Tuesday 30 May 2017

May 2017 Component of the Month with Art Elements... the Reveal

Back at the end of April Lesley Watts from the Art Elements group announced her component for the month.  A selection of delightful ceramic cabs with gorgeous rich colours in the recesses of a mold she made from a section of shell.  To read the full blog post of the original article click on the link above.

Lesley creates beautiful pieces in ceramics and in metal clays - you can see more of her work on her Facebook  page.   Lesley does favour the more organic style of work, compared to my wacky designs but I did fall in love with these pieces as soon as I saw them.  There were several colour choices to choose from but the green glaze really appealed to me.


I chose one of the round cabs and when it arrived I was not disappointed, these pieces are rich in colour and really tactile, I did have it on my work space in my 'kitchen studio' - very posh sounding corner of the kitchen dinning room where I keep all my drawings and pencils for when I take over the table!  I kept it out on the dresser so I could just pick it up and touch it, in the right hands this would make a really lovely tactile brooch or pendant but I saw dragons.  My first idea was a dragon drawn with scales using the colours of the cab to guide my choices but then I went on Pinterest searching for a quote that appealed to me and found this one...

'Never stop looking up'.

What a lovely positive saying and I immediately thought of giraffes and was cross with myself for choosing a green cab rather than a giraffe cab that would have gone with this idea better.  For a few days I mused over this and stroked my cabochon until my husband commented on some other drawings had I done, I was lamenting (again!) about being quirky and cartoony and as far away from my realism portrait days as is humanly possible, when he said to me 'don't stop being different that is what makes you you.' (once in a blue moon he can be quite sweet, usually ruins it by then telling me I have got a big backside compared to when we met 25 years ago....  such is married life!)

So I modified my saying....



I am still really new to Art Journalling just for the sake of it, I doodle and draw each day but have to commit to the Art Journal idea and experiment with mixed media which I still struggle with but lo and behold, my cabochon became part of my giraffe and lets face it... never stop looking up or being that bit different is not a bad way to live!  

For more creativity using Lesley's work please follow the links below.... 


Guests

Art Elements team

Tuesday 2 May 2017

Art Elements April COM challenge


Sounds of time, like waves that flow
Endless hours that come and go.....


This month's COM for Art Elements is from Jennifer Cameron of Glass Addictions and was a beautiful swirly lampwork glass bead that reminded me so much of the sea and it inspired just a few quick lines of creative writing as I sat down to write this blog.. they have been in my head since the arrival of the bead.

Unfortunately for me this month has been one of the crappiest in the longest time as we lost our beautiful, young Simmy Cat...


... he was just a year old and leaves behind his sister 'Mudgy who has really struggled with his passing and of course our Gordy with whom Simmy used to play 'proper cat fighting' games but he was so good with Gordy who was brain damaged at birth (for those that don't know) and although he is 4 now Simmy being a big boy at such a young age could play with a cat that has no 'gentle button' but no malice.  Between him and 'Mudgy they helped Gordy in ways I could never have imagined or expected.  He is sorely missed by all of us and of course this impacted on the last couple of weeks, my creativity disappeared down a deep dark hole and is only really just coming back out....

BUT....




When I first saw this beautiful bead and heard the sounds of the sea in my head, I reached for my bookcase and my rather dusty book of Chinese Knots - I love knots!  I had a small clean up in the studio and found my limited stash of silky cord.  

Now I love reading, everything and anything, although I do have a penchant for animal stories and like most people now I have the digital device for reading books downloaded BUT my most favourite thing in the world is holding a real book, smelling the pages and touching each leaf as I make my way through the story.  I lose myself in a good book.  As a result I love bookmarks and each bookmark I own can tell a story of their own.  I wanted this bead to be the 'anchor' of my bookmark - I don't know about you but for me objects can hold memories and although I didn't create this bead it instantly reminded me of standing on the beach, the wind blowing in my hair and the smell of the sand, the sea... I lived near the beach several times as a child and I love the solitude, the reflection of memories, it seemed a good fit to my recent loss.



Unfortunately  my concentration has been so intermittant that I have only managed the 'concept' of my bookmark but I like it so far, I will be finishing this at some point, there is always a book that needs a bookmark!  

Don't forget to blog hop around those that joined in this challenge to see what everyone else has been creating.




Guest Designers:

Sarajo Wentling

Deb Stewart

Art Elements Team:

Sue Kennedy

Laney Mead

Lesley Watt

Claire Fabian

Karen Totten

Cooky Schock

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Caroline Dewison

Cathy Spivey Mendola

Niky Sayers

Lindsay Starr

Jen Cameron