Silhouettes and stars and a bit of light at the end

©2019 Barry Smith - Stars and grey winter light through a bare frangipani tree

I started this morning's walk in low winter light. Whilst it made it a bit difficult to cut through the trees etc it made for some good silhouettes when one was willing to look up. More of the trees follow.

©2019 Barry Smith - Stars and grey winter light

©2019 Barry Smith - Reaching slim fingers into the sky

©2019 Barry Smith 

The lines of the power poles and lines in Treehaven Way were also intriguing.

©2019 Barry Smith - Star and power pole

©2019 Barry Smith  

©2019 Barry Smith - Stars and grey winter light

The following photos are from Monday morning's sunrise - beautiful across the valley and in the clouds.

©2019 Barry Smith - Sunlit clouds in the sky and lakes of clouds in the valley 

©2019 Barry Smith - Probably a case of the early swallow gets the morning insects

And did you see the swallows frolicking at sunrise?

Buffalo horn folders

©2019 Barry Smith - Almond shaped buffalo horn folders - the top folder is just over 8cm long. The bottom folder shows the rough original surface of the horn

I saw that Velma was a working bone again making bone folders. I wanted a bit of creative play so I decided I would make some 'bone' folders out of buffalo horn because I love the black lustrous colour of it.

Fiona showed me a couple of horn folders she has; and I was particularly taken with the smaller folders that have an almond shape to them. As you can see from the photos below the starting product was quite rough; but as the process continued the beauty appeared

©2019 Barry Smith - This section of horn is about 16cm long - marked for sawing

©2019 Barry Smith - Rough sawn pieces of horn

©2019 Barry Smith - Roughly shaped and sanded pieces before grinding and polishing with the jewellery wheels

And the finished product is good. Thanks for the inspiration Velma.

©2019 Barry Smith - Trio of buffalo horn folders - catching a bit of setting sunlight. The top folder is the shape it is because I just followed the curve of the horn. The lustre was brought out by the jewellery polishing paste.

©2019 Barry Smith - Trio of buffalo horn folders on the kitchen bench

Out of offcuts I have made 4 pair of earring drops. I hope to finish those over the next week.

©2019 Barry Smith - The earring drops have a grainy look as they include the rough outside texture of the horn

Bowl and leaf making 101

©2019 Fiona Dempster - Wood and Fiona's classic silver-plated leaf form

We have had visitors who were keen to try their hand out on a bit of metal work. I said I would do a couple of simple pieces with them - a bowl and a leaf.  Introduction to metal work 101???? Fiona often gets left out of such activities; but not this time.

A few photos of the process follow.

©2019 Fiona Dempster - Neil pressing a bowl form

©2019 Fiona Dempster - Maureen - hammering the back of her bowl on a stake

©2019 Fiona Dempster - Barry discussing hammering techniques with Neil

©2019 Fiona Dempster - Maureen opening her leaf form on the adapted carpet layer's tool

©2019 Fiona Dempster - Barry showing Maureen the grinding angle for her leaf

©2019 Barry Smith - Fiona grinding her leaf

And what about the outcomes - all three graduated with flying colours.

©2019 Fiona Dempster - Three formed, hammered, ground and polished bowls 

©2019 Fiona Dempster - We retained the organic edges of the bowls

©2019 Fiona Dempster - Three great leaves - Maureen's stamped her grandchild's name 

It is great to see the creative enjoyment folk have taking flat salvaged metal into new three dimensional forms.

Bits and blooms from the week

©2019 Barry Smith - Now that is winter colour - poinsettia in sunlight

I did not walk this morning - visitors and an early morning community meeting took priority. So the post today will be photos taken over the past week.

©2019 Barry Smith

©2019 Barry Smith - No one told this rose it is mid winter

 ©2019 Barry Smith - More snowdrops appearing down on the terraces

©2019 Barry Smith - Huge camellia in Cooke Park in town

©2019 Barry Smith - So many seeds

©2019 Barry Smith - Smily mouths with micro seeds - on the poinsettia

©2019 Barry Smith - Smily lips in the table at our early morning meeting this morning

Always interesting to see the bits and pieces that can catch the eye over a week.

A few fragments related to the artists' book exhibition

©2019 Barry Smith - Kindness, care and hope - sculptural outdoor books

The Compassion Artists' Book Exhibition closed today so it was the day to pick up our pieces including ones we purchased. The big etched books are on the gravel outside Fiona's studio-shed. Looking good in the early afternoon light.

Fiona and I purchased a few small works by other artists. A few hurriedly taken photos of those pieces follow.

©2019 Barry Smith - Ellen Appleby - Wrapped in plastic, inside out - white porcelain book about plastic and its impact the environment and sea birds

©2019 Barry Smith - Ann Brown - Compassion is a warm blanket

©2019 Barry Smith - Ann Brown  - Compassion is a warm blanket

©2019 Barry Smith - By Katherine Nix - Water is Life - love the ability to see the writing appear when lit from behind

©2019 Barry Smith - Feint markings when not lit from behind

Both Fiona and I managed to sell some of our works including pieces that are likely to go into official collections. I also managed to sell quite a lot of product including: book earrings; small metal books; peace book pendants; and bookmarks.

It was a great exhibition to be in and much thanks must go to Ken and Ardleigh for the tremendous amount of work involved in making this such a successful exhibition.

Finishing pod vessels

©2019 Barry Smith - Third pod vessel - 56mm in diameter at the widest point and 48mm in diameter at the top

Quite some time ago I started a trio of pod vessels - but many other creative demands sidetracked me. Today a I got a few hours to finish making the third pod; and then polishing all three. A few process photos of the third pod follow.

©2019 Barry Smith - Lovely fire colour from annealing

©2019 Barry Smith - Marked up for another round of hammering to pull the top opening in

©2019 Barry Smith - Finished but unpolished on the annealing tray

The finished trio - all are made from different recycled silver-plated copper; and all are different sizes.

©2019 Barry Smith - Trio of pod vessels 

©2019 Barry Smith - Middle sized pod

©2019 Barry Smith - Largest palm sized pod - you can see the worn copper pattern of the original silver-plated tray showing inside the pod

©2019 Barry Smith - Trio of pods from a different angle

I am pleased with the outcome.

Who ate the moon and morning light

©2019 Barry Smith - Moon eclipse this morning

When we rose this morning there was a hint of sunshine in the east as you can see from the photos below.

©2019 Barry Smith - Hint of sunrise but you can still see stars in the sky

©2019 Barry Smith - Looking south over the rim of the water in the fire-pit bowl

But there was also a full moon in the west.

©2019 Barry Smith - Moon at about 5.50am this morning

©2019 Barry Smith - Moon at about 6am - slight shadow of the eclipse starting

©2019 Barry Smith - Looking west over the rim of the water in the fire-pit bowl - about 6am

By the time I got home from my walk part of the moon had disappeared - and eclipsed? I had not heard there was to be an eclipse; but the photo above shows I captured the first faint shadow as I set off on my walk; and the eclipse was definitely happening when I returned. To see the eclipse set below the horizon was extra special.

©2019 Barry Smith - Eclipse happening as I returned home 

©2019 Barry Smith - Eclipsed moon setting

©2019 Barry Smith - Eclipsed moon in the trees on the ridge line to the west

After all that excitement the valley and hills were covered in soft blues, pink and apricot.

©2019 Barry Smith - And then there was a coloured sky - in the west 

©2019 Barry Smith - The magic of the valley and hills

Pretty amazing and serendipitous experience.