Shamefully overdue shop update

Just to let anyone know who might be interested that I'll be doing a big shop update at noon tomorrow. I have been diligent about working and finishing, but so much less so about listing.  I confess that I have at least 150 listings to add to my shop - by this, I mean work that is finished, tagged and ready to be photographed and written up.  There won't be 150 new listings tomorrow, but there will definitely be close to 30 or so -  some pods sets, some single pods, and some interesting new beads in sets, pairs and singles.  ( and some old bead friends as well.....)


I can’t explain this delay except to say that lately, I’ve felt compelled to experiment continuously with all kinds of stuff. Some ideas have proved to be fertile and interesting directions, others… not so much…but – I feel compelled to try anyway.  As though it were a race to the idea I have in my mind.  This may have something to do with the fact that the polymer world changes so rapidly and images and ideas go viral almost instantly.  For me, this creates a self-imposed tension ( I stress the self here) to try to resolve ideas and incorporate them into my vocabulary.  Perhaps a kind of ‘taking possession ‘ of the idea!  It’s ridiculous really, but there it is.

I think I just need to turn off the computer for a while…except to list, of course!


Listings will go live at Noon tomorrow in my Etsy shop!




                                                            

                                           


            If you’re wondering what these are, well….


I think my kids might think I’m a little nuts getting out the camera to take picture of the sanded paint ridges on my old, old front door.  My wonderful kids are helping me with painting the trim on the front of the house – you know, sanding, scraping, primer, then 3 coats instead of the optimistic one coat you were hoping for.
I didn’t sand these cracks until after the first coat of the final paint  ( shoulda…).  But the paintings created by sanding back through the layers are so beautiful in their simplicity.                            
                      



             

                                            




And now they are gone…

Permanently covered by 2 more coats of this blue (totally influenced choice after seeing the Van Gogh exhibition…).  I will play with these images in my computer and see what else can happen!

Old friends/new friends

Seeing Van Gogh up close....and meeting a new/old friend in the flesh.  What could be better?
The Internet is a strange classroom where friendships spring up and thrive in surprising ways.  You find yourself writing about purely personal things to people you've never actually met, and finding great satisfaction and comfort from this. Although, I have to say, I do tend to keep the personal stuff out of my actual blog, so neither I or my readers have to get squirmy reading it, and so my children don't have to kill me later....others bloggers understand how to write about their personal lives and I enjoy reading them:  I don't  do the personal well, unless it has to do with the progress of my polymer work.  Then, it's fair game, and I'm a little more relaxed with it.
 
                                                             
                                                                 jibby and juna,  Seascape #3 necklace
 
But last week polymer became more personal when I had an opportunity to meet Genevieve Williamson of jibby and juna, an artist I've admired for more than 3 years and with whom I've been corresponding for almost as long  (I just looked back at our 78 Etsy conversations about everything under the sun....).  Finding that the Van Gogh exhibition was sold out in Philadelphia, she and her family decided to visit the show's next stop at the National Gallery in Ottawa. I am so happy they decided to come here!  It was the first time they had been to Ottawa and there is lots to see and do.  Both of our families saw and enjoyed the Van Gogh exhibition.   I was surprised that I so enjoyed the IMAX film that was on at the same time.  There were many, many close-ups of his work.  These were exquisitely lit so that it was easier to see the texture- the swirls, hills and valleys of Van Gogh's frenzied brushstrokes.
 
                                                                       
                                                                        Carved ring
I think that if it is at all possible, the kids and I will be paying them a visit in Pennsylvania!  A wonderful family!   The only thing Genevieve and I would have enjoyed more is to talk endlessly about polymer and get playing with it together.  But you can't do that to your long-suffering family, can you?  My kids suffer my obsessions enough, I think.
 
                                                                   
                             Atlas drop earrings                                                                                 Carved pods
 
Obviously, I’m including some photos of Genevieve's work.   I'm thinking that most of you who read my blog regularly already know her work, but on the off chance that you don't, take some time to study her serene and timeless constructions.  These images are just a tiny dip from the jibby and juna bucket……And anyway, great work can never be enjoyed too often, can it?
 
 
                                         
                                           Jibby and juna     Sediment Bracelet
 
 
                                                   
                                                      Jibby and juna       Echo necklace  (click on the picture to see more about this lovely…)
 
 
                                   
Back tommorow with news of a shop update…
Claire                          

Macro – rubbish beads

Since I work a lot in white and translucent clay, sometimes tinted, I generate a fair amount of colorless scrap which isn’t very interesting.  Lately I’ve been playing around with ways to use it up with stuff I already have lying around – Pan pastels, Genesis Heat set paints and alcohol inks, for starters.  I’m always drawn back to making Natasha beads ( inside-out beads) because I enjoy the process tremendously.  Who doesn’t love looking to see what they’ve got after cutting the bead open?  It’s the same thrill you get from revealing what your ‘stack’ contains in the mokume gane technique.  What I’ve become more obsessed with is the idea of controlling the result ( bad idea, Claire – relinquish the iron fist…) so that I can make bead sets.  And also, just because I like to understand process.  There is the distinct possibility that if I gain control, I’ll also loose interest or fall into a rut.  Will take the risk as I suspect that will never happen.



                            

Just made these all in the same basic shape and tried to work some contrast in – contrast is all-important in this sort of design.  I love the softness of the colour lines, and discovering which colorants bleed and migrate and which stay put.  Very interesting discoveries to be made for making other sorts of beads.





This pair has very soft and subtle color.  I love white paired with off-white, ivory or translucent.  Some lines are crisp and some are not…





                



           

     Just lines…

     Could be a little monotonous, but there are so many ways to manipulate the results and they are quite soothing compared to many Natasha beads. 



                             



Then there are the wildly contrasting ones for a bit of excitement.  Not sure I really like them, but I certainly exerted control over the result.  See, you have to let loose…



                                                          



                                                  



All in all, I think I really like these ones a lot – and the ones with just lines! Rubbish can be so satisfying…expect periodic updates along these lines.

     

   







   By the way, Live Writer let me crop the photo to the left by just clicking on the ‘crop’   command at the top left of the format header.  SOOOO convenient, instead of opening up another program to do it and then uploading it again.









So, a fun beginning, or, more truthfully, an extension of my investigations.  The blurred versus sharp lines are most interesting to me.  Side by side, they can really make things pop forward or sink back, depending on how your eye interprets it!



                   

And of course, every post which includes macro shots needs these photos of my rotting bananas!  You’ll be happy to know that these beauties became part of a Banana chocolate loaf about an hour after these shots were taken!  I just really like the spots and freckles…

Oh, and I’m going to be in a book!  Great excitement, more on that to come…