I’ve been working on the odd little bowl or dish for a while now, making some with the different air dry clays I bought, letting a them dry so I can move them from my drying spot (under the air conditioner) to make space for another lot.
Time to share the finished ones. Starting with a few I stamped writing onto.
Life is like a box of chocolates.I could have missed the pain, but I’d have had to miss the dance – Garth Brooks “The Dance”.
One I stamped and painted on:
Plenty of fish – comes with a little fish. You can’t really tell in the photo but this is a cement coloured clay.
Something more ‘arty’ and weird:
A nose, cause, well… why not?
Something I just painted on.
A little pocket to hang from the wall to hold… something.
And something a bit different.
A mended heart.
Its been fun working with clay. Trying different things. Air dry clay is nothing like the fired stuff, but its still fun to work with and its so much easier all round. If (when) I decide to work with ‘real’ clay I’ll have to buy it in a big bag, buy some glazes and then find a place willing to fire my work for me.
Let’s not think about the mess of working clay in my living room!
Its a lot more work than bashing something up on the kitchen table and letting it dry on the bookcase.
Ok. I don’t need reminding, I’m doing it now before I forget.
Here are some old Christmas cards I made for myself and my various personas online. I lost so much stuff in the hard drive crash a few years ago but luckily I had a few hard copies of some… Unfortunately a few seem to be lost forever…
So I’ll start with the printed ones I found.
In more or less order…
Our first printed card when Pagan was a puppy.Pagan grown up now, still living in Melbourne.My first Christmas in Tasmania, memorable cause I had a broken ankle.The year Montana was born.Pagan and Montana.Montana growing up.Billybear, Bonnard and Montana… plus a small tasmanian devil in the trees.
After those I pretty much went to just sending e-cards. So much quicker, cheaper and easier.
In no particular order:
At the farm, after we lost Billy and still had only 2 horses: Wally and Ben.I love using vintage images to create my own cards.I always had Christmas banners for my FB page and for my website but sometimes I sent cards through Messenger as well to my regular customers.For my radio show FB page.I think I made this when I still lived in my first house in Tasmania, when I had Bonnard.A card made from a photo of my lazy Christmas tree that year: a stack of vintage books and old pearls.What can I say? Some vintage ads are just perfect as they are!Ditto with this one. Hilarious.A Christmas ad for my grooming business.
I really have such fun doing these! I would do more of it if I could stand sitting in an office chair for more hours than I already do!
Like my new Christmas banner? And the new blog colours for the season?
I was in a creative mood (computer creative) so I sat down and made myself some new banners for FB and for the blog, as well as some online Christmas cards for myself and for 2 uncles and their dogs. Those I messaged to them to share with their friends, but hey, I made them so I’ll give you guys a preview!
This is mine:
I used to make Christmas cards every year. Remind me to share as many of the old ones as I can find in a post… (I lost a lot of stuff when my external drive crashed a few years ago).
These are the ones for my uncles using pics of their dogs:
Meanwhile, I finished the Christmas platter/decoration I started when I bought a candy cane and a candle holder. Simple and cheap. I had the string, the platter and the vanilla scented candle, bought the tiny tree, and picked up some small pine cones on my walk. I sprinkled them with some glittery sandy stuff I had and voila. Done.
When (if) I ever clean off my kitchen table, this will sit there. Till then its on the tiny coffee table. Eh. A little Christmas cheer.
Yesterday I was suddenly overtaken with a desire to be more Christmassy.
I’d had this little chest for a while. It was a plain brown little thing, ugly really, which came with a gift in it 2 years ago. I always thought I’d do something with it. I painted it white and planned to line it with some faux fur as a tiny jewelry box or something.
Anyway, while searching for the fairy lights I found I still had these tiny Christmas trees from last year and decided I’d use them to create a pretty ‘snowy forest in a box’.
I used hot glued the trees into the back of the lid. I cut a toilet roll to create a hill in the foreground and hot glued trees to that. I topped it all off with some ‘just add water’ snow cause the dry snow would just blow off everywhere. This should last till after Christmas… Next year I’ll upcycle it again.
I also made this little wreath. I’d already started this one day at the beach. Those trees that grow by the sea have lots of very fine roots close to the surface that sometimes stick out of the sand. They’re thin and flexible so I’d pulled up a few and wrapped them into a ring using a bit of gold wire to secure them.
On our walk yesterday I found some much finer strands of roots and brought them home, adding them to the ring I’d made, in a much looser fashion to give the wreath more bulk.
I used more gold wire to secure it and a bit of paper string for the bow. I finished it off by dribbling some glue on it and dipping it into some sparkly styrofoam balls I had from last Christmas.
Since I’m not hanging it I’m using a flower frog as its ‘stand’.
This is what my little Christmas corner looks like now.
It was another glorious day in paradise today. I took Lainee for a walk on the beach (where I collect sea rope and other little gems) and I swear, if I was on a less visible beach, I would have done a little more skinny dipping.
As it was, I planned to go get a towel and head out again, but then I got home and got caught up cleaning (for the mom visit) and doing odds and ends, doing Christmas stuff and, before I knew it, it was time to go get mom!
I did wrap up a few projects, like this bullie (bull terrier) to photograph. He needed his bone which I’d only just sealed today, so now he’s finished.
I’m a bit fond of this guy. He’s made the same way as usual with a cardboard, wire and foil armature, then finished with paper mache clay and vintage fabric. His bone is made of air dry clay.
I’m getting quite a collection of dogs on my bookcase. Here is a view of the finished dogs, awaiting their day in the spotlight.
I might do another patched dog I think. Its looking a bit too white at the moment. Different tastes, right?
Then again, I have a ton of sea rope just waiting to be woven into baskets. So many projects, so little time.
I took Lainee down to Parikia for a walk again this afternoon, along the beach and the waterfront. On the way back it got dark and I discovered there are Christmas lights up in town!
Its a glorious night, after a brilliant day. The sea is still, not a skerrick of wind, just perfect. Unbelievable to think Christmas is just around the corner.
This time of year they always light up the windmill in the port, but I didn’t see the lit up boat in the town square. I think that gets lit at a Christmas fete later in December… Though I don’t think that’ll happen this year. Large gatherings of people, even outdoors, is probably a no-no. No Christmas markets either I bet. In fact, we’ll be lucky to have stores open for Christmas shopping the way we’re going.
Lucky I make my own presents!
I visited the nursery again today cause I needed another bag of potting mix. The new planter I got for the lupins out the back is huge and needed about 100 litres of potting mix. While there I fell in love with this little plant. No idea what it is, but I love its whimsical craziness.
As you can see, it now has a great spot on my book case and is wearing my little star fairy lights.
A little bit of Christmas for me too.
I wasn’t going to do anything this year, but I’m finding I want to do something. I might go get some outdoor fairy lights to put on the tree outside. Or across the front. I may not put up a tree but I love fairy lights.
I might also dig out the indoor ones and put them up high where they won’t tempt Eric.
Its become the new normal. I don’t think we question it much any more.
Sure, the 9pm curfew is a bummer but given you shouldn’t actually visit people, and there’s nowhere to ‘go’, what does it matter? I’d like to be able to drop in on a friend (and I do occasionally), and since I like being at home the curfew doesn’t bother me much. In fact, it means I have the evening to myself – I’m selfish that way!
Today I thought I’d share an experiment with marble, decoupage and paint. I was trying a new way of decoupage (when I did the mom and dad memory box) and while I was at it I decoupaged a few pieces of marble to see how they would turn out. Nicely as it turns out. I decided to try painting on one of them so I had an image with a background. A different background. I love the marble though, so I may not do a lot of this. It was something different. To be honest I kinda like the marble with just the decoupaged image on it too, just as I like the painting on its own.
Yesterday I received the pots I ordered for the front porch. It was looking a little too redneck out there with the assortment of different pots so I wanted to make it look a little classier. Here is a photo, still messy out there as I have a ton of pots on the ground behind the wall to protect them from the nasty wind till spring. And the rug I put out for cats to sun themselves on, plus bags of potting mix still to be used… But the uniform planters each with a mix of succulents in them are looking good.
You can’t really see it in the picture, but the last planter has 2 african daisies, a white and a pink. They will hopefully do alright in any weather conditions here as they did in Australia and spread everywhere. I may have to move them to another spot later, but I love them for their resilicance and colours.
I love playing with dirt and plants, as you know… All you have to do is look at photos of my garden in Tasmania to see that. Like here, and here… not to mention here, and while we’re at it, a bit of nostalgia… here.
There’s so much to miss about that farm, that garden, that house, that life… sigh.
Meanwhile I try to fit all my interests into this tiny apartment with a view of the sea and the fresh air of Paros.
One of my aunts gave me this little ‘side of the road’ gem so I did a bit of rearranging in the bedroom.
That ‘s where I had all my suitcases before.
At the time I had the foam from the antique Paros couch under the bed taking up room. I decided that since I wanted soft and cushy for the couch if I ever finish and use it (cause I have no room in this place) I got rid of the foam and I put the suitcases under the bed for storage. Much smarter idea. I can now pull the suitcase I want out like I would a drawer.
And I put the little table in the corner to shove things that need storing under. Like paper supplies, mom’s old sewing machine (which needs a tweak to work) and some card for painting on. I was thinking of making a rack for shoes to hide under it, and maybe I will one day, but for now I just put this stuff in there to hide it away.
In order to make it less ‘i just had to stick this somewhere’ visible, I used the lace pillow cover as a curtain. It had a small rust mark on it so I cut that away and stitched a small round doily over the hole. Works for me.
You may remember this is how my bedroom looks. A great friend gave me this gorgeous mosquito net and (like any girl) I’ve always loved the romantic look of a mosquito net over the bed. Even if its just me and Lainee sharing the bed.
The dilema now is this: I have a beautiful painting (a nude) of myself done by a friend and great artist. I had it hanging over the bed in Tasmania and I forgot to take it to Athens for storage when I went last Christmas. Its been in its box in the bedroom since then. Just waiting.
Here it is, in the bedroom in Tassie:
Now I’m wondering if I should remove the mosquito net and put the painting on the wall over the bed.
Decisions decisions. I love the painting. I love the net. I’ve used the net a few times, so its handy as well as gorgeous.
I have no other big wall to hang the painting on unless it goes over the couch in the living room.
… but is that a good spot for a nude of myself?
Mind you, its a tasteful nude. All you can see are my hip and my breasts (which were pretty small at the time as I was a lot thinner than I am now). Its in muted tonal colours which suit the decor here… I’m not sure what to do. I think I’ll just leave it in the back of my mind for a while, It will come to me.
Another finished dog. I just love making these guys. They take about a week to make. Making the armature is easy enough and only takes an afternoon. Then the actual shaping (building up of body) and adding face and paws takes a few days since they need drying time between goes. Because of that I usually start another dog before I’ve finished the one I’m working on. At any given time I have at least 2 dogs ‘in progress’.
How many dogs will I make? I’m not sure. I have other projects I work on in between (more clay dishes for instance since I bought a few packs of air dry clay) but I come back to the dogs when I feel at a loss. I have cardboard prepared to paint on, so I have to get to that at some stage. The idea is to have enough work to choose from when its time to have an exhibition. What doesn’t sell there will go in my new online shop.
Yes. New shop. I was getting really down about not selling anything in my Etsy shop for a long time so I closed it. Maybe that was rash… Now if I want to re-open it I have to start over. But who knows. I’ve seen some papier mache dog sculptures on there for unbelievable prices, which makes me think mine, at reasonable prices, might sell. Or I might just stick to opening a Facebook shop. I started on that but stopped cause I can’t make things to sell now AND have enough stuff for a show later on.
Oh the dilema of being an artist… sell something now or keep it to show…
Anyway, this little dog began life as a short muzzled boy, but when I added cheeks and jowls he looked like he’d been stung by a bee. I began thinking I’d put a bee on his nose and call him ‘I got Stung’ but discovered I could carve into the paper mache clay. I fixed his face and now he has this quizzical expression I really like.
(I reserve the right to make a stung dog though!)
He’s been made the same way as all my dogs, with recycled materials and finished with vintage white cotton fabric and white paint. His face and paws are air dry clay.
It was a glorious day today. I took Lainee down into Parikia this morning and we took a long walk with one of my aunts all the way to the other end of town. The sea was so gorgeous I couldn’t resist and had a quick skinny dip. I hadn’t planned on swimming so didn’t have my bathing suit or a towel. There was no one around so why not? The sun was warm enough to dry me off quickly and it felt incredible. Sure, it was cold in the water, but it was worth it. Though its such an easy walk it sure doesn’t feel like nearly enough exercise.
Panoramic shots don’t work well in this format… They are too small!
Lainee said it was enough for her though. She made some new friends along the way and then came home and crashed.
Mom made me some bean soup. It was nice. I hadn’t had it in a long time. Sometimes I need to remember I’m greek. I can’t live on panettone, thai green curry and gyoza all the time!
What else have I got to share?
My new vacuum cleaner sucks. Literally. It sucked the rug right off the floor. I almost broke a rib trying to pull it across the rug. I found I have to use that little air slider thingy to loosen its grip in order to vacuum even on the hard floors. Well, that’s a good thing. Last thing you want is a vacuum cleaner which doesn’t suck!
My newest clay dishes (in cement-like air dry clay) dried with big cracks in them. Not as good as the white air dry clay which is a pity as I have 2 more packs of the stuff… Tonight I’ll try patching them up and see how that goes. Maybe they dried too fast?
The dishes I made a few days ago are now dry and I need to decide whether to paint or just seal them tomorrow, then share them.
Instead of doing more clay work tonight I think I might start on another sea rope basket as I watch Netflix. I finished watching Hollywood (a funny, feel good series) and have started watching Sweet Magnolias. So far so good. I love strong independent women doing their own thing.
I finished the play bowing dog with the teddy in his mouth. As the title says, he’s killing it!
I actually finished him a couple of days ago but was waiting for the chance to photograph him outside. Not the best light, but a bit better than the kitchen counter.
This dog is made like the previous ones – starting with cardboard, newspaper, masking tape, wire, foil. Building the armature first, then building up the shape bit by bit. The top layer is vintage fabric and paint. The nose and paws are paper clay.
I made the teddy out of fabric so he’s soft, and I even gave him some ripped bits. One ear is only partly ripped and chewed, the other ear dangles by a thread.
The gallery below shows some of the progress.
I’ve been working on so many different things at the moment I think I may have to start posting more than one thing a day! Eh, better to have too much to share than not enough.
I’m loving having some days a week to myself. I sort of made it clear to mom that I won’t see her every day, I won’t go into town every day. I need a couple of days a week (at least) to work on my own things. I’m happy to do the shopping or take mom to see her sisters etc, just don’t expect that I’ll do something every day.
Today I spent all morning working then I took Lainee for a walk on the beach. It was a lovely sunny day, made me wish I had my bathing suit with me! Bonus I met a guy riding on the beach… It was lovely to touch and smell horses again. Made me wonder if I want to organise a few rides.
Anyway, spend time with mom o’clock.
Thank goodness for 9pm curfew, I get the nights to myself and SOME nights I even feel like working!
Since I bought some air dry clay to fine tune my dog sculptures, I figured I may as well have a go at making other stuff with it just to see how it dries and what I can do with it.
I had a little look on Pinterest and got some ideas to try out and made a few small dishes…
Cats, they seem to be very popular on Pinterest…
A rough little lace plate…
A fish, not a dish but an incense holder…
And one bowl you’ll see again later when I finish it.
Other than that I’ve been busy. No surprise there.
I got a vacuum cleaner today, something you wouldn’t think you’d need on a greek island with all the tiled floors, but once you get a rug… Not to mention that apparently you need a vacuum cleaner in summer too as its almost impossible to sweep up the dust and sand without the wind scattering it.
Of course I haven’t used it yet. I’ll save that for tomorrow!
I’d been out shopping for mom and myself today, picking up stuff (including the vacuum cleaner) so by the time I got home all I wanted to do was sit and work for a while.
And wash the mess of rope I picked up off the road. (But thats another story.)
Then eat a late lunch and finish watching season 3 of Zoo. Not so sure about that series anymore. It started out great, all about animals attacking humans, then it got into some pretty way out wacky genetics and mutating stuff, but its ventured into implausibility and sci-fi territory now. Still, I’m attached to the characters now and will watch the next season if (and when) it comes out.
…I wonder what’s happening with The Walking Dead… Anyone know if there’s another season out or coming?
Anyway, I have a dog waiting for me on the table. Not Lainee. She’s quite content. I took her for a long ride in the car today and then a run on the beach. She’s had her dinner and is currently curled up on the couch.
Eric is around here somewhere… not sure where… I can’t hear him or see him.
Hmm. Its quiet. Too quiet… It reminds me of a little poem I read somewhere many years ago:
More frightening than a storm or a riot Is a bunch of kids Which is suddenly quiet.
junk4joy 