By Shannon (Pink Banana Sparkles)
We all know glitter. We know its reputation, it’s not a secret. It’s fun and exciting for children, and something messy and stressful for adults. Once it's around, it's *always* around. And it seems to become the bane of existence for many parents out there whose kids still have a penchant for those sneaky little sparkles.
I, however, have always had a love for all things sparkly, colourful, and whimsical. Glitter was an extra for me, always, but wasn't a part of my everyday for a very long time. It was something I tried to incorporate into my life, but not into my art. Colour theory in university art classes covered different mediums - paints, pencils, pastels - but glitter wasn't a part of it.
When I started Pink Banana Sparkles, my glitter collection rapidly began to double, triple, quadruple in size - seemingly every time I blinked. It wasn't long before I found myself studying the specifics of every single glitter that made it into my collection. I quickly became comfortable with the textures, the sizes, the mixing capacities and what effect each of these would have on a final product.
Every single ornament I make has a custom mixture of glitter lining the inside. I've been able to create mixes for a variety of realistic pets, and wide ranges of human skin tones in addition to backgrounds for cartoons, characters or erotic paintings.
A standard pale skin tone consists of approximately 6 or 7 different colours of glitter in different ratios. I use two different shades of pink, neon orange (sometimes 2), yellow, gold, brown, and white. I’ve learned colour mixtures that have become second nature, and I’ve done (and will continue to do) a lot of experiments. How colours look in the jar may translate differently when added to an ornament, or when used as a painting background or a narwhal horn.
I love that I’m using the same principles and knowledge of colour theory that I learned in art class all those years ago, but with the whimsy of glitter. That art degree is finally coming in handy! (12 years later, but never too late!) I’ve even been able to create realistic pet fur using glitter mixtures.
Working with glitter as my main medium is truly just delightful. I refuse to give up the childlike excitement, and because of that, I’m able to bring that sense of whimsy and wonder into the homes of so many other people. And knowing that I’ve been able to contribute to something like that is my favourite reason to keep creating these pieces.
I just love glitter so much, and being able to use it to produce these one of kind art pieces is so fulfilling. And it's probably partially responsible for the mass amounts of support I get from my excitable toddler (who is my number one fan!) And anything that causes that much excitement - to anyone - can't possibly be a bad thing!
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