Back to the Feather Project.

The final piece of work for the 'feather project' is to be 15 cm square, so here I've chosen a section of my favourite feather print and cut out the required background size. I have stamped the 'SoftCut' image onto paper, photocopied it to get a carbonised print and burnt a Gocco screen with it.
The cut out of the feather dancer is just to try out various placements on the background. Once I have decided on the place, I'll screen a print onto it.  Now, what colour I wonder....sepia perhaps?

LaLa Falls.

 The weather was so lovely one day on our retreat that two of us walked the bush track to LaLa falls.

The falls weren't particularly spectacular with so little water, but one could imagine that they would be after full winter rains. The walk took about an hour, all up hill of course, but well worth it when we were treated to the sight and sounds of a Lyrebird on the way.

Lyrebird Habitat.

 

Great Students!

 Here are some of the necklaces that my students created using the polymer clay beads that they made.

 I think that everyone had a wonderful time making the beads and were just so thrilled with the necklaces and earrings that resulted. The photos don't really do the colours justice, particularly the gold highlights. Everyone had brought along filler beads and worked the clay beads in the same style and colours to complete their necklaces.

Frost Patterns.

      I wonder why the frost has settled into patterns as above on the front windscreen of the car.

                                     The ridges of frost on this piece of bark are fascinating.

A Frosty Morning.

 It was well below zero degrees this morning, the front paddock was white with frost and the dam was frozen over.

                    

                      I can't remember this ever happening before, solid ice right across the dam.

Polymer Clay Beads.

 These necklaces were all made a year or so ago. The only reason for showing them now is, that I have been asked to give a little demonstration of how to make beads like this at a retreat that I'm going on next week with 6 creative friends.

 I nearly always combine my hand made beads with commercial ones as in here above, spacing the bigger patterned beads.

 I don't always varnish the beads, but the 2 shown here in detail have been varnished. I think that the black looks better when it is shiny rather than matt.

 Another use for the commercial beads is to make a longer necklace if there aren't many of the patterned hand made ones.

           This example above used slightly bigger and, 'more of a statement' commercial beads.

                             I've never actually worn these 3 above, but I might one day!

New Stencil

 With not enough time to devote to the feather project, I thought that I would just do a couple of quick tries with a stencil that I bought some time ago but have never used.

 It looks great before removing it from the paint, but the final result below isn't all that interesting.

              I think that multiple prints and layers will be the way to go with this stencil.

Feather Variations.

 Here I'm trying to get a feather image that fits with the 'lino' cut. The one on the left is a print of a feather that I carved some time ago, looks like a fern or palm leaf in this context!
The one on the right is a scan of a real feather, then cut out, but it doesn't look right either. The one that she is holding is another scan, but it's too dark.  Try again!

This is another scanned real feather, but after it has has a Photoshop filter applied. Much better.

Feathers Again.

 Bearing in mind that I want to use the feather paper as a background, these paler colours might be better than more brightly coloured pieces. Again these are both just 2 layers, the original print with the feathers in place, then again with the feathers removed.

I always find that the acrylic paints that I use are too dry, so I always add a retardant. Here I added too much, so that the paint was very wet, but I quite like the effect.

Feather Play.

 I started on the next part of my current project this afternoon, using feathers to make a background.
These small hard feathers looked to be just what I wanted, but they ended up being too stiff and springy.

                                         These softer fluffier feathers looked promising.

                   This is a many layered print using a combination of the hard and soft feathers.

               This has possibilities I think even though it only has 2 layers at the moment.

                                          Hmmm, maybe possible with further over printing.

Stamping.

 Here is my original drawing on the rubber block and below is a page of print outs testing for bits that need to be removed.

 Unfortunately along with cutting out the sleeve on her right arm, I also neglected to add any shading.

                                                    I think this is about as good as I'll get!

New Stamp.

This is the start of another stamp, which will eventually be combined with one of the feather prints.

 

 The first trial stamping, and unfortunately my eye is immediately drawn to the fact that I've cut away part of her right sleeve! Perhaps I'll be the only one to notice this.....................I hope.

      The stamp has been roughly cut out, and now to trim it back all around. It's going to be tricky!

A Mermaid for the 1920s.

 A couple more photos from the Miss Fisher exhibition. In one episode Miss Fisher took part in a magic show in place of the female star who died while trying to escape from a locked glass tank. Dressed as a mermaid, Miss Fisher took the victim's place in the locked glass tank, but survived!

Apparently the hardest part for the costume designers was to create a costume that was good and secure in the water and that could with withstand Miss Fisher's squirmings as she attempted to break out of her shackles and get out of the tank. The head gear was really difficult in that regard apparently.

Miss Fisher.

 For anyone that is a fan of the locally produced TV show, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, a visit to the National Trust House of Rippon Lea at the moment is a must.  This is the second showing of the garments worn on the show, although this show does only focus on the current series.

                                                      Everyone should have PJs like this!