Dienstag, 29. November 2016

"Ancient dreams" - Component of the month at Art Elements



The start with a new piece is often the most challenging as well as the most enoyable part. My main problem actually is always "the middle". When you found your inspiration, chose and gathered all materials, have made the work halfway through, see already the end with only some minor last steps open to decide... and then I stop. Honestly, I don't now why. There are soooo many UFOs in my stash, pieces that I know I'll love as soon as they are finished.


*sighs*

But that is maybe just how my brain operates. At some time-point most projects come to an end (either way).


This is why I love and enjoy challenges. They push me and give me a tight schedule to fit in. Even more with a component you get from a fellow bead artist.... huh... the social pressure added works even better! (Not a joke, this works really for me and I like to trick myself with this behaviour ;) )


The component of the month (COM) of Art Elements (AE) came not from a member of the AE team but were gifted to AE team members as well as to AE readers by Kristi Ann from Artisan Clay. You can find more of her work here.

Back to how my brain is working... I got the gorgeous pendant from Kristi (thank you again!). As gorgeous as it is, it was way out of my comfort zone. I love circle shapes and crackled glass / glaze surfaces (you would never have guessed, mh?). But this was too big and a little bit too heavy for me (remember, not being objective here, just relative to what I normally work with).


Puh... and then I started with a necklace design where I liked all the pieces but there was not this perfect start with all elements fitting perfectly together. Time was closing and I finished it and just had to wait until I would be able to catch some rare daylight to take pictures. You need daylight to give such a stunning pendant with crackle glass credit, trust me in this.


So sitting late at the evening at the living room which is a absolute state of chaos with my "stuff" my eyes fell on one of my wrapped bracelets. I wanted to label it for our Pop-Up store in Leipzig (Malwatanderes) but it was sitting close to the necklace. Mh... the colours went nice together so I tested how the would look combined. Loved it. So I took the necklace apart, decided to make a kind of decorative art element (or ornament? tribal totem?). It was the right way. The right way since I started to love this pieces, consisting just of two "circles" at this moment, already.

The rest was easy, also close by was one of my ceramic bird skulls I made. I am in the process to test the effect of different glazes and no, originally I thought this light blue/yellow glaze is not my favorite. How wrong I was. Without the light blue accents it would not have fit to the pendant. Now it was the perfect addition. Yes, perfect! For me at least... especially with the piece of bone (that was also part of my table chaos, don't ask).


You can also find some more of my ceramic clay beads, a single czech glass bead and a lampwork bead from Kimberly Rogers (above the bird skull, such a perfect accent colour to bringt the bone, pendant and skull together).

Here you go... just loving it now! Last minute, but hey, perfect timing, no?!


So, please have a look at the other participants!

PS: Seeing the pictures now, it could be also a piece inspired by / for Prince, or not? *sighs* 2016...

PPS: I had to take the pictures at work, since it is dark when I leave home... and already dark when I come back home. So they are not my usual quality (and not my preferred background style). It was long enough winter time, I am ready for summer again! ;)


Guest Designers:
Sarajo Wentling
Lola Surwillo
Beti Horvath
Kate Kemp

Art Elements Team
Susan Kennedy
Lesley Watt
Claire Fabian (you are here right now :) )
Jenny Davies-Reazor
Jen Cameron

Samstag, 5. November 2016

The missing colours in winter time..



Sounds a little bit dramatic, no? Still, winter time is the time in the year I dread most. I agree that autumn can have wonderful colours but with every fallen leaf the barren, cold and dark time comes close. There is a beauty in winter, in snow and ice crystals, in back tree skeletons and flocks of crows flying above you. A beauty that speaks to the goth inside me. 


But it is also a like that goth aesthetic an over dramatized beauty that only comes out in special moments and definitely not in daily life. There is nothing compared to the energy and easy of life I have in summer time with the long, long days, the warmth and the colours. Everything is bright and I am more social, get more done... my perfect moment is in summer time in Formentera, sitting in a cafe in the shadows in the middle of the day, drinking some coffee, listening to the sounds around me and the air has this special scent... the scent of summer... of dry heat and thyme and rosmarin... but also in Leipzig there is this special scent... there is something in the air and you know, it is going to be summer now. Every year there is this moment, where I get the scent and I feel like a weight is lifted off me... and I can't stop to smile.



The earrings maybe represent my desire for colour. I also do a lot of dark and rather rustic and ancient work but now I need the feeling of summer! Not sure if it is so good to go against the seasons with my work if I also hope that it finds a loving new owner but I can't help myself. I create to keep me sane... and show summer how much I love and already miss it! ;)

The stud earrings are made with polymer clay. Fimo soft this time because I still have some. These small earrings are the perfect use for it. Normally I prefer a firmer polymer clay. The base was just white polymer clay and then I painted them with acrylic paint and sanded the surface down.

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