Red beech leaves

Leaf from a Red Beech tree

On my walk yesterday... Orange and yellow, with a touch of green! This leaf is similar to one I saw the other day.

These are th trees I used to explain to Zama how links work

Mahogany

Willow

Pine

Stripes and beads

What about combining the stripes, with the beads? Maybe in a print? 

Demo insert picture

 How to insert

from computer

Natal mahogany seeds

from Google photos and another dragonfly 

From blogger

Job's tears

Job's tears seeds/beads

So this is where they come from! 

I found these on the edge of the swamp at the dog park.

Old work

Fashion jewellery I made in third year...showing the start of the stripes that I'm using in the beads at the moment..I think?

Watercolours and beads

And beads...

Sent from my HTC

 A page from my design book... Starting to test the watercolour set and trying to paint the coloured beads that I've just made. I think I made the beads colourfully so that I could paint them... what a strange way around?!

But it reminds me of my previous watercolours that I did while doing my Masters (which deserves its own post). I painted my enamels using the method that Lou O'Meara taught us... the one where you use the complimentary colours to make the shadows...

The construction lines of the drawing makes me think that that I could probably construct a hollow metal bead, where the construction method is quite blatant... (post to come... I hope)

I think that THIS is what I want to do.... make something and document the process, and the DOCUMENTATION is the beautiful object....

Extrusion

Busy grappling with how to extrude beads

Sent from my HTC

I thought it would be quicker than carving the beads by hand... it would be nice to make a long, beautiful sausage that is 'just ' chopped up to make beads... SO I bought some tubing offcuts from Wardkiss, thinking I could make an extruder.... but how to work the squeezing mechanism?... and how to hold the nozzles in front?

So I then remembered the extruding syringe that I'd bought and lent to Taryn Coleman. She did not do much with it, so I am now free to pursue it.

I then used some of the default nozzles to play with... Interesting ... could lead somewhere...

The extruder with nozzles and a few beads...

Bead 1 (Pumpkin bead)

Sent from my HTC

Beautiful carving here... and interesting colours.... just a bit too mottled too my liking, or maybe too even? I think there should be more contrast in the texture, as well as the colour.

Time to do some test pieces...

Carved Turquoise bead

Sent from my HTC

I really like the carving of this bead. Pity it broke though... but maybe that is where I should add metal then... like the way the Koreans 'fix' their wooden bowls (Unknown craftsman)

Maybe if the bead was not so shiny the turquoise colour would be better... ?

Long blue bead

Sent from my HTC

I really like the form of this bead.... and now, after having had many doubts about the evenness of the colour I'm actually starting to like it.

I do think the clay should be terracotta though (maybe...?)

Coral and Turquoise bead

Sent from my HTC

Too shiny ... and too wishy washy... How can I make it look like real coral and real turquoise? Maybe I should dilute the glaze?!

Bead 2

Sent from my HTC

Looks like a beetle.... but looked much better in my head....

Blue bead

A lot went through my head when I was doing this....

I thought I should plan my days better ... have a routine... which makes space for creative practice (would this be an example of how to 'live poetically' as advocated by Leggo [2005]?)

I had done some reading (for my D and was about to go home when I realised that, having thought about my routine, I could start with it... so I decided to do something with the underglazes that I had bought last week from CPS (Cape Pottery Supplies) and which were just lying on the floor behind my chair (like the books - from long ago), but if they weren't there I would not have noticed them!?

I then became overwhelmed with all the decisions I needed to make (colours, brushes, which bead to paint...)... so I prepared the bead stand by putting grooves on with a diamond burr. I discovered that the fired nichrome wire snaps when you bend it too quickly, but a slow bend, by hand, doesn't break it!

Then I was overwhelmed by all the colours and I decide to paint just one bead in 2 colours... which ended up being just 1 colour (for today) so I can think about it. (... I did think about the colours when I bought them!... I decided to get turquoise and coral colours, after the Egyptian jewels).

I then decided to use the Silke blue... and now am not too sure about actually using two coloured underglazes. I was really taken by the contrast between the blue decorating slip and the terra cotta clay body at CPS, so I realised that I should make the bead in the correct colour clay to begin with!

Anyway I finished painting it and then scraped the excess colour off as Louise G. said she did with her glazes...

Bottle caps

How to integrate with beads...?