense of design. This big plate was painted with a puppet from Bali, for a book project...

 I painted a range with a stripey border done with wax resist. A few of them are shown here... 

I love working with line. It's tricky on ceramics. You have to be confident as it's not easy to get rid of once the paint is on!!!

Meet us again next week for this artistic adventure, back in time, through a Funky Scottish decade!  You can discover 'Sea Pottery' -  last week's post in our special series - by clicking here.  Also, join us this August for the Pittenweem Arts Festival.  Karen Edward will host her 10th Anniversary exhibition in the Funky Scottish gallery.  Find out more about this renowned annual event at pittenweemartsfestival.co.uk.

About...

Living by the sea, Karen Edward @ Funky Scottish is naturally drawn to coastal themes and has developing her own unmistakable flair for showcasing the unique character of the East Neuk. Her favourite subjects include the houses, animals, boats and seascapes she observes in and around the fishing villages. Karen will also happily paint bespoke ceramics reflecting your own unique character and interests. Choose a gift or crockery collection to celebrate special occasions including birthdays, anniversaries and weddings. If you'd like to order your own exclusive, hand-painted piece, please get in touch!  

A Funky Scottish Decade - Sea Pottery Collection

"Sometimes an idea just happens when playing around with shapes and colour...."

- Karen Edward @ Funky Scottish

This year, it's the 10th Anniversary of the launch of the first iconic, East Neuk collection by
Karen Edward @ Funky Scottish!   In celebration, we're producing a special series of blog posts about a decade of her definitive Funky Scottish collections.  You can click here to read our introduction.  As we rewind back through the years to 2004, we discover one of the most recent collections in the series, 'Sea Pottery'.  

'Sea Pottery' evolved out of the elements - sculpted by the sand and the sea! Originally, this locally beach-combed sea pottery was arranged by Karen into various shapes on sand. Ultimately though, driftwood and denim were the backgrounds she chose to achieve the final design. The following images - with artist's notes from Karen - outline the progression of the original idea....

"I love collecting bits of sea washed pottery from all the beaches round the East Neuk...."

"I have a big collection of these beautiful fragments of domestic ware and I always wanted to make something from them but was loathe to glue them down. When arranged loosely, you can choose so many variations".

 

 

 

"I started playing with different backgrounds, different shapes and finally settled on the heart as it's a favourite of mine - I use this shape it a lot in my work. I found a lovely whitewashed bit of driftwood, which was a perfect backdrop. I also love the colour of denim so I photographed a pair of my jeans which worked perfectly with the blue and white pottery pieces." 

  
"Sometimes an idea just happens when playing around with shapes and colour...."

"...and finally, the Sea Pottery range was born!"

Since its launch, the Sea Pottery design has been made into a range of mounted prints, mugs, coasters, tiles, notebooks and cards.  It continues to be very popular with visitors to the Funky Scottish boutique!

Meet us again next week for this artistic adventure, back in time, through a Funky Scottish decade!

Also, join us this August for the Pittenweem Arts Festival.  Karen Edward will host her 10th Anniversary exhibition in the Funky Scottish gallery.  Find out more about this renowned annual event at pittenweemartsfestival.co.uk.

About...

Living by the sea, Karen Edward @ Funky Scottish is naturally drawn to coastal themes and has developing her own unmistakable flair for showcasing the unique character of the East Neuk. Her favourite subjects include the houses, animals, boats and seascapes she observes in and around the fishing villages. Karen will also happily paint bespoke ceramics reflecting your own unique character and interests. Choose a gift or crockery collection to celebrate special occasions including birthdays, anniversaries and weddings. If you'd like to order your own exclusive, hand-painted piece, please get in touch!