Rustnstuff

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Article about the artists

Fiona and I were approached by Kate Johns editor of Salt magazine to do a 'meet the designer' profile in the magazine. Salt is a great magazine that promotes all things bright and beautiful (art, fashion, food, tourism etc) on the Sunshine Coast.

Thanks to Kate and two of her team (Frances Frangenheim [words] and Anastasia Kariofyllidis [photos]) we are featured in the Salt - Winter '13 edition. You can read the Salt online version here.

The profile on us in the hard copy is pp. 104-107 - photo below is a bit of a hint that you have reached the article on us and our work. Couple more images here.

And because it is Wednesday I thought I'd throw in a couple of early morning iPhone photos - taken just as I was setting out for an early morning walk. I thought it must be wrong to be walking in the dark and cold - but then Fiona was off doing her circuit training with her women's group - so!!!!

In the photos (taken with the iPhone so beautifully pixelated) you can see the lights of of the Port of Brisbane - about 80klms away - cold clear morning.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

I know Daily Word bowls can be boring but .....

As I have said in earlier posts I'm in a bit of a production phase at the moment in the lead up to the July open studio weekend and the August-September exhibition - so into turning our multiples of categories of things. I'm working on making about 10 sets of Daily Words - the bowls and the inspirational words.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been cutting circles (about 90mm in diameter) of silver-plasted EPNS; and hammering them into the shallow bowl form I use for the Daily Words bowls. You can see a few of such circles that have been marked and hammered but not ground and polished in the photo below. All the circles are cut from small EPNS trays - gifted to me or purchased from recycling shops.

I have added a couple of new designs to the bowls series - a star burst, positive and negative space equal-sided triangles and a more defined ying-yang. The full stash of new bowls are in the series of photos below.

As is often the case the bowls are so highly polished that they pick up all sorts of reflections - but still they look pretty good. Fiona pointed out that today is the fourth anniversary of posting to this blog - not a bad achievement .

Friday, June 14, 2013

A little art on Friday

Today has been a very busy community work day - so I didn't get into the garage-studio until mid afternoon. Yesterday afternoon I had started another personal shrine for the Peace and Stillness exhibition; and I got to finish it today as the light of day faded.

As you can see from the photo above this shrine has a bit of a Christian focus. The cross came from an old iron cross that was given to me with a couple of candlesticks - someone possibly had used it as part of a spiritual shrine in their home in the past.

I think the ornate silver-plated EPNS border (that was cut from an old serving tray) gives the shrine iconic feel. No matter what our spirituality might be we can pause at different times of the day and seek peace and stillness. The timber is Camphor Laurel. The shrine is about 250mm high and 200mm wide. It can be hung on the wall or can sit on a bench, a niche or a ledge in the house.

The recycled metal for shelf part of the shrine had a inscription to a recipient some 26 years ago. I have ground the inscription back somewhat and 'repurposed' the metal by over stamping it with the words Peace and Stillness.

And just in case you missed the information - as part of the relaunch of my online shop and some ongoing glitches I'm offering 15% off all items and a flat $10 pack and post to anywhere in the world until 30 June. You will find some funky found earrings in the shop and some gorgeous raised bowls as well as reflective light catchers.

Time for a wine I hear you say - and I couldn't agree more.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

A misty 'sunrise' and gorgeous visitors

What a difference a week makes. A week ago I shared the beautiful colours of a sunrise on my early Wednesday morning walk at sunrise. Today I started my walk without rain but returned home in a shower. So the sunrise over the valley today looked like the photo below.

But each day brings something special; and today brought a visit by a group (maybe an extended family) of 5 wallabies (if you count the joey in the pouch). We took photos of each of the group but I thought I'd just share a bunch of photos of mother and joey because the baby was so cute. Loved how it was having a good look around; and then mum packed the joey safely away. The family spent much of the day on the block munching on lots of different foodstuff. We are so lucky to have such visitors.

Many photos were taken by both Fiona and I as we enjoyed the presence of our visitors. And I played with the misty sunrise - including creating a magical sunrise of my own.

And after a printmakers planning meeting this afternoon I managed an hour of hammering metal in the studio-garage - so a well rounded day.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Online shop re-opens

Going back about a month ago I indicated on my blog sidebar that I had to close my shop because there were serious problems after a software upgrade by a provider went pear shaped.

The shop is back online - though it still has a couple of little quirks - like irrespective of the postage that I apply to items the software wants to make all postage $10 - hopefully we can get that sorted in the not too distant future.

In the mean time I have decided to have a 15% off sale for the rest of June 2013.

The sale re-launches the shop; and hopefully lessens the impact of any postage and handling issues.

So any items purchased between now and midnight on 30 June will be refunded 15% on the cost of the items purchased through Paypal. Could be a good time to make a purchase or two - there are quite a few new items in the shop.

Thanks for your support and understanding.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Progress with polishing etc...

Over the weekend I have managed to grind and polish the found earrings and the Peace Book Pendant pages. I have also attached the ear wires to the earrings and jump rings to the earrings and the Peace Book Pendants.

A few photos of the 'found' earrings.

And few photos of the Peace Book Pendants.

All the Peace Book Pendants are cut from recycled silver-plated EPNS or silver-plated copper. I need to attach the chains for the pendants, give them a final polish and then they are complete. Some will go into the Online Shop and Open Studio (6-7 July); and others will go into the Peace and Stillness Exhibition at Rosebead Street Gallery.

Friday, June 7, 2013

A whole lot of polishing going on...

During the week I was cutting and creating stuff for a number of purposes: Flags for Peace 2013; our Peace & Stillness exhibition in August-September; the library display; and the 601 mvr open studio on the 6-7 July. But whilst I was cutting and, stamping and hammering I was not able to get out in the open to grind and polish - it has been too wet.

Today was finally fine enough for me to get out. I set myself a very ambitious goal - grind and polish: 21 flags for peace 'flags'; the Peace Leaves (for both the exhibition and the library display); odd bits of found earrings; and the Peace Book Pendant pages.

Well I managed to get the 'flags' done - these will be held on a rope suspended by split rings to enable movement and hopefully chiming in the breeze.

The Peace Leaves are also complete.

But the Peace Books and found earrings bits will have to wait for another day. Still a pretty good afternoon's work - and a few different lines of work progressed. I can hear a cork that is calling to be popped - so I guess it is time for me to go and work with Fiona on the blue cheese and pumpkin risotto.

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