Feature Artist on The Art of Friendly Plastic

Today, I was the 'feature artist' on The Art of Friendly Plastic blog.

A mention in the local paper

Newspaper cutting from the East & Bays Courier - Friday 30 October 2009

A Review of October 2009

I am writing this early, as we are going away, to Tauranga, for Labour weekend – a much deserved break! I have worked really hard this month to complete my first 20 Art-Brooches (in addition to the first one, which I am keeping for myself) for my first New Zealand craft fair on 1st November. I have had to use bought frames for displaying my brooches, due to time time constraints, but I intend to work on the idea of designing and casting my own display frames in the future.

CF001 - I will keep this one for myself

To save space, the following photos have been cropped, so the frames are not shown, but hopefully they give an idea of what my Art-Brooches look like.

Art-Brooch Designs CF002 - CF021

It is now seven months since we emigrated from the UK and one month until my first craft fair in New Zealand (St Heliers Art and Craft Market), which is booked for Sunday 1st November. This will be the first showing of my Art-Brooches, to gauge public reaction to my idea for a new concept in jewellery. When I left home this morning, there was a rainbow – so I hope this is a good omen for things to come.

I have bought the domain name www.clairefairweather.co.nz, so I can develop a website to start off my Art-Brooch venture here in New Zealand. Looking to the future, with a view to selling internationally, I have also bought www.art-brooches.com.

I really need to stay positive and focused – and hopefully, my determination to succeed will make my Art-Brooch idea a success.

A Review of September 2009

I have enjoyed playing around and experimenting with the Friendly Plastic this month. It really is quite addictive, if a little uncontrollable for my liking. Sometimes it is difficult to know when to stop – or you realise you should have stopped when it is too late.

I am really excited about my idea for Art-Brooches, as I think this is something different and hopefully unique. I have searched on Google and have not come across anyone else with a similar idea. So many people seem to sell jewellery at craft fairs, I have never considered it before as I like to be different, but on looking round very few seem to have brooches. This may be because brooches are considered a bit ‘old-fashioned’ but I hope my ideas for presentation will make the brooches quite contemporary. Also, the Art-Brooch concept is a good transition for me from ‘art’ to ‘jewellery’.

Working at such a small scale, creating the brooches, is something I am not used to. However, it should be much better for my neck (years of bad posture, leaning over large pieces of art/craftwork, have given me permanent neck discomfort) and I am currently seeing a chiropractor to try and help with the neck problem. Other advantages of working small scale are that it does not take so long to complete a finished piece (which is good as I am currently working full-time) and, when I come to pack up all my sales items for my first craft fair, everything should fit in one, light box. The latter is fantastic – no more lugging back-breaking boxes in and out of cars, etc.

Surf & Sand Design Challenge - entry

Tonight I submitted my card design for the 'Surf & Sand Design Challenge', on the Friendly Plastic Blogpsot.

A Happy Accident

Today, I believe I have hit on a really unique style for my Art-Brooch designs – and it was all a ‘happy accident’. This morning, I was really excited about making my first ‘Art-Brooch’. I had drawn out the design, made up of overlapping triangular shapes of different sizes, and chosen some of my favourite colours of FP, as I thought I would keep the very first Art-Brooch for myself.

I am still learning and my first attempt at fusing the different layers did not work perfectly, as some of the triangular shapes sagged when I built up the layers. Thinking about how I could overcome this problem, I came up with an idea. So I made another one, using exactly the same coloured pieces. It still was not perfect (although the idea was simple, it was actually not so simple to construct) but it was technically better than the first one.

Just for fun, I thought I would put the first piece on the griddle pan and swirl it about when molten with the needle tool. This I did and it ended up looking fantastic. It was so satisfying creating the piece, as it was similar to ‘marbling’ (which I find fascinating and love doing) but more ‘free-form’. The flow of the swirling lines and colours really brought it to life, it looked so much more interesting than the stilted ‘angular’ design I had originally planned. It is also totally unique – I could never create another one exactly the same, even if I used the same coloured shapes to start with.

I then made a third piece (using exactly the same coloured pieces again) and worked it even more. By chance, the original triangular shapes, which I had randomly drawn, ended up looking almost flower-like. The photograph below shows the three pieces and the transition from angular to freeform design. They have all been sealed with a coat of Envirotex Lite.



It would take some thought, trial and error to work out what a finished piece might look like, depending on the starting shapes and the swirl lines made with the needle tool but I suddenly feel inspired to create pieces reminiscent of flowers, leaves, waves, landscapes, in fact anything natural - as there are ‘no straight lines in nature’. Due to the free-form nature, the end result may not be that predictable but I can always add some embellishments or paint in some additional detail, if required, to enhance the design.

So, I think this ‘happy accident’ has transformed my design ideas for the Art-Brooches, resulting in a technique that is so enjoyable to do and will create totally unique pieces – I just cannot wait to do more.

Six months on ...

We have now been living in New Zealand for six months and I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone by. After some initial experimenting, I now know where I want to go with Friendly Plastic, so I must get on with some serious designs, focusing on developing my idea for Art-Brooches – a unique piece of ‘art’ you can wear.

A Review of August 2009

This month has been a bit frustrating, as I have been unable to finish anything. I have now got plenty of FP sticks and other bits and pieces to experiment with and have made a few trial pieces. Unfortunately, I have had to wait over two weeks (due to incompetant couriers) to get the Envirotex Lite for the finishing coat, which I did yesterday. I checked it tonight and it has all set nice and hard and smooth. It really does make the Friendly Plastic look like glass.

SORRY, NO PHOTOS (I forgot to photograph them before they were sold). The pendants are fine but the small pictures will need another coat. I have found that if you make larger pieces of FP, they tend to curl up at the edges and even the E6000 glue will not hold it down - consequently some bits are protruding through the layer of Envirotex Lite. We will be away next weekend, which is why I am writing this now, so it will be two weeks before they get a second coat and are complete (I need to do it on a weekend in daylight, as the lighting here is too poor in the evenings).

In fact, even the small 'mosaic' pieces I made have curved slightly at the edges. They were fine when I first made them but have been waiting around for a month or so to be glued. When I start the big round mirror, I must glue the pieces on to the frame within a few days of making them.

Despite the frustrations of the month, I have also had inspiration - I now know what I want to concentrate on making with FP for the immediate future. It was on 13th August that I first had the idea of 'Art-Brooches' - a small, one-off piece of art that can be worn as a brooch, but when not being worn, fits into a frame so it can be hung on the wall or displayed on a stand. I have been busy planning and starting some designs but do not want to say anymore at the moment until I have actually made some trial pieces. Hopefully, in September I can concentrate on the idea more - as well as finding time to create my entry for the 'Surf and Sand Design Challenge'.

My order has arrived

When I got home from work yesterday, my second order from Rarebird Ltd was waiting for me - I just could not wait to play!

Now, I have so many different coloured sticks of FP, I am 'hyper' with excitement and have no excuse for not making anything. I tried the 'Heat Buddy' heat gun that I had ordered - it worked really well and was so quiet. I was able to soften the Friendly Plastic without causing bubbles, which is what happened with my old heat gun (it seemed to get too hot even though I kept moving it about). I am pleased about this because I was not sure if I was just duplicating something I already had.

I ended up working all evening (and thoroughly enjoying myself), creating four pendants, to use the different shaped pendant bases that I had. In particular, I practiced making inlays with cutters. I am curious to see how they turn out when they receive a final coat of Envirotex Lite and will then post a photo.

I managed to find two companies in New Zealand that stock Envirotex Lite and ordered some from one, last week, but I am still waiting for it to arrive. I hope it comes in time for the weekend, so I can finish the pendants and also coat the pieces in my small 'mosaic' design.