Saturday, November 01, 2008

Freaky Friday - Take #5

Freaky Friday, everything went my way ;o) <--- That was a slight twist on Aqua's lyrics!! Also it's pretty much how I feel right now.
This week Mallory & my "Freaky Friday" Challenge was Totems & I have got to say that I had THE most fun with this.
I got rather carried away though, inspired by the piece of driftwood I had found & a recently made bead featuring DSP, enamel & silver foil that didn't turn out quite as expected, but had some wonderful effects none the less, I ploughed ahead having decided to work around those two initial components.

As I tried to work in some extra bit's of colour in with the DSP/Enamel/Foil combo I realised that base wanted to swallow the colour, so I decided to make a somewhat plainer base bead & use the desired colors on that.
While making the bead I accidentally got sidetracked & ended up with a bead that looked rather different to what I had in mind. However, I was really happy with that bead & wanted to use that also.



From there the idea's took flight - with only one slight problem, I couldn't decide whether I wanted my totem be representative of the freedom of flight or the weightless grace of swimming.... I have a passion for both air & water. Both represent freedom to me.

My initial attempt at an owl left me somewhat disappointed, so I went on to try making a 'fluke'(I am determined not to say 'whales tail' & leave myself wide open...), inspired by one of Jodi Henry's beads that I saw way back when I first started lampworking.
I kind of overdecorated it & got the base too wide. No matter though, I just put it aside & kept on going.

My second attempt at a bird was trying a Jen Geldard style of bird (ironically the day before she released her tutorial), it resulted in a rather big baby that cracked. Thus, two totems were born!

This whole week has been a great one at the torch - I actually wanted to torch every day & it was with great happiness that I felt the idea's & inspiration flow. As Hannibal from "The A Team" used to say "I love it when a plan comes together"!

I rounded it off with a walk on the beach last night - 'cos guess who needed a second piece of driftwood.



"Neither Fish nor Fowl nor Fine Red Herring"
aka Totem #2 or is that #1?


Slightly Closer Shot.

"One Flew Over the Crackedhead's Nest"
aka Totem #1 or is that #2


Closer Shot

Keep an eye Mallory's Blog to see what she has done with this challenge & to find out what the next Freaky Friday adventure will be.

Meanwhile any one who still wants to sneak in a totem has time - I'd love to see other's ideas & hear of their adventures. This has been an enlightening exercises for me.

Oh & Thank You Ang - you are always a constant source of inspiration for encouraging one to think outside the square - whether it be with your glass sculptures or words!!

5 comments:

rosebud101 said...

Deb, this is an awesome sculpture! Really well done! Congratulations! I don't think mine will be as well done as yours. However, you are right, it has been an adventure. I hope to get my Freaky Friday challenge up later today. I have to take some new photos. Wait till you see the next challenge!

angelinabeadalina said...

OMG! Deb, look at the colors and details and sculpture!!! You are amazing!! Damn, I am bowled over by the "Neither Fish nor Fowl nor Fine Red Herring". The CrackedHead is rather cool, too, but something about the tribal look of the other one just really speaks to me.

P.S. Your banner and italics made my day, ya know! :) :) :) :)

Maggie said...

Wow! What an amazing totem!

I still want to try one, but it won't be for a long time. Torching is on the back burner for now.

Lisa said...

Oh wow, Deb...that is amazing! Great job!

Mermaid Glass said...

Those are fantastic! I love them. Great job, Deb.