I am a Part of all that I have met

I remember that line from a poem that I had to study so long ago...I was thinking about it when I was making this composition.  Sometimes inspiration comes in little wee bits and not as an entire concept.  That is the story behind this little book. 

It's about 3" by 3", so rather small as far as journals go, but I have found that the larger ones are a bit cumbersome to make. I am afraid the clay might not withstand the larger flat size without some sort of wire interior, so I tend to make the books smaller these days.  Lately, most of my books do not exceed 5 inches in any one dimension.   I realize that is not ideal for their intended eventual use, but sometimes we have to deal with the 'dictates of the medium'.  (Or that is what my friend who believes in crystal ball reading tells me, lol)

This book may appear rather bland, but it does have a lot of 'background' to it.  The central focal part is an impression made from a block I carved with a v-gouge.  My v-gouge is not the normal type, but rather an ancient nib pen holder that I salvaged from my calligraphy supplies.  It feels so comfortable in my hand because I have used it for so many years. (It takes direction better than the holder they sell!!) The crevices in the carving contain a bit of powdered gold material.....not the usual Pearl Ex or even Fimo Pulver...this powder has a history that goes back farther than that.  When my Dad was alive, he did a lot of painting and when I had to clear out all the items from my parents' house several years ago, I found three vials of gold pulver he must have used in mixing his paints.  Of course I knew exactly what to do with that material.  Those three vials will probably last my lifetime and beyond.  I don't think I've used more than a few drachms (do they still use that measuring unit???) in my clay work.  A little certainly does go a long way. I am wondering if it is actually gold pulver or mica.  Ah well, I am not going to have it assayed, lol.  On the inner linings of the book, I used a neat texture from what I figure is a type of sanding tool.  It is made of metal (rusted because it's so old) and it produces little irregularly-shaped holes when it is impressed in the clay.  Hard to imagine, but a truly lovely earthy texture!  I picked that tool up at a Patio Sale for 25 cents...It has proven to be one of my most treasured texture-making materials.  The back cover, (not visible here, lol) is of a setting Arizona sun...the sunsets there are so beautiful.  And the patience it took to make the book?  Well, thankfully I inherited that from my Mother, who was extremely gifted in making so many things. 

I suppose all my creations could use the same title; they're all a little snippet of this, a fragment of that, a smidge of something else and thankfully, it all comes out in the end, even with no preconceived idea of the direction I am headed in.  Sometimes ya just gotta go with your intuition!!!

I just went and reread the poem Ulysses, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who originally penned it.                      

You can judge a book by its cover

Having travelled some 2000 miles and finally getting settled after a winter hiatus, I located this book that I recently finished among my 'things to save' box. 

This book is one of my faves, with its rich metallic shades which look woven together.  The scan is a bit darker than the actual, but I think the textures are pretty visible.  This one is filled with watercolor paper and the beads on the side are primarily polymer in a lot of different configurations.

I made a lino-cut carving in a piece of baked clay for the insert.  Then I impressed some black clay into it to get the impression and highlighted it with some bronze Pearl-Ex.  I used a sealer on the entire book so as to preserve the metallic, the bronzing, and the little brass pieces I included.  I don't really know what they are, some sort of snaps I think.  They're a very versatile inclusion as I can use either side or fill the center hole with clay.  I also use them as spacers to create a mixed media style. 

I tried to vary the checkerboard and didn't make it so regular, using three colors on a background of darker clay.  The back actually shows the checked effect more clearly. Perhaps it shows up a little better in this scan, or maybe not since it's a little darker. 

I will never do well in optics, scans, picture programs and camera adjustments.   I will leave those things to the photographic wizards out there. 

Searching for a beginning

I have made similar necklaces to this, but not for a while, and fortunately I remembered that I needed to start in the MIDDLE as I progressed with the stringing of this piece.  It's in very springy, almost Easter egg colors.  It's the kind that just slips over your head and no fiddling with clasps or anything.  The good thing about that is that you don't have to worry about fidgeting, but the drawback is that it is not adjustable.

In making this I also did something I don't normally do...I left enough rings to make them into earrings and will have my hand at that later on today.

The finished necklace is about 75 cm in length, making it about 30 inches.  It does match most of my monocolor summery wardrobe because it has all those colors in it.

I realize it should have been shown with the focal piece at the bottom, but I wanted the entire piece to show so I left it this way.

Hoping for a pretty spring...with NO FLOOD!

Rockin' in the light

I have to admit that I am growing fond of all the rockery around here.  In making these covers, I've decided to use some of them in the family room and perhaps in the laundry room...to reminisce about the way the folks used to do laundry by the rivers by beating the clothes against the rocks.  If the flood they're predicting for the Red River Valley actually does occur (pray for a slooooow melt), we may have to resort to all sorts of means to be doing things we normally take for granted. 

Meanwhile, I don't mean to make 'light' of the subject, but there's not much an individual can do except move things to higher ground and clear out the basement. In our case, that may mean unloading a bunch of stuff that's been piling up (literally) and getting it to a place where it may be better stored or used.  Hopefully the provincial, civic and federal authorities in charge will be able to avert the flood.

I will be making more of these...they have a soft sheen and the texture is pretty deep. 

New Reflections

I have always loved participating in swaps because they are a help in the learning curve.  No, these Reflections Pendants are not new, but they helped me to 'refine'  the technique to something that was akin to production, which I do not like to do.  The swap required a minimum of eighteen pendants and so I did make the required number and had a bit more of the material prepared, so I made extra ones which I am going to give as gifts to friends. 

The colors in these are quite subdued, not the normal showy stuff that I do in the fish mobiles.  Also, I did not sand the finished pendants, leaving the option to the members of the guild to decide whether they wanted them shiny or not. I just buffed them a little on the surface, rather than the usual sanding with progressive grits of sandpaper and buffing to a high gloss.  I like the subtle sheen  and it is enough to make the 'reflection' part of the pendant noticeable.  Some of the burl effect even looks like a goddess in some of the pendants. 

As usual, I was under the 'gun' to get them done, as my days are very busy with visiting and participating in a couple of activities here under the sun.  Having made these many times before, I was able to streamline the activity which is one of the advantages of participating in a swap.  For the last ones I made as keepers, I completed those after last Saturday's meeting and do have to admit that I added a little more embellishment. In some,  I hammered out some wire and placed it in the underlayer of burnished black.  In others, I rolled the 'bail' part around a tube of metal to make it a little more mixed media.  Of course no two are exactly alike, which I love.

The past few days have been cool and there was a lot of rain over the weekend. However yesterday was sunnier (but cool) and I finally tried using the UV curing magic glos that I have had for over a year.  It's funny, sometimes I get stuff and have to use it right away.  This product was one that I was saving on the back burner.  I used the glos on a book cover and although the book is not completely done, I think I am going to continue using the medium.  It is VERY shiny!

I guess it's a toss up as to whether my personal preferences are for shiny, matte, or high gloss.

My dog Mollypup

Our little Molly has been mollygagging lately.  She love, love, loves to sleep in strange positions and her being the Princess Malllahkowalla that she is, we allow her to do just about anything she wants.  Besides doing a grasse matinée chaque matin, she loves to droop her head over the lazy boy.  There's a misnomer...They should have called the easy chairs LazyGirls.

We averted a near crisis last week with the help of our vet and his assistants back home, Centennial Animal Hospital.  It turns out that the insulin that Molly takes is NOT available here, or anywhere in the U.S. so to avoid Molly having to get re-regulated on a different strain and dosage, we had to have the type she is taking sent special delivery so she wouldn't run out.  It originally took over three months to get the correct dosage of insulin regulated (and how many trips to the vet) and we did not want to go that route again.  We had tried contacting several people who we know were coming down here, but none of them would have been here before her supply ran out. 

Originally our vet believed that the same type of insulin was available here, but it seems there was some problem with the porcine insulin coming out of suspension  in a rather short period (less than six months) so it has been taken off the production line here. All is well now, and the little girl is as normal as can be expected.  She is blind due to cataracts, but at least her drinking and evacuating is under control, leading us to believe that the insulin levels are correct.  It's not like we can do a little strip test everyday...

Our girl, who is eleven plus, still greets guests at the door and can do all her 'tricks' but she does bump into a few things from time to time.  She has learned to adapt pretty well though...she uses her nose as a 'white cane' and tests the base of the chair or sofa with her nose before jumping up on her favourite perch.  Outside, I keep her on a pretty tight rein because there are lots of 'big rocks' that could get into her path and I don't want her to hurt herself.  It's funny, as she can sense when people are walking by, and once in a while I think she 'sees'.  A bird flew by the other day and she seemed to follow it... but as for 'looking' at things, it's pretty bad.

I think we are pretty fortunate to still have her, as she is as lovable as ever.  I think I'll buy her a special valentine this year...

Super Bowl Sunday - The Cheeseheads

Well, I know this is not polymer clay, but if I had to make some funny cheeseheads from clay maybe this is what they would have looked like.  Actually, these are funny looking hors-d'oeuvres I am serving today during the Big Game...I am not biased, but just because we have folks who live in Wisconsin, I thought I'd better do up a dish in their favor.  I am going to serve Sloppy Joes at half time and calling them Pitts Burgers (no they haven't been warmed under the arm, lol) so that will make both teams even.

These little cheeseheads were simple to make and I used the leftover cuttings as wel,l just as I use all my leftovers from polymer clay.  None of them go to waste...these will go to waist.  The base for the heads were cut from lavosh bread I bought at Trader Joe's yesterday.  I cut the pointed head shapes from two  large rectangles of lavosh and saved the trimmings.  I heated those trimmings up to make little crackers. 

To cut the cheese rounds, I used the rinsed out can from the olives to make perfect circles out of cheese slices.  I used it as a cutter just like I use circular cutters for my polymer clay.  After slicing up a few black olive for the eyes, a couple of shrimp for noses and some pieces of a red pepper for the mouths, I was done.  I was laughing all the time I was making the little faces and I imagine it would be a cute project for moms to do with their kids for parties.  They do look a little on the gruesome side, but they're still  fun.    I already put them in at 400 degrees (baking not broiling) just to secure the cheese to the bread, and later on they'll just be reheated so I don't have to miss any of the game.

Go Packers Go!