Christmas 2018: Tree decorations

Posted on 14th August 2018 by perfectly4med

I know, I know, it’s still August. But in a crafter/maker’s world, Christmas has to start early to get stock together. I’m hoping to book a table at a local Christmas Fayre in November at the same time as the town Christmas Lights are turned on. Hopefully, that will mean a good footfall. But it also means I’ve started making tree decorations and spent the last three days doing not much else!

For those that wish to buy some before the fayre, they are £1,50 each – just drop me a line. P&P will be £1 for those that can’t collect.

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Altered Art: What price a tag?

Posted on 5th August 2018 by perfectly4med

These are solid beech tags, 12 x 2.5 cm in size and about 1 cm thick. I’m calling them chunky gift tags and spent a day getting the settings right on the laser cutter. Variations included cutting from both sides (involving lining up the mirror image, not easy), lots of repeat cuts, and lots of sanding. Every block had to be covered with masking tape front and back prior to cutting. I have a sum total of 30 tags that passed quality control, 4 that are seconds and another 6 or 7 consigned to the bin straight away.

One of the trickiest things for an artist/maker to get right is pricing. Following guidelines from college, each of these tags should be sold for £7.50 each. I certainly wouldn’t pay that much for them. I’ve settled on £3 each with two for £5 as an offer, and even that seems a little too much. What is often overlooked when considering the price of artwork/made items are the costs involved in prototyping, learning from mistakes, the odd block that is inexplicably more dense and harder to cut than the others, and the wear and tear on equipment.

May I encourage you to ask artisans ‘what has this really cost to make?’ You may not be willing to pay that price, but at least you will know why the moniker of ‘penniless artist’ is all too real.

Art Journal Page: Cool or what?

Posted on 18th July 2018 by perfectly4med

Next month’s theme for my art journal session (Monday 6th August, 7:30pm) is ‘tints, tones and shades’. I wanted to try a cool ombre effect as part of my suggestions (tint, white added, lighter; shade, black added, darker), so that’s what forms the background of this layout. Then a quick play on words for the shades and a suitable quote and this page is complete.

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Pal Tiya: Dragon Castle

Posted on 12th July 2018 by perfectly4med

Once upon a time, on a screen in front of me, there appeared an advert for a new non-fired clay that promised to be weatherproof when cured. That clay was called Pal Tiya, and it was new to the UK having travelled far from New Zealand (via manufacture in USA, but let’s not mention its carbon footprint). And that advert caught my eye, more than once (ah, the joys, and effectiveness, of placed ads). And so it came to pass that I joined Bob and Joe at a workshop to make my very own castle. Continue reading →

Quilt No 021: USA Memories

Posted on 2nd July 2018 by perfectly4med

Eighteen months in the making, this is my completed ‘USA Memories’ quilt recalling our trip to New York and Boston for Christmas 2016.

Our first selfie together on Top of the Rock, looking across at the iconic Chrysler Building. The poignancy of One World Trade Center and our walk along Battery Park. Every town’s outlet mall had to be checked out for North Face bargains (none to be had). Trinity Church was right outside our hotel in Boston and had an amazing carol service late on Christmas Eve. Stowe, Vermont, was where the fabric came from and where there was still snow on the ground with more forecast (we were too late for the Fall leaves). Above the Bay at Thornton Adams was one of the B&Bs we stayed at – not the most bizarre, but we did have the house to ourselves for the whole evening, not seeing our host until the following morning. Vermont’s Finest, of course, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory tour featuring experimental ice cream flavour of white chocolate and coffee (oops, we were sworn to secrecy). And finally, the Mayflower at Plymouth – we didn’t see the ship, but the museum was fascinating. Fabric snapshots of a fabulous break.

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Bible Journaling: The Bishop’s School of Prayer Pair

Posted on 18th May 2018 by perfectly4med

For last week’s Bishop’s School of Prayer, I created two more print-and-colour Bible journaling illustrations. They weren’t used in the end as I (strongly) encouraged workshop participants to create their own.

To download a free copy of these illustrations for your own use, click button:

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The Studio’s Wonderwall

Posted on 16th May 2018 by perfectly4med

I’m not sure what came over me… One evening I decided that my cupboard doors in the Studio were looking a little tired and cluttered. Up to that moment, there was a collection of five year’s worth of samples, colour charts and reference material covering the doors. It took a day to strip off all the double-sided tape. I’d only discovered dual tack tape half way through… The blank canvas looked, well, very blank and very white. Thus formed the idea for my very own wonderwall:

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Arts in Worship: Prayer Tiles

Posted on 17th April 2018 by perfectly4med

As regular readers may remember, I’m going to be artist-in-residence at this year’s inaugural Bishop’s School of Prayer, 9th-13th May at Launde Abbey in Leicestershire. There are three full days, the afternoons of which will feature workshops led by the day’s teachers, myself and the musician-in-residence. I’ve been prepping some potential workshop projects, and here are a couple of experiments that have made the grade:

There are still spaces available for the course, with both residential spaces and day passes. I do hope you will join Bishop Martyn and the other teachers and leaders for what is essentially a three-day conference on prayer.

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Card Craft: Celtic Birthday Drypoint

Posted on 17th March 2018 by perfectly4med

Just before I cleared the decks in preparation for the arrival of a laser cutter that I have been impatiently waiting for (for two and a half years!), I cranked out a few more drypoint prints for cards more suitable for those not into the floral elements on my previous ones.

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Psst… want to see my etchings? Drypoint on a budget

Posted on 15th March 2018 by perfectly4med

I’ve been experimenting with drypoint printing technique – I had to search out my college notes to review the technique I first learnt there. I’m developing drypoint on a budget, so no special press or acrylic plates. Drypoint for the uninitiated is where a design is etched into a suitable material (typically perspex) before filling the resulting grooves with ink, wiping off the excess and then printing onto paper. Further prints can be taken by reinking the plate and repeating the printing process until the burrs from the etching flatten and the ink no longer stays in the grooves.

Here are four individual prints of my first go, printed on different papers. Technically, I don’t think drypoint prints are normally coloured after printing but I have used a light touch with some coloured pencils to augment the final card.