New sketchbook

I started a new sketchbook today, always a happy thing. Only 4 pages done, mainly photos and drawings. All will be used as inspiration for jewellery and mixed media pieces.

Lichen rings

Today's happy thing was making some earrings and stacking rings incorporating lichen shapes, like the ones I made in copper yesterday.

I used gold and silver today, I rarely use gold but today I wanted a more subtle colour contrast than copper. 

The bands are hammered, and slightly different sizes, I didn't want them to sit flat on the finger. And I deliberately made the earrings different sizes, I think they're more organic.

Copper lichen

Today my happy moment has been exploring texture. 

The scale is really tiny, I cut the copper pieces as small as I could get whilst still actually being able to hold them. Inspired by lichen, I have a few ideas of how I can make them into jewellery pieces.

But, for now, I'm happy to put them to one side and continue my spontaneous making project. My focus is making for fun, just enjoying the processes. So, each day I am making time to make anything I want, alongside orders and teaching resources. So far, I'm having a great time!

 #makingforfun

Copper circles

Today's happiness was found in circles. There's something about the negative space, the repetition, the simplicity.

All of the holes were carefully drilled then cut out with a very fine saw blade before being smoothed with wet & dry paper. Slow, steady, demanding complete focus, a meditative pace.

And I do love copper. 

Reminiscent of pebbles, the shapes make me think of beach finds. It's a bangle, can't wait to make more.

Making for fun

My happy thing today was making these... works in progress. 

Just a quick post today, I will share more about the inspiration for these later. But my focus today is on making just for fun, they contain elements I've had floating around in my head for ages, along with new ideas and inspirations. 

Still lots of things to do to them before they become something finished, but the sunshine was calling me outside. 

Concertina sketchbooks

A happy couple of hours today spent drawing...

A concertina sketchbook with a mixed media surface, using maps, emulsion, brown/graph/lined paper, following lines and tonal areas. 

The shapes make me think of rock formations, bark and tide lines....

I always come back to these forms.

100 days of happiness

So many of my friends have done the #100daysofhappiness challenge, where you find something that makes you happy or grateful each day for 100 days, and share it via social media. I have admired their commitment and been envious that they had enough time to do it. But, a chance encounter yesterday has inspired me to find the time to do it. So, retrospectively, #day1 was yesterday, Tuesday 15th July 2014, and this is the reason why....

 #day1

I had coffee with a stranger yesterday, a lady who started talking to me in the queue and we just clicked. In her late 70s, a painter, florist and costume maker, who had just been for her weekly Photoshop training session with an Apple Genius. Her father had been an artist/painter, like mine, but she said she only took up painting after he died because she felt she wasn't good enough in comparison. Between talk of fabrics, art supplies, and her wonderfully hectic social life, she made a point to remind me of the need to make time to create. She reminded me of the need to work in an environment that nurtures creativity, to explore all processes, and to push beyond my comfort zone. Passionate, inspiring, with a wonderfully feisty spark I can only dream of having, I left feeling utterly energised. So, I am going to make time every day to play, to make the things I've had floating around in my head for ages, no pressure, just fun things. Some may work, some won't. Started with a pebble ring, my little boy loved it!