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Movement

A few of use at Starving Artists Forum do a blog hop, we try and make it monthly (sometimes it's late!) and this months topic is movement.

Considering the bulk of my work is jewelry movement is usually a given. One thing I have been trying to figure out is how to get some moveable pieces on these sugar skull pieces. Needless to say I have no ideas at the moment.

So for movement as a topic I am moving on, to me.

I feel a need to move more, I've been a runner for a little over a year now. I feel a tiny voice in my gutt telling me I need to do more. Try more, move. I am thinking about trying triathlons or something like that. I have a HUGE fear of swimming in open water so if I did actually do one it'd be overcoming a big fear for me. It's still in the thinking stages.

What get's you moving, in design or life?

You are beautiful!

My gorgeous garden

My garden has been a long and changing process.

The above photo is where we started out many many years ago. A bramble filled paddock that horses got turned out in once and a while.

The first year we added a simple veggie garden, I started row gardening. The wind would blow violently through the open area you see in the right of the photo. A few things grew but not much. 

Then I fell in love with the idea of having a metal studio in the garden. We found a building so cheap we just couldn't resist and it arrived via crane truck.

Lots of work went into the studio, the walls cracked when they moved it so I spent two weeks filling and sanding, then I painted the whole interior. We had to change some electrical and add water.

Interior colours are chocolate brown with purple trim in the main room, it looks a little different now there is a cabinet above my big bench and a long low table where the papasan chair is in this picture.

The machining room is turquoise blue walls wit bright green trim. There is now a long workbench in this room with all my equipment on it and water!

And here we have today, this photo is the exact same view as was the first photo. Scroll back up and look, big difference!

Behind the studio, small pond in the right hand corner. The hammock gets taken down when we are not using it the wind makes a mess out of it. I love the little fire pit but wish we'd use it more.

This was all covered in black plastic a week and a half ago. To loads of bark mulch later and one very patient husband spreading it and it looks amazing! We've had a large wood slab leaning up against our barn for two years and I figured it would make a nice table in there, makes it look a lot more welcoming.

The new veggie garden, I changed to raised beds and square foot gardening. Planted raspberries along the fence, to the right of the photo is the asparagus, blueberry, strawberry and black currant bed.

I am on the Stinking Fish Studio Tour  August 3rd -12th and am really proud of how nice the place looks.

Sing

So excited!

I have not been this excited about something I've made for a long time. These are two of the bowls I completed at MISSA last week. I love them, LOVE LOVE LOVE them! They took quite a bit of work, who knew rounding out a bowl was "so much work". Cryse (instructor) and the students kept laughing at me as I'd often pause and say "boy this is a LOT of work!" I may need a t shirt that says that! 

Figuring out how to rivet on the lily pads so the glass flowers didn't break was a real challenge, but I think I have it figured out now and am really happy with them. I have two more bowls ready for fish and lily pads but my goal this time is to raise up the lily pads!

What a settling week

I'm at MISSA all week taking a class from Cryse Harse. The above photo I stole from their website as I've been lax about taking pictures. This is a picture of the cove you look out onto from the site. It's an amazing setting.

I am doing some larger scale metal work and really enjoying it. I've made some wind chimes, several bowls (one large one!) and am working on a box frame. The class is 5 days and that really allows you to settle into a nice relaxing work process. No panic to get things done. We've also re finished a few hammers which really excited me, I never know how to fix tools once I've messed up the heads. 

I hope to take a class here every year, they offer a huge range of mediums and the people are just amazing. There are people from all over the world and instructors from everywhere as well. They have a few evening events so it allows you to met other artists. I cannot say enough good things about MISSA if you ever want to take a class somewhere else this would be the place!

Someday I will have a pond like this!

MISSA

MISSA is this week! I've been waiting anxiously for this class since last year! I'm taking Cryse Harse"s class on metal smithing on a larger scale than my normal work. I am really wanting to do some larger functional pieces and I think this may be the class that helps me move in that direction. 

The class is at MISSA at Pearson College. I'm lucky it's about 5 min from my house. A gorgeous setting in a cove on the water. I'll share pictures as the week progresses!

The ABC's

Sooke Fine Arts # 3

The third piece that got accepted into the Sooke Fine Arts Show. A viking knit bracelet and necklace accented with my boro beads. Earrings to match. I love the colours in these beads. It's a really eye catcher of a set!