Week 27- Texture

Focus on life.. Texture


Finally a prompt I like!  I got all gung ho and photographed all sorts of neat bead tools... this is the only picture I took that was in focus

I thought the texture on the dirty rug (bead shop doorway) was kind of interesting...  This is actually a relatively new tool....

I used to do a lot of leaded glass panels.... mainly textured clear with a little bit of colour....
This was the prototype for a much larger commissioned window.  I made the roundels on the torch.  The commissioned window is here . The scarf in the same blog was never finished it was ripped apart and turned back into balls!




















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Beads made with one of my favorite bead rollers These were made using the BR-5301 RIBBED SMALL ROUND SPACERS graphite mold.  I also have  BR-5101 the     RIBBED SMALL STUBBY BICONE SPACERS... I find  the bicones to be much harder to make!  

The beads in between my etched glass beads are carved Quahog shells made by Marcia Poirier... she makes gorgeous pendants and earrings  from Quahog shells under the name Wildabout Wampumhttp://www.wildaboutwampum.com/index.html

To see how other people interpreted texture   & to see where the 'garbage/treasures' in lasts weeks ? post came from?

Week 12~ Observe the Curve

Focus on Life week 12 

Thought I'd take you back to Costa Rica for this weeks prompt!

These pictures were taken in Guaitil , where the entire town is dedicated to making pottery from local clays in a pre Columbian style!  Picture # 1 is pounding the clay  .... remember the air temperature is  34 C ... 94 F not my idea of a fun job!

Throwing the pot... the wheel was being turned by hand and was made out of old bicycle parts (wonder where the pre Colombians got their bicycles!)  I love the curves you get making pottery on a wheel... however I was somewhat hopeless when it came to building pots on a wheel the one class I took! Which is why I became a fibre artist... Wool doesn't fight back!  Glass however does!

Think this is a decorated version of what he was building... 

Thought I'd throw in a piece of my work this week too... this was a prototype I did for a residential commision... I don't think that some of the curves flow at all well in this panel... but it was the curviest thing I could find in the house!  And the rondels were all made by me on my minor torch

To see how other people observe the curve check Sally's blog!

More from Mahogany Mnaor

Finally took a picture of the windows I did for the dining room!  They were set up for a dinner party...

Almost Wordless Wednesday & Bead Table Wednesday (BTW)

 Latest panel....  It's actually sitting upside down in my family room window... but I have figured out how to hang it... then it should be off to it's new home!

The scarf... I need to finish the ends... think I will make a flower out of the left over beads and yarn... Anyone have any nice flower patterns... I have a few but they're for felting so not nearly enough stitches!  I took too long to get back to it after I finished the first end ... so the two ends didn't match so I had to rip back end number one and redo it....  the scarf was actually started in the middle and knitted towards the ends....

And...  I did get my tooth refilled the day after the original attempt....  1 month + two days later it's still holding.... and I'm getting used to the tooth's new shape!

Saturday Flowers

#5 Are the tulips (This one is quite a lot wider than the other 4)

These panels can be found in the Kitchen at Mahogany Manor a B&B in Uptown Saint John

Saturday Flowers

#3 Is a Yellow Climbing Rose (Think this one and the tulips are my favorite panels)

These panels can be found in the Kitchen at Mahogany Manor a B&B in Uptown Saint John

Saturday Flowers

#2 Is a blue Morning Glory (This is not quite as big a weed as the pink ones that are choking out my flower garden!)

These panels can be found in the Kitchen at Mahogany Manor a B&B in Uptown Saint John

Saturday Flowers

I thought I would post the flower panels I did for Mahogany Manor the B&B in Saint John. The 5 panels were made to hang in the kitchen windows.

I'll post them every Saturday (yea sure I will!) In the order that they were made!

#1 is a clematis (the photographs used to make the panels were all taken in the back garden of the B&B.

The clear glass used to make all 5 of the windows was reclaimed from the original diamond pane windows ....

Wordless wednesday...

Hey I actually remembered to do this on a Wednesday!



This is the leaded glass door panel that I did for Mahogany Manor the fall of 2002.... It replaced a very modern Calla Lily Panel that belonged to the former owners....

What I've been doing recently!

This is what I've been doing in my dungeon this winter... these are for the dining room of a B&B in Saint John ..Mahogany Manor there will ultimately be 2 more panels between these two... I did the dining room door for them the second fall I was here... The border 'matches' an original Victorian window in the stairwell. (The combined length of these 2 panels is just under 6 feet).

Rainy Friday....

Before we moved to NB I used to do a lot of architectural glass.... this piece is called on the fault line and has been living in a box in our garage for at least 9 years.... G is acting as VANA in the picture... Our driveway is at a steep angle and there is always a 'breeze' here so I wouldn't let G let go!... To quote the natives when we have near hurricane force winds... it's "Breezin' up a Bit"

One of the local galleries was looking for some bigger pieces so I thought this might as well spend the summer in St Andrews... but I wanted to check to see if it was OK first....

The fish are fused first then leaded in place... G & I did the woodwork....