On Thursday I started doing watercolours of a couple cheeky birds as you can see from the opening photo. Whilst I made a good start there is still a way to go.
Some progress-process photos follow.
Below are photos of the finished four commission pieces where I tested and photographed them in a frame.
I'm happy with the finished four; and very happy how the wee bird pieces are developing.
The title says it all - no unifying theme in this blog post apart from sharing a small fragment of the diverse beauty that nature offered during the past week including the beauty Fiona brought inside - opening photo.
A couple images of the blood moon at its fullest and as the eclipse waned towards dawn
A beautiful gentle python visited us for a few days.
I loved the new spring growth agains a blue sky; and the play of the fallen leaves in the water flowing over the local weir.
A few more blossoms - the first two are classified as weeds.
And a bird against a soft cloudy sky this morning.
It is as though we can breath in the fragments of beauty nature offers.
I was given a bracelet that was made from Mexican silver. I had been acquired many years ago; had some memories attached to it; but was not being used; and was also broken in some parts.
After a quick on the spot assessment I indicated to the giftee that I would deconstruct the bracelet and use parts to make earrings and maybe a pendant. I indicated that I would gift a pair or two of the earrings back to the giftee if she wanted to pass the history and memory of the bracelet on.
The opening photo and the two following photos show the 'dismantling' process.
I set aside pieces that would come together as pairs or earrings and a pendant - again in the opening photo. Sharp edges of pieces were filed off and the pieces given a polish. Photos of the assembled pendant and earring appear below.
The earrings and pendant will be for sale. The bracelet has been repurposed and given a new life.
One of the designs I developed for my handmade ladles is a perforated tiny (3.5cm diameter) ladles with the handle bent at about 90 degrees to the bowl. See a photo of the bowl section of three olive ladles in the opening photo.
I refer to these ladles as Olive Ladles as initially I designed them being used to scoop olives out of a jar; and for the perforations (holes) to let the oil or vinegar flow back into the jar.
People who have bought the ladles say they can use them for scooping out cocktail onions and capers.
Some process photos of the making of the ladles follow including - starting with disks of decorative silver-plated metal cut from salvaged silver-plated brass placemats; punching holes into the disks; planishing the backs of the bowls after they have been formed from the disks (see planishing hammer in the photo); and attaching the brass rod handles with copper or brass rivets (see the small riveting hammer in the photo).
In my last couple of making sessions I made seven of these olive ladles as you can see from the photo below. Why 7? I like odd numbers; and also needed quite a stash as I had orders for four!!
Beauty such as the dew incrusted and sunlit blossoms above and below easily capture one's eye and spirit.
Ducks perched in a tree, leaves cascading over the weir wall and a fast moving platypus bending reflections are not so much everyday moments - below.
G's orchids in his orchid house and in the ground seem to be enjoying the warmer weather and provide joy over a long period of time.
I feel so fortunate that I live in a place where such beauty is currently abundant.
Usually I create fungi bowls with a smooth silver-plate on the front side. As you can see from the opening photo I flipped the metal to see what the bowls would look like with the pattern of the savaged placemat on the front. What do you think?
The form of the fungi bowls are based on one of my favourite forest fungi - see photo below.
A few process photos follow including one of the bowls balanced on the tip of a metal stake. The stake was handmade 10 years ago by a blacksmith in Portland Oregon - weighs several kilos. The stake is held in a vise. Can you believe Fiona and I posted it home!!!
A couple of photos of the finished bowls on the workbench follow. The bowls are about 7-7.5cm in diameter. A serious amount of hammering goes into making each of these bowls.
Finished bowls on the table at home.
