Button Wednesday

Having just read the Button Wednesday post on Petronella's blog I have decided to join in.

I have a collection of buttons. I didn't specially set out to collect them, they just accumulated.

I am the same with teapots! One day I realised I had a collection of teapots.

Some of them I bought for a dressmaking or textile art projects then didn't use them. Others are saved from clothes that went for recycling. Sometimes I just buy a button because I like it and then there are the spares that come with new clothes....

Many years ago I bought some buttons from a little local haberdashers store, they looked like very old stock even then and were reduced to clear, so they are definitely vintage. They are shaped like a scallop shell and slightly pearlised.

I used one of them recently for a European Street Team challenge and this is the item I made.

Lavender and cream brooch, corsage, necklace or hair fascinator it is in my Etsy shop here

The lace is upcycled and the silk is handpainted lavender.

Adventures with Glass part 2 Glass Fusion

Glass Fusion

Edges of glass wet sanded to make them smooth.

Blue glass powder sprinkled onto the glass.

On the left the glass has been decorated with blue powder then drawn into with a colour shaper.

On the right the glass has had 3 bands of powered glass laid next to one another. The glass with the blue pattern was laid on top of the glass with the 3 colours. There is some reflection from the windows above.

These were heated in a kiln to fuse the glass and cooled slowly to prevent cracking.

The finished pieces

Adventures with Glass Part 1, Lampwork Beads

Lampwork beads made during morning's lesson

First a metal rod called a mandrel is dipped in a thick slurry of clay then dried in the flame.

This makes it possible for the bead to be removed from the mandrel when it is finshed.

The end of a glass rod is then heated in the flame. When it starts to melt it is touched to the mandrel at right angles, the glass is kept in the flame and the mandrel is turned so that glass is gathered on it.

When the gather reaches the size you want it is turned for a while longer until the bead becomes a good shape. If you don't turn it it will sag.

Some of the beads were decorated by dipping in frit. Frit is little pieces of coloured glass in gorgeous yummy colours, it sticks to the hot bead and is melted on by returning the bead to the flame. The deep blue ones had 24k gold leaf applied. The very pale amethyst ones had fine silver wire wrapped around then melted in the flame. This creates dots and fine lines of silver.

A stringer was made by pinching hot glass and pulling to get a thin length of glass. This is used to apply coloured dots to a bead. I found this the most difficult bit to do.

The beads are put in a kiln and cooled very slowly so that they don't crack.

It was all great fun, Helen the tutor was brilliant and I have some new beads to play with!

Azalea Time

Azaleas at the Isabella Plantation, Richmond Park. Original watercolour


for photos and information Isabella plantation


May is the best time to see Azaleas in flower in the UK. The scent of the azaleas meets you at the gate to the plantation. Bluebells grow beneath the trees and paths wind through masses of azaleas, rhododendrons and camellias. Some of the paths follow a stream crossed every so often by little bridges. Candelabra primulas and ferns enjoy the moisture of the stream. In the evening the sunlight filters through the trees and the birds sing. There are fewer visitors at this time and it feels like a secret garden. This tranquil oasis is only a few miles from Central London but it feel miles away. Paths branch off into grassy clearings until one eventually reaches a small lake bordered by irises and willows. The pinks and mauves of the azaleas are reflected in it's calm waters and Mandarin ducks look hopefully for food.
I did a watercolour sketch with some of my students beside this lake.


I did the painting at the top for the Europeanstreetteam challenge theme of walking/hiking / nature. It shows the main path that follows the stream.





Reflections

A Mandarin Duck

A Handkerchief tree in one of the grassy clearings.

Candelabra primula

Work in Progress 2

I have worked on the acrylic since the last post, mostly on the trees and their foliage. I was reluctant to work over the yellow ochre areas in the top third of the painting as I liked the contrast of the ochre against the blues of the swathes of bluebells. Some of it still shows through the overpainting as it does in the foreground. I needed to work over it as Iwanted to show some newly emerging foliage. I don't think it's finished yet, I'll give it a bit of time so that I can come back to it fresh. Just seeing it here smaller brings me a new perspective.

Works in Progress

acrylic

watercolour

It's bluebell time. Surrey is a wooded county and there are some lovely bluebell woods to visit. Usually the bluebells are almost over by now but this year they are late because of the cold weather we have had. I have painted them many times before in watercolour. I recently started one in watercolour and one in acrylic. Neither is finished yet.

Monday Moodboard and EST challenge

The topic for this challenge is wattle or weaving. The basket is a favourite of mine. It is woven with different coloured strips making a kind of harlequin pattern and colour co-ordinates well with this big bunch of lavender. I did this small watercolour today.
It is called Basket of Lavender and measures about 18x12 cm.

It sold at my local gallery.

These colours are reflected in my Monday moodboard.

Lavender Pearl and Glass Bead Cluster Bracelet AMIdesigns N Ireland

Oya necklace. Oya is a kind of lacework. It is characteristic of Turkey. Normal lacework has two dimensions, however, whereas oya can be knitted in three.

Oya Lace Jewellery Turkey

Flower in the woods ear rings fleurfatale Belgium

Eco friendly crotched beads, made with wood and organic bamboo yarn Three Blue Bee Turkey

More europeanstreetteam moodboards here