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.

A Review of November 2009

Following my first public sales event on the first of this month, I have spent my creative time making butterfly brooches, which was not as easy as I thought to make purely from FP. After many attempts, which looked flat and clumbsy, my last butterfly (CF022) finally captivated the look I was trying to get and I only deemed this one good enough to be sold as an Art-Brooch.

I have also spent a lot of time thinking about combining FP with other materials in my brooches, as I am keen to get different surface textures, particularly matt surfaces to contrast with the high gloss finish of the FP when it has been coated with Envirotex Lite.

Although the design stage is still in my head at the moment, I am thinking of making some moulds from my own designs. This would enable me to cast part of the brooch base (either in resin or clay) relatively easily, so that I can concentrate my time on the inlaid designs with FP and other materials. I may also have come up with a different type of fastening pin that could fit flush into the back of the brooch, so that it would fit into the frame better (which I am also considering casting from my own design as well). Lots more to think about for December!

Topmark Products

I went to visit Topmark Products, to see the range of model-making supplies available, after making contact with the Director of the company at the recent St Heliers Art and Craft Market. I was totally inspired by the vast range of products and felt sure that I would end up satisfying a latent desire to design and make my own moulds and castings.

AMACO Friendly Plastic Butterfly Design Challenge

Today I posted off my butterfly design for the AMACO Friendly Plastic Butterfly Design Challenge. It is called "Rainbow Shimmer". This was made very quickly at the weekend, to take advantage of the extended deadline for entries.

This butterfly was made by pressing FP from behind through a preformed metal butterfly shape. Next I need to try making some butterflies, just from FP, using the marbling technique. I have a commission for a butterfly brooch and said I would have a few to choose from at the next St Heliers Art & Craft Market.

Successful first event

The first public showing of my Art-Brooch designs took place at the St Heliers Art & Craft Market on Sunday 1 November. This was also my first craft fair in New Zealand. I believe this first event was quite successful considering that visitor numbers to the market on this particular Sunday were extremely low, due to other events going on in Auckland on the same day. This included the Auckland Marathon, which resulted in one of the main roads from the city to St Heliers (and the Harbour Bridge) being closed to traffic.

I was pleased to hear most people say what a great idea the Art-Brooch concept is and that they have not seen anything else like it before. I have been fairly limited in the amount of time I have had available to build the collection of Art-Brooches for this first event. However, I am inspired with ideas which need to be developed to refine the concept and also for new designs to add to the collection.