Summer's Events near the Grove

Finally, summer and all the fun events that go with it! I have to keep my calendar at the ready to book all that's happening to keep my schedule straight.
Next Saturday morning, I'll be at the Selkirk Waterfront Market and then the following week at one of the Medea Gallery's Tents during Canada Day Celebrations in Osborne Village. I'm looking forward to both outdoors events and I am keeping my fingers crossed for good weather.
I have a ton of inventory in various 'in progress' stages, which means anything from conditioned clay to books ready for binding or jewelry needing to be strung or findings added.
Unfortunately, (or maybe fortunately), I am just not that kind of 'start to finish' kind of worker. I find that leaving things in different stages makes for a variety of work that I enjoy. It means that I don't get bored doing 'production' type work, because after a few repeats of something, I need to move on to something else.
Of course, working like that has another side to it. It means having to to 'locate' all the bits and pieces that are needed, and sometimes that can be a neat diversion. Getting sidetracked often leads to incorporating new ideas along the way, or using something in a way that it was not originally intended. I doubt that any serious artist or work-driven individual would recommend that modus operandi...Thankfully, I am able to pick up my pieces and shift from one project to the next, just hoping that I will get everything ready for the events on time. And if not, there are always other days.
Hope everyone is enjoying a great start to the Solstice!

New books and old friends

It has been a very busy week here and the wheels just keep on turning! On Thursday we had a Mamma Mia Party. It was with some high school (and other) friends and was a blast. We even played charades afterwards and I laughed until my stomach and sides were aching. That felt sooooo good!

Also this week, I managed to make a few more books and other items in polymer clay. For the regional guild meeting yesterday, I looked after organizing a charm swap. I now have enough cool charms to fill a bracelet. Such fun! The meeting was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday, with lots of interesting techniques that were shared. After lunch, we clayed and exchanged more clay ideas.

Today it's golfing and tomorrow we are going to a barbeque with some cousins for our annual family get together. It's the CA-AZ-CA thing. (California, Arizona, Canada). No rest for the wicked. The only problem with all these fun events is the food....too much and too good. I think I'll walk the golf course today rather than ride in a cart to burn off a few of those bites. And since I haven't golfed in quite some time, I'll go ape... swinging a little more than usual, lol.

The picture is one of my latest books that's a bit on the smaller side, about 3.5 inches square. I call it "The Last of the Dinosaurs" because the cover inserts remind me a bit of dinosaur tails making their way out of the picture. The triangles on the "tails" are actual cane slices that are also incorporated into the beads on the spines. The creation was a lot of fun to make.

The leaf on the left isn't actually attached to the book; it's part of an experiment I am working on. In our "yard" there are three fruit trees: a navel orange, a grapefruit/orange tree and a lemon/lime tree. This leaf is a copy of one of the lemon-lime leaves. I mixed up a Skinner blend in the colors of the leaves, and then passed a real leaf and the sheet of clay right through the pasta machine. The imprint of the veins was delicious. I am going to include this into some other work in the future; but I don't know quite how just yet. I'm sure an idea will pop up at 3 a.m. one morning.

The laptop now has a companion--a much-needed printer -- thanks to one of the gals in the AZPCGuild. Networking is a thing great isn't it?

Little Red Book

I tried something new on this book and was anxious to see what happened after it was finished. That huge "purply" part was originally a detailed inlay but unfortunately after sanding, it lost most of its features. It looks kind of eerie, like some monstrous sea creature with two squarish eyes.

The inside paper is nice though; it's astroparche in a muted shade of coral so it blends nicely with the covers. I purchased several colors of the astroparche when I was in Grand Rapids, MN about a month ago. After visiting my favorite wool and yarn shop in the old school house there, I spied a paper place just across the quadrangle. It didn't carry all that much in the way of specialty papers, but it did have lots of this type which I have used in my books before. It is archival, and somewhat translucent so it provides a nice surface for any type of pen. Of course, the book is "unwritten"...I shall leave the contents up to whomever gets it.

Where in the World?

It seems like ages since I posted here and the reasons are many. I have been "away" visiting and when I returned, we experienced some serious computer problems.
Not having a computer for a couple of days was almost refreshing, but after a week, we came to realize how much we depend on it. The time not spent on the computer did give me a chance to make this book though.
As for the cover of the book, I realize that some of the countries and their placement isn't all that accurate. I "made" the continents by tearing bits of ivory colored clay and adhering them to the cover. A few of them got a bit stretched or misshaped in the process. If I had spent hours on the laborious aspect of the geography it would never have been finished. Now...just to find the time and resources to take a world trip to fill the journal.

Around a life in 80 Years

This is the weekend of the big family reunion to celebrate my Uncle Ted's eightieth birthday. He is the only remaining sibling of my mother's family still around. His actual birthday was a couple of months ago, but he and his family thought a summer get-together to celebrate would be a little easier on everyone. There are folks coming in from all over North America and for some, it will be the first meeting in a very long time. It promises to be a weekend to remember.



As my gift, I got a whole collection of family photos, spanning nearly a hundred years from when my grandfather and grandmother were young, and photocopied them to bind them into this book, the covers of which you see here. Still I need to make the holes and I have my drill ready at the bit. Then will be the fun of binding the nine or so "chapters" or signatures. The pictures aren't the greatest; I am about the world's worst person to play around with Photoshop, and my uncle, is one of the best. Needless to say I couldn't ask him for help, as the book is his "surprise". His hobby for the last 60 years or so has been photography, so I hope he doesn't agonize over my attempts too much. He was always the one with all the latest photo equipment, and when digital equipment came in, of course he was there right from the start. He has provided the family with many wonderful shots from years ago that he has laboriously printed up on everything from linen to canvas and all the photo papers one could name. Many of his reprints look like the actual paintings of other family members.



Naturally, my book has covers done in polymer clay and since he is basically color-challenged (aren't a lot of males?), I did the photos in black and white. I even did a little transfer of him at age fifteen for the cover of the book, to remind him of the days when he was younger than his grand kids. It is laughingly titled "Celebrating the First Eighty Years". I wonder if anyone knows the words to the song wishing him many more years that was always sung in our family's celebrations???

Books Galore!

Last week I finished this book which I started in March while I was in Arizona. A few members of the AZPCGuild and I worked on some book techniques in polymer clay and this is the result of my efforts. I seem to have a lot of "blue" books in my present repertoire, so this pinky one is a bit of a diversion. I also am getting pretty proficient in the Coptic Binding Stitch, thankfully, and that makes the books open nice and and lay flat. This particular one has five signatures and the interior pages are parchment (archival) so they can be used for journal entries, sketches or keeping favourite photographs.

One thing about the books that I keep forgetting is to make ENOUGH beads for the side details. I try to make them when I am working on the covers, but don't realize that instead of making thirty or so beads, I really need about fifty or more. So this one has a few glass and metal beads included in its fringe.

This particular book is located at Medea Gallery in Osborne Village in Winnipeg, and I have a few others there too. It's a co-operative gallery and the people there are so supportive of my work. There is a real range of art there, and I love going in to browse. Lots of exciting artwork!

Presently I am working on some books using faux ivory with transfers on the front cover. I hope to be finished one or two this weekend, so may have an opportunity to post then.