'Creative Meltdown'

Sunday afternoon, I finally had a few hours to be creative. Yesterday, a creative friend gave me some off-cuts of her paste paper to play with, until I get a chance to make some myself. I am keen to try this technique for my paper mosaic work, after being inspired by the work of Lorrie Abdo Grainger.

I sat and looked at the paper strips but could not get in a creative mood. It may have been that it felt wrong to use someone else’s work in pieces I intended to make for sale, or, it may be that after my initial experiments at coating paper mosaic pieces with resin, my heart was not really in it. Or was it just the humid Summer heat here?

I had what I can only describe as a ‘creative meltdown’ - I could not concentrate on anything, my head was just spinning. One minute I was going back to Friendly Plastic. Then it was resin. Should I try polymer clay? Or go back to doing paintings? Then a rethink about paper mosaics. Just round and round in circles! I think this was just the culmination of what had been a growing feeling of depression at having to start from scratch again, building a creative reputation. Since emigrating to New Zealand, I have been trying to find suitable sales venues and attracting a client following (this had taken many, many years to do in the UK) – and now I did not even know what medium I wanted to work with!

In the end, I decided it was just not meant to be a creative day, so I went for a long walk on the beach and tried to clear my head. When I thought everything through, I came to the conclusion that I really wanted to continue with my Art-Brooches. As for what to make them out of - well, maybe I should not get that hung up about it. I always seem to be trying different media, so why not make the brooches out of different media – they don’t all have to be the same, I can just use whatever inspires me. Problem sorted!

First and last trial with MagicGlos on paper mosiacs

For my first experiment with MagicGlos, I decided to try and replicate my early brooch design CF002 using paper mosaics.

I painted some thin card in the same colours, cut them into the shapes and stuck the pieces onto some thick solid black card for the brooch base, with matt acrylic medium. I trimmed the brooch base to shape and coated the whole piece again with matt acrylic medium, to ensure that the stuck on pieces sealed well onto the base.

When dry, I used the MagicGlos to coat each of the stuck on pieces. It was easy to apply straight from the bottle, using a cocktail stick to get the resin into very tight areas. It created a great domed effect on each piece (just as I hoped), no problem with air bubbles and it cured quickly (10-15 minutes) in the sun. It looked really good but, sadly I found, as stated somewhere in the directions, the resin did not adhere to the acrylic medium because it is water-based. The cured resin pieces just slipped off, when you touched them, leaving a sticky patch underneath.

I tried spraying the piece with some spray varnish I had (which I guessed was not water-based by the smell of it) and redid the MagicGlos. This time the cured resin did stick to the surface, however, I only flexed the card base slightly and the resin pieces peeled off. This was really disappointing, as I did not feel confident that it would be durable enough.

MagicGlos was designed for use on polymer clay – perhaps I should try that?

In the end, I used Envirotex Lite resin on this trial piece. Although it stuck to the surface fine, giving a hard, glossy surface, it is not as viscous as the MagicGlos. I tried very hard to keep the resin just on the coloured pieces but it still spread and the distinction between ‘mosaic piece’ and ‘grout’ has been lost.

MagicGlos has arrived

Finally the sample of MagicGlos arrived from America. This is an epoxy resin which cures on exposure to ultra-violet light. I was excited when I discovered this product, as I thought it could be so much better than using Envirotex Lite
(a two part expoxy resin) to give a raised glossy finish to my paper mosaic pieces. It has a much longer work time (until exposed to UV light) and cures in 5-15 minutes. However, I am now hesitant after reading the instruction leaflet enclosed which recommends not using it over water-based glues/sealers. I do not remember this being mentioned on the website information, but maybe I missed it, and I was intending to use it over my pieces which would be glued/sealed with matt acrylic medium. I will have to try it and see what happens.

Auckland Anniversary Art & Craft Market at Mission Bay

Despite the strong winds and rain (so uable to set up my table as I normally would, with side drapes and tiered display), this event did go ahead and was surprisingly well attended considering the weather. I must give a big thank you to my husband Colin, picutred here behind my table, who spent most of the day holding down the gazebo to stop it blowing away! I sold off some of my existing Art-Brooches (made from Friendly Plastic), as I want to make room for some new stock, using the paper mosaic technique.

A Review of January 2010

Unfortunately, I have nothing creative to report on for this month. We started packing at the beginning of the month and moved from St Heliers to Browns Bay on 23rd January. I have had plenty of time to think, as all my art and craft materials have been packed away, but as yet have not been able to try anything out, as it is still in boxes waiting to be unpacked.

Due to our current lifestyle, I am planning to return to Paper Mosaics and develop this technique further. I intend to hand paint coloured papers and seal the cut pieces with resin to give them a raised, tactile and resilient finish. I will continue to make Art-Brooches but will be using the paper mosaic technique –they will almost act as little samples. However, from the experience gained so far, I will sell them individually, with the additional option to purchase a frame to keep the brooch in.

As size is not a restriction with this medium, I can also do paper mosaic wall-art, decorative mirror and photo frames and any other decorative objects that inspire. There is certainly more versatility with paper mosaics and not the continual worry of damage by high temperatures, which is the disadvantage of using the Friendly Plastic material.

'Rainbow Shimmer' features at Anaheim

Artists from around the world have made butterflies to commemorate the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust for the ‘Butterfly Project’ at the Holocaust Museum Houston. Those butterflies made for the AMACO Friendly Plastic Butterfly Design Challenge were featured at the CHA Show in Anaheim. My butterfly, 'Rainbow Shimmer', is Entry 12.

A Review of December 2009

From the observations made at the two craft markets I did running up to Christmas, I have decided to rethink how I present my Art-Brooches. Despite having printed information, it was quite obvious from every visitor I spoke to, that they did not realize it was a detachable brooch in the frame. So, rather than selling the complete package, I think I will have to sell the Art-Brooches on their own, with the option of purchasing frames to keep them in.

I have been working on some more brooches (CF023 - CF031), using Friendly Plastic, but all the time thinking about future designs that will incorporate other materials for contrast. As there is no market at St Heliers in January, I have booked to do the big art and craft market at Mission Bay, on Auckland Anniversary Day (1st February 2010), which should be a great event if the weather is good.

My plans to do some experimenting, over the Christmas holiday time, with mould-making and casting did not exactly go to plan. We have today, just signed up to move into a great little apartment, right on the beach front, in a couple of weeks time. It is, however, in a totally different location – Browns Bay on the North Shore.

I only managed to have one small go with the casting resin (Easycast) kit but the pieces I made were very thin, so I found that they snapped if you bent them. I do not know how thick a layer it needs to be to have the strength but this has ruled out using it to make the thin additions to my 'cast' brooch ideas. I then started to think maybe polymer clay? But that may well be the same when in a thin layer. I have not had a chance to try the silicone (Pinkysil) for making moulds (I used the reusable KleanKlay) or the doming resin kit, to compare with the Envirotex Lite that I have used previously. After reading all the data/safety sheets for the resins, I do not know how I feel about using them long-term.

Anyway, my creative ideas will have to go on hold for the time being, while we pack up, move in and get settled in our new place. Limitations on space in the new apartment and reorganizing my creative time to fit in with our commute to work means that I will most probably have to change the medium I am working with – it could be a return to Paper Mosaics. So the New Year may well bring a new direction to my art/craftwork.

Art-Brooch Designs CF023 - CF031

'Winter Splendor' Design Challenge - Winner?

It appears that I may have won the Winter Splendor Design Challenge, as mine was the only entry!

'Winter Splendor' Design Challenge - entry

This is my entry, which is titled 'Frosty Quarters'. It was a bit of a rush for me to get something done, with two Christmas craft fairs and other Christmas preperations going on in December.

Designs for moulds

Over the last few weeks, I have been sketching out ideas and trying to work out how I would make moulds for brooch bases, which I can then add to/embellish to make each one different. I am a bit torn, as I like the idea of making my own moulds and casting (this would help to speed up production) but I still want to keep my pieces as ‘one-off’ originals (even though people do not seem to fully understand what this means).

Before I plunge into another new thing, that requires more materials, tools, etc, I am hoping to get some little kits (one for making moulds and one with resin for casting) to experiment with over the Christmas break. This should be fun and will give me an idea as to whether I am going to pursue this line of thought further.