Take a Walk on the Wet Side...

Take a walk on the wet side - wet felting that is... 

A month or so ago now... I know - its been that kind of summer - I decided to take a Sunday "off". My husband was at the beach and I stayed home, house to myself, heaven. What do I do with my time off? Make art of course! 

Joke's on me actually. I am a full time artist and part time art teacher, so while it WAS time off from production, custom work, replenishing inventory... it was still art/job/doing what I love. 

I took over the kitchen and made a mess:

Dive in, such rich colors... 

Sorry for the yellow kitchen lighting... first piece ready to begin! 

I had a plan to wet felt some ocean themed landscapes. The image above is the first one laid out. I "thought" it would shrink by a third... But I was using some lovely ivory batting from Sarafina Fiber Arts as my base 'canvas' for the first time and wanted to test it out. The landscape is built up with loose wispy layers of brightly dyed wool roving, and a few "curly locks". Here are the results of the first piece:

Can you see it? Beach, waves, ocean!

So it felted together wonderfully! The process involves soap, water, bubble wrap and much repetitive rolling of the piece on the counter. Roll it like 100 times, turn 1/4 turn, roll it 100 times... I used Sarafina's You Tube videos as my basic instruction manual. 

 

I love the way the colors blend as the fibers lock together. I am visually drawn to the curly locks simulating breakers in the waves; they need a little needle felting to secure them fully, but I like the accent of texture. And the shrinkage? Ummm. nope. The batting felted my top coat colors and did not shrink much at all. Hmm. This piece is rather large at  app. 12". Lets do another... 

Trying to go smaller: 2 before and after comparisons. 

My supply of wool  plays to my preferred palette, so I had a variety of teal and turquoise and not much for a light sky. I lone the purple stormy sky and the teal water together though. The second pictured here is a bit more abstracted, and I am pleased with that too. I WAS playing after all - experimenting with the materials, and not having any hard set expectations. The process is actually good for me - its nice to have some control at the start and then leave it up to the process and be pleasantly surprised at the end. 

Working most all of the day, I made 10 tapestries. The largest 12 x 12" and the smallest 4" square. My plan is to embellish them in some way, using beads and found treasures from the beach. I can't walk on the beach and slip at least a shell or 3 in my pocket... 

I imagine the long shell beaded on with 2 'ropes' of small seed beads... 

That saturated color thrills my eyes. 

Over the course of the afternoon I was able to size the pieces much better! I have some shadowbox frames I will use for the smallest pieces and fashion hangers/dowel rods of some sort for the larger pieces. I am not in a hurry - I did many and have time to play and experiment!

These 2 are the smallest at 4" - but they will fit into frames I have once they are completed. 

At the end of the day I threw a few more colors into the mix, breaking away from the landscape format... This was not planned, but after the felt dried, I saw the kelp... the polymer mermaid was made for my monthly goddess seed bead project, but was a little too large. I think she will settle comfortably here, don't you?

a few deep sea palettes? 

I'm sorry that they aren't finished yet for today's post - I have been teaching clay camp since mid June - and very much look forward to getting back to my work in the studio next week! Great kids, great times, great energy... but I have Bead Fest to prepare for.. 

Until then - I hope you get your toes in the sand! 

Natural resources - Free Treasure

Hunting for natural treasures is one of my favourite pastimes. Sadly one that I don’t get to do as much as I did. I could often be found up the side of a hill filling my pockets with my own bodyweight in rocks, on a beach hunting for shells and glass, or even scanning gravel drives for interesting bits and bobs. They are a fantastic (and free) resource for using in your jewellery.

Pebbles on the beach

“Beachcombing is an activity that consists of an individual "combing" (or searching) the beach and the intertidal zone, looking for things of value, interest or utility. A beachcomber is a person who participates in the activity of beachcombing.”

Beach combing

Most people in the UK are lucky enough to be no more than a couple of hours from a beach and winter is the perfect time to wrap up and head out to look for some treasure. After storms you can find all sorts of wonderful things fallen from the rocks, washed up by the tide, or unearthed by the waves.

Hunting after a storm

It’s very important to consider safety before you head out, particularly in bad weather. Always make sure someone knows where you will be and when to expect you home, and stay away from cliff faces and edges. Find out the tide times and make sure know when to expect the tide to return. A lot of UK beaches have sand banks where you can become stranded in an instant after the tide comes in behind you so make sure to keep an eye on things as you’re collecting.

Fossil on the beach

Another thing to consider is how much heavier you will be when your pockets/rucksack are full. I know this from experience after rolling down a hill in Derbyshire when I lost my balance coming down after a good day collecting.

Jack & Jill 

As well as beaches - mountains, lakes, and even your back garden can be great places to find natural materials to work with. Fossils can be found inland and rivers and streams can turn up beautiful smooth pebbles and semi precious stones.

Amateur geology (known as rockhounding in the United States) is the recreational study and hobby of collecting rocks and mineral specimens from their natural environment.

I can dream of finding diamonds

If you know where to look and you have keen eyes you can find all sorts of wonderful things.

Some of my collection includes Blue John from Derbyshire,

Blue John

Rock with garnets from the West coast of Scotland.

Garnets

Pebbles from the Lake District polished in my rock tumbler.

Mixed pebbles

And my prize fluorite crystals from Derbyshire.

Square Fluorite Crystal

Hand polished fluorite crystal

And it’s not just rocks, a stroll along the beach in Falmouth turned up these treasures...

Sea glass

And other mixed shells, coral, and tiny mussel pearls from Scotland.

Coral & Shells

Mussel shell with pearls

Sparkly mica rocks collected from the banks of Loch Morar.

Rock with Mica

And finally, another prized possession, I didn't find this one myself, but it was given to me by a German Friend collected in Dorset. It's iron pyrite and I'd love to break it open but daren't in case it's really boring inside.

Pyrite nodule

I’ve not got as far as using anything I’ve collected in one of my designs, I think I just like collecting things! But some very talented people have….

British Bohemian

CamaliDesign

Coconut Lily 

Colin Duncan

GreenBirdBoutique

And our very own Niky created this stunning piece with a beach pebble.

Nike Sayers Artisan Jewellery

I’ve always loved the idea of creating from start to finish, and collecting your own components from the land around you is a fantastic way to do this.

So wherever you are, get out and get exploring! The Natural Trust website should start you off with some great places to visit http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lists/must-visit-places-for-fossil-hunters

And if you’re lucky enough to live in the US there are some incredible places to visit with really amazing precious stones.

http://www.fodors.com/news/top-7-places-to-3648


I think I need to book us a family holiday to go and hunt for some black opals!!!

Bead retreat + Beach retreat = Bliss

Dunes at Dewey

Beads and the beach? Beach combing? Hanging out with friends old and new? Stitching and shopping? Sign me up! 

And so it happened that three of us ( Diana, Jenny and Sue) arrived at Dewey Beach DE for the final Bead My Love retreat of 2015. I had attended last year (my post is here) and loved it! The beach off season is gorgeous, spacious and just as stunning than in summer time. Sue greeted Diana and I with the picture (above) while we were still on the road. 

Meg and Moggie host multiple retreats during the year, spring and fall/ weekend or weekday. Included in the registration are some meals, a few perks, instruction, an outstanding project kit... Camaraderie, friendships, relaxation - all free with the package. ( Bead My Love site for details) The retreat welcomes all levels of seed bead experience, and everyone is bound to learn and be inspired! 

My view across the table! Love it! 

Sue at work - and the progression of her piece from kit to halfway completed. 

Susan: I loved taking this workshop because, first, I got to hang out with Jenny and Diana and I don’t have any beady friends here in Pittsburgh. I loved this workshop second because I never have time where I can just sit, spread out all the beads, and be creative. This gave me uninterrupted time (except for talking with beady people) to just create, and not worry about what’s the plan for dinner or having to be anywhere! Meg does a great job teaching and is available for questions and demos the entire workshop. It was a lot of fun and I would definitely do it again!

Diana's kit, learning peyote, and the progress steps in her fab scarab piece. 

Diana: The Bead My Love bead retreat was wonderful! One of the great things about this retreat is the relaxing, pressure-free environment in which you get to create. There was no set project so you picked a kit and created your design from start to finish using your imagination (and massive supply stash). Everyone was friendly and encouraging and it was fun watching their projects take shape. The best part of this retreat though (besides finally learning peyote bezel), was getting to spend time with my friends just beading and beach combing. I hope to take another Bead My Love bead retreat in 2016!

Jenny's workspace goes from organized to jumbled as a few different projects take shape. 

Jenny: What can I say that they haven't already said? I do quite a bit of bead embroidery these days and I relish the retreat as a place to play, to learn, to experiment, and to relax. It was great fun to have a beady sleep over at the family beach house! I feel energized and tired, with new ideas percolating. 

There were beach walks and beach combing. 

The off season rates/ retreat pricing are quite reasonable, but we three stayed at my MIL's beach house. Pretty nice, huh? We took advantage of the beach whenever we could! And we were gifted with great weather!

Diana's found treasures, Jenny's impromptu found bead dish, Sue's finished piece!, Jenny planning yet another one... 

 Dinner out in Rehoboth Beach, DE - great seafood! Great fun! Then the next day? More beading, its a win-win situation.

Dinner? Seafood? yes! 

 I knew many of the attendees from last year's retreat. Lovely to see new friends again and what they are up to... Simply walking around the room and viewing other's WIP was inspirational. Everyone is ready to share a technique, offer ideas, and discuss.

We loved seeing our friends and colleagues cabs! Can you spot a Lisa Peters cab? A Staci Smith polymer pair? And a Celtic cab by yours truly.

Diana, Jenny, Meg our hostess, and Sue. 

And now we are all home. Unpacking our loot, finishing our pieces and starting anew. I mss them already! Until next year... bead all the things!

Goodbye ocean... until next year.