Tag: shrine

Its a phase… the Art Elements moon theme reveal.

21 Comments

Welcome to the first theme challenge of the year! And the first blog post of the year – a habit I plan to revive…

This month Lindsay selected the Moon as our inspiration. The moon is frequently my inspiration! I rifled through my stash and pulled out a few moon and crescent pieces:

1.Diane Hawkey 2. me 3.Nikki Thornburg and Lesley Watt 4.Staci Smith 5.Lesley 6.my stash 7-9. me 10. Caroline Dewison. 11. Lisa Peters Russ. 12. Anne Gardanne

I was completely overwhelmed. So I turned to something completely different. Laney Mead gifted me with the most adorable lamp work hare! ( It was Secret Santa a year or so ago.) Since he arrived, he has been living on my beading table in a wee tiny wooden box – waiting for assemblage! SO here he is – my lunar hare !

Now he is sitting on my desk as I write this!

Back in the studio – I have been missing metal. Last year was fraught with challenges, both personal and professional. I made work show by show… This year I am focusing on what really speaks to my heart. SO I plan to incorporate more metal. This piece is still a WIP – the sterling hare needs tumbling. The faux bone needs antiquing maybe?

Faux bone – heated, stamped, painted, sanded. It will tolerate anything!

Linoleum printmaking is also on the 2019 want-to-do list. I plan to have limited edition cards featuring motifs that are showcased in my ceramic pendants and tiles. But as a warm up? Moon phase stamps for my art journal!

So all was gong along rather nicely – until Lindsay there me the BEST curve ball! She surprised me with a few leather pieces and some vintage treasures! ( I sent her something for this month’s give away.) These pieces are drawn/sculpted/painted by her friend  – and I for one think they are fabulous. The moon over the (iridescent) water makes me so happy! 

But you know which one I started with, don’t you? And then I found this mini star cab that Sue made… There may have been a snow squall – but I was happily beading!  I think it will be a lapel pin for my winter coat…

Beaded lunar hare – in progress.

Thank you so much for reading my ramblings. Please take a look at the creation from my team mates at AE and our guests this month! And stay tune here for a resuscitated blog!

Guests:
Art Elements Crew:

Challenge of Music – The Gypsy Nomads

27 Comments

 Challenge of Music

Welcome to the 2nd Challenge of Music hosted by the creative goddess Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati. This year – the challenge: instrumental music.  In my opinion, this is much harder, trying to embody a piece of music in a piece of jewelry without the usual cues and visual symbolism we read via the lyrics. But it was also easy, as my favorite instrumental music is composed and performed by Frenchy and the Punk – formerly The Gypsy Nomads.

Their music has been described as “An energetic hybrid of European Folk roots, Punk attitude, World Beat eclecticism and traveling player theatricality.”Phil Brucato  They are guitar and percussion – hearing them you will find it hard to believe there are only 2 of them. Their energy is infectious. Their music is magical, and addictive, and captivating. The first CD I purchased from them – I honestly described the song as ” the one that goes  _______” since it was on a loop in my head!  They release their own CDs and tour the country from coast to coast  probably 11 months of the year, a grueling pace. If you EVER get a chance…. run, dont walk. 

Gypsy Nomads Thread & Stone

The song I selected is Track 1 on this CD “Travelin’ band of Gypsy Nomads” and you can hear a clip here.   (I am happy to know Scott and Samantha personally. I asked Sam about this song. It may have been the birth of the Gypsy Nomads – Scott, who wrote the instrumental, was performing and Sam decided to jump up on stage, adding dance and  percussion.With this collaboration, a new concept, and a duo was formed! ) I know I am influenced by the song title – but also by their lifestyle. Traveling the county and to Europe, instruments in hand, exploring and being inspired… The song conjures up a campfire, flames leaping, as a fiddle is tuned, a guitar strummed. Music freely played, dancers skirts twitching, tamborines jingling… and I see vardos aka Gypsy wagons. 

 Vardos

( I know this is a Romanticized version, even a stereotype of Gypsy life. I mean no disrespect to Romani culture. I have started doing research – if you are interested in the Romani people, the British Romanichals or the Irish Travelers there are many articles on the Web. )

The vardo shape was what I kept seeing, and the door. So I set off to make a hinged door pendant. Yes, you read that correctly. The good news: I have 2 that work. The bad news: After making 4 pendants I have no finished necklace for the hop… So here’s what took all of my time… Vardo pendant

The copper door, Door #1. A friend gave me scraps of 1/4 plexi and I wanted to use that inside to cover the image and add depth. You can see the diagrams I drew, planning hinges. The hinges are parts of the sheet rolled with pliers. The hinge is small tubing with a balled wire inside. The piece is joined with microbolts at the bottom and a tube rivet at top – that will be the bail. Three holes are located below for dangles. The image is an antique postcard, and the door has a curtain of sorts – resined paper circa 1880’s. I am currently working on  a silver chain and copper pin that will latch the door closed. 

 I am happy with the piece, a protoype of sorts – and see that hinges will be easier in the future now that I purchased bail making pliers! Its app. 1.75″ tall so its not too massive to wear. I am imagining a triple strand – 1 of sari ribbon, 2 of beads ( one seed bead strand, one gems). 

While all that was happening so was this: 

Keyhole vardo pendants

Teal keyhole shrine – Polymer pieces, built in bail, hand painted. Image under mica. The image is “The Fool” from an Italian Tarot deck of the 1800’s. The Fool card means free of burdens, worries; living in the now, setting off to journey, spontaneity… among other things. It seemed to capture some elements of the Gypsy symbolism I was working with …

Red keyhole shrine: Constructed as the blue shrine, the image will have resin or glaze over. I am thrilled with these results even though there were hours of fiddling to shape and then after curing, carve the door and hinge. I think the shape is also the most clearly derived from the vardos’ original inspirarion. The image (seen below) is Mucha’s Moon/cresent goddess. 

round pendant window

Round porthole window: Thinking on the painted pattern and designs on a Gypsy caravan… you see here (from L to R) the front window shutter, the center image and the back. The cover will have a tube rivet, and the piece will be simply hung on a large jump ring. The image is a Gypsy woman, also from Alfonse Mucha. These are the images I was considering: 

Image references - gypsy

(All images by Alfonse Mucha except the Tarot card images. )

 

So you can see I was inspired! But I still have quite a bit of work to do! I would love to hear your thoughts and preferences from the four… I will do a follow up post when they are completed. I look forward to traveling the blogs to see what my colleagues have created; the list is shown below.Thanks for stopping by! 

The Challenge of Music participants
 

 

Fifteen minutes of Fame, winners, and the like…

3 Comments

Halloween

Spook-tacular news: After three (?) years of waiting and wondering – my episode of HGTV’s “That’s Clever” will air on Monday October 17th, 2011! I am excited, and a little anxious. It has been so long, its all a blur in my memory. I am excited to see it, and feel a little self-conscious – will it be cool? Silly? Hmm. So check your local cable listings for time and channel! I am interested to hear what you think. 

Winners! – I though I was being so smart – deciding on 1 random winner and 1 that I selected. Completely impartial, I know, but my perogative. Well, that was a hard decision! There were great ideas for talismanic words and phrases – many that I will use! Thank to all who entered, that was the creative impetus I needed. I will post pix as things are hammered out. 

The random winner is…’Serenity now’ from Angela

And I could not resist…‘Empowered‘ from Rachel. ( Hard decision! SO many great ideas!) 

Other points of interest: 

FaerieCon – November 4-6, in Baltimore. A truly magical weekend of music, art, festivities, and the like. Great authors and artist, a chance to meet and see their new work. The line-up this year is the best yet! And the costumes! And the Green Men parade! and the Masquerade Balls! I cannot wait. 

The Arden Holiday Shop – November 27th, 11-4 pm. A tradition in Arden DE, this small gathering of local artists and craftspeople is very festive! Great place to start – or finish – your holiday shopping! 

And yes! I will have ‘word mojo’ necklaces at both events. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you can tune in on Monday!

Cerrridwen, Taliesin…and a Blue Hen?

2 Comments

Blue Hen plywood

It all started with the hen, the blue hen to be exact. The City of Newark, DE is having a fundraiser – in the style of the decorated animal sculptures you have seen – I am sure – in many cities across the country. As the state bird is the Blue Hen… artists have been given a plywood silhouette, app. 30″ tall. Out birds will be auctioned off in September, and will be displayed (inside) at various businesses in town, and on Main St. The previous picture shows the earliest stages, after carving up my bird, to create a niche inside. Then she was covered in paper – from the Encyclopedia Britannica, or course. And yes, I used the article on “Poultry farming”. 

Blue Hen paper

I knew right away I wanted to create a shrine in the body of the hen. Shrines are my most personal, expressive medium. Although the chicken is not a totem animal I use symbolically in my work, I wanted to challenge myself to make a “real” piece, not just a fundraiser donation. I had committed my name, my time, and energy to this venture, and I wanted it to be true to my body of work… So the only mythic reference to a chicken in Western myth that came to my mind – was the myth of Cerridwen. She is the Keeper of the Cauldron – in which She brews inspiration. She is the Goddess of rebirth, transformation, inspiration. She is a creatrix, a mother, a wise woman… In the classic myth regarding her: She brews an elixir for her son, hiring the boy Gwion to stir the cauldron. After a year and a day – the mythic measure of time for an arduous task – the potion splashes Gwion’s thumb. He sucks it, to cool the burn and receives all the wisdom, knowledge therein. Greatly displeased – Cerridwen pursues Gwion to punish him. The chase takes on epic proportions as they shape shift through many animal forms, each pair representing an element. These animal pairings will be shown on the hen itself…

sawing animals

hound and hare

otter and salmon

songbird and raptor

The greyhound and the hare. The otter and the salmon. The hawk and the songbird. But where does the hen come in? After three transformations, as the chase continues, Gwion turns himself into a grain of wheat. Cerridwen as a hen, simply eats the grain. In nine months, She gives birth to Taliesin – who is to become the greatest bard of all time. Rebirth, inspiration, transformation… 

Hen nearly complete

The niche will hold a small clay tile of Taliesin – whose name translates as “Radiant Brow” referencing the ‘fire in the head’ of divine inspiration and enlightenment. It seemed fitting to have him incubating there. I plan to include the text of the myth with the piece. I know that many will find it more in depth than they prefer. But I feel that keeping the inspiration pure and not simplifying the concept of the work is honest, and a homage to Cerridwen herself. The overall color palette is natural and harmonious, very earthy. I hope it finds an appreciative audience when it goes out into the world in September, and does its part to raise funds for the Newark Arts Alliance.   Please feel free to comment and tell me your thoughts!

( I will add new pix as the work progresses!)

A to Z: bevel

Leave a comment

(A note: When I started the A to Z series at the beginning of the year, I planned to do these themed entries every Friday. Long story short, I missed a Friday out sick, and threw out that schedule. There will be an alphabet entry each week. But that looser schedule makes me feel freer to write as I am inspired, and when I am inspired – I write a better entry! So stay tuned. I am excited about my A to Z list!) 

B is for BEVEL.  

a : the angle that one surface or line makes with another when they are not at right angles b : the slant of such a surface or line

Please allow me to introduce you to an all-star tool, a favorite in the tool box – the treasured bevel tool!

bevel tool 

These are hand made by Bob Carver – yes, that is his real name… It’s made of exotic hardwoods, from managed growth forests. I think mine is made of Bubinga. He made the first ones for Lana Wilson – ceramic artist and shrine builder, and an idol of mine… I had the good fortune of studying with her at Penland a couple of years ago. An amazing experience, like no other…

I used to make my slab constructed shrines with regular corners, slab meeting edge; a butt joint. Then the corners would have to be smoothed or pared down after the fact. The beveled corners are smooth, sleek and clean. Since Penland I have been incorporating more texture on the surfaces of my shrines. The beveled corner means the textures arent altered or distorted when I put the sides together. So wonderful, and its a gorgeous tool, to boot. A pleasure to use. 

Here is the process simplified: 

slabs cut

Slabs are cut from leather hard clay. 

cutting bevel

Cutting the bevel edge on a side wall. 

score and slip

With the pin end of the tool – scoring and slipping. Scoring the surface – roughing it up. Slip – a clay and water paste, which acts as a “glue”. 

interior construction

The trimmings from the edge are the perfect size and shape to fill in and reinforce interior seams!

interior complete

The piece – assembled. From here there is carving and/or distressing the surface, drying, firing… Many steps still to go. Dont worry – I will show you more along the way.