Sunday, June 25, 2023

Coiled basket with seashell

Hallo,

   Just popping in to show you this little basket I made last weekend. Total time to make was about 8 hours - most of it riding in the car back from visiting my Grandbaby(and Daughter and Son-in-law :)!!

   I used a basket 'start' that I bought from a shop on Etsy - the center part - leather with precut holes and design. 

  I used a paper coil and hemp twine. I got the slice of a seashell at a local shop.   

   I am still playing around with finding the best way to attach these seashell slices. Was kinda thinking of making it a handle of sorts but its more decorative than handle....

   All for today - Take Care

      Tera


 

Sunday, June 11, 2023

Octopuses Garden

Hallo,

  A ton of pics today for a new project I just finished - its taken me several months all together and I really LOVE how it turned out.

   I have had this idea in my head for over 2 years, have had the driftwood piece for almost that long. 

  All the color you see is encaustic paint. I also put a thin layer of encaustic medium over the whole piece of driftwood before I started attaching all the coral and ocean plants - seals the wood and helps to attach all the doodads.

   The octopus, and the tube-shaped green coral were both made with paper clay. The red fan coral and the turquoise coral on the back were all made using a frayed-out sisal rope. All the others were made with rice paper.

   This was my second project of this type but definatly a whole lot bigger than the last one!!! I screwed the driftwood to the oval wood piece with 2 big screws. the bottle I attached with a bit of super glue and some wire. All the other pieces were 'glued' on with HD encaustic (high damar resin formula - a 1 to 1 ratio - which works great as a glue).

   Plans for this piece include 2 shows back to back - one out my local Arts and Design Society and then next month at Artel in Pensacola.

    I can really see this piece in a big entryway on a tall display table and a mirror behind it so you can see both sides at once - that would look really nice!!! Too bad I dont have the room in my house!!!

    All for today - Take Care

           Tera