College – Print – Term 4 – Final Pieces

This term in my print lessons I’ve revisited dry point – with a new twist which I hope to develop and share in due course… And then there was the lino cut – it turns out that lino is a lot easier to carve when warm, but crumbles when hot… And there was the collagraph – sticking items to a piece of card, liberally coating with PVA and allowing to dry before using it as a print plate. Part of the final project is to take prints that aren’t quite exhibition standard and embellish them a little:

 

Here’s the before and after of a piece of serendipity – I was washing out my large screen with a large repeat pattern on it, and the water/ink mix was caught by the scrap paper beneath – I loved the texture and distressed colours. I embellished it with watersoluble graphite pencil and a bit of frottage on sandpaper to add texture, and a distress ink mix to tone down the white paper:

 

Finally, I wanted to play around with a repeat pattern on a large scale… the screen alone was two feet square – and I chose to run off a couple of lengths of wallpaper as well as a couple of multicoloured prints:

Not sure that I’d want that repeat in black and white across the chimney breast!

 

College Course – Ceramics – Term 4 – Final Project

For our final project this term, we’ve had four weeks to work on either a ceramic bird house, or a Cornell-style box. In principle, we had to slab build the box and then use at least two of the techniques we’d learnt to decorate it. I’ve gone for the Cornell-style fine art box:

IMG_3339_wOnce again, all the work is based on my bead or button collection – the filigree is the back slab layered with D-shaped extrusions and then pierced (two techniques already!). The flowers are one and two part plaster moulds taken from other beads (sprig moulds, technique three). The box will dry over the Christmas break and then get fired – it’s white earthstone, and we’ll be playing with glazes next term. The box will hold vertical strings of ceramic beads, which I made by designing my own extrusion die, slicing this into uniform thicknesses, piercing and then carving (and there’s technique four):

College Course – Painting – Week 5

I’ve just been reviewing my myriad pictures and realised I hadn’t posted my favourite painting of the session so far – it was completed before half term. We worked relatively large scale (I think this was on A3 size paper) and were encouraged to be free in our movements with the brushes. It’s painted with watersoluble inks, resisted by oil pastel outlines and highlights, and I moved the inks around after application by flooding areas with water. A bit of thinned PVA adds shine, as well as more ink movement. I think the result is rather abstract, very free, and still resembles the rose bead I was using as a reference!

College Course - Painting - Week 5

They’re not tangle patterns… but they’re close!

Me again – I’ve survived a three day stint demonstrating and teaching at the NEC Hobbycraft exhibition, and it’s back to college and catch up time! Last week we were set loose to develop our own style in our drawing lessons, and I’ve returned to making repeating patterns from elements of my bead collection. Each of these patterns are A4 in size, in my sketchbook, and have been painted with black acrylic ink. They are all based on the same shapes which I have cut out from a preceding pattern, rearranged and then traced onto the page before block colouring. They’re not tangle patterns… but you could still use them in your zentangles…

 

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[Not quite] Exclusive Stamp News!

I’m finally allowed to reveal one of the brand new line up of WOW! Embossing Powder stamps making their debut at the Hobbycrafts Exhibition at the NEC, Birmingham from 8th November 2012.

It’s called ‘NB Canvas’ – and it’s my design 🙂

This versatile frayed fabric stamp will be great for inked backgrounds, but obviously works far far better with a layer of embossing powder to give really tactile texture and a fabric feel to your projects. It’s roughly A6 size, so will work well on cards and scrapbooking as well as altered art projects and why not – even fabrics!

It’s not available in stores yet – as I said, it will debut at the NEC show – but snap one up as soon as you see it!

I’ve created a project with it over at the WOW! Embossing Powder Design Team blog, so please pop over and have a look!

College Term 4 – Jewellery – Week 6 – Part 2

In a previous post you saw my aluminium and perspex necklace, bracelet and earring set. I also designed a second (bonus) piece using the offcuts from the perspex rings, and finished it today:

I’ve added silver wire tangles to the perspex rings. Each of the flowers were hand sawn from sheet aluminium and hammered into shape before being riveted onto the centre offcuts from the laser cut perspex rings. I’m planning to do two more flowers in the session tomorrow to complete a pair of matching earrings.

And I think I’m getting better at product photography! Rather pleased with the serendipitous lighting on this one – early morning in the conservatory with a bit of level tweaking in Photoshop. No artificial lights were used in the production of this image.

It’s half term…

Though it’s half term, all is not quiet in the perfectly4med studio (actually it’s still the conservatory). I am busy creating demos and producing tutorial videos for WOW! Embossing Powder, including one using one of their new stamps being launched at the Hobbycrafts exhibition at the NEC, Birmingham from 8th-11th November. The stamp happens to have been designed by me, and as soon as I’m allowed to share the details you can be sure I will!

I’ll be on the WOW! Embossing Powder stand (M12-M15) at the NEC on the Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, so if you’re there, please come and say hello! They have some fantastic new products, two demonstration tables and on-stand workshops repeated throughout the day – be sure to sign up early if you want to get a place.

And having mentioned a studio, I’ll be shortly sharing details of my ambitions to get my own studio – I’d love to hear your experiences and ideas as I start to prepare to have a dedicated working space.

College Term 4 – Jewellery – Week 6

We’ve spent the last five weeks learning about the various ways of soldering (butt and sweat), cold joining with rivets, surface design (heat colouring, mill impressions, hammering) and playing with a laser cutter (I want one!). This week over five hours of lesson time, it was our time to make our own design – this is what I came up with:

Each of the metal discs were cut by hand from aluminium sheet, hammered to give texture, and wire brushed to make matte. I designed the acrylic flowers and circles to scale in Adobe Illustrator and these were cut from 3mm acrylic sheet on the laser cutter. They are attached to the aluminium discs using 2mm chenier tube rivets – several had to be done again as I was a little heavy handed at the beginning and cracked the acrylic. Links are commercial jump rings, as is the chain – time pressures didn’t allow me to make my own. Not that I’d know where to start making chain! I’m really pleased with the result, and aside from the laser cutting, all the techniques are feasible in a home studio.