Terrific Opportunity For Vancouver Island and Gulf Island Artisans!

 The Island Artisans Association has again been offered the beautiful heritage space of Dales Gallery on Fisgard Street in the heart of Chinatown for the months of July and August, 2012.

Last summer, with only a few weeks notice, twenty IAA artisans took advantage of the Dales Gallery opportunity and their work was well received by the public. This year we are looking for at least twice as many participants in order to offer the public a wider range of product. This is also a great opportunity to showcase the work of our artisans to the Victoria market, thus fostering a greater awareness and appreciation locally for fine craft from Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. This is a 60/40 consignment sales framework.  

We need an expression of interest from individual artisans by March 1, 2012, in order to move ahead with this project. There will be a $15 fee for jurying new work.

if you are interested please email me at amusedcreations@shaw.ca and I'll supply further contact info.

Neck Rings

I've made a few more neck rings and am going to make more today. You can see I'm having fun with  colour and textures! The next step will be to get a few into some shops and see how they do sales-wise.

I'm keeping on top of polymer production  work as I wait for the spring clippings to hit the boulevards and my focus shifts over to basketry course work..

Kelp Considerations

Yesterday I paused between taking photos for a mini online tutorial(details coming soon), ordering bezels and getting OUT of this aMused Studio to have a wonderful lunch with good friends to do a Google search for kelp baskets. I was delighted to discover the kelp based experiments and creations of British designer Julia Lohmann. She conducted her some of her experiments in real-time at an open gallery and described carrying a suitcase full of kelp home from Ireland. Having travelled from Ireland and being familiar with the intense scruitiny at the airports there I wished she had given more details of checking that piece of luggage!

Her work is glorious and reminds me that I'll be travelling up the coast of Vancouver Island in a few weeks and hope to collect a nice shiny batch of bull kelp at the beach there. Julia has shown me some wonderful things to do with the luxuriant kelp leaves that I have been leaving behind on the shore!!  

Fibre Fun

Yesterday I hauled out my enormous basket of sari silk ribbons and had a wonderful time coordinating colours to go with resin and polymer pendants. Once again it occured to me that an element I love working with could be incorporated into basketry. I'm imagining a sari silk and metal wire rim on a basket.....

I'm very close to having every available bezel polymered and resin-ed and my inventory boxes are full!

A New Idea

I'm supposed to be clearing up a lot of polymer clay projects so I'll have lots of inventory for shows while I take the  six basketry courses I'm scheduled to attend through the spring . I also have to be ready to collect basketry materials in the form of yard trimmings from my neighbours boulevards as spring cleanup begins. In spite of this I managed to give myself another diversion with this neck ring idea. It's an offshoot of my FuSion bangles. The tips are finished with copper cones and the ring is held with a chain with a hook allowing for a range of adjustability. The clay is buffed to a high sheen with my foredom buffer. This one is a prototype. I think I'll make a few to add to my polymer clay inventory this summer.

It comes to mind that a similar ring could serve as a very interesting rim for a basket! 

Looking Forward to March!

I just received confirmation for my classes at the Northwest Basket Weavers Conference in Port Orchard Washington in March! It's going to be action packed with all sorts of speakers, auctions, gallery displays and classes. I'll be in constant motion as I have three classes that extend over all four days.  If you are interested there are still spaces for late registration. 

Spring-ink

On these winter-windy days I'm enjoying myself working on making rings and pendants for Spring and Summer Sales with this technique that seems to have "turned a corner" with the effect I'm getting. I love winter and snow but the theme of these pieces is decidedly spring themed.

I'm going to have a healthy stock of work set aside for when I'm taking basketry courses in the Spring and best of all I can see a great connection with this technique and a besketry related course I'm hoping to take!

Inky Doodles

7:37 am Here's a selection of rings and pendants reading to go into the oven. I like the way they've turned out with funky sketched images and my fingers will be firmly crossed when they hit the heat. The surface layer of the clay is translucent and things can go awry in spite of my best intentions. More in 20 minutes....

8:06 am PHEW! The clay fired perfectly and after an ice water plunge there's a nice suggestion of the foils under the translucents layer. Next step- pour resin and employ buggle avoidance.

8:32 am The resin is poured. The rings are nestled in a tray of barley to hold them flat. I'll leave them all in a dark place and take them out occasionally to poke air pockets with a needle and use a mini torch to get rid of buggles. It may take all day so I'll likely put these pieces under the lights tomorrow morning. 

Scritch Scratch and Blue Haze

The scritch scratch sheet was a success and I made three bangles and ten pairs of bezel and resin earrings with it. The overall effect is very dreamy with shades of blue, green and purple and I've named the run of work from this sheet "Blue Haze".

Noodling With Scritch Scratch

I really like scritch-scratching and poking designs into sheets of skinner blended clay then going wild with alchohol inks. Sections of the sheet  can be run gently though the pasta machine to emphasize the original scratch marks. I also put a layer of translucent over sections of the sheet then add swaths of ink to get great colour effects.

This sheet will end up on FuSion Bangles and in earring and pendant bezels.
More tomorrow..... 

Wild Things- imagine the possibilities

It's exciting to explore basketry related blogs and websites these days because class scheules are starting to pop up! I discovered Jo Hart's Wilderness Basketry Blog and was especially interestd in her Wild Things basket- it speaks to me with it's organic undulations. I'm booked for the course in May... it will be a lovely trip down going along the coast of the Olympic Peninsula then south along the Hood Canal.

a New Look

Welcome the the new digs! Yes- this IS aMused Studio. I like to re-invent the blog every year and this background is amazingly similar to what I see as I sit at my keyboard- blinds and reeds so it's a natural for 2012.
Along with a new blog I like to start the new year with a fun new dayplanner-  an old fashioned one that doesn't need a battery of any sort and is neither Apple or Android. (I do love my Samsumg Tab tho!) 
The year 1912 has always fascinated me- probably because of the Titanic so I chose this one to carry me through the year! 

My calendar indicates that today I should be packing for a weekend on Galiano Island. We hope to do a bit of kayaking if the weather is accommodating. I have a fully loaded Kindle- I'm currently reading the Night Circus. I'll also  take a few big plastic bags in the hopes that I'll haul in some kelp and other beach goodies that will work in basketry.
Monday is a start day for a huge polymer production push. I have to get a solid inventory of earrings and Fusions done in what is predictably a very quiet time in shops and galleries. Hopefully I'll have a nice stash of kelp drying as I work with the polymer. 

Welcoming 2012 with Gifts

Happy 2012!

 My first project here in aMused Studio was to do the draw for the year end goodies- thanks for all the comments! I put the names in my little cedar basket and the winners are.....

Vesta Giles-

Shelley Poole-

Mary Mills-

Congratulations!

The surprises will be in the mail as soon as the statuary holidays are over!

My second project is to document what the studio looks like here on the first day of the new year. I did not clean up- I just took the photo- as Anderson Cooper might say- "I'm keeping myself honest". You can see the little basket used in the draw and some organizational turmoil on my desk. Rushes collected on Saltspring sit to the right reminding me to get a soaking bin. The polymer worktable is to the left with some balls of scrap clay waiting to be reconditioned. I resolve at some time to vacuum but I also resolve to accept that this room will never be consistently tidy.

The third project was to add the title of the last book I read in 2011 then get set to start my Reading List for 2012!

The fourth project is to head to the shore to launch my kayak - my back is working properly again and I'm feeling like a celebration!

Cheers!

A Year End Treat For You!

To celebrate the end of a very unsettling year I'm offering to lift your spirits with a re-run of my all time ever favourite commercial. It was so fitting that Time magazine made "The Protester" the person of the year. How blessed we would be if all problems requiring people to take a stand on the streets could have been solved this happily.

Enjoy the video and the uplifting music by Charles Trenet which you may end up happily humming as you pour your champagne, then.... add a comment in the box below - I'm celebrating years end and the opening of a shiny new 2012 with a draw for three surprise gifts- each item is handcrafted here in my aMused Studio. I'll do a blind draw and contact the three winners on New Years Day for your addresses.

I know Blogger is sometimes cranky for people posting comments here- I've never been able to resolve it but Blogger recently added lots of cool new features so maybe the issue was resolved....if not you may be able to post as "Anonymous" just indicate who you are. I'm sure to find you!

BEST WISHES FOR A HAPPY

AND CREATIVE NEW YEAR!

gera

Reflections on a year....

As usual I'm spending the waning daze of December cleaning out the studio. It's in transition. Polymer Clay is on the worktable but baskets of reeds and coils of dried kelp, bark and roots line the walls. Currently all my polymer is production work- earrings, rings and Fusion Bangles. Muses, large pieces or even smaller canvasses that are already underpriced don't sell in this economy and I'm finding it very difficult to be creative when work made with love and expensive materials ends up sitting unsold on my own walls.

Along with the econmic downer I suffered a blow early in nasty 2011 when I made the mistake of applying to a show that I never really had much interest in or respect for. Everyone told me it would be great to go into it. They said  "everyone gets in- you'd  be a shoe in"... not me. I was rejected. What a disheartening kick in the creative butt. (Maybe that's where my back issue came from!) It hurt. A LOT.

I've missed being accepted into shows or galleries before and everyone knows how it takes a while to get over it but when you miss one that you don't respect- that's particularily tough. I was also baffled because some of the images I sent to the jury had been accepted by prestigious shows! Several had even sold! I must be recovering because I'm sharing it here. Lesson learned- don't submit to a show if you don't respect it. Similarily- don't approach a shop or gallery to consign your work if you yourself wouldn't choose to shop there!  Another tip- don't apply to any venue close to where you live- it's no fun walking by a place that has turned their noses up at you! Think- what would happen if they say "no"... is it right next door to a store you go to on a regular basis? A similar experience affected my shopping practices when I lived in Richmond and was trying to market my gourd art.

After that demoralizing morass  I was in need of some sort of tonic to regain my equilibrium. I crawled out from under my rock and good things started to happen. We serendiptously accquired kayaks. That was a huge move for me- because I can't swim. A non swimmer in a kayak faces something even scarier than a jury that has issues with polymer clay. Falling in! (I have a very good flotation device and capsize lessons will be scheduled in the spring)

Next I began to explore basketry with the idea of combining polymer with intertwined organics. I took wonderful classes and am able to travel to lovely locations like Saltspring Island and the Olympic Penninsula. I've joined the Northwest Basket Weavers Guild and I'll be going to the annual retreat in March! I'm also eying a basket making workshop in Oregon in June.

I ended 2011 by being humbled by a seized back and hip  embellished with horrible spasms. It made me grateful for knowing I would eventually get better with a modicum of discomfort compared to that suffered by many others including many very dear friends who often read this blog. I'm well into recovery now and can even perform such impressive feats as picking things up from the floor! I vow never to be in that condition again and I have booked myself into a local yoga studio!

Thanks for reading through this missive. I got some stuff off my chest and maybe even gave some good tips.You have earned a treat for following my progress, sympathising with me, encouraging me and giving me a lift by deciding to follow this frequently discombobulated blog blob.

Check in tomorrow- I have a year end treat in store!

Christmas Windows

My daughter Gen has been as busy as a North Pole elf painting local windows! Her work can be seen at the Subway restaurants at Fort and Foul Bay Road and the Stadcona Centre, the Oak Bay Pharmasave, the Oak Bay flower shop and the bay windows of a private residence on Hampshire Road display the entire family!

 Gen's windows are unique as they reflect her wonderful sense of humour - she has Santa's sleigh being pulled by eight tiny Subway sandwiches, on another pane Santa is grounded as a group of local teens who have taken his sleigh for a spin over the neighbourhood- They are SO on the naughty list! One of my favourites is Mrs Claus and Santa in the local flower shop- if you look closely you can see tears in Mrs Claus' eyes as her husband offers her a lovely bouquet.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and all other celebrations you may be endulging in over the next days- Cheers!

Christmas Catch-Up

I'm happy to say I'm a lot more mobile than last time I checked in here- thanks to everyone who sent good wishes and /or helpful suggestions for treating  and coping with a spasm-ing back. I think my favourite suggestion was to use satin bedding and lingerie to be able to move more easily in bed when in pain! It makes good sense if you've expeienced being unable to turn over in bed and certainly handy once you've recuperated. I'm getting a CT scan as an early Christmas present tonight and I've also found a great accupuncturist and have booked  myself for regular yoga in January. I'm hoping to either get a diagnosis to fix what caused this or simply get on a path to prevent whatever it was in the first place.

On a happier note-

I was especially happy to pack a little pillow to cope with insensitive restaurant chairs and get out to meet up with some creative friends for a Christmas lunch and an annual gift swap- this year I received a pendant  by my pal Wanda Shum- isn't it gorgeous? If you are in the Victoria BC area Wanda will be teaching a millifiori clsss at Island Blue on March 18th.

I'm BACK!

I haven't posted a while because I did something to my back and have been well and truly out of commission.  There was no specific injury that I can recall other than a silly stumble on a step last spring but perhaps a lifetime of falling out of trees, slipping down stairs and falling off ladders, bridges and chairs finally caught up with me and was pretty immobile for a few weeks. In order to get rid of the spasms and pain I ended up being very drugged.  I have been on combinations of tylenol 3s, celebrex, dyclofenac and oxycodone and  I think the drugs had nastier effects than the back pain but it's all a fog now. It was painful, boring, humiliating, scary and it's not quite over yet. I am still still very sore and have the physical sensation that somewhere along the line someone took a swipe at my lower back with a baseball bat. A CT scan is pending. I am on the mend though but am very aware and humbled to think what people who are really ill have to endure. Today I was able to get out of bed without having to strategize or ask for help, I was able to pick up my socks and drive my son to work then go do some shopping at the grocery store and I was grateful for every mundane movement and moment. 


There were bright spots here and there through the two dreadful weeks and they came c/o of friends I've met here online-


One day I hobbled to the mailbox and found an unexpected parcel in the mail. An anonymous "RAC"- (random act of clayness) sent from Ontario- a fascinating collection of extruded polymer clay that suggests facinating basketry applications. 

Thanks for the fun of the inspiring  mystery package goes to my dear friend Georgia Ferrell- it gave me a lift on a dark day! she's well aware of my excursion into combining polymer and basketry- a great nudge iggy!

Another bright moment came from my neighbour across the water- Port Angeles resident InaRae who forwarded this wonderful image of a basket created by Deborah Kruger who is participating in the Crafts America show in Washington - I love the textural mix of she uses in a 3D object! Thanks for thinking of me InaRae- and you're right- this is the sort of direction I have in mind!


The latest bright note came from master basketry artist Stella Harding who emailed me to invite me to visit her lovely new Storylines Blog! She's posted fascinating descriptions of her process as well as marvellous photos of current work and exhibitions. There's a description of her new book Practical Basketry Techniques that has me marking May 2012 in my calendar. Hope she has an North American book tour! I long to take a class with her!


I have to say- I''m HAPPPY to be able to sit here and type- sitting on  a chair was impossible this time last week . We are all so lucky when our bodies work as they should-it was a painful lesson but I'm changing my ways!

Gifts For Myself and Others- Sunday- final day

I was on shift at our Group booth at the Gifts for Myself and Others Show yesterday. Our booth showcases the work of nine artisans and it's really fun to represent other artists!

The entire show is of the usual high standard that has been exemplified many years and it's a pleasure to stroll around the booths to see what everyone has been doing over the last year as well as see the work of several artisans who are new to the event. The show closes at 5:00 pm today.

Gifts for Myself and Others- 2011

Gifts for Myself and Others starts at noon today! If you are in Victoria this is the place to be! Top quality jurored fine island-made craft, outstanding food by the International Womens' Co-Op and Brad Prevedoros supplying  beautiful music. I'll be on shift on Satuday and Sunday mornings so look for me in Booth 31.

My Micro Booth!

While I've been building foundation skills with basketry I have continued making clay items for sale in shops and galleries although not on the scale as in previous years. When I heard that my favourite craft event- Gifts for Myself and Others was offering space in a cooperative booth I signed up right away! It will be my only show this year...my booth has shrunk from last years corner 8x10' booth to a svelte 2x3' section of a table. No grids or wall backing! Here's my ubiquitous pre-show dining room set up with art cards, earrings, Fusion Bangles and rings being my sole offerings. No baskets or woven projects this year.

I love my new 3 sectioned table top sized shutters- our neighbours tossed them on the boulevard during a home renovation and I snagged them along with several others - after a rejuvenating spray of copper paint they look very spiffy.

Today we'll set up the booth. The shelves and displays will be "loaded" tomorrow morning and the show starts TOMORROW! My feet will appreciate that a group booth means we work in shifts so we'll have time outs through the show.

To be continued....

Joan Carrigan- Bark Basketry Workshop

Some of Joan's Baskets

This past weekend I ferried over to Salt Spring Island to take a 2 day bark basketry course with Joan Carrigan. It was a small class of six- and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely. The class began with a demonstration on preparing cedar and willow bark and we all had a chance for hands on use of the bark.

Joan demonstrates how to prepare cedar bark

Cutting willow bark strips

Work begins!
We were taught how to use various plaiting techniques to make three different pouches.. The bark was absolutely gorgeous in colour and texture and it was  hard to decide which side of the willow bark should be on the inside or outside of the basket!

 Joan teaches at her home studio on Saltspring as well as at the Horticultural Centre of the Pacific 
in Victoria.

Chicago- my kind of town.

My first visit to Chicago was in July and we managed to fall in love with the city in spite of a humid 105F. Our friends there reminded us that their door is always open for hosting a return visit to see a Canucks game. A few months later I spotted that the SOFA show was in Chicago in November and on a whim I checked the NHL schedule and was astonished to see that both events were on the same weekend! Calendars were synchronised, airmile points were applied and the trip was on!


The SOFA and INTUIT show were beautifully overwhelming.  

The exhibitors are primarily galleries from the US but many Canadian artists were in evidence.  I have to say there was a modest showing of polymer clay but I wasn't looking at the many jewelry booths so I may have missed a lot. The RAM book was on a table for perusal and there was a lady there giving an enthusuastic  explanation of what polymer clay actually is.
As there was so much to see my focus was polymer clay, basketry and mixed media. I was over the moon when I found out that I could take pictures!!!! 
My two favourite booths were The Jane Sauer and the Tai Gallery which are both from Santa Fe and have a powerful focus on  basketry. The bamboo work in the Tai Gallery was fascinating.

TAI GALLERY 

NAGAKURA Kenichi - TAI GALLERY

JANE SAUR EXPLAINS A BASKETRY TECHNIQUE

Blackboard backgrounds were used in several booths- on walls or table tops

By the way- the Canucks won 6-2!