Fused Glass Dec 2013

Young orang and young green elephant

 Here are the two latest watercolour pencil drawings I've been working on.

Pottery pendants Dec 2013

 My favourite piece of jewelry these days is my wee cream and white elephant. I have received many, many compliments on it. As a result I decided to make more elephants, and some hearts as well. This shot is of the glazed pieces. The larger hearts I glazed both sides of then suspended for the cone 6 firing, which worked well, with no smudging.

Giraffe and Hummingbird

 This baby giraffe was too cute not to draw and colour. And the hummingbird is a pic that I drew for Piper on her b'day this year. I asked her what her favourite animal was, and apparently it is a hummingbird.

Lucia and elephants

 These are two projects that I have been working on a while. The elephant I inked months ago, but never got aroudn to colouring. The St Lucia trifecta is in preparation for 13 December this year, when we will be doign more of  St Lucia celebration. All watercolour pencil stuff.

Watercolour pencil animal sketches- Tree frog and orang and baby

 These have been sitting in my sketchbook for a while, and I finally coloured them up and painted them in. I think they turned out OK. Is making me want to do even more animals.

Tomorrow is orangutan appreciation day, so I htink I will post this on my main blog and suggest everyone wear orange!

Pottery underglaze finished on tiny 3D scenes

 Top two are for the kids. Others to be determined. I coated them with a clear coat of Triplett's clear. Hope it is not too lumpy.

Meah the Marvellous

  New style of drawing people inspired by the artist/ illustrator of the kids picture book Enemy Pie, Tara Calahan King. Enemy Pie was read to Fenna's class at school by their lovely homeroom teacher, who has a very artistic eye. I loved the round faces, the eyes WAY out to the side of hte head and the simple hair.

Encaustics with Suzanne Dannenberg on Oldfield Rd

 I took another Encaustics course this weekend and learned how to do...

Phototransfer onto Wax.
1. heat wooden cradle
2. add layer of melted wax + resin, then fuse (x3-5 times-- want a very flat surface). Do not have to scrape or freeze between times. When apply, just make one stroke over one direction, then fuse. Let cool slightly before placing next wax layer.
3. Let cool a little before placing, face down, the image you are wanting to transfer. Remember writing needs to be mirrored or it will come out backwards. Image must be from a laser photocopier, printed onto thin paper (need toner to get things to adhere, ink jet will not work-- all the ink will just spread).
4. Burnish the upside-down picture with a wooden spoon.
5. Soak the back of the burnished paper with water-- gently rub off paper.
6. Dry with a hairdryer on low between soakings (will take about 3 soakings to get all paper off).
7. Lightly heat with heat gun so paper gets dissolved into wax, let cool, then coat with another layer of wax. Usually want two or three layers between each image to give dimension.

Other info:
1. Get metallic foil ends from a place which makes embossed wedding invitations (see detail on crow).
2. She used milk paints to colour the non-bleached wax rather than oils which she felt were toxic.
3. She said that the Demara Resin can give headaches if the place is not well ventilated.
4. For collage can paint (with watercolours) on the wooden board, or use crayones or pencil crayons.
5. When mounting collage, tack directly onto wooden cradle board with weld Bond glue or with medium. Wipe off excess glue as when heated this can be toxic. If it's behind a piece of paper though, it will stay OK.
6. Demarrra resin helps to harden, increase melting temperature and increase durability/ reduces bloom.
7. if use oil paints, let them dry out on a paper towel overnight beforehands. If using oil paints in incisions, let dry for a month or two so don't get moisture trapped in your painting.

Zombie Survival Kit

 Well, creativity takes many forms. This kit was put together over the course of two days, to give to Finn on his 11th bday.

Here is a list of contents:

ZOMBIE SURVIVAL KIT

“If it’s moaning keep going.” 

This Kit has been specifically designed to ensure survival in the first days of the Zombie Apocalypse, after which time… well… 

Map (because your GPS will not work any more. Remember- moss on the north side of trees.)

Gauze (both for First Aid and for disguise)

Fake blood (to disguise yourself as an already infected zombie)

Glow-stick (light source)

Garbage bag (rain poncho, carry-all, tarp, alternative clothing)

Garlic and silver cross (vs Vampire zombies)

White Powder (to aid in tracking zombies and killing them before they kill you)

Earplugs (so you don’t go mad listening to the moaning)

Tongs (for retrieving unsavory body parts for testing)

Thermos (for body parts, or water-- remember which!!)

20’ Zombie outbreak hazard tape (to warn others of infected areas)

2 shoelaces (doubles as rope, assorted handy uses including binding prisoner zombies who still have their arms and legs)

Wooden skewer and metal prong (weapons, marshmallow toaster)

Anti-zombie aerosol spray/ after-bite antiviral disinfectant (self-explanatory)

Zombie outbreak response badges (to ID members of your team)

Zombie targets (to keep your gun finger well-exercised. Due to Canadian gun laws, we cannot include a gun in this kit though it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED you have several, and about 10000 rounds of ammunition.) 

Assorted badges and signs

Clay dioramas

 These two (raw, as yet unfired) dioramas were inspired by the work of Londoner Danielle Wood, who is a fabric artist displaying work at Canzarro House in Wimbledon, where I stayed Dec 2011 for my aunt Kiki's wedding. Just for fun, I 've included Danielle's lovely work in this post. Keep your eyes peeled over the weeks to come to see how these glaze up.

Ignite Encaustics Workshop- June 2013

 Notes:
10% resin into bleached wax melted to 220 degrees
-prime cradleboard with acrylic-- and around edges
- tape up edges with painters tape
- min 3 layers base, fusing with hot air gun between layers (hairdryer will not get hot enough) and cooling (into fridge) every time between layers of wax
- add in background images-- try paper napkins- the top (printed) layer is the perfect thinness!
- cover with wax every time and fuse between times
- used oil sticks to colour into incision and take off with linseed oil, coat with wax then fuse
- colour mother mix of wax with oil paints-- about a 2 inch squeeze
- buff with cloth once all cooled down

This piece to Murray for wedding anniverary.

June Pottery

 Preparing for the wedding and getting some other projects out of the way! The snorkeling girl is a clay-take of a painting I saw in Maui. The red dog is Darah and her new Irish Terrier. The mosaic pig goes to Val for her bday and the heal heart to Anthea for her hip- healing. More love goes to Tj and Sarah, of course. Green pig to Karen. Bowls to Neta and Jonathan, with a bike set to Jamie and Danielle for their bike- wedding.

Underglazed tile pieces

 I'm working away on some pieces for the upcoming family wedding (Move Love hearts) and some gifts for girlfriends with red dogs and sis-in-law with new hip (HEAL). These are bisque-fired then underglazed. Once these are re-bisqued, I will overglaze them and they will be shiny and somewhat near this colour, maybe.

FUsed glass May 2013

 A funky bird (top right) and three hearts were born today when I had my Fused glass Bday week bonanza workshop. Val and Jeni and a friend of Val's from Gabriola came down to have some fun. Love this medium.

Fused glass in Nanaimo

 Today we headed to Cheeky Monkey and rented some Studio space there. The adjacent shop was very well-equipped, so I got to try out some techniques that I have not for several years-- notably mixing fine glass powdered grit with glue medium and painting it on. Brenda, the owner, also gave us a tip on how to make small dots by cutting off bits of thicker rod-- brilliant! We'll see how things work. Val worked on a house number sign to replace one she hates. It was an expensive adventure, as she charged $15/hr/person, inspite of buying over $100 worth of supplies, but hopefully worth it! I am definately going to keep my eyes open for a small, programable glass kiln!