New Word Invention (I think)

Okay...you almost the first to be aware of the new 'phrase/word' I think I've coined.  Mr. Webster, are you listening?

I coined the word for to use with friends, family members or confidantes with whom you can enjoy a little food, frivolity, fuming and whatever else is on your mind.

It is   "GALA-VENTING"  So the gala part is that you can go to a place with a gal pal, that need not be fancy (but it could, depending on your budget) and the venting part comes in...well I don't need to explain that too, do I?

My mom, who would be slightly over 101 now, always used to accuse us of going 'galavanting' and I was never sure of its precise definition.  So I changed it a little, and made up my own definition. 

I  think it should belong to the genre of words that is peculiar to family members...we had lots of them that no one else understood.  I didn't realize how colorful some of them were until I used them with those who didn't really know me ... and the words were completely foreign to them as well as others. 

New items and New fishing season

The apple tree blossoms are just about to burst on the tree outside the kitchen window.  The pinks will last for only a week, but for that one week they'll be a glorious profusion of color.  We probably won't be able to see the birds or other animals that visit that tree (for treats) but it will still be a wonderful sight.

On the creative front, just bursting out of the oven are some of my latest compositions.  You didn't think I was awol and not doing something.  I have been very occupied getting some new gallery things ready and in between clay sessions, staying in touch with my buds and doing a fair bit of substituting.

I've managed to do a couple of new fish, using a painterly technique along with the usual caned slices for embellishment.  I apologize for the way they are appearing here...I'd really like to have them side by side so you can see the obverse sides, but I think you can probably figure out which one goes with which, lol.   

One of the difficulties I encounter when doing the 'big fin' type fish is dealing with the wire that is inside the fish.  It serves a double purpose:  for hanging the fish when it is complete, and also as an armature to lend support to the body of the clay.  It is pretty thick wire, and even if I use my customary triple layer of fish insides (I call them 'geckles'), the outline of the wire still seems to make its way to the outer part of the fish.  That of course calls for creative placement of cane slices, some ingenious imprinting and texturing, which comes out in the end as  decorations.  These fish are about 10 inches from lips to the tail fin and the girth of each one demands that they be classified (at least in fishing terms) as keepers.  I used the same canes for the lips and eyes in each of the views, although I did reduce one part of the eye cane so it wasn't so large. 

Caning is not something I have a lot of patience for.  Never again will I make a six foot cane like I did in one class several years ago.  I still have a yard of that one left and quite frankly, I am tired of it and haven't found it all that useful in my designs.  I do like to make small canes, in colors that complement the overal hue of the fish or whatever figure I am using them on.  So, my canes tend to be rather small, usually no more than six inches in length and sometimes smaller depending on how much color I blend up to start. 

Speaking of color blends, I don't have a motor for my pasta machine, and conditioning pounds of clay into Skinner and other blends is too hard on my cranking arm.  For a while in Arizona, hubby lent his right arm to help out with the grunt work of cranking, but ever since he tore a ligament in that arm three weeks ago, he hasn't been able to crank...or do much else with it.  He can't even lift dear Miss Molly, (our bichon frise) up to administer her daily doses of insulin, upon which she depends.  Boy am I rambling!!!

To get on to the other creations I have been working on, they are somewhat repeats of previous works. 

Ms. Malone, "She was a Fish Monger", is a coccoon type figure who has plenty o' detail.  Although she is only about eight inches tall, all her accoutrements make her plenty big.  Her wire arms surround her woven "basket" of fish which is composed of a polymer clay base, some wire for the 'weft' and simple polymer clay and glass  beads strung on to light weight wire that are woven in and out around the basket's perimeter.  Inside the basket are several loose fish, similar to the ones that are hanging from the side of the basket.  In keeping with the fish theme, I used part of a fishing leader (from hubby's tackle box) to attach the hanging fish to the side of the basket.  (Heck, he can't use his casting arm anyway, so some of the stuff in that case needs to be used somehow!) The "sign" on her basket is an image transfer of a sketch I did a few years ago of some fish types.  Ya just never know when all the stuff you have comes together and is incorporated into a total composition.  The detail of the basket is shown in the bottom picture.  Once again, I'd like to manipulate it so that it is nearer to the actual figure, but I haven't time to play with pictures on the computer. 

To Ms. Malone's right, is Mr. Sixtapus, taking a Tai Chi Class.

His upward look begs the question..."what am I supposed to be doing with all these legs?  I've got the arm movements pretty well figured out, but, OMG, I don't know how to position my weight in the most "chi" way so that I am balanced!!!"

      (Detail of basket o' fish)

No...Excuses

Having not written for nearly two months, I feel a little guilty, but honestly, the time for blogging has been non-existent.  Now there may have been a few times that I could have sat down and written something, but I didn't want to rant about the usual humdrum and boring elements of life here in the great white north.  Yah, the snow is gone, but it's still rather cool and rainy, and no one wants to read about that.

I have been doing quite a bit of teaching the past while, and I have enjoyed that.  I haven't let my polymer clay be idle, but mostly it's been work of a repetitious nature, and nothing novel.  I was invited to show at a new gallery, and that will be later on this month.  For it I am going to be working on three figures (doll-type-things) and three fish.  I did a couple of sketches for the facial features and am going to try to incorporate them in some way.

I'll drink to that

So I haven't posted for a while...many reasons.  Mostly because I have had some pretty severe back spasms and it was hard for me to move.  Finally the pain has subsided a lot and I am pretty well back to normal.  Still taking it a bit easy but at least I can walk, stand, sit, lie down...sounds 'like doggie commands' lol.  Even Molly knew I was suffering...she was extra patient when it came to putting on her lead and stepping down the one step to go outside.  Imagine if I was in a multi story house!!

I have been trying to keep up with a bit of claying but to no avail.  I made four  buttons yesterday and couldn't even sand and buff them.  That is NOT production.  I think they are still in the oven.

Last week however, I finished some glasses for a gal who got one last year.  We made a little video and I tried to upload it here, but it was WAY too huge.  So you'll just have to settle for a glimpse of a couple of the glasses.

This one features a multicolor flower that I made from the cane decoration that is at the top of the polymer.  I do the extruded cane, then cut about five slices and make it into a little 'quilt'.  Then I cut the petals out of the decorated sheet and adhere them to the unbaked polymer on the side of the glass.  In this case (you can't see it) the greenery extends to a leaf which is somewhat sculpted on the other side of the glass. There are many colors in the covering of the glass and I hope she likes the combination, even though it looks a little 'strange' in this picture.

Maria also wanted a glass that was entirely pink. As you can see in the photo below, I made a small flower cane slightly reminiscent of the cane I learned from Donna Kato many years ago (I didn't do the entire thing) and embedded a few petals in a sheet of pink background clay.  Of course the petals grew quite large as I rolled them in, but hopefully they're still delicate enough.  I could never reduce my canes small enough without distorting them.  My fingers are big and when it gets into a tight squeeze, I just can't do it. But they are a  pretty pink color!!!

Hmmm...I wonder what kind of blush or rosé one would serve in these?

 

 

Baggin' It

In between creating buttons in the clayroom, on the off-chance that it's too cold in there, I usually work on something inside the house.  I haven't done ANY knitting this year, but just finished another bag.  I normally don't do yellow for myself, but the button on this bag (and the beads) are just delicious.  In this woven one, I also added a little rivulet of felting, with a few felted beads on one side.  The other side has the meandering rivulet in felting, but no stops along the way.  I hope it's not too busy...like I am! 

Cane inspiration

I finally completed reducing and packing all my canes for tomorrow's swap.  I would like to post them all here, but am only going to put one picture here. They are not all the same, but I am including ones similar to this in everyone's package, as well as some 'other' canes to make up the three inches of cane that will be going to each person.  I baked a few slices...guess I wasn't all that attentive to how I sliced them and put them in to bake...lol.  Some are a little darker on one side.  Danged toaster overn.

It is a rather simple looking cane, and probably won't be as terrific as the ones I will be receiving, but it could look good if used in the right configuration. 

I wonder if anyone in the greater Phoenix area knows what inspired this cane?  I realize it doesn't look a lot like the actual source due to the shifting that took place in my reducing, but the inspiration is  architectural and it never fails to intrigue me when I see it.

I would love to be able to make it like it really is supposed to look like, but those who know me realize that I haven't the patience to get all the elements in exactly.  As well, I tend to make rather small canes (in comparison to some people) as I don't have use for lots and lots for production purposes.
 

Two Hearts; Two Textures

I know I posted earlier about the swap and speediness of the delivery of the items.  Today I received my heart and texture from Kelly. The green grouping is the gorgeous set I got from Kelly and the ivory coffret is part of what I sent.  Is it kind of coincidental that we both did zentangle type of textures, although I think Kelly did her textures before she baked the sheets, whereas I carved mine after the sheet was baked.  I am going to enjoy wearing the heart she sent me as I do have a lot of clothing that is in the aqua and turquoise color palette.  I love the bail she made.  It is soooo cool.  It is kind of like an infinity symbol and embeds in the pendant and then two loops emerge out of the center of the heart..  I have never tried that method  before but it looks like something that I could try out with the sets of jewellery pliers and tools I got as a Christmas gift.

The hearts are similar too, in that they are both textured and have some curly/swirly features.  The one I made is double sided and it opens.  You can't tell from this overhead view, but I tried it several times just to make sure it would close properly.

This was the heart coffret I sent to Kelly.

 

How lucky I was to be in this swap.  The co-ordinators once again are to be congratulated for administering the group and doing all the behind the scenes organizing.  Having been a swap mistress more than once, I know it 'seems' a lot easier than it is, even if it is all done electronically. 

 

 

So Kudos to Tina and Vanessa, and all you others who made this swap so much fun.  Thanks!