Copper Verdigris

You'll remember the February Artistic Challenge that Mallory & I blogged about - "Colo(u)r Me Copper" that we announced (late) a couple of weeks ago. Well this one was most surely a case of life getting in the way of art. 

The end of the month came & went & there was no reveal from me, not because I hadn't done anything but because my mind & life was in a different space. It still is - but I have decided to show you how far I got before the earth started wreaking havoc on land & lives here. I need some 'normal'.

Mallory had discovered this fabulous free downloadable tutorial on colouring copper (or brass & bronze) with ammonia & salt using a fuming method. There are other solutions such as vinegar, lemon juice, potassium (found in a lot of garden fertilisers)  that can be used to obtain different colours. Another option is, dare I say it, urine - although I'm not in any real hurry to play with that one!! Ammonia just by itself will do the job also. There are as many methods of applying the patina as there are substances to use to create a patina. For now

Being particularly drawn to the bright turquoise verdigris finish that appears naturally on copper, brass & bronze when exposed to air or seawater over time I began my play with the ammonia & salt fuming method. It was so quick & simple to do! 

As I watched the patina develop I recalled how some years ago I used lemon juice & salt mixed to a paste to clean a large brass coal bucket. After rubbing the solution on all over with a damp cloth  to remove the tarnish I had to rinse it off well before buffing the brass up to a shine. A few days  later, in the areas where the handle joined onto the body of the bucket, verdigris developed. It was obvious that I hadn't rinsed off the lemon & salt solution well enough where it had seeped in under the riveted plates that held the handle on.

The next experiments are going to be with lemon juice & salt ....& since as there is a wealth of information out there on the internet I expect I'll find a way to speed up the process along with other methods of applying it.

February Artistic Challenge - Well, Colo(u)r Me Copper!!

Valentines Day has now ended here in New Zealand & this months artistic challenge is already upon us....

Truth be told - we're late in announcing what we are up to.But oh my - didn't this month sneak up from behind & catch us both  unaware!! We are both a little pushed for time, with Mallory preparing for a show & me never knowing what the each day will bring energy & concentration wise, so we have decided to simplify things for February's Artistic Challenge.

You'll remember that Mallory, of  For the Love of Beads fame, & I said at the start that we would push ourselves to play with media that we hadn't before, or experiment with familiar media in new ways. This month we will be doing just that. We are going to explore copper further - this time in the form of using various patina's - hence "Well, colo(u)r me copper".

This one should certainly feed my artistic soul - as I adore colour!! Pop on over to Mallory's blog & check out her side of the story....

I don't have an image to use with this post - so am borrowing one from a local artist that works in recycled copper.

John Dory - by CopperWorkx

Check out Christchurch's CopperWorkx in particular their Marlin, it's amazing!! In fact have a browse all around their website & you can get a feel for just how many looks copper is capable of. I've been in love with their work for years & am  blessed to own a couple of their pieces - a  Gecko & a Piranha.

Thanks Jeremy - you know what your Mumma likes ;)

To Reveal or Not to Reveal - that is the question...

As you can guess from the title my Artistic Challenge ~ Kumihimo project  is still not completed. It's almost there - but not quite to the point of how I pictured the end result when I was working on the Kumihimo braid.

Best I back up a bit & explain. When I started this I was a little ambitious for someone who had only done one 8 strand braid in her life before - I decided I wanted 16 strands & that the braid needed to have some sort of design to it. Then there were the beads.....
I don't have any seed beads that are a regular size & within an inch of braiding knew that this wasn't going to work for me - so I undid the lot & started again without beads. It seemed such a pity as the beads that I did have worked well with the colours of silk I'd used.

As I braided an idea formed in my mind... & then a plan. Of course I blithely overlooked the fact that the plan would involve yet another skill to learn - that of stitched beading. Braid finished I set about the task of learning some basic seed bead stitching.
 
I eventually settled on ladder stitch all in the same style beads as it seemed to compliment the Kumihimo braid without competing with it too much. It also allowed me to add different size beads every now & then for a bit of texture - without the need for me to try & figure how to make bridges around those beads. This step took me almost as long as the braid to complete... & I had bigger plans yet!!!

This is where I was up to on the 27th January - the intended reveal date. All was going well until I discovered that I'd used all of my 16 gauge copper wire to make the "Love Me Knots" for mine & Mallory's first Artistic Challenge.  So off I went out in search of some 16 gauge copper wire to pull it all together into a completed piece.
Perhaps you can imagine my disgust at finding that a 10' length of 16 gauge copper wire was going to cost me $18.00 locally. I decided that I wasn't that desperate & left the shop without it..... & then spent the rest of the day quietly fuming at how much we pay here for what few craft supplies we can actually get. In fact I was so wrapped up in my fuming that I forgot I was meant to be posting the results that night.

The next day things went marginally better & I did manage to get one other component I needed I also managed to source a short length of copper wire from a friend, which should be arriving any day now.

So there you have it - a semi-reveal, the completed braid & beading but not a finished piece. That you are going to have to wait for - but hopefully not for very much longer.

Unrevealing Reveal

Today was supposed to be the day that I revealed my Kumihimo project done as this months Artistic Challenge between Mallory aka Rosebud101 & myself.
This one has nurtured my somewhat battered creative soul & I have been enjoying the repetitive actions associated with doing Kumihimo finding that I don't need to concentrate too hard on them & because of that it is quite calming.

So how the heck could I forget from only this morning, when I went in search of  some copper wire as part of the project, that tonight was meant to be the reveal. Apparently quite easily!! Such is life at the moment - I know it will improve soon though.

I've left myself a note for tomorrow so I don't forget to finish my project off!

For now all I have to show is this -

Almost There - A Teaser for this Months Artistic Challenge

Sneak peek of what is in store....
I'm just hoping I get it all together in time for the reveal...

Silk - a teaser for this months Challenge

Beautiful raw 100% silk fibre. So much potential!

It's been sitting in my stash for some time so my mind went to it immediately when Mallory & I talked about fibre being used in the form of Kumihimo braiding for this months challenge.

My intention was to dye it - but you will have to wait & see whether I did...or not.

First Monthly Challenge of 2011 - Ms M & Deb Conspire

It's that time again & by gosh this one snuck up on me. Where on earth did December go? Was there a December? I seem to vaguely recall it & speaking with Mallory Hoffman ~Rosebud101 of what we were going to challenge ourselves with this month, but then this jolly New Year went & got all hot on me & fried my brain.....

Well that's my excuse & I am sticking to it!

In our mission to nurture our creative souls we are pushing ourselves to work outside of that with which we are most comfortable with ~ melting glass (quite frankly I think I have probably forgotten how to melt glass, & this just sounds better but don't tell Mallory that!!).

Seriously though, when a predominantly right brained (creative thinker) person tries a different technique or process to what they are used to it often stimulates the thought process into new ideas. Do you ever find yourself working on a project & while you are doing it your mind is racing ahead of you filling up with ideas for something totally unrelated to the task at hand? It happens to me all the time - but my biggest problem is that I don't stop what I am doing & write those idea's down (that can be a bit difficult at the torch) & I often lose them by the time I finish what I'm doing.

This months media should make it a little easier for me to stop & capture those technicolor images that play in my head! Mallory & I are going to work with fibre in the form of Kumihimo. This should be interesting - considering I have only played briefly with this once before & the unfinished result is,as you can see, still on the loom!

The reveal will be on 26th January. Be sure to check back in then & perhaps check in once or twice beforehand as this month I will finally have some time to post 'teasers'.

You can check out Mallorys twist on this challenge over on her blog here.

Trans Pacific Christmas Contrasts

In these days of almost instant everything, including contact with people half a world away, it's easy to forget that a wee pond called the Pacfic Ocean separates New Zealand & the USA by 9600km (6000 miles).

Two Western countries, culturally very similar & alike in many ways - but so very different in others. Not least of all the fact that we are seasonal opposites.

Never are the seasonal differences more obvious than at Christmas time. The early settlers to New Zealand brought all of their European traditions with them but over the years they adapted & evolved. I guess the lack of snow in Summer may have forced that issue somewhat ;)

For this months artistic growth challenge Mallory Hoffman (Rosebud101) & I have decided to compile photo journals of those Christmas contrasts.

I've never experienced a white Christmas although I grew up knowing of them as that was the stuff of my Mum's childhood. I well remember the very  traditional English Christmas dinners - roast turkey, roast ham, roast potatoes,  green beans, corn, carrots, stuffing, cranberry sauce & gravy - Christmas pudding, fruit mince pies, trifle, brandy sauce, cream & ice cream. Everyone used to fall alseep mid afternoon after that lot....well,  the adults did & the kids had FUN!

Then somehow new potatoes &  kumara (sweet potatoes) snuck in, someone decided they didn't like turkey that much & it got replaced with chicken, the hams became cold hams..how about a salad with that, it's too hot for all those roast veges.  Before you knew it fresh fruit salad & Pavlova started replacing the trifle &  then; "Oh the heck with it lets have a BBQ & make things easy". You get the picture...

Of course food isn't the only difference - but you'll have to wait until the reveal on the 27th December, 2010 to see the rest of the differences between the way Christchurch New Zealand & Minnesota, USA ( a mere 13,221km or 8216 miles apart) celebrate the holiday season.

Lets see what  Mallory has to say about this challenge by visiting her blog!

Ok - I lied, here's another sneak peek.....