Canada Day- Windows by Gen!

My daughter Gen is a talented illustrator and has painted our living room window to celebrate Canada day- here she is painting our family and Shadow the Cat!

HAPPY CANADA DAY !!

Suspended Vessels....

The Dancing Ladies suspended vessel is on hold while I wait for an order for wire in a certain colour to arrive.  Artistic Wire in interesting colours is unfortunately in short supply in Victoria's bead shops. Any Canadian online sources for wire will be greatly appreciated!

This process is so interesting and I'm thinking of different materials to use- handspun wool, hemp, kelp, bindweed roots? I'm also considering different ways to make the basket section.  These two have crocheted wire and will be heading to Summer at Dale's Gallery!

New Surface Effect

I've been noodling around with layers of clay and inks and stumbled upon this effect that works nicely on my FuSion Bangles....  I think I'll try use this as the surfacing for the next suspended vessel.

Summer at Dales

The Island Artisans Association will be filling Dales Gallery with the work of 50 artisans this July and August! Our new blog gives all the details and serves up a generous serving of eye candy with slideshows of the artisans' creations.

In Development and a Good Un-Crazymaking Decision

Here's the latest suspended vessel project that popped into my head yesterday- a fast sketch! I'm considering using fiber rather than wire for the basket in this one....

I made a big decision this morning that has given me an enormous sense of relief- rather than harvesting and drying and making kelp baskets in a production mode for summer shows, I'm going to focus on suspended vessels and stockpile dried kelp so that I can continue basketry explorations in the fall.
Sometimes it's good to give yourself permission to get off the treadmill.

A Perfect Kelp Beach!

 I've found an absolutely perfect beach for kelp collection- it's a rocky little bay that catches the brunt of storms and fills with kelp during a windstorm. I filled my bag today with fresh green kelp and a generous supply of older yellowy kelp that will dry in shades of gold and brown. There was so much kelp on the beach that I left a lot behind for another day. I'm learning good things like taking a utility knife and twist ties to coil the kelp  rather than having to untangle it when I get it home.

time to untangle!

Of course I'm not disclosing the exact location but I will say it's less than a five minute drive from my house!