A Singaporean artist who enjoys a large social media following practices her craft in a somewhat unconventional medium. Chan Clayrene, who posts photos of her lush creations on Instagram, incorporates nail polish into all of her work.
This artist doesn’t believe that nail polish is only for the hands. She uses different colors and styles on her drawings, also using the brush that comes with a bottle of nail polish as a tool to decorate her art. Clayrene is most inspired by fashion, mimicking looks usually only seen strutting down a runway. Some of her most popular works emulate haute couture looks from fashion houses around the world. Others are dresses created from her own imagination and inspired by pop culture.
Lauded on Instagram as a creative genius, Clayrene says it can take anywhere from a handful of minutes for a quick sketch to nearly an hour for one of her more intricately detailed paintings. The pieces she posts on Instagram show the painting itself as well as the materials used to create it positioned around the work. Clayrene uses everything from colored pencils to watercolor to nail polish — including glittering and vivid hues. She said her dream project is to design a wedding dress, as her style is more princess at heart. In some of the frillier numbers, Clayrene even uses real flower blossoms to add texture and dimension to her pieces.
In one creation, the model turns her back to the viewer, hair upswept, the deep “V” of the dress exploding into a full skirt. Clayrene has used abstract shapes and color washes to add to the fullness and texture of the dress, and has embellished it with smears of glitter nail polish.
Another dress design, again presented from the back, recalls glitter and tulle and a shimmering pattern. The artist has combined globs of different colors of nail polish — no less than two of them, combined with acrylic or oil paint — to create a delicious texture that surely shimmers as the imaginary model walks the runway.
Clayrene is truly very artful in her creations. One dress explodes into a long, glittery train of bigger than life flower blossoms, moving the viewer to wonder how any model might walk in it. Another celebrates the recent phenomenon of the mobile game Pokemon Go, decorating a sweeping ballgown in the faces of popular characters of the game.
If you’re inspired by fashion, think about signing up for an art class via SGArtClass.com. This website hosts a long listing of different art classes you can take, from fashion drawing to nail art and much more. Incorporate your love for all things beautiful and frilly into a focused art class with a teacher who will encourage you to design to your heart’s content. Using a medium of your choice or recommended by the instructor, you will be able to make your own fashion creations in no time.
To read more about the artist’s methods, go to http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3772916/Singapore-Instagram-artist-creates-fashion-works-art-nail-varnish.html.