The Beauty and Challenges of Mola Design!

 Since I started craft painting, I have become enamored with a variety of folk styles. As a break from my graphic design business I started painting birdhouses with traditional Pennsylvania Dutch design, probably as a result of my German heritage. My German father was quite gifted but never in my memories of him did he make or paint things in this style.

The mola that inspired it all!

            Yet, when I bought that first birdhouse those many years ago, that is the style I choose. The irony to me was when we went to Amish country in Pennsylvania I was stunned to see that nothing was in that style anymore. I was the sole "Pennsylvania Dutch" artist.

            Next I became smitten with quilted things. My ex-wife had been doing quilting and looking through her books and viewing a friends antique "crazy-quilt" realized there was something timeless in these designs that could be transferred onto 3D objects, i.e. birdhouses! My first "crazy-quilt" design was a hit as I won a national contest in design and received a bunch of paints and materials from DecoArt for my trouble. Starting an ETSY store a short time later it was one of the first things to sell. I have since created a variety of birdhouses, trays and boxes with these "painted" fabrics including a metal mailbox that proudly hangs somewhere in Germany right now! 

        However, after helping a friend and his partner finish hanging a variety of paintings they had collected over the years including Mola’s. The gift of one of his mola's, shown above, after owning them for years when I was married, made me realize these designs would and could easily be adapted to 3D objects from the 2D objects that they are. Created by the Kuna, now spelled Guna Indians of mostly Panama, these colorful textile items are made in cloth appliqué where design are cut through the top cloth to colorful cloths below creating patterns and amazing designs. One look that night of this gift made me realize this was a style I had to try out. So I did.

          No sooner had I finished it and posted a photo of it  on Facebook that a friend offered to buy it. I discovered, though, that these designs are fiendish in their creation. 

      The old, "traditional" molas had either a black or deep burgundy top cloth layer. That makes sense as it allows the colors that show through appear brighter and more colorful. So, I too decided that my items would start off being black or deep burgundy. I even went to Lowe's with a burgundy mola to get an exact match of the color! 

  However, I soon discovered that many of the bright colors, the reds, oranges, yellows and even some greens and purple were transparent or semi-transparent and needed to be painted twice or even three times to be clearly seen.

   To proceed you had to paint the wood a base color, then sand it as the paint raised the grain of the wood, then  sketch your design in pencil and then, and only then begin to paint in the sketched lines with white or cream colored paint. That ensured the reds, oranges, yellows and other transparent colors would show. Lines of white or cream needed to be painted where transparent colors would be. The other challenge was taking two dimensional designs and putting them on a three dimensional object. 

            The birdhouse at the right below has designs on both sides of the roof, the bottom, the spout as well as the four sides. You try and hope that the design will create a cohesive whole. And trust me there  is no guarantee. The PARROT BIRDHOUSE was first tried as a photo frame to test for the procedure, laying down of colors and design. That was easy. Then to take that design and put it on a wooden watering can birdhouse was probably madness but something I just had to try.

            As you see many of the elements of the frame are now on the birdhouse. The parrot is on the front and back around the hole for birds, the floral motif on the left of the frame is used on the front top, back of bottom of the watering can creating a cohesive design despite the fact it is 3D now. I even used the same colors. Is this successful? I don't know, you judge. However, what this suggests is that there are ideas out there everywhere; we only need to know where to look and when we look analyze how else they might be used. I am going ahead full steam with more mola designs using this motif because I enjoy  the  challenge, am happy that I can use all the colors I love and hope that others will like them too. 

   To me, today has become very boring. All you see is white, grey, black in cars and now even homes and what people wear. The United States has to be one of the worst in the way of color use. It's as if people are afraid of color. Where are the vermillion, the white pink & black cars, brilliant blues and enchanting reds I remember of my childhood? 

    Here are other examples of things I have created using the mola style.A metal roofed birdhouse with three front opening with roosts in its wood base. Again the sides, front and back plus bottom are decorated with mola inspired designs. I used a  paper marché cactus in a mola pot for this cactus pot. The pot is painted with the traditional burgundy and the paper cactus is painted to look like the real thing. No watering required. The finishing touch was adding real sand at the cactus base. A small eagle faced but bird top and both sides 3" x 3" x 3" box decorated on all sides in a mola design. The same technique for  all these items is  required. Whenever a transparent color is to be used you must paint a white base line first, then add the color. And even that is no  guarantee that it will work on the first round of color. Another interesting wrinkle is to add puffy fabric paints. They leave a little texture and are washable when wet with water just like acrylics. To keep all colors fresh and like new for a long time, each item is painted with an outdoor satin Varathane varnish.

            Good luck!

 

Thank you for reading my blog. I invite you to take the time to read earlier blogs where my emphasis is to explore the ways art and design affects our daily lives ... and always has. I share with you what inspires me with the hope that it will inspire you as well. Comments are always welcomed!

 

Be sure to check my ETSY store ... KrugsStudio.etsy.com. I am adding many new and exciting, collectible birdhouses and craft items. Many of the items talked about here will be for sale there!