Jewellery up-cycle

It's still wedding season, even though as I write this the weatherman is talking of flood warnings and severe rain... This week I have been finishing the hems of Bridesmaid dresses for the upcoming wedding of a good friend. Stressful! But I think I'm just about done...


Of course, MY outfit for the big day is all sorted and going to be completely inappropriate for the weather. However I was necklace-less. I wanted something girly and delicate but simple, so as not to draw too much attention away from my dress...and shoes.

I keep and collect any unusual or useful bits of jewellery, especially if it's broken. Whenever I get stuck for inspiration or just want to update my accessories, I visit my up-cycle box first. Here I find a treasure trove of single earrings ready to be turned into pendants, rosary beads turn into earrings or old chains get a new lease of life as a multi layered bracelet.

Using the chain from an old broken necklace, and pearls from another, I've whipped up a simple drop style arrangement which I'm quite happy to wear. The cream coloured pearls work well against a dark base and the dress I'm going to wear, smokey grey.

Anyway..better crack on with those dresses..

Stitch doodling

Sitting Lady





 



 

 

 

 

I've been watching people again...all in the legit name of research of course. Stealing a quick sketch, simply trying to capture the gist of the pose in order to translate it in stitch at a later time.



Woman in cafe








I'm enrolled to do a life drawing class again this Autumn. When the evenings start to get a bit cooler, kids are going back to school and Winter is tapping me on the shoulder, I seem to get the urge to hide away in evening classes. No longer can you find me sipping my spritzer in the pub beneath my flat! No sir, I shall be bettering my skills and producing work!







Quick works on my pin board

Perhaps, like my stitch sketches here, I will look into using my works from the class and create more figures on fabric?

I'm thinking quite a large scale, perhaps reworking the images with dyes and applique...

Printing and Postage

After a busy week, I'm back in the studio to play. Sometimes I can spend half an hour pinning and re- pinning images and prints on my pin board, using it like a sketchbook. I find this a great way to start growing new ideas.



I've been working with ideas based around the sense of home and place at the moment. I think it all stems from my passion for travel and having to create homes away from home. I continue to mix themes of old and new, NZ and UK, then and now.

Recording ideas and working drawings in my sketchbook helped me to push concepts further.

A second hand book of London maps, showing area's where I used to frequent, creates a solid background or starting point for future works.

This is a what I'm currently working on. So far I've transferred an enlarged map onto canvas and overprinted it to pick up texture. I love the aged look and how the ink has taken to the image. Stay tuned to see how it looks when it's finished!

 

On a recent trip home to NZ I was given a treasure trove of used stamps, complete with postage marks and dates. Some date back to the 70's and 80's. Sorting through them at the weekend I was washed with nostalgia, seeing stamps I had used myself, as a kid - back when people handwrote letters. Yes, I'm THAT old. Typing this, ironically, makes me want to write a letter, by hand.

One of my fav's - I loved this clipping of the Kiwi stamps with the perfect postage mark..Christchurch.