Pruning, which has no relation to Prunes, Swords, Mixing Wires and Getting Back into it All

Well, the weather got a bit wintery for a change! In a good way, it's been dismally dull and wet for weeks round here. Steady light rain and the kind of dull light that makes you feel like you never actually woke up fully, so you mooch around, squelching across the mud and moss that may revert to something like a lawn one day if it ever stops raining, grumbling, mumbling and tripping over the chickens, feeling like your battery failed to recharge properly and you left your 'oomph' in your other trousers. .

But a few days ago it was crisp and bright. Cold, (comparatively of course - this is the south eastern bit of the UK after all) but we had bright sunshine for two whole days, which meant it was actually pleasant to be outside. This was convenient as there was work to be done in the garden. 

The apple trees needed pruning and as it was the right time of year for such activity I got the ladder out and set to work. I might have been a bit too enthusiastic as when I looked up a Youtube vid or two  after the event, (I know!) it seems I cut some of the new growth back a bit too much. Still, I got rid of the millions of spindly vertical bits called 'watershoots', that produce neither fruit nor blossom, so if we get fewer apples this year than we potentially might it's no great loss as we usually get far too many anyway. . . 

It's the cooking apple tree up next, Bramleys, lovely great big buggers they are. We get shedloads of them, maybe I should start up an apple pie factory or something. 

Still I'm not really complaining, I am only doing a good impression of somebody complaining, I mean, we have an actual (small) orchard FFS! Not something I imagined I would be lucky enough to own years ago ;-) So I feel suitably blessed.

Anyway, pruning aside, I have been back in my workshop making stuff. I think people, including me in my capacity as a person, are a bit tired of the chunky rectangular image transfer stuff I've been making lately, so I will leave that alone for a while I think. 

I am busy making some spike related things. Spikes with a slight difference, as I am using upcycled wire instead of copper for the bails and loops. Something I have done before but not quite in this way. I have been making Swords. . . Cool huh?

Oh yeah, before I knocked the image trans stuff on the head temporarily I messed around with using thin copper wire wrapped round some of the upcycled wire I like to use as bails etc.

Note the copper leg warmers, very 80's

I liked the effect, so I have integrated it into the Sword thing. . .

 

Selling wise, things have been a bit slow but it's all going OK, with a few things actually selling on Etsy believe it or not. Maybe I have ceased to be invisible there for a brief time, who knows?
Anyway, onwards and upwards, or at least not backwards and downwards, the climate is taking that journey on it seems. . . ;-(
Until next time, whenever that might turn out to be,
be well,
cheers
Jon x

Spikes Revisited, It's Not The Putting On It's The Wiping Off, More Beads and Happy Accidents

After a few months of working on other things, I had an urge to make some more spikes using my turned look technique. They always sold well so that was another reason to return to them. 

I never quite know what colours I will use until I start painting, and because I use alcohol inks I have the option of layering colours and diffusing them with rubbing alcohol. You can get nice blends this way.

The other cool thing about alcohol inks is that they subtly and not so subtly change colour when diluted. They seem to be dye based and have a sort of base colour that lies under the main colour which is revealed when you paint over it with rubbing alcohol, or a paler ink colour. For instance, some shades of brown revert to a sort of light blue, which seems strange but can look good.

I also find that wiping the ink off gently with a cloth reveals this under/base colour too. It also is a way of softening the hard line that forms where two areas of ink meet. It's fun to experiment with this, and that way learn a bit about the quirks of the medium. You can then use said quirks to your advantage.

I have been messing about with acrylic paints and acrylic inks too. Combining them with alcohol inks and wiping bits off here and there. An idea triggered by what turned out to be a happy accident with some rubbing alcohol ;-)

It's a bit drastic at first but a gentler touch makes the effect a bit more subtle. I'm a bit obsessed with it right now so various distressed looking beads and spikes will no doubt appear in my listings before long. . .

Oh yeah, and I also found a good background to photograph things against. An old roofing slate from the treasure trove of inspiration that lurks behind our shed. . ;-) It makes colour matching in Pshop or equivalent so much easier too, white backgrounds are OK but they are a pig to get right colour wise. So many of my shots against white had a pinky tinged or a bluey tinged background even though the bead colour was pretty accurate.

Thanks for checking out the way my work is heading. More in about a month's time.

best,

Jon x

The Discomfort Zone, Images and Textures, Free Wire and a long awaited Farewell to The Turquoise Toilet. . .

Well, I've been experimenting again. Tearing myself away from the relatively safe/unadventurous option of making stuff that has proven sales potential, and instead, working on following up a few hunches and seeing what spur of the moment options reveal themselves as ideas develop, or falter. . .

Ironically, I find being in my comfort zone, uncomfortable. ;-) 

So I have been playing with textures again. An aspect of my work that I have neglected somewhat of late. I had also been turning my mind to the idea of beads on the end of longer wire loops, so combining the two things led to the semi circular, embossed beads on various length loops that you can see pictured here.

The texture is made using an Indian, hand carved printing block I picked up for a couple of quid

I had spent some time a few days ago, playing with image transfer ideas, basically, transferring images onto other poly clay shapes. By which I mean doing things like transferring round images onto square bead shapes etc. It worked quite nicely, and I will revisit at some point.

I tried some non distressed looking ones, but distressed looked so much better. And more 'Me'. .

The reason I mention it is that I had often vaguely wondered whether you could transfer an image on top of a texture, in such a way that the image only transfers onto the raised parts of the design.

Well it turns out that you can. You just need to use a bit more water when rubbing the paper off the back of the image, and use a fairly deep, simple texture. A lot of scope for experimentation right there. . .

Image transfer over texture. Plus alcohol inks.

Another subject of my vague wonderings was whether I could combine an image transfer element with a 'turned look' one. Early days but that seems reasonably possible. Wire down the middle is needed to provide strength to the join, but it's looking promising.

A fairly crude, early example

And now, the bit you've all been waiting for, - Free Wire!

I snaffled some cast-off electrical cable from a skip the other day. Wire used for higher voltage stuff like mains wiring is solid copper. It is too thick to be used for ear wires, but is great for loops and such. It isn't coated so it oxidises well. It comes in varying thicknesses too. Just cut the plastic away and there you are. Electricians just throw their off cuts and old wiring away.

I haven't tried using the bunched, very thin wires you get in normal TV etc cables for anything yet, but it may have it's uses. Upcycling rules!

Free electrical wire in action

So that was my concerted bit of experimentation and comfort zone escapology. The trouble is that every discovery sparks a dozen other new possibilities to follow up. Not enough hours in the day, especially when you have serious DIY to do as well. . .

The 1970's turquoise acrylic bath, (complete with crack) and related turquoise sink and toilet, lurking in all its glory in our upstairs bathroom since previous occupants of this house installed it, (in the 1970s I assume) has been retired to the local dump. 

I am busy fitting a new 'traditional' style suite more in keeping with the feel of the house. Much as I appreciate retro style, it has to be said that there is both good and bad retro. A hideous, and frankly, knackered, turquoise retro bathroom doesn't really fit our aesthetic - snobbish, pretentious arty types that we are ;-)

Jon x

Messing with Bails, Strange things in the Veg Patch and More Variations on the Usual

I have been considering some artily distressed image transfer squares I did quite a while ago, and trying to think where I can take them. They somehow got stuck as interesting small squares with no particular purpose. They didn't suggest anything in particular strongly enough to connect with people. Imho. 

Oh yeah, I am forgetting, I did make cufflinks using them, but that didn't add anything to their 'interesting small square'-ness, if that makes sense. (?)

Anyway, I had various odds and ends of wire of varying thicknesses lying about, so I decided to try making some hammered flat, or hammered flat looking bails to give the little squares a definite function as drop charms. If that's the right name for this kind of thing.

The options I had were a) to flatten a small bit of wire and cut it off, leaving about 1/8" of round wire underneath it, if you see what I mean. Make a loop using the flat bit, drill a small hole, carefully in the 'top' of the square, apply glue to the round bit and stick it in the hole. That worked OK, but I had reservations about how strong the bond would be. I used superglue, but 2 part epoxy would be better I think. Drilling the hole was fiddly. A thicker bead would be needed.

Option b) was to use a longer flat piece of wire, make a loop, grind a groove in the back of the square with one of the various Dremel bits I have accumulated, and glue the flat wire into the groove. It might make the back look a bit too rustic though. Not that it bothers me at the moment. I tried filling in the bits of groove not containing wire, with liquid Kato clear and baking briefly, as this would make the bond stronger and I just wanted to see how it would look.

The flat wire in this particular case wasn't actually copper wire I had flattened myself. I up cycled a copper coloured steel staple from a large cardboard box I dismantled for recycling months ago. I spotted the staples and saved them as they looked as though they may be useful, and because it's the kind of thing I like to do. . . I like the way it looks. Trouble is you can't get hold of them in sensible amounts. I don't want to buy 1000 of them for twenty quid really. Anyway, that's a problem for another day.

Option c) was a cross between 'a' and 'b'. To flatten some wire, leaving some round wire, make a loop with the flat wire and instead of drilling a hole, cut a rounded groove in the back of the square and glue the round bit into the groove. I quite liked the way this looked, though that might have been due to the way the dark oxidised copper wire (the real stuff this time) and the white, ceramic/marble look of the clay of this particular square. I shall let it all percolate in the recesses of my brain for a while before making some 'for real' and trying them out on the World.

Bails aside, I was digging the veg patch earlier, as it actually stopped raining or snowing for long enough to get out there, and found what I thought was a rogue onion from a previous year or something. I poked it with the fork and it revealed itself as a rather cool lump of stone, probably flint. I shall pretend it's a fossilised onion from the triassic era though ;-) I think it's rather amazing, and the fact that it looks like a vegetable and was found in the veg patch gives it a whole different significance ;-) It now lives on the windowsill with other odds and ends.

 Here are some variations on 'turned look' beads, and a pair of more deeply scratched or incised spikes. All sold on FB apart from the blue and yellow ones. My internal jury is out on those, but the clean lines and colours are certainly a departure for me ;-)
Right, off to the jam night in the pub in the next village. St Patrick's day, but I don't think there is anyone Irish in the village. Nevertheless we have a few Irish folk songs etc hastily added to the song list just in case. Have a good one wherever you are,
Jon x

Spikes, Car Trouble, Rationalising Bead Boxes and Appreciating Past Efforts

Well, this is a bit late, as I try to post every ten days, but we took a short break for our combined birthdays and various DIY things happened too. But I did get some time in my workshop despite all that. 

I sold a bunch more spikes things on Facebook last week. So I am feeling appreciated ;-) These pictured below are some of they. .

On a less happy note, I managed to reverse into a friend's car on our drive a day or two ago, so the feeling of being appreciated is only transient. . . An insurance job, as it bent the front wing and cracked the lens on the headlight. My car was merely scratched a bit. 

Oh well, there goes me no claims bonus for a while. The rear visibility is not good in my car, but that is a poor excuse.

To bore you further, said car has done 100k miles, so I splashed out for a service. The mechanic asked me when the cam belt (I don't know either) had been changed, I said as far as I knew, I didn't think it had, so he looked it up in the manual. It contained the interesting information that it should have been changed 40k miles ago. . . So I have been pushing my luck apparently.

Back to bead matters - I have been sorting out my various bead boxes, in conjunction with checking my laptop, with a view to working out which beads have been listed on Etsy, which have expired, and which never got as far as being listed in the first place. There are surprising number of things that aren't in my shop. I am going to start remedying that situation forthwith.

It's been nice seeing some old friends lurking in their little compartments. Some things I was, and still am quite proud of. I always learn something from looking at what I was doing a year or so ago, it's easy to forget how far you have come in that period. And to realise what you have also forgotten, some it useful stuff that you would do well to remember.

Here are some of my new spikes, for sale in the LBA Galleria Elementals group on Facebook. Only a glimmer of interest so far, but give it 24 hours and we'll see where we are.

On to more general stuff, like the weather. . . 

Time marches on, and as was the case this time last year, (and every other year I imagine) the aconites are out in the garden, and some snowdrops, some cyclamen and even some crocuses are coming out. The hazelnut trees have catkins hanging off them, and all sorts of daffodils and suchlike bulbs are determinedly pushing their way out of the ground. At least Spring seems like something that will happen in due course. I even heard a skylark singing the other day, when the sun broke through. Don't know what it was thinking. . .

Winter ain't over yet however. I don't mind, as long as it stops blooming' raining. This winter has just been sodden. Give me a crisp, cold day anytime instead of dismal wetness and uncomfortable blustery winds. . . Extreme weather? We get extremely dull. Hence no photos ;-)

Jon x

The Diary of a Complete Pillock, part 68 - Back to Vague Visibility, (Probably) and The Gentle Art of Not Getting Caught Up In It All. . .

So after a period of experiencing what Americans refer to as 'tumbleweed' in my Etsy shop, I got two big orders in the space of one hour. One from the UK and one from the USA. Exciting stuff. . .

So what do I do? I carefully package the orders and send the UK order to the USA and the USA order to the UK. Brilliant.

What a pillock. . . (A mild semi-swearword that I have used often but never thought to look up the derivation of. Until now, thank you Wictionary -

"The origin of pillock is believed to go back to the 16th century meaning penis, from the Norwegian word pillicock, presumably akin to the slang dickhead meaning inept fool.")

Oh right, another knob related insult. Had to be really didn't it? ;-) So it's not some sort of cross between a pillow and a hillock after all, that's a shame. . .

Anyway, both bead sets are being sent back to me as soon as they arrive at their erroneous destinations, so I should be able to rectify the situation amicably, refunding various bits of postage, and paying for it all over again as I resend to the right customers. Might take a week or two though.

Oh well, these things happen. Bloody annoying when they do though, for everyone concerned.

But, the good thing about this occurrence is that it might well mean that I am at least somewhat visible to prospective customers. A conclusion backed up by a couple of smaller sales in the last few days. We shall see.

Facebook has been interesting, sales wise. I sold out of the small selection of new spikes I listed, with a couple of requests for made to order thrown in, but a subsequent listing session involving crusty, ancient type beads met with little interest and no sales. So it's a case of the usual swings and roundabouts of online retail stopping me from getting complacent.

It's impossible to second guess the reasons for these ups and downs, but that doesn't stop me trying. . . The beads may have been too expensive, or the right people just weren't checking that group that day, maybe my potential customers had spent all their cash on the spikes a few days before, or some better known bead artist has a showcase on another group and all the buyers are congregating there, throwing their money around, not even aware of the wonders lurking nearby, who knows?

These things are pretty much unknowable, so I shall just try again, with some different things and see what happens. I shall relax and let it be instead of endlessly going over the ways I might be doing it 'wrong'. If a pattern emerges over time, I may be in a position to draw some conclusions and work out a strategy to improve things, but until then, I shall stick to happily creating things and seeing if anyone likes them enough to buy them.

There is a down side to selling well. I don't actually like the fact that on the relatively rare occasions it happens, I start thinking "Those beads sold, I should make more like that," because when I do I often find that the spark goes out of the process somehow, and the results aren't as interesting.
Once I am aware that I am going through the motions rather than exploring, I have to stop and try something different. After all, the selling is just an afterthought to the making for me. It's great, but it's not what I do it for.
Fah! Bloody Artists!
cheers,
Jon x