Showing posts with label art jewelry elements. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art jewelry elements. Show all posts

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

Thursday, 29 September 2016

Tree Challenge

 Caroline from Art Jewelry Elements gave a challenge at the beginning of September - how time flies as now we are at the end of September! - for a Tree Themed Challenge and I said 'go on then I will play', then promptly did nothing for two weeks.

Panic set in last week and I realized that the month end was dawning and I had no ideas so I picked up my doodle book (most people call it a sketch book I just doodle in mine....) and was flicking through it and found this doodle...obviously it fit the theme.  

I LOVE eyes, I doodle them all the time and this one morphed into the finished doodle is now.




The other night I sat with doodle book on my lap watching the TV and this fellow arrived in the bark of a tree trunk....




...another evening doodle this time I was thinking about my dog walk and the ancient woods I walk through, a corridor of trees that can feel very spiritual and very ecclesiastical and I was reminded, during my doodle, of many Sundays spent in church listening to the organ and so doodled some music notes.  This doodle is actually quite flat and I really couldn't get  a good feel to it so was a bit disappointed but all doodles should be for pleasure and we shouldn't judge ourselves too harshly....


Before glass I used to do much more fine art, mainly pets and their portraits but sometimes I did trees too.  I was once told that to become more able to study a face, be it human or animal then practise 'seeing' trees as each one is different like a face they have unique lines.  Both of the drawings below are artist grade coloured pencil and ink.



This has to be one of my favourite paintings and it hangs in my bathroom.  It is approx 4ft wide and is painted with acrylic.  I am not a painter my use of the brush can be quite messy and I end up with more paint on me than the canvas, I prefer pencil, but I went through a stage of painting and produced many paintings, most of which featured a tree or animal.  This one was inspired by a wonderful trip with friends to Symonds Yat near to me on the River Wye on the border of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire within a few miles of Monmouthshire and the Welsh border.



Even in glass the trees, or more the spirit of the woodland, finds its way into my beads and small sculptures.  The first two beads are my take on the Green Man.





This one is supposed to represent the bark of the tree...



Oddly in glass my muse is whimsical, I suppose really my drawing is now too, being too serious doesn't suit me and I am known for my beads with bums.  This little chap was inspired by my love of everything whimsical, he is the Tree Spirit or Elemental and came about after my looking at the work of Brian Froud.


...and.. this is Trevor and Trevor was inspired by the Tree Theme Challenge....   It is time for all good squirrels to start collecting nuts as Autumn descends the leaves turn golden brown  and ruby red and Trevor here is told by his wife to buck his ideas up and start contributing to the family's stash of food for the Winter and to out into the driving rain and collect enough acorns to stock the larder. Poor Trevor is seriously hen pecked, in fact it has been known that Trevor is a frequent visitor to the hen house just to get some peace for an hour or so!


So after thinking I didn't have a single idea about using trees in art it turns out I have been immersed in a forest of ideas for a good few years!!

I am looking forward to reading all about those that took part in this challenge and seeing the ideas that others have come up with, if you want to blog hop with me here are the links....