it won't be long now...

i can scarcely believe it is almost time to go out west... i was last in victoria in 1975. wow, that was a long time ago! slowly but surely i am getting packed and getting all the stuff done i need to do for sojourn 08, the vancouver island polymer clay artists guild first annual retreat to be held this year in nanaimo.

i have never been to nanaimo, or tofino, or sooke, or pender island, and i have never seen the pacific ocean, but i am headed for all those-- plus victoria! on tuesday, i head out via pamela in ottawa who has so generously offered a bed for the night and to take me to the airport on wednesday morning... thanks pamela!!!

so, despite all this snow, so far wednesday is forecast to be sun and cloud with perhaps a few flurries in ottawa... that is good, i haven't yet checked calgary, where i must change planes, but i am fairly certain vancouver will be fine...

i have finished cutting and chamfering the mirrors for the scope kits i am taking for the workshop, and now i must sit down and finalize the lesson plan and instruction sheets. i just couldn't resist putting in one more plug for sojourn 08! and likely my next post won't be until march 2, when i am home again and will tell all about my journey. well, i am taking this laptop, but i don't know where i will find internet access... however, i will try.

i am also going to meet up with several artisan guilds to collect information for our land o lakes artisan guild. woo woo. . . i am also very looking forward to a great holiday!

thanks, g. and see you soon.

i am in awe. . .

several weeks ago my friend carolyn and her mum and dad invited me to their home for a preview run thru performance that valery lloyd-watts would later be playing with the kingston symphony. wow, was all i could say then. but today i must post about the wonderful performance we heard at saturday morning's rehearsal for the symphony's performance that evening. valery played rachmaninoff's variations on a theme of paganini. i have to say that piece has been at the very top of my list of favs for many many years, but i had never heard it live until saturday morning... what a treat!!!

carolyn made a video of valery playing and doing some tweaking with the orchestra, but i am afraid with dialup i am not able to post it here. however, you can go to http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=xY0gPT86MZ4 and get just a small glimpse of a talent that has been nurtured to perfection. however, i do have a photo..... or two...


it was such fun to see the orchestra working together with valery to ensure a great performance. i was also lucky enough to speak with a couple of the symphony members and they told me it was a great and fun piece to play....i am totally inspired to work at my own art with renewed fervor. . . thank you valery!

i am blessed, no doubt about it at all!

beads beads beads.....

i was asked by a jeweler to make some classy beads...

well, i don't know about the classy, but this one turned out quite well, i think. i made a fuschia/purple blend, cut a circle and placed it on a light bulb. then i carved out the dragon and baked the bead. then i covered the whole surface with liquid clay with gold pearl ex mixed in -- thinking what a lot of sanding i would have -- making sure i filled every carved area well. baked that and was surprised that the sanding was not such a chore and went from 180 up to 2,000 grit then buffed. the small light shape at the top is a reflection, i found it very difficult to take a photo without any reflection, even in a light box, as the surface was quite shiny.....




this bead is also a lentil over a light bulb, but the design is based on a sheet of blended clay with small flowers inlaid. then baked.
the dragon is a combination of paint and liquid clays drawn on and then baked and then several layers of very thin liquid clay were added and baked between each layer. the last layer was also heatgunned for maximum clarity.

a few sparkles were added before the last layers of liquid clay.

i have been playing with making clay fabric lately, and this is just one way i have used it.
i am not a jewelry maker, but i am having lots of fun making beads. stay tuned for more variously shaped beads and new surface treatments. after all, beads are really very small sculptures!!!

playful experimenting time for me...


i have been going back to some sculptural work lately, so here are some photos of my work with clay and wire and wiremesh...
you can just see a bit of the mesh in the lower right with yellow clay. and there is wire mesh in the back triangular shape, which was then formed around a wire shape-- an open pod sort of thing... some wire is stiff and i wanted to see how the clay would do when the wire was manipulated with the clay around it... i am pleased and will use the idea in new work...


also using forms to hold the clay so that wire can be embedded...

this plaster form was made around some blister plastic that a light came in.... the clay pops right out, but i thought to leave it in for this photo...






here is a form made around a light bulb which was broken and the pieces removed carefully!

the wire stand will become part of the sculpture, which sort of looks like a cement mixer to me, interesting since i also do cement art sculpture...






here are two pinch pots. the yellow one was closed and then the top was pulled into the neck and the spout. it is however, closed but the bottom is hollow.

the other is pinched up to height and then the top was fluted into a nice shape.




i have also been playing with coiled forms, at first just keeping to more normal ways to coil... but i will also be going into more abstract shapes with coils. and playing with coils that are very uneven in thickness...






here are some slab triangular shapes that i have been putting together in various ways, these are hinged with tiny piano hinges--the large triangles; and tiny regular butt hinges--the small triangles






i have also been doing some surface treatments... carving and backfilling, making some ooak beads, and seeing what i can do with the various liquid clays...

come back soon to see them.....

lately i am finding it hard to get around to posting... many new ideas in clay keep popping into my head and i am doing some experimenting with new forms and ideas.

however, one of my resolutions for 2008 is to make 2 bottles of hope every day. well, i hate to admit it but i am behind in that, however, i am posting here the new bottles, as well as some from december. i love doing bottles of hope as i can learn all sorts of new techniques with them.


on the left, january's efforts

december's efforts on the right





i am currently waiting for a shipment of front surface mirror so that i can make more kaleidoscopes..... some hope scopes and cut mirrors for the participants at Sojourn, in Nanaimo, BC February 22 - 24, 2008. i will be teaching a tumblescope workshop there.

Welcome to another year.... resolutions time again . . .

where do the days go... however, i have made one major resolution for 2008, and that is to make two bottles of hope every day. it seems every time i even turn around another friend is diagnosed with cancer. so i intend to do what i can by making bottles of hope for our local cancer center at Kingston General Hospital. so far the nurses have been so wonderfully receptive that doing this small but significant deed will ease their days as well. kudos to all the nurses who give so much to their jobs and thus to the people who come to them for treatment. BRAVO!

this scope is for my friend maryann. i have known mar since we were 13 years old, so i send this scope to her with all my love for a successful treatment. love you, mar.


i am a kaleidoscope artist and while making bottles of hope i discovered that the same little bottles could be used for the chamber of my smaller scopes. some are made with an oil chamber and some chambers are dry cells. so i started making hope scopes also for near and dear friends diagnosed with cancer.


kaleidoscopes are magic... there are scientific explanations, sure, but looking thru a scope and seeing a never ending series of beautiful images is pure magic. so along with making scopes for a local gallery, see my geisha at Sandra Whitton's Gallery. she hides a scope under her skirt.
i love sculpture and so i have begun to make what i call kaleidosculptures...

i also want to wish to the world a year of peace and no more wars..... you cannot fight to get peace, you must live peacefully at all times, and then we will have peace.....

WINTERFEST!

last evening across this great land an event occurred that none can beat... clayamies winterfest!

a virtual gathering of good friends and good --well sometimes a bit silly -- conversation and sharing of gifts and wishes. gera was our winterfest coordinator this year and did a super phenomenal job of selecting secret santas, counting us down with preparations for the big party, such as gathering a candle, writing out wishes that were sent out to the universe in the wish burning ceremony, and preparing our snacks and drinks...

it was great. it was wonderful. such a sharing group i shall never know elsewhere...

i was astounded, amazed and delighted by tina's gift to me . . .


here she is...Allura. . . she is so perfect!

eyes of green tiger eye, and those spectacles... have you ever???








and here is the ultimate...

where oh where did i put that large green crystal. .. .

thanks, tina, and for remembering. . .


i just can't wait to see all the other secret santa gifts, as the descriptions were delicious......

Hooray, i won!!!

what a wonderful show! and what a super day. our land o lakes artisans' guild Christmas show was a huge success. we had many people come and peruse our work and many had very good sales.
all in all it was a magnificent end to a great year for our guild. we are on our way to many more years of exciting work and great creativity from our members.

here is a photo of me in my booth. you can see my winning ornaments in yesterday's post. i wish the photo could do it justice.... the little camel and there is a sheep behind mary.... patting myself on the back maybe, but it did turn out very well and very adorable... and amazing to me because i don't usually have any luck working so small ---

thanks lynn and committee for a fine job! and thanks carolyn for coming and for this great photo.

Last Show of the Year...

Sunday will be the Christmas Show and Sale of our Land O' Lakes Artisans' Guild for 2007. this show will be the culmination of our first year as a guild, and we have done wonderful things this first year in business--so to speak. we were introduced at Arts By The Lake, a lovely show put on by Ron and Susan Wulf, guild members and glass artists.

at that show we had our first challenge, a toilet roll cover which i have already posted here with the winning cover, done in cast paper by bonnie mclean. we do it as a people's choice award, and ask all attendees at the show to vote for the one they like the best.

we are having an ornament challenge for this christmas show, and here are my entries --


little tree with hanger











little nativity scene. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . little cabin in the snow

the little tree is about 2 1/2 inches tall, the little round shadow box ornaments are also 2 1/2 inches in diameter.

NB. thank you to those who comment here and in former blogs. if you would identify yourself, i could answer your questions.

Winter is Here!!!

the last few days have seen snow on and off, winter storm warnings calling for freezing rain, ice pellets, snow and all manner of winter stuff. so far it doesn't seem as bad as they foretold, but perhaps more is coming... as it is the storm that shut down the mid west a few days ago.

here are some photos of my winter wonderland. . .


path to the front door from the carport . . . detail along the way . . . my shop and driveway from a living room window. . .

Finished. ..

i am quite pleased with my geisha, but as always, that parts could be better will keep me working onward. and new ideas continue to come into my head so i will continue to work on these kaleidaladies and kaleidasculptures... so here she is...

My Geisha and her kaleidoscope --


note: The 'scope fits under her skirt, the photos do not show my geisha or the scope in the same size format.

She is about 12 inches tall and the
'scope is 5 1/4 inches tall.





another two views...














and two images . . .

Steps along the way. . .

well, here is my geisha, ready to go into the oven for the second time... last time i baked her, her kimono feel apart, so this time instead of standing up, i will bake her lying down with --as you can see-- lots of padding for support!

i am a bit nervous about this time, but i have learned a great deal along the way about how polymer clay works and doesn't work...

i will now be able to finish her scope and hopefully all will work out to take her to the gallery tomorrow for the open house.

i am happy to say that so far my scopes have been well received.

New Work Decisions...

after being accepted into a wonderful gallery show for christmas season, i decided it was time to concentrate on making only the items that really fired up my imagination and gave me great pleasure to create.



here i am at my workbench creating the sleeves for the kimono for my geisha. the picture you see is of the one before she all fell apart in the oven... sigh... but of disaster good things come, i am much happier with the new kimono. altho it is the same design, the technical work is much better.



later i am going to sort out all my flickr photos and put up new ones of the work i want to continue to do... hopefully by friday or saturday i can get that done.

My Elegant Annie.....

well, here she is with her scope... i haven't had much time to take photos of the images, but i will do that tomorrow.

under her skirt there is a wee pedestal for the scope to sit on. the scope is about 5 inches tall and has an oil filled chamber.

she is now residing at sandy's gallery, where she will be part of the Christmas Show, 2007, along with the work of 25 other wonderful artists.

A test . . .

my friend amy and i have been talking about polymer clay and dishwashers, as she has made some beautiful decoration on the stems of wine glasses. while i don't understand why someone would even think about putting such fine work in a dishwasher, apparently many would be buyers asked if they were dishwasher safe.....

so i did some experiments, as i had heard that buttons made of polymer clay could be put in the washing machine, i wondered what would happen if we put polymer clay in the dishwasher... so i covered the base a bit, the stem and a bit of the bowl of a small wine glass and then put it in the dishwasher...
here are some photos and the results...

just to save my dishwasher in case it all fell apart, i put the glass in a mesh bag. wasn't necessary at all, the glass as you see it has been through the dishwasher cycle. now, i did try to pick off the bits that are sort of what i would call 'free standing', the small piece on the left you can see stands up unattachedto other clay for a long narrow way... i could pick it free of the glass, but it didn't come off, i think the water got behind some of the upper pieces, but when it dried it was just as if i had never touched it. i used no glue. if i pick hard enough, of course i can start to break off the clay parts that are on the bowl of the glass.


here you have the glass turned around and you can see the tallest 'free standing' piece on the other side of the glass. the part you see on the left on this side of the glass is still firmly attached, again no glue.

so, i would say that items covered with polymer clay are dishwasher safe, but i would highly recommend hand washing! eventually, i suppose, after some number of times thru the dishwasher, some of the pieces, especially those like the one seen thru the glass, would eventually come off.....
however, the clay on the stem and base are still very securely attached.

if you want to be sure of the polymer clay remaining on the glass, i would make sure that most of the clay was attached to other clay.....

One is done!!!

my elegant annie, my new kalidalady, is ready to be shown to the public!

as i finished her face, i realized that she looks very like a young friend of mine from some years back. it suits her well...

under her skirt there sits a 5 inch kaleidoscope with an oil chamber... when i finish it i will post some photos...

It has been quite awhile!!!

but i have been busy working on my kalidaladies for the show at sandy's gallery, here in kingston, ontario. here is a card showing some of the artists that will be with me from november 21 through december 30. my friend carolyn will be there too, although the photo of her work is not here... i am really looking forward this show. thanks sandy for making it possible!

The end of the day. . .

this morning saw a very heavy frost here, but even tho it is somewhat bleak and washed out color, there is something wonderful about a frosty morning...

the geese and ducks are back. they stop by here every spring and fall on their migrations northward and southward... altho i had a pair of canada geese nest here all summer and even rear young. this morning i counted 23 and here is a photo of some of them.




i also counted 31 little hooded mergansers... i call them my bob hope ducks because they have ski jump beaks... they are small and adorable and feisty as well... and have huge white ruffs on the sides of their heads, which they can make very large when courting!
i only wish my camera could take better close ups...



if the morning was washed out color, then this sunset surely made up for it....


i am blessed to live in such a beautiful place... this i see from my living room window..... thank you mother earth

Halloween is nearly here. . .


and Thanksgiving is gone by for another year... so i thought i would post photos of my pumpkin pins -- some for giving thanks and a few to spook you!!

i made the molds with a baked polymer clay model and super elasticlay.

after the orange clay was modeled in the mold i popped it out, added the stem and bottom bits of green and baked it... then i added some dark acrylic paint and rubbed it off and then put it back in the warm oven for a few minutes to set the paint.



and here are some of the pumpkins decorated for halloween!

i used glow in the dark polymer clay and the results surprised even me, they glow so spookily in the dark.....

the small one resulted from not putting so much clay into the mold.....

This and That Day. . .

must run out to the post office today and put registration for for Sojourn, atc's for clayamies swap, and a little treat for a friend in the mail... i was in town yesterday, but plumb forgot to post them...

but i did purchase a nozzle and mps gas to make more glass items for my scope chambers, and had a wonderful stroll thru several dollar shops with my friend carolyn. lotsa giggles, too!!!

i have been doing some experiments with making clay fabric, and here are some photos. i turned some of these into atc's for our swap... needless to say, i now have many more ideas for decorations for my scopes and clothing my figures... atc's are a wonderful way to get inspired and try new techniques...



so today will be a multi doings day.... more work on my scopes and perhaps some work on my new website...

have a great day! and let your creative spirit awaken. . .