Bread and Circuses

Just when I needed them most..

2008-08-07T19:26:25+01:00

.. my glasses broke on Monday morning when I was getting ready to go to my last week of summer school at Edinburgh College of Art. It wasn't just a simple leg breaking off - it was attached to a piece of lens. Thank goodness I have prescription sunglasses BUT I've had to wear them whilst the weather is grey and rainy so I look like a first class 'poser'. They'll be ready tomorrow.

The course is 'Intro to Artists' Books' and it's wonderful. I've made a variety of books and will post pictures on Saturday.

2008-08-02T15:59:00+01:00

I must say that if I'd known that we'd be working with such minute pieces of wire, I mean you could probably fit 2 of them on a pin head!, I probably wouldn't have signed up. I don't have the eyesight and nimble fingers I once had, but I did learn a lot. The first couple of days were frustrating for me and I really wasted them trying to do the impossible. But all of a sudden I was off like a greyhound and enjoying it so much.

Here are the pieces I finished in time for the College exhibition yesterday. This is a found object, probably an inkwell top - I made the chain.

The second piece is something I picked up knowing that I'd use it when inspiration allowed - I wrapped it with pearls.

Assemblage in metals I've been wanting to make for ages - so here was the ideal opportunity. It's a mixture of tin, brass, and embellishments.

And the last piece hasn't come out very well in the picture. It's sheet copper which was punched with a brass frame - this required pickling and darkening to show the design, and various steps to finalize - patience is a virtue!!

All of these are wearable - can't wait LOL.

Great Course

2008-07-29T21:40:07+01:00

I'm enjoying the metal and wire jewellery course this week. And would you believe there are 3 Japanese women on this course, when I asked if they were related, they tittered!!!

I was holding a piece of copper plate and I missed it with the hammer and got my finger instead - a lovely shade of purple and it's sore too. It's interesting to see what everyone's making - there's even a tiara. I have a few things started, hope to have them finished by Friday and then I can post photos.

New Group on Yahoo

2008-07-26T20:18:04+01:00

Gillian Allen, owner of the wonderful Art-e-Zine website, has started a Yahoo group dedicated to sellers as a place to advertise their work, and I'm very pleased that she asked me to be moderator. If you'd like to join go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ArtComms/ - hope to see you soon!

A Course Next Week

2008-07-25T19:26:35+01:00

I'm starting a course on Metal and Wire Jewellery next week. For those who have no previous metalworking skills (that's me) a demo will show how wire can be manipulated and how by using basic jewellers' tools, structures can easily be created. I'm very much looking forward to it. Hope I make some things good enough to post pictures.

Last of my samples

2008-07-22T09:34:50+01:00

I think that the samples I made at the Stitched Textiles course will lead me down some interesting paths. This first piece is the usual mixture of stamping and Markal paintsticks. I thought I'd rip it into 2 but when I saw that the colours blue and yellow made a nice shade of green and linked it all together. I machined some of it but it's not easy to see in the picture. And finally I made some rosettes with velvet and a sheer fabric, and sewed on some beautiful wool that I found in a charity shop (measures 12x12").

The next two were little pieces I made with limited time on the last day.

And the "piece de risistance" is an image transfer which was quick and perfect (the first timen I've had such success)

A few more samples in textiles

2008-07-21T14:05:16+01:00

This is a piece of cotton backed frosted material, I drew the design of roses using disperse dye and then some FME and French knots (measures 5x8.5").

This next sample is a design rubbed on with Markal paintsticks over a plastic grid then using Bondaweb I adhered a piece of sheer fabric and then silk tops. I finished it off by hand stitching a number of straight lines following the grid (measures 12x10").

I think the next piece is my favourite. Cotton printed with an Indian block and then various sheers wer stitched over it. Some of the design was stitched with FME and vintage laces were applied (measures 11x8").

Course Work in Stitched Textiles

2008-07-20T15:30:39+01:00

I've finally got my pictures ready and will post them a few every day giving a little information on how I made them. I have so many supplies to put away that I'm wondering where it all came from to begin with LOL.

I transferred to cotton using a string pattern on a home made block then I added some chunky wool and handstitched black fabric stems (measures 10x11").

I dyed cheesecloth with some leftover dye and soaked it whilst still folded. Then I laid over some sheer fabric and stitched over the pattern adding knitting yarn, bits from a vintage cloth, and some 'blingy' shreds in silver (measures 13x10").

This piece is rubbed Markal paint stick over a plastic grid, then stitched zigzag over string and hand embroidery. I sewed some French knots here and there but I got just as good results making dots with a fabric crayon. (Measures 14x7").

That's it for today, will post some more tomorrow.

Doing a course ...

2008-07-15T19:21:09+01:00

... full-time all week on Stitched Textiles at the college of art and only 10 in the class. I'm learning new techniques and it's such fun to do something totally new and some of them are 'out of the box'. I have lots of samples but can't post pictures till the end of this week when I'll bring them home. I've finally cracked image transfers onto fabric - and I swear I've used the same technique before and they were useless, but now BINGO.

Gustav Klimt

2008-07-13T15:15:02+01:00

This year the European City of Culture is Liverpool, and as part of their celebrations they have an exhibition of Klimt's work. So I went down for a couple of days with my friend Annie and we had a wonderful time. I'd seen the more important of Klimt's paintings years ago in Vienna and I was moved to tears by the sheer beauty and brilliance of it. This time was great too and there were different pieces on show including his sketches and it was interesting to see how he went about the painting - a few of his unfinished paintings were on show and although they were sketched roughly, he seemed to work indepth on the faces first.

I needed a couple of days to recover though, not used to all that walking LOL.

Changes

2008-07-03T10:19:54+01:00

I've not had time to post much lately - my mother who is 93 has been living with me for the past 18 months and is now feeling a bit fragile. She asked me to look for a residential care home as she realizes that perhaps the time has come to give up her independence. So we've found a lovely home not very far from where I live and the staff are wonderful, nice atmosphere, and the menus look great with lots of choices. I can see my mother getting the cook to learn Italian cuisine and get the garlic in. And as long as she has her red wine, she'll be fine LOL.

Not sure exactly when it'll all be in place because there's so much to see to, but quite soon I think.

Swap Box

2008-06-26T22:21:27+01:00

I altered a little box for a swap and I had to put a little gift in it. Well, so many ideas running around in my head and some false starts. I was going to make a brooch out of some sea china but that would have meant drilling a hole in it, and I wasn't in the mood to use the dremel. Then I got my polymer clay pieces out but they were all too big. So in the end I made a brooch with the embellisher.

Lovely Brooches

2008-06-24T15:52:29+01:00

The postman brought me a lovely surprise - my brooches swaps arrived today and they are stunning. It'll be hard to choose to wear just one!! From left to right are: Nancy Hunt-Bartek, Lilla Le Vine, Erica Faith, no name, Amber Dawn - thank you ladies!

I've opened a new ...

2008-06-23T08:13:47+01:00

... Etsy shop - Shabby Chic Shreds and have started my listings off with a few cuffs. I made some from lovely soft leathers, and some silk ones. This is just the beginning as I have more ideas to turn into the real deal LOL. If you'd like to see they're here http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5977599.

The film I saw yesterday as part of the International Film Festival was about the elderly musicians and singers in Argentina and the most seductive tango dancers - I used to go to tango classes and really loved it and now I'm going to dig out the CDs and swan about the house!!

What's on today...

2008-06-22T07:46:28+01:00

I'm going to the film festival screening of 3 Women, a warm ensemble of contemporary Iran. I'll let you know how it went.

I've been a bit quiet because I've been working on something new for me. I've opened a new shop on Etsy but as I haven't yet listed anything, I won't post the name.

I've also been seeing friends for lunch and quite honestly after a glass of wine I'm in merryland and everything just fades into 'magnana'.

Been feeling ..,.

2008-06-12T16:01:38+01:00

a bit jaded the last few days. The street market on Saturday worked well and it was such a glorious day too. We all sold a variety of things and it was a great success. But I have to say that it really exhausted me and it's taken till today to be back to normal. And so to top it off, I tripped and fell on the pavement today so now have a swollen and painful knee. The shoes went straight into the bin when I got home and now that I remember, they caused me to fall once before (peep toes) arrgh!!

I've got a few WIPs but nothing finished yet. I've been embellishing but instead of random pieces, I made some landscapes for the first time and now have to finish them off with a bit of hand embroidery.

My new rubber stamps arrived today from Alternative Arts (Teesha Moore) and they are beautiful, sometimes the zettiology range can be very strange but this new range is wonderful.

Experimenting with fibres

2008-06-02T15:40:25+01:00

I decided to make something I'd never done before so here is my landscape in fabric, fibres, and silk carrier rods. Because I used soya bean fibre at the top, when I ironed it to make it stick, it didn't. So I put some 'super mend' powder on and ironed again and it worked. Then added some knobbly and some thick silky threads and 'c'est fini'. I enjoyed this process!

More ATCs to swap

2008-05-29T14:53:28+01:00

Just the last few ready for the swap. Even when I use heavy watercolour paper, they buckle slightly and I need to weight them under a heavy book. I've also made some with mount (matte) board and they are perfect.

Whew!

2008-05-29T11:52:13+01:00

I've got the art quilts finished so am ahead of the game because the street market is not till 7 June. I had to hand sew them onto the backing because the sewing machine was being a bully and pushing too hard over the quilting. If it rains we'll be in the church hall on the corner, so that's good.

Everything you need to know is already in your head. You just have to find it. Garth Walker

New Fabric Pieces

2008-05-24T08:35:08+01:00

I've been making some fabric wallhangings for a street market in a couple of weeks, and working on a bigger format is actually easier and faster than the fiddly quilts I made before. I'm using chopsticks to form the hanger.

My work space is sooo messy - it looks as though there's been a whirlwind in there. But you know what they say - if you want something done go to a busy person!

It's like first day at kindergarten - Typepad has changed everything!!

"Paint a little less of the facts and a little more of the spirit."

(Harvey Dunn)