THE CHRISTMAS ROSE.

Helleborus niger, is the Christmas Rose and I was thrilled to see ours were out this Christmas day there are lots of buds still to come as you can see from the pictures. I took the photos this morning when I went out to feed the birds and my dear little fish, although I was saddened to find a beautiful Sarrasa Comet dead one morning last week it looked as if he had died of fright as he was squashed up in a corner but there were no marks on him and he looked his usual healthy self, only dead! 

I wish everyone a healthy, peaceful and harmonious New Year.

~Jackie~



 

DECEMBER ART BEAD SCENE CHALLENGE!

The last picture of the year to take our inspiration from was I thought, rather different see it below! It is a painting of Paris by Maria da Silva.

I had another challenge, to design and make some pendants for a local gallery where I exhibit some of my work so this painting partially inspired those as well. The pendant made for the Art Bead Scene Challenge was this one.

Below are several of the other pendants I made that are also available, I did enjoy designing them to add to my hand painted Impressions Series like my Tai Chi pendants and brooches. Each pendant is signed on the back and decorated or embellished in some way for your eyes only!

The rest of the pendants I made have not been photogrephed as yet I will add more at a later date!

Can you spare a moment to leave me a comment? I would love to hear from you, thank you.

~Jackie~

                           

                     

OCTOBER ART BEADS SCENE CHALLENGE!

October has come round so fast my birthday last Saturday has come and gone and the year seems to have flown by.!

The challenge picture for this month was a beautiful Egyptian painting see the picture below.

I loved the colours in this painting and as I really enjoy designing Egyptian pendants I knew this would be fun!

I started with a large open winged brass scarab stamping from B'Sue, I bought a few of these some years ago as I love using them, I decided I would paint the wings then glaze them to give an enameled effect but first I made a cartouch shape, cut off the flat piece on the bottom and turned it on its side and cut my Polymer to shape it made a perfect base for the scarab, I had decided on a lapis colour for the polymer, I also made a pair of coin shape beads and added an Ank to each, these I would be using during the stringing process. The scarab holds in its claws the rising and setting sun.

To string I used a pair of brass Lotus stampings again from B'Sue and painted these. The beaded necklace was done with a number of different beads I used faceted Lapis, Carnelian  and Sodalite cubes, turquoise, different sizes and colours of glass seed beads and six of my precious Roman glass tube beads. 

I doubt if it is something anyone would want to buy so I shall probably end up keeping it myself but I don't mind, it was an enjoyable if lengthy process and looks great on!

I am enjoying these challenges and look forward to next months.

 I hope you have enjoyed taking a look and I would love to read a comment from you if you can spare the time.

~Jackie~

ART JEWELRY CHALLENGE FOR SEPTEMBER!

I will be away on  holiday till the end of the month so thought I had better write a bit about the challenge now and post a bit early.

I loved the colours in the painting and found myself very drawn to the shades of blue and yellow/green particularly. 
View of the Pond at Charleston, East Sussex by Vanessa Bell

 So although time was short for me this month I set to work on a pair of rather organic earrings, I chose to use a blend of silvery blue Polymer with some Swarovski crystals in yellow shades, so that they reflect the soft colours of the painting. I hung them on Sterling silver hooks with little petal bead caps.

I would have like to have more time to explore more beads as I had ideas for a bracelet, sadly this month there was not the time due to commitments.

Here is a link to the Art Bead Scene page. 
http://artbeadscene.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/september-monthly-challenge.html

~Jackie~
Comments are always much appreciated and read, thank you.

A FEW THOUGHTS ON THE GARDEN ETC!

Going into the autumn I feel like there hasn't been any summer yet, even the plants feel the same, my dwarf beans did so badly there was only a handful to pick out of the whole ten plants! As for the peppers I have one tiny white  flower open, so no pollination there how sad! As for the garden plants the beautiful pink stripped clematis is doing rather well and has quite a lot of flowers out, the new Heucharellas have bloomed well and the leaves are so colourful and pretty. 

One tree that has done really well this year came into its own you might say, is the Eucriphia, the white honey scented blossom is exquisite and it is a frothy mass alive with bees ( there should be plenty of local honey ) but other plants have not done so well the roses are not too good, being as close to the sea as we are they are not a bit keen on the salty air but I find the old roses do much better than the modern roses. 

The ginger has grown enormous this year but there don't seem to be any flower spikes just huge leaves and lots of them and the black bamboo growing next to it has almost doubled in size probably due to all the rain.

I have been taking myself down to the little park close by us on the days it doesn't rain and the wind is not too strong, to continue to improve my Tai Chi, I am not taking students at present as I want to train and study more and my small studio is not big enough to wield the sabre or do the full fan form, so when I decided to take myself down to the park in the mornings, I have been really enjoying it, I go early enough that there is hardly anyone about. Standing in the fresh air facing the sea is a real joy and certainly helps me focus.

A little picture I painted earlier this year, it is quite small 5x5 inches as I had been painting larger canvases and wanted a change, it was a glorious sunset and the sea so calm and quiet, one really lovely evening stands out doesn't it!

~Jackie~
I would love it if you spared a moment of your time to leave me a comment, I always read them and it is much appreciated.
 

ART BEAD SCENE AUGUST CHALLENGE!

Goodness I am very late getting this written this month so I will start by showing you the amazing Navajo tapestry Summer Thunder that was the inspiration this month and the link to Art Bead Scene. 
http://artbeadscene.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/august-monthly-challenge.html

I thought it would be nice to make some beads as well as a necklace, as I found the tapestry quite inspireing, I think it was partly the colour and something about the energy in the piece, the colour reminded me of our soil here in Devon it is just about that exact colour! 

So really my beads and necklace ( which is double sided ) are very much about the colour. The energy made me think of cave paintings and ancient art well I researched that a bit but finally went with my own thoughts, so the people in the beads and pendant and the patterns are  just my interpretation of animals and people going about their daily lives. Not sure if it has worked or not as I have never done anything like it before, I hope you will find it at least interesting even if a rather poor attempt.

 ~Jackie~
 Comments are gratefully received I don't get many but treasure every one, thank you.

ANOTHER ORGANIC NEKLACE!

Well I am back in the organic mood again, I have recently made another necklace for the Portland Gallery.

I found a wonderful carved wood bead and bought several of them as the website was closing down, that was the inspiration for this necklace as the carving had holes in it I thought what a good idea it would be to suspend some thin leather through them and add beads, well that took almost a full afternoonm they kept making their way out of the centre hole instead of the ones at the side   ...!!! I did get them through the holes eventually as you will see in the picture below, although I was terribly tempted to give up!

I wanted to use some more of the lovely Labradorite as theses beads are quite heavy I use them spareingly. I added some coconut heishi and several of the fair trade hand made beads, all lightweight beads and to bring out the splash of colour in the lovely little cloisonné Ladybird I used one of my polymer beads. I used hand dyed silk and a hand made clasp to finish, I hope you like it!

I love to get your comments and always read them, thank you.
~Jackie~ 

THE ART BEAD SCENE CHALLENGE!

I decided I really need to get back to making a bit of Jewellery again and perhaps a few beads too so I have joined the Art Bead Scene Monthly Challenge, http://artbeadscene.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/july-monthly-challenge.html.

Each month a picture is chosen for you to take inspiration from, just what I need right now, my biggest problem is having too many ideas all at once and never knowing where to start so I never get started. Joining the monthly challenge gives me a better way to stay focused on just one thing. 

There is a Pinterest board....................
https://www.pinterest.com/artbeadscene/jewelry-monthly-challenge-entries/ and I have pinned my offering for the month of July, just the one to start with.

I have put the necklace below, the heart is hand made by me in Polymer.

~Jackie~

PAINTING ON PAPER AND CANVAS!

I have not been around much lately which of course means I have not posted on my blog for a while, there has been much to do in the garden and I have also started painting again and am really enjoying it. 

Watercolour is the medium I enjoy most with coloured pencil and mixed media but lately I have been trying out acrylic paint in various forms on canvas, it started out as a challenge from Maggie a friend who owns the gallery at the bottom of our road, so I accepted her challenge and decided I quite enjoyed painting again although for me it is all back to front from watercolour, I do use a watercolour technique though, I can't quite get to grips with pallet knives and such. 

Below you will see a watercolour and pencil Cambria Poppy that I did for my phoptograph album, the little bear standing by the page is one of my own design, hand made, mohair jointed bears from my soft sculpture days!

Under that a little Hare and butterflies on canvas which was rather fun to do. 

Hope you enjoy!
~Jackie~

THE ART TRAIL!

Our Art Trail last Sunday went quite well, not sure what to expect as this is the first year our town has held it, some people said they couldn't find us although I think they just didn't walk far enough up the road, anyhow we met some nice people and everyone was pleasant.

I sold my first Kumihimo necklace a rather elaborate one with baby blue pearls and garnets all the findings I made in Polymer, it was one of my favourite necklaces as it took me a long time in working out the design and making it was incredibly fiddly, the lady who bought it liked three of my necklaces maybe she will get in touch and buy the other two...!!! She also bought a pair of earrings, I think she was trying to buy something from everyone which was a lovely thing to do.

Here is a picture of the necklace.

~Jackie~

THE WEDDING!

The wedding was a colourful affaire, the bride wore a gorgeous purple gown with frilled train and the bridesmaids all wore a similar colour but the style was more subdued very Grecian they had long silky wraps and all looked very pretty. 

The reception was a pleasent affaire there was even a chocolate fountain with marsh mallows and pieces of fruit to dip  plenty to eat, the cakes was quite plain and strangely it was a coffee cake very unusual I thought, anyway all went off well.

I can hardly believe Katherine is married, she went to school with my daughter Lara and the pair used to come home after school on a Monday, Kat had dinner with us then her mother would pick her up after work and take her home, the pair of them would spend hours drawing and listening to music together, oh my! Where does all the time go, below is a photo of the pair at the reception.

 ~Jackie~

ART TRAIL WEEKEND!

Today is the start of a busy weekend for my daughter and myself. 

Lara's best friend is getting married today, Lara is one of the bridesmaids, the dresses her friend chose for her five bridesmaids are in a lovely soft purple, flowing and rather grecian I think they will all look very elegant. Hoping the weather will be ok the sun is out at present so fingers crossed!

This weekend is also our little towns first Art Trail weekend there are over fourty artists and crafters exhibiting their work, either in the several galleries in the town or in their homes or studios, there will be workshops, live music and poetry. Six gardens to visit and many other attractions, including music, dance, theatre etc, etc. The weekend will I think be interesting, we are participating on Sunday only as Saturday is taken up with the wedding. Between us we are exhibiting paintings, art jewellery, silk scarves, soft sculpture and Lara's book for signing.

I think it will be a very fun and interesting weekend for us and hopefully be the first of many more Art Trails.

Blue Bells, one of my necklaces in the Art Trail created especially for the occasion 

~Jackie~

MY GARDEN.

The weather is improving and I have been able to get into the garden, the beds have been too wet to walk on till now as there has been a lot of rain.

It is wonderful to take my coffee outside and sit and feed the fish, while I plan what I will be doing next, so far I have planted some lovely blue grape hyacinths also snowdrops bought in the green to add to the ones already there I bought two variety's as I just love them. About the middle of the border I planted Digitalis Camelot Rose and near the front a beautiful Primrose, deep blue with silvery white edge it is a nice big plant which I will probably have to split next year the yellow and pink Primroses are out and the primulas have buds! 
I transplanted a lot of the bright pink small gladioli they grow wild on the continent and seem to like my garden too. 

As we are on the coast we usually get mild springs though the winter gales can get very cold but the garden now it is mature seems to have its own micro climate and I can grow tree ferns outside all year and the Hedychium Gardnerianum (ginger) grows huge it had eight flower spikes last year as there was so much warmth and sun. 

I keep some of my Cymbidium orchids out all year too as they won't flower in the house, though I do very well with Phalanopsis etc, if they don't succumb to mealy bug. I was clear of that pest for years then bought in a plant quarantined it for a month then put it in the display and eventually had to get rid of more than a dozen of my miniatures it was heart breaking and I felt like giving up. Once that mealy bug is established it seems impossible to eradicate.

The double Magnolia Vulcan is gorgeous this year with no cold winds to brown the edges of the blossom it is a picture against the blue sky, I have put a couple of pictures below of Vulcan and the ginger.

I have more planting to do so will be going out later this morning.

~Jackie~

ART JEWELRY ELEMENTS REVEAL - MARCH HARES !

This is my first time doing a challenge with the AJE which is nice as I had been looking for something interesting to join in on and Hares seemed like the ideal thing, that was until I tried my hand at actually sculpting a tiny one for my necklace! Well I managed a passable one eventually and you can see him below.

I love this template I made it for a different necklace and have used it several times now in varying sizes, I used gold Premo Polymer, the grass and hare are textured ( I really enjoy doing this ) and the little flowers are embellished with Swarovski crystals. I hammered some bronze to make links and also makes the closure added citrine rondelles and gold plated beads.
I did a Kumihimo braid especially in greens and yellow of various hues which sadly the picture doesnt show much of and as I don't like the glue on ends I make my own end caps with Polymer, I chose these sort of heart shape leaves.

I also decided to make just a pendant with a Hare peeking out from behind an old tree, this one is in Polymer too and is touched with gold paint here and there, I just put it on a green silk cord.

These were both such fun to do I have really enjoyed the challenge and am looking forward to see what others have created! 

The rest of the blogs in the challenge are below so please do go to visit them if you can.

 ~Jackie~

 AJE Team

Jenny

Caroline

Lesley

Linda

Niky

Melissa

Rebekah

Lindsay

Guests

Aural - Woodland Bay Native

Heather - Hidden Ridge Studio

Cindy Martin-Shaw

Karen Panthaki

Jackie Ryan

Karin Grosset Grange - Ginko et Coquelicot

Pamela Traub - Klassy Joolz

Paisley Lizard Designs

Karen at Ditsy Blue

Michelle McEnroe ( 4 pieces pinned on  the AJE Pinterest page)

THE CONTEST!

I could not have been more surprised when I won a contest recently, not because I thought my humble offering was unlovely but simply because it was so different to my usual offerings and  materials, but I do like to use and put together in my own way things that appeal to me sometimes unusual or overlooked materials.

Thinking about it I always go rather for elegance, it can be simple or elaborate, I have been musing on this a lot lately, why I design as I do, put together certain colours, even use certain materials or gems does it depend on my mood, fashion, time of year! Yes, probably all these things hold a certain sway over how I design and make. Then there is the inspiration, I am inspired by so many things, colours definitely I love colour! My garden, trees, the sea, flowers and leaves, photographs, architecture, sometime a film will spark an idea, art nouveau and many other things, anyway enough of musing.

The necklace for the contest started with hand dyed silk in shades of Pale blue and green with baby blue freshwater pearls for the Kumihimo braid. I made the ends for the braid in silver Polymer, inspired by the seed pods of Lunaria Annua ( honesty ) no glue was used to attach them to the braid, I hammered and sculpted the silver wire central shape, the inspiration for these shapes came from a photograph of bubbles frozen under a lake in Canada. Then I wire wrapped the center circular portion to hang a pendant of rock crystal. One end is also the hook closure. 

So there you have it, Blue Ice the necklace!

 Thank you for looking your comments are much appreciated ~Jackie~

MY FIFTH AND LAST DAY ON THE FACEBOOK ART JEWELRY CHALLENGE!

Well its my last day so I had to put up one of my great favourite necklace I made it as a special birthday gift for my dear sister.

This Huge freshwater drop pearl is set with ruby and peridot cabs on a carved band of gold polymer clay, the beads and bead cap are either gold vermeil or gold fill as is the chain. I used some very fine freshwater white pearls and ruby and peridot faceted beads for the necklace. 

I love designing these embellished pearls they look so amazing! 

DAY 4 OF THE ART JEWELRY CHALLENGE!

Day 4. of the Facebook Art Jewelry Challenge. 
Today I am adding another of my gold polymer clay pendants set with a large cab of green tree agate and a round cab of turquoise, I strung it with the green tree agate rounds and some beautiful white freshwater pearls. I really liked the shape of this pendant in fact I made the template for the cab especially, as it was an odd shape but a nice size.

It is the last day of the challenge tomorrow I am going to miss it, I have managed to find people that had not been nominated before which is quite a feat as so many have already been nominated to carry on some even twice!

DAY THREE OF THE ART JEWLRY CHALLENGE

Today is day 3, of the Facebook Art Jewelry Challenge initiated by Donna Greenberg. 

Goodness the time flies by, today I am showing one of my leafy gold Polymer Clay pendants, it is set with a cab of Ocean Jasper a pearl and two Amethyst crystals and strung with freshwater pearls in various shapes and sizes, smooth amethyst and tiny gold plated spacers. I love these Ocean Jasper cabs and bought several at the time, I am so glad I did as now it is very difficult to get them.

 ~Jackie~

FACEBOOK ART JEWELRY CHALLENGE DAY 2 !

Today is my second day of the Art Jewelry Challenge so I decided to post a picture of a bracelet it is a decidedly Valentine affaire with prety puffy Rose Quartz hearts and a carved flower, the cubes are Rhodonite and the pearls are white freshwater, it is all hand wrapped with sterling silver and I added a litle silver heart to finish it all off, it looks really nice on and I also made a pair of earrings to match!

~Jackie~

ART JEWELRY CHALLENGE!

I was nominated by Lori Anderson to do the five day Facebook Art Jewelry Challenge initiated by Donna Greenberg. I have to show a piece of jewellery for 5 days, and nominate an artist each day to show one of her pieces to carry the challenge forward. 

I thought it would be nice to show the pieces here as well just for fun and something to write about at this cold time of year there is nothing much going on and I can't get in the garden, so I am doing all kinds of indoor crafts, although the painting will have to wait till the light is better and the days get longer, anyway here goes with my first day which was yesterday ( Saturday )

This necklace was made as a special gift for my sister for her birthday, it is made of Imperial Topaz and white Topaz with Citrine maquise drops and tiny gold beads and clasp!

~Jackie~

KUMIHIMO BRAID NECKLACE!

I am enjoying my Kumihimo braiding very much. I am using hand dyed silk threads at present that I buy from Lorraine as I want fine braids it seems perfect. If you read my prevous post you will know I don't like the pre-made ends that you have to glue in position, so have worked on a way to secure my hand made Polymer ends without using any glue.

The necklace in the picture below has lovely warm shades in the braid with tiny freshwater pearls. I made endcaps of autumn leaves and one for one of the ind drops the other two are green Tourmaline and the three waterfall strands are a mixture of freshwater pearls glass beads and Tourmaline and a couple of gold plated beads as well.

Lorraine has a lovely blog you may like to visit its called http://colourcomplements.com/ she also has an Etsy shop here https://www.etsy.com/shop/colourcomplements?ref=l2-shopheader-name

I will put some more of these necklaces up soon, I hope you have enjoyed taking a look most of these are available but not on the web site as they are a new collection.

Your comments are very much appreciated thank you.

~Jackie~

 

MADAGASCAR DENDRITIC AGATE!

I have been very busy lately with tucking my more tender plants up in the garden as the winter progesses, lately it has become quite cold and the tree ferns have had to be wrapped up in fleece for the winter I do leave it as long as possible, but the time has come and I would hate to lose them.

On the jewellery scene I have been claying and making more Kumihimo braids which I can use in necklaces I will post one of those later.

I really enjoyed designing this setting for a large and unusual shaped piece of Madagascar Dendritic Agate, I designed a template and used gold Polymer to set the stone I did add a pair of Carnelian cabs as they seem to work beautifully with it. The Jasper and Carnelian gemstones make a great combination for the necklace I think.

Your comments are very much appreciated thank you.

~Jackie~