I have just finished this one. It’s approx 6cm x 7cm in size. Gold plated wire, metallic threads, beads and custom made ‘sequins’ are applied to black felt. The photograph doesn’t show the beads are layered or applied in curves in places to give height and texture to the work.
I now have a fair-sized pile of pieces of textile art that need framing!
Golden brown
I have just finished this little piece of textile art. It measures just 7cm x 7cm. I’m not entirely sure about it, as the shapes/patterns are not my usual kind of organic spirals and curves, but … it was different to do and I’m actually proud of myself that I didn’t give up part way through the process. There was a point where I was going ‘yeuch’ mentally about it, but it seems to have worked out ok.
I also used matt embroidery threads in this one to get a different kind of texture involved, so this is really more of a test piece, an experiment to see how things work out. I’m also glad I went with the metallic purple/brown/blue/dark gold/green beads in places as they give a nice contrast to the gold that is used in so many places.
So onward with the work …whatever will appear next, I wonder?
Interesting work …
I found my way to First andFifteenth -the website/blog of Steve Powers who does some rather interesting stuff with words and pictures. I particularly like the plays on words that he makes. It’s different for sure! I found my way via a mention given by Neil Gaiman on Twitter.
Another blog I found my way to, again by Mr Gaiman I believe, was Whodunnknit, run by DeadlyKnitshade, another denizen of the rather puzzling thing that is Twitter. I do wish there was such a group of knitting guerillas/graffiti knitters nearer to me *sigh*, yet it seems such great fun!
Finally … destressing at last!
I actually feel more like myself today, calmer, more relaxed. This is good. Mind you, I woke at stupid o’clock this morning and managed to get back to sleep over an hour later after trying reading, puzzles, and finally meditation, which did the trick. When I settled back down to sleep, the purryfurryone had already given up trying to bounce and clamber all over me and had fallen asleep and was snoring, just to add insult to injury! I must say, however, I absolutely adore my pusscat, he’s certainly one of a kind, totally neurotic, insecure but he does seem to be very attached to me, sometimes quite literally so!
The letter ‘i’
Approx. 5cm x 13 cm worked using wires, metallic threads, beads and custom made ‘sequins’ on black felt. The colours are silvers, blues, greens and purples. Again, my poor photographic skills do this a disservice, but then again, no photography would capture the way this shimmers and shines and catches the light in different ways as you view it from slightly different angles.
I’m quite pleased with it. The letters are a much more rigid format than I’m used to working with, but there’s still scope for so much embellishment and patterns within them.
The bonus is that it’s very relaxing for me to do this, almost meditative in nature. That can only be of benefit to me. Also, it’s been nice to be cwtched up under a fleecy blanket whilst working both this letter and the jewellery. It’s a chilly day here, with heavy rain from time to time. It’s nice to hear the rain on the windows and know that I do not need to go out in it. It was doubly nice this morning as I was sat in bed, the purrfurrball (cat) draped over my legs, purring loudly, as I could hear the rain on the windows. It was a very comforting place to be. Also, it is the only place that the cat will sit on my legs/lap – his favoured spot is upon my chest, head nuzzled into my neck or shoulder, and that brings an end to anything that involves using my hands!
The Jewellery
The earrings are approx 2cm x 3cm.
The pendant is approx 3cm x 3.5cm.
Both worked with silver beads, purple/green iridescent ‘sequins’, silver threads. The earrings have purple beads on them.
Just a few little items made for a friends’ daughters’ birthday this week … they didn’t take too long to do either, just a couple of hours, simply because I kept the design simple and not over embellished. The pendant has a different ‘edging’ to my usual over-stitched beads; I’ve used bugle beads sewn close to the edge of the felt so that there is a black border around them. I don’t know if it works well, I’ll see what the feedback is from my friend!
The third of the day! This one is 4cm x 6cm in size and the photo really doesn’t show it at all well. Pink, purple and silver beads, silver and pink metallic threads, and wavy pieces of pink/purple/rainbow custom ‘sequins’.
During my last summer hols, I did some work for art in school based on a photograph of a silver birch wood. The patterns from this are from my memories of the patterns that emerged from that work.
Busy fingers today!
Just a teenie tiny one – 5cm x 5cm. Finished not too long ago now. The colours aren’t quite right on the photo, they’re a little washed out, but there’s greens, blues, silvers and purples there, and the larger beads are white/pearlescent/iridescent. The colours and shapes remind me of the sea …
The last couple of days have been bliss – losing myself in creating stuff. I have a few more to go yet; thank the gods for half-term!
This was completed not too long ago. For some reason I felt inspired to create a heart … so I went with it. The picture really doesn’t do the little piece justice, however. It is just 7cm x 11cm in size. The beads are a lovely warm red, towards the blue side of the red spectrum rather than the orange size, and they are finished with an iridescent sheen. The large, custom made ‘sequins’ are copper coloured with rainbow iridescence, but change green when viewed at different angles. The wires forming the heart and the patterns inside are copper, as are the metallic threads that are used to embellish parts of the piece. It’s all worked on black felt, the matt nature of which provides a lovely contrast to the shiny, sparkly, iridescence of the things on top of it.
I know that once pay-day comes along, top of my shopping list, right next to the monthly purchases of mog-pog-fod (cat food) and kitty litter, will be frames and mount-board so that these latest creations can be displayed to best effect. Mind you, this one will challenge me in framing it as I’ve not left much of a border round it. I suspect I’ll be attaching it to a bigger piece of felt in order to frame it.
What to do next in terms of textile work … hmm?
I finished this earlier this evening. It’s taken me several hours of work, and I’m quite pleased with it. The organic swirls that fill the framework of the letter are inspired by La Tene culture art (early Celtic art). The large ‘sequins’ are custom made by myself. There’s not so many beads on this as in other examples of my textile work; I found the heavy application of the metallic threads created a lovely shimmery and dense finish that didn’t detract from the letter shape. I also haven gone to town embellishing around the letter; I got the large custom ‘sequins’ in place and realised that that was about it for the embellishment around the letter as they seem to enhance it not overpower it. So, all in all, I’m pleased with this for a first-time go at something so structured, so to speak.
I’m also pleased because I think I’ve found a way to create works of art using words and symbols, something that is uniquely me perhaps. Only time will tell.
Other textile work
It’s now half-term for me – hooray! I’ve been told by my pal that she wants all my textile jewellery and any textile works I have for sale as the people at the offices where the Princess Royal visited and received a piece of my art on Monday want to buy my art/jewellery! She said she’ll take over that side of things, and of course I shall make sure she has a commission for doing this! I now have to decide what to do next – another textile picture or to start on more pieces of jewellery …
Whichever I decide, I know I’ll enjoy doing it and it will help me to de-stress after a very stressful half-term.
De-stressing from the distress…
I had a major stress-out on Wednesday which resulted in me being home on Thursday with a horrible headache and a very upset digestive system. Not that anything major happened, not at all, but just the constant day to day stresses increasing the level within me … I am now coming down, and I will make sure that this week has me relaxing, meditating, creating as much as possible.
Art is the Adventure 