Rocks & Rain

In 2014 my husband & I went on a trip to Ireland with friends. This was the first time we had ever been to Ireland as well as it being the first time we've ever taken holidays with friends. What a fantastic trip we had. Ireland is the place to go for "R & R"...rocks and rain. I've never seen so many rocks in all my life. Newfoundland doesn't even come close. I've also never seen so much rain. It rained every day. It didn't bother us at all, we just kept going & it just added to the wonderful ambience of the landscape.

Along our travels I would do my normal collecting of anything I thought was interesting. This is better than any shop if you ask me. Beautiful, free and just sitting there offering up it's glory. The feather was actually collected on the first day we arrived. Guinness...what a fantastic facility inside Dublin. The feather was along side the road sitting in water with dirt & gravel stuck to it. Well...I just love that sort of thing.

 

The dried thistle was collected on the Aran Islands. Miles & miles of rock made into pens for grazing livestock & farmland. It was so windy that sometimes I just had to sit down to wait for the gust to pass so I could gain my footing. The dried thistle was so perfect in this landscape and I had Chris cut of one of the heads & I carried it in my hand until we got back to the bed and breakfast that evening. It was so delicate I was afraid that it would crush if I put it in my bag.
Chris saw the rust piece & instantly I just had to have it.

Rocks & Rain is rough and a perfect fitting for my Irish piece. Everything except the rust has been encased in encaustic wax. It was the first time I had been in the studio in about seven weeks. I was completely in a zone & afraid to leave even to eat for fear that the moment would end.

Acceptance

My Istanbul piece has been accepted into this years Fibrations show in Burlington, Ontario. I actually thought it was bad luck when my submission came back as #001. That meant that I was the very first person to enter a piece. For once in my life I wasn't waiting until the last minute & it worked out for me.

I finally finished this piece on my bench & had enough time to clean up the studio. It's time to get into some fabric....

I haven't named it & not sure a name will be coming. I fell in love with this piece of bark with its wonderful moss & orange speckling. I actually think I collected it over the winter snow shoeing on Many-Hues badlands.
The cicada was given to me by a co-worker who actually doesn't like bugs at all. The wax worked wonderful & didn't damage the delicate wings when dipped.  A very impressive bug indeed.

Teenage Head

I had fun making this piece a couple of weeks ago. I was a little nervous about it so I just left it in the studio for a bit. After a weekend barbeque, I've been encouraged to post it on my blog. I've been collecting computer parts for months because I just love the colours and the shine. I know very little about computers but it's been fun developing ideas. My family  has been helping me collect pieces and I really loved this one that my son brought home. I put it on top of the pile because I just knew I had to use it in something. My husband brought home the copper wire that was like a ball of hair actually, it was so fine. The copper mesh was from my father. It's actually slug netting and he uses it in some of his floral designs. Too beautiful for slugs if you ask us. Then I added the Moosehead bottle cap and dissected cell phone parts...from a moment of teenage rage.

I started with a board that I painted with a copper oil stick. Then I coated the board with encaustic wax.  I then layered a painted and distressed dryer sheet on top of the board and built the design with the bits I had around my studio.