copper wire crochet cuff with felted fibres and a tumbled beach pebble
Why 'embrace'?
The beach pebble is one that my mum collected and then tumble polished a few years ago. Sadly she's no longer pursuing this particular hobby but I do have a stash of her gems. None of them are drilled so making them wearable has been a challenge.
Wire crochet is a particularly versatile technique; stitches 'knit' together to make a mesh and freeform design is incredibly easy. Custom cabachon bezel settings are very easy to engineer, as seen holding this pebble in place.
The cuff is called embrace because that is exactly what the wire and fibre is doing to the beach pebble. It's held in a close and secure embrace at the front of the cuff. The amazing green in the pebble contrasts with the copper and fibre. The cuff makes my mum's beach pebble into a portable souvenir of her time on the beach.
home is where the heart is :)
Friday, February 25, 2011
fibre friday: embrace copper cuff
Thursday, February 24, 2011
studio portrait thursday: today in pictures
works in progress for "home is where the heart is"
Leaving home, leaving the country of my birth, leaving my family, putting down roots half a world away. The old familiars are no longer at hand beside me.
Yet I look up to a new night sky so similar to the old one I used to gaze at as a child from the shadows of my childhood garden. I orientate myself with familiar constellations; Orion the Hunter, the Plough, the Milky Way though it is dimmer and the stars sparkle less. So comforting, knowing that over the seas my family are rooted under the same sky. Even the water I dip my toes in is remotely connected through the great oceans to my childhood beach where I gathered shells and sea glass treasures. I carry my memories as wearable, portable touchstones of those precious to me.
I remain connected. I make my home.
One of the first reasons for making my own jewelry was extreme homesickness experienced after moving to Canada, selling our UK home and putting down roots here. I missed and still miss my family and friends as I make my new life in BC. Emigrating exacts a huge price on social networks, family ties, and security, especially for the non-working, trailing spouse who has no familiar work routine to slot readily into. On the trip back to the UK to sell our home I spent a few weeks with my parents in the Scottish seaside village which I grew up in. I came back to Canada with almost a kilogram of beachcombed sea glass from my childhood beach and over a hundred photographs of my childhood garden. Somehow they developed mystical qualities, tying me to the homeland I will probably never live in again and influencing my work. My jewelry-making initially focused on creating portable mementos using sea glass, vintage beads from unstrung hand-me-downs, and other souvenirs of a former life, so I could carry them with in my new homeland.
So I can remain connected to who and where I used to be.
So I can feel safe and secure and put down new roots.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
studio thursday
This shot was taken almost a week ago .... and nothing has really changed. There's still fibre all over the floor and the bench is covered in works in progress. I'm happy to report that a few more new pieces have joined the pile of completed work for the exhibition in April (details coming soon).
Next week is photography week so I'll be making a final push this weekend to complete the "really photogenic" projects to send the images off to the art gallery.
Please pray to the weather gods for good lighting conditions next week :)
Monday, February 14, 2011
happy valentine's day
Happy Valentine's Day to all :)
It's kind of apt that I'm in the middle of working on wire and fibre hearts for an upcoming exhibtion "home si where the heart is" (stay tuned for more details). The three above are my first prototypes, needlfelted with some gorgeous hand-dyed roving from Yummy Yarn. After needlefelting, the hearts are washed at hhigh temperature to "set" the design. The end result is a little like watercolour ... at least, that's what it looks like to me :)
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
wordless wednesday: but not fibre-less
wire and fibre hearts
my first claw setting - sea glass in a copper mount
an enjoyable custom project in wire and fibre
Sunday, February 6, 2011
yet more verse
In the beginning .... I dabbled.
I dabbled in a lot of strange things when I first opened my Etsy shop.
I also played around with a variety of different crafts and explored what I could do with my computer.
One of the results was A Series of Questionable Greetings Cards. Yes, there was a series.
The two runaway best sellers were Appalling Fridge Poetry featuring awesome, rude or plain unintelligible poetry culled from my fridge (from the fevered minds of myself and my sister), and the I Tried But It Died series which were simply a set of photographs of houseplants I had killed (all in colour).
I also 'published' a series of 'sentiments' cards "Thinking Of You" which were illustrated with images of cat poo, a mouldy dead fish, and a withered flower.
All cards were very simple cardstock with my photographs stuck to the front, plus a plain white envelope. They were way back in the beginning of my crafting time ... until a few weeks ago when I got a request to remake the fridge poetry set again ... so here they are!
PS: I do requests :)
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