A 'prolific' posting!

I awoke early this morning in one of those wide-awake-eyes-focused-crystal-clear-headed-compus-mentis-moments that really sets a day up beautifully right from the word go. It ranks alongside having a 'cool pillow fashioned into a perfect position' and slipping into 'freshly laundered bedding after a long bath' as other bedtime favourites. I managed to wait at least 25 minutes before subtly fidgeting enough to wake my gently snoring husband. Mission accomplished, I snuggled in closer all smiles and morning warmth. "You stink!" he said unceremoniously.

To be totally fair, he was talking of the invasive stench of solvent smells coming from downstairs where I have been using the kitchen as an overflow second work studio, and not my personal toilette routine (or lack of it!) The fumes I am able to ignore successfully as I am used to them, but Mike has really suffered- headache and blocked sinuses were his wake up call instead. He soon rallied though and reasoned that 'as it was all my fault, then I had to make him a coffee in bed... and get the headache pills.... and bring his laptop to him...' With a cheeky glint in his (slightly inflamed) eye he also said  'Oh! And I would like some melon scooped into little balls for my breakfast, and then I will forgive you!' I laughed and pottered off after seeing to the first 3 demands. On a whim I curiously rooted around at the back of the kitchen drawer and found..... a melonballer! The joy! Which explains one of the photos above. The rest are all table tops and lamps in various stages of drying, festooning our kitchen sides with liquid jewel colours. It's a hive of creativity in there readying for the show coming up. As a wee bonus we HAD to have a take away in the evening as I have covered every inch of surface, including the cooker, so who says women arn't so good at spatial relations? Mine worked a treat!

Sands of time...

Where did we get to? I remember.

I'd posted a couple of photos with almost no explanation previously, with a promise to remedy that. Well as I haven't actually done anything since then on those pieces, I'll postpone the 'whys and wherefores' until a later date. I could make some waffle up as you know, but that comes far too easily; if there is no challenge then it is hardly worth doing! You will just have to wait until I pull my finger out and get on with it all.

So what have I been doing?  Playing shop!

It's all well and good selling our wares, but it does mean I then have to replace things, and at a furious pace at the moment. I can see the merits of having other people's work in at times like this! This last week has been a blur of lamps, glass cards and getting silks ready. I still haven't gotten round to finishing off any oil paintings yet and I really need to do some local scenes. Oh well, I'm sure it will all work... just as soon as I figure a way to clone myself (wish I'd listened harder in science class now!)

Six times table trouble.....

I remember learning these way back in time when nylon flares were all the rage and brown and orange colourways were seen as elegant and fashionable. Today's post however has nothing to do with mathematics and algebraic systems... it's all about 'when art goes bad' (cue dramatic drum roll!)  I wasn't going to mention the bad bits here on blogland as I like to keep things viewed through my Panglossian, rose coloured spectacles whenever possible. Common courtesy though wins because I have a BIG tip to pass on, that I learnt the hard way and wouldn't want anyone making the same mistake. 'What did she do?' I hear, from at least one person hopefully out there. Well.....

I have spent all week painting 19" round glass tops for tables which are proving popular now spring is a-coming. I 'draw' (using pipettes) my design on, wait for that to dry and then pour in the colours over/inside the design using solvent based glass paints. When all is dry the design gets covered with sticky-backed, white vinyl for protection and boosting the brightness of the colours. The whole thing gets flipped over, and 'voila' you're the owner of one pretty table top. That's the theory anyway. I used a new paint for the drawn design- a metallic, water based glass paint that was of 'superior quality' according to it's headline. It dried nicely, and didn't react when the oil based paint was applied. The vinyl was then placed on, sticking perfectly to the underside......for about 10 seconds. The vinyl then disappointingly started to peel back with all the metallic work attached to it, sticking only where the oily stuff was. A bit demoralising seeing as I had six of these dried out on my worktop. I had to strip them all back down to blanks again, whilst Mike drove to get replacement paints. A costly and frustrating mistake indeed that I hope no one else repeats. So, the moral of the story is don't stick a vinyl backing onto water based paints.... EVER!

The picture posted is one of the table tops (a correct one!) that has been glued onto a mirror backing for an african themed commission.     

Freeform tabletops (new range)...

It's been all go today, and we're also settling in for a long night's work here, too- which of course isn't a problem when you've got those creative juices flowing (it's when you haven't that it's a struggle!) Pictured are two tabletops for starters. I use oil based glass paints for these, and just freestyle "draw" the paints on from a pipette. The whole lot moves around on it's own accord, so you have to make sure your desk is well and truly level! I tried out two of these at my earlier show, which got snapped up immediately. Thought I'd do a couple more for the next one in December. The vase pictured is a new style I have found, and for this I have used alcohol inks. I think it gives a lovely watercolour effect no other glass paints can recreate. The photo was taken whilst the sun was beating through the window today, so if you can't tell what it is....it's poppies in a field! It's a whopper too, standing at 80cms high. Can you imagine the size of the flowers you'll need to put in it? Not your average posy, that's for sure!