INSPIRATIONS FROM THE OLD SILK ROAD

Last summer my family was game for adventure, so we packed our bags and  went on a historical journey tracing part of the routes of The Old Silk Road in China to recall its splendor and to appreciate its present charm.

Just to give a short brief to those who have not heard of The Old Silk Road, it is the world's earliest land communication line for trade.  Merchants brought spices etc in exchange for silk from China  It started from central China at the present city called Xi'an (old name was Chang An) then it goes westwards to Xinjiang, crossed Pamir via Kirghistan, Tajikistan,Uzbekistan, Afghanistan,Iran, Iraq, Syria and reach the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

The many historical sites, cultural relics, colourful folklore along The Old Silk Road,  has attracted thousands of tourists from around the world.

I am inspired from this trip and it led me on  to create 2 mixed media pieces using metal which is the present media I am learning and liking it a lot.  Here it is.....

 This is a combo art piece comprising of textured paste + metal....    The grid design on the metal aluminum sheet represents the many ancient walls of China mainly the "Great Wall".
The other half which has been filled with textured paste has been inked with a distressed look and together with the stamped image of a clock, both indicate the 'olden days of China'.
The smaller Buddha embellishment is handmade from polymer clay and dabbed with some gold paint while the rest of the embellishment are some of my metal creations.

My creation of the fabulous ' Terra Cota Warriors' inspired after visiting the World Heritage Site in Xi'an China.
It is a mixed of textured paste and metal warriors +tags. What I liked about this art work is the textured paste called terra which under high heat bubbled and formed a very rough texture.  With added Lumiere paint and touches of the precious metal colours in hues of copper and turquoise, a very earthy background is created.
The warriors and tags are handmade from metal aluminum and painted with some colours.