tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4529464089673662942024-02-21T10:40:52.501-08:00Bailiwick opticsAn assortment of visual ramblings1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-61249375990726069692015-07-22T10:58:00.002-07:002015-07-22T10:58:48.123-07:00Orchids pt 3So, you want to buy an orchid? What should you check for, other than nasty bugs (scale, aphids, mealy bug) and roots?<br />
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For a phaeleonopsis orchid, check the leaves.<br />
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If they are floppy/super bendy or wrinkled, that's a sick orchid. Don't buy it no matter how pretty the blooms are unless you don't mind chucking it out after the blooms fall off. Also, the blooms won't last as long if it's sick. See the roots hanging out? That's a good sign!<br />
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For orchids with grass-like leaves, stay away from wrinkled leaves as that means there's something wrong with the roots (probably root rot) and the plant is not getting enough moisture:<br />
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Most other orchids you will find (unless you're seeking out the unusual) have pseudobulbs.<br />
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This is what you might think of as a stem on a regular plant, but it's not quite the same. What these are are reservoirs the plant creates to hold moisture and nutrients. They should be plump, no dark/black parts (check the base) and minimal wrinkles.<br />
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If there's just the bulb, and no leaf, don't worry about that. It's normal. It just means the bulb is 'full' and doesn't need the leaf anymore:<br />
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So, remember the orchids I'm rehabbing? Like the one with no root system:<br />
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The reason this orchid will pull through, if I take care of it properly, is because it will live off the energy stored in the pseudobulbs to send out a new pseudobulb, and from there, new roots like the cattleya I have with crown rot:<br />
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Here's another orchid I'm rehabbing that looks pretty dead, right? The pseudobulbs are shrivelled, the leaves are brown/dying, and it's being held up by several supports:<br />
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But look, see that tiny green shoot? That's a new pseudobulb coming! And you can see a couple new, healthy roots. This guy will survive with proper care.<br />
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For sick orchids like this, I keep a spray bottle of water and I mist the top of the bark a couple times a week. Keep the spray on 'mist' though, as you don't want to douse the already-sick plant in water and give it crown rot on top of everything...<br />
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Okay, that's the end of my orchid-nerd-fest.1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-82278555762205170762015-07-22T10:58:00.001-07:002015-07-23T17:58:59.491-07:00Orchids pt 2So, the last post was about some of the different kinds of orchids, this is going to be a bit about how to take care of them. Specifically, their roots.<br />
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First thing about orchids: there are many species from many parts of the world, so they all like a bit different treatment, but one thing is ALWAYS true.<br />
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Overwatering them will kill them faster than anything else. Their roots and leaves will rot very easily.<br />
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The main reason you will often buy a pretty orchid and it dies soon afterward?<br />
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The store/nursery where you bought it from overwatered it and killed most of the roots before you brought it home.<br />
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Whenever I buy a new orchid, although it's tempting to choose one with the prettiest blooms, I always get the one with the best roots because, like I said, they rot easily and unlike most plants, orchids do not just send out new roots. They only send out new roots from a new pseudobulb, so if their root system is rotten, it's tricky to coax an unhealthy orchid through until it's healthy enough to make new roots.<br />
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So don't be afraid to dig up the top layer of moss/bark/etc and check out the roots.<br />
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The first thing I do when I buy a new orchid is, AFTER it finished blooming, I re-pot it, and this is why:<br />
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90% of the roots are dead. The only healthy ones are the pale ones. The rest are all rotten.<br />
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See the stuff in my hand in the picture below? That's sphagnum moss, what baby orchids are grown in, but as they get bigger, most growers/nurseries just keep putting them into a bigger pot with more moss.<br />
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Baby orchids do not have pseudobulbs to support them (next post), so they need more moisture. Sphagnum moss is ideal for that.<br />
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Mature orchid roots need air. They need to dry out. Packing them in moss ensures that it's nearly impossible to tell when it's time to water them and the moss holds/maintains a ton of moisture -> so, perfectly ideal for root-rot.<br />
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Here's a comparison of a healthy and a dead root. Healthy roots should be whitish or green. They should also be stiff. The black root is completely rotten and that darker tan coloured root is newly dead.<br />
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What I do is, I take the orchid out of its pot and soak <u>just the roots</u> in room temperature water for about 5-10 minutes. This makes the sphagnum moss easier to pull out and the roots are springier so they are less likely to break.<br />
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Removing all the moss is a pretty tedious process. I also cut off all dead roots. Sometimes you are cutting off all roots except one or two, and that's fine. It's better to cut them off because the rotten roots will hold moisture and might end up rotting the healthy roots.<br />
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And sometimes you will cut off ALL the roots. This little guy has zero root system.<br />
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When I'm done, I'll repot the orchid in 90% orchid bark, 10% sphagnum moss, which means the medium doesn't hold very much water. A few are in peat/soil/vermiculite, but those are orchids with really small/thin roots.<br />
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I also pot them in clear orchid pots. This is good for several reasons. First, you can take the clear pot out of the ceramic/other decorative pot and visually see if it is dry all the way down to the bottom, which is when you water it. Second, you can visually see the condition of the roots. If they are too packed, you can see when you should repot them. Third, having a pot within a pot makes it easier to water them. My decorative pots do not have holes in the bottom, which is what I want because of how I water them. Notice the clear pots also have slits in them, this is because the roots need air.<br />
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I only water my orchids about once every 2 weeks. What I do is, I fill the pots with water (taking care NOT to get the plant wet) and let them sit and absorb water for about 5 minutes.<br />
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Then I lift the clear pot, dump the excess water out of the decorative pot, then set the clear pot back into the decorative pot. This way is super easy to water them without risking crown rot, and the orchid's roots will not be sitting in excess water.<br />
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Healthy roots look like this:<br />
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And you can see how big the bark is. This is a cattleya orchid. It and phaleonopsis orchids have the largest roots, so large bark is good. Also, these types of orchids actually photosynthesize with their roots, so loose medium where the roots can get out to the surface is a really good thing.<br />
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See these roots reaching for the light? And how they have green tips?<br />
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By the way, crown rot is when water gets in between the leaves, since orchids are jointed/layered, this is easy to do by mistake if you pour water onto an orchid instead of soaking just the roots. On a cattleya orchid, it looks like this:<br />
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See how black the plant is just above the new roots growing? And see all the dead roots? This is an orchid I'm rehabilitating, but it's strong, and the new root growth is a super good sign.1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-79411638185654346292015-07-22T10:58:00.000-07:002015-07-22T10:58:01.912-07:00Orchids pt 1Okay, so I may not be a crazy cat lady, but I will admit to being a bit of a crazy orchid lover.<br />
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At last count, I THINK I have 43 orchids, but that number isn't exact because often, in a couple of larger pots, I've got 5 or 6 separate plants.<br />
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Another reason I'm not 100% sure is, after I moved from Kits to Langley, I actually deposited my orchids at my parent's place, which are taking up prime real estate on their many windowsills. The suite I'm currently in is a basement suite, so it doesn't have very good light.<br />
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They don't mind because when I drop by to re-pot, fertilize or water my orchids, I take care of my mom's orchids as well. She only has about 10 or so, and most of hers are the very easy to take care of & familiar phalaenopsis orchids:<br />
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Since I'm at home, I'm just pulling pictures off the web of plants similar to ones I own. Most of my orchids are not blooming right now, they're putting all their energy into growing new pseudobulbs (yes, I'll explain that term).<br />
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Phalaenopsis are great because the blooms can last a couple months, <i>if you take care of it</i>. Also, they come in many colours and are relatively cheap ($10-$30).<br />
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But I don't really love them for one reason: they aren't scented.<br />
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Also, they seem to get mealy bug really easily and, once it's in there, it's pretty near impossible to get rid of since they crawl down into the crown of the leaves, and then they infest your other plants.<br />
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The orchids I buy are mostly scented ones, but I also have a very good sense of smell, so sometimes I can pick up a perfume on an orchid that others can't.<br />
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Here are a few of the scented types of orchids that I have:<br />
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Cattleya's are my favourites, all the images I pulled off the web are all similar to ones I have:<br />
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They either come in the big, single bloom (can be 8" in diameter!), or have multiple smaller flowers (like, 4" each) on one pseudobulb. They all smell heavenly, and all different from spicy to sweet.<br />
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I also like oncidium varieties, but a lot of people can't smell these, or find the scent very light. The flowers can be a spray of multiple tiny (less than 1") flowers, like this one (which smells like honey):<br />
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Or up to 8" tall, like this one (which smells like lemon):<br />
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And come in a multiple of sizes, shapes, and colours. Some smell spicy, some sweet, and some even smell a little like chocolate.<br />
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Also, most people don't know this, but the vanilla bean plant (where we get vanilla) is actually from the orchid family:<br />
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There are many other kinds of orchids, and I have a few of them, like:<br />
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Okay, I think that's enough for one post.1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-1724375148423502452015-06-28T11:53:00.000-07:002015-06-29T23:15:10.135-07:00Little sketchesPhysio on my shoulder is going well, the nerves are less pinched, which means I am doing silly little sketches again as rehab.<br />
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Nothing spectacular, seriously, it still hurts to hold a pen/pencil longer than 10-20 minutes, but here are a few little sketches I spun out and gave a quick colouring job in Photoshop.<br />
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I don't know why, but when I'm doodling, it's usually odd little critters/beasts that come out... I think the fire dog-thingy is kinda cute :) He reminds me a bit of a French Bulldog. No idea what the dragon-morphing thing coming out of the cloud is, I was just randomly making curling shapes at the end of the wave that turned into a cloud that turned into... rain that turned into... a beastie. Yeah, no thought at all behind that one ;)<br />
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The green & yellow floral thing was a fast/simple design that I may want to put on baby-gift-related something-or-other in the future.<br />
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The green singer/castle/wave was sketched after I wrote <a href="http://skullduggeryandmadness.blogspot.ca/2014/11/by-sea-20_31.html">this little bit of flash fiction</a> and considered (for 5 minutes) of making a short graphic comic/story out of it. I still might, one day.<br />
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The mouse... yeah, y'know when I was playing around with <a href="http://1000thmonkey.blogspot.ca/2012/04/hint-extras.html">creating designs</a> for (potentially) an interactive/app-type kids book? I've got a rough script for a mouse story in my head as well, essentially two mice 'fighting' each other with imagination.<br />
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Anyways, nothing I spent a lot of time on, but it's nice to hold a pencil again (for short spurts), even if my control still sucks too much to even consider picking up a paint brush :)<br />
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...good thing this old soccer injury/pinched-nerve thing doesn't affect typing skills or I would be absolutely insane by now with zero creative outlets...1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-40148094785208003022015-06-14T11:17:00.000-07:002015-06-14T11:17:00.489-07:00Synesthetic ArtistWow, I stumbled across this interesting artist a few days ago...<br />
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A quick definition via the Free Dictionary:<br />
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<h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #404040; display: inline-block; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.8rem; line-height: 1.8rem; margin: 0px 0.2rem 6px 0px;">
syn·es·the·sia</h2>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"> </span><span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">also</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"> </span><b style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">syn·aes·the·sia</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"> </span><span class="snd" data-snd="S0962300" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #404040; display: inline-block; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; margin: 0px 3px 2px; vertical-align: text-bottom;"><span class="i snd-icon-plain" style="background-image: url(http://img.tfd.com/sprite.png); background-position: -314px -319px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; color: white; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 0px; height: 18px; letter-spacing: -1px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-indent: -9999px; vertical-align: text-bottom; width: 12px;" title=""></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"> </span><span class="pron" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #404040; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">(sĭn′ĭs-thē′zhə)</span><br />
<div class="pseg" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; overflow-x: auto; overflow-y: hidden;">
<i style="box-sizing: inherit;">n.</i><div class="ds-list" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: 1cm; overflow-x: auto; overflow-y: hidden;">
<b style="box-sizing: inherit;">1. </b>A <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">condition</span> in <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">which</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">one</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">type</span> of <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">stimulation</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">evokes</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">the</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">sensation</span> of <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">another,</span> as <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">when</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">the</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">hearing</span>of a <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">sound</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">produces</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">the</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">visualization</span> of a <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">color.</span></div>
<div class="ds-list" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: 1cm; overflow-x: auto; overflow-y: hidden;">
<b style="box-sizing: inherit;">2. </b>A <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">sensation</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">felt</span> in <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">one</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">part</span> of <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">the</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">body</span> as a <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">result</span> of <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">stimulus</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">applied</span> to <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">another,</span> as in <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">referred</span><span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">pain.</span></div>
<div class="ds-list" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: 1cm; overflow-x: auto; overflow-y: hidden;">
<b style="box-sizing: inherit;">3. </b><span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">The</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">description</span> of <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">one</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">kind</span> of <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">sense</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">impression</span> by <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">using</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">words</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">that</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">normally</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">describe</span> <span class="hvr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">another.</span></div>
</div>
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So, this artist paints the colours she sees while listening to music.<br />
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Check out <a href="http://www.melissasmccracken.com/">her site</a>, not all are to my personal taste, but I would certainly love to hang a few of these on my wall...1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-80947905276837595642015-05-28T11:16:00.003-07:002015-05-28T11:16:59.537-07:00Triangular ceramic boxWas over visiting a family friend's place recently, and saw this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_i6zoC-Ak1NkYuKByE_4YH99jJ8pMVFAF0eIMvyy7alMcHFON9BO9Nt7jx_w5DEkT-WCent7MArJtYUF2IjsED0YttdsmOZvgQbW6x-_n8q08SDl4cTI0wbpUV1vBEzBRVHy4ncilMY/s1600/IMG_1463.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_i6zoC-Ak1NkYuKByE_4YH99jJ8pMVFAF0eIMvyy7alMcHFON9BO9Nt7jx_w5DEkT-WCent7MArJtYUF2IjsED0YttdsmOZvgQbW6x-_n8q08SDl4cTI0wbpUV1vBEzBRVHy4ncilMY/s320/IMG_1463.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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It's something I made in university. After I fulfilled all the requirements for my Honours Degree, I needed (essentially) 2 more classes worth of electives. So, I took a condensed ceramics class in the summer, partially because I've done all kinds of ceramics work before so it would be easy, and partially because it's a heck of a lot of fun, and after packing my schedule to complete my degree in just under 1.5 years, I figured my final class/credits should be enjoyable :)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTIoa1bv0NzP8BvRQbflLyDTvQX3v-kxWL69wV-_d6jW15jZSzbf1Z8zAspQ19Dv7hiaEa0mrYhJiXgLZB_HWG86GF0vITLqdaFAvh6KAK6xZEOQVe5fT32x8Ntz2UwugelwYJC0qUn2I/s1600/IMG_1464.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTIoa1bv0NzP8BvRQbflLyDTvQX3v-kxWL69wV-_d6jW15jZSzbf1Z8zAspQ19Dv7hiaEa0mrYhJiXgLZB_HWG86GF0vITLqdaFAvh6KAK6xZEOQVe5fT32x8Ntz2UwugelwYJC0qUn2I/s320/IMG_1464.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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The project requirement was to make a slab box, which means rolling (with a special roller) out thin sheets of clay, cutting them into geometric shapes, and scoring/wetting the edges to build a box. Generally this works best when you use 90 degree angles<br />
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Every person in the class built a square/rectangular box, maybe 2 or 3 put a lid on theirs.<br />
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Since I'm never satisfied (well, let's me honest... it's that I'm not interested) in boring/status quo things like that, I built this odd little triangular box/dish which is wider on the top than it is on the bottom (so, no 90 degree angles were used) and sculpted a fancy little handle for the lid.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9VAK7J2YgD3NvgR5GF2tsKRbvPfEU4T2ETcQ-65Z-t1akaFFOd1APywwn9edY1Yrxp5mBh9pSC-Vjj9li1X95dywkpfyOA5Bx_pluFgt_2hqgGuCmg4kvwvMCTwwrCpNA3MrrOVCzzk0/s1600/IMG_1465.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9VAK7J2YgD3NvgR5GF2tsKRbvPfEU4T2ETcQ-65Z-t1akaFFOd1APywwn9edY1Yrxp5mBh9pSC-Vjj9li1X95dywkpfyOA5Bx_pluFgt_2hqgGuCmg4kvwvMCTwwrCpNA3MrrOVCzzk0/s320/IMG_1465.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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The lid sits in place on three extruding triangular pieces, so air is meant to get inside.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNc6A-hXx2cs7HQ5EPEh8TcQ8PF9OzkloMOTxvI37lmO_zkSkdDfKaFQRZxLKu1iPGVq4XHD6W4c8umSZz78Jmvk8AhnD6LF20-5H1YL9qScwIjXmoyS89GU5jWMJwBv4rwzzbWl_M2Fc/s1600/IMG_1466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNc6A-hXx2cs7HQ5EPEh8TcQ8PF9OzkloMOTxvI37lmO_zkSkdDfKaFQRZxLKu1iPGVq4XHD6W4c8umSZz78Jmvk8AhnD6LF20-5H1YL9qScwIjXmoyS89GU5jWMJwBv4rwzzbWl_M2Fc/s320/IMG_1466.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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...and because I do like making things look nice, I angled the points so it fits softer in place, and pressed three triangular impressions on the 'feet' of the lid and also inlaid them with glaze.<br />
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It was kind of fun/nostalgic to see this sitting out on display, and nice to know she liked/likes it enough to keep it out.<br />
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I know I've got more pieces, but they're in boxes, tucked away to survive the next time I move.1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-691823150131688512015-02-03T22:05:00.003-08:002015-02-04T08:18:30.657-08:00Really cool reflective cups/saucersSince Alcar, my longest writing buddy, sent me <a href="http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/02/mirror-coffee-cups-by-d-bros-reflect-saucer-patterns/">this link</a> (watch the video, seriously), I'm sort of taking it as a challenge... (even though I'm positive those geometric designs are decals, not hand-painted)...<br />
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...to make my own...<br />
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(ignore the hideous tablecloth -> it's simply to protect the table)<br />
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Step #1:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKC6s7nAeiPy7yjOKydw9AzXC7vAoZuFsbb94MPPTCONB3r-t-PeCt_p0AjiLBdEbPPmznD3u-fHTOUc0bHzZHgjWGrRC8WhGJqQCuf58kcfmU1fPQiEi9ZOxU_dxt0IjoUrnSJQXs1Q/s1600/IMG_1261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKC6s7nAeiPy7yjOKydw9AzXC7vAoZuFsbb94MPPTCONB3r-t-PeCt_p0AjiLBdEbPPmznD3u-fHTOUc0bHzZHgjWGrRC8WhGJqQCuf58kcfmU1fPQiEi9ZOxU_dxt0IjoUrnSJQXs1Q/s1600/IMG_1261.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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...we'll see how step #2 goes tomorrow...<br />
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I haven't decided whether to paint the saucer with lustres or with regular paint... hmmmm... will sleep on it. Measuring and drawing on the design took about 2 hours because, like <a href="http://bailiwick-optics.blogspot.ca/2014/01/piggy-banks-state-2-templates.html">the piggy bank that I painted a 10 point lotus on</a>, measuring for a 14 point design is pretty darn hard.<br />
<br />
I need to stop quadrupling the work, especially when I'm only playing around/experimenting with something new.<br />
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...my life would be easier if I wasn't my own worst enemy...1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-23945398832586762752015-01-07T13:58:00.002-08:002015-01-07T14:06:09.934-08:00Amazingly fantastic porcelain beastsI'm definitely anti-clutter, anti-knick-knack, and anti-anything-that-requires-dusting, but<a href="http://www.boredpanda.com/porcelain-sculptures-fantasy-anya-stasenko-slava-leontyev/"> these little guys</a> make me want to re-evaluate my position on the matter. Here are pics of a couple of my favourites :)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbabt5OoBIpX1nkhJKX8FXhnXdn67GuHmle27d5phMIi5Yd5Yj9gJikFV1ET_XDz7OZUaf7QWh27zGOzl3hPdg6KYwvltz4-FBlvmQva05z8rsvyRGb_6HwKn8x84Jwkiq7VqH5nNgQCc/s1600/porcelain-sculptures-fantasy-anya-stasenko-slava-leontyev-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbabt5OoBIpX1nkhJKX8FXhnXdn67GuHmle27d5phMIi5Yd5Yj9gJikFV1ET_XDz7OZUaf7QWh27zGOzl3hPdg6KYwvltz4-FBlvmQva05z8rsvyRGb_6HwKn8x84Jwkiq7VqH5nNgQCc/s1600/porcelain-sculptures-fantasy-anya-stasenko-slava-leontyev-1.jpg" height="189" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-82201973288297257572014-09-14T11:04:00.000-07:002015-01-07T14:05:55.097-08:00If I had an extra $2000 lying around...Oh my goodness, you have to check <a href="http://www.theblackbookgallery.com/artists/hari-deepti/">these out</a>, and be sure to scroll down the page. Here's a couple as an example:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Iq8vriYC-O3bPLM-6mCkllYcHELj-Q1nSJgzI6ZWSwBx477qR6vFHy0ZT2hBToyWzghA0sWMVHgMLebuLOvEc6DQTW5VhzhggXlf43Bvo_BJ_dkbQZoriUvkdn-Ax4RhFJXCCu4hy0M/s1600/HariandDeeptiADropInTheOcean.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Iq8vriYC-O3bPLM-6mCkllYcHELj-Q1nSJgzI6ZWSwBx477qR6vFHy0ZT2hBToyWzghA0sWMVHgMLebuLOvEc6DQTW5VhzhggXlf43Bvo_BJ_dkbQZoriUvkdn-Ax4RhFJXCCu4hy0M/s1600/HariandDeeptiADropInTheOcean.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></a></div>
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...and this is what they look like with the light off:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM5hyDPFrXQ8wXG6kkzS9Bvs5BV0-e2DfiCZ36k4kVIs0GqtKUiCCJS1j9lbIJxsu9_KMCWOf_jOaHCnVJs5iEayuy_GgVbmuN3TTEkmkYjyZgV5hMM6fwEK4VXeFrT69z3VKIYGLUqOo/s1600/harispiritoftheforest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM5hyDPFrXQ8wXG6kkzS9Bvs5BV0-e2DfiCZ36k4kVIs0GqtKUiCCJS1j9lbIJxsu9_KMCWOf_jOaHCnVJs5iEayuy_GgVbmuN3TTEkmkYjyZgV5hMM6fwEK4VXeFrT69z3VKIYGLUqOo/s1600/harispiritoftheforest.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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I really can't believe these are just layers of water-colour paper cut out with a light behind them!<br />
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There's a video showing the artists making one of these <a href="http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/03/illuminated-cut-paper-light-boxes-by-hari-deepti/">here</a>.<br />
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SO COOL!<br />
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I think I like 'A Drop in the Ocean' and 'Where The Giants Roam' the best...<br />
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<a href="http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/04/mixed-media-portraits-by-florian-nicolle/">These</a>, by another artist, are gorgeous too.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhydyjxLj2aU2Jn1XvVEdghgGpODsz49A1nRsZoXyt5-k5xFNID9YZpCAoBDugoLB9Dc2hrg0ZvHm5i-aHvcjOBuUUE1qGP4SESCC8NF6sXAq6lUceFoR1z3GU4Js1u5teDOc1hixuJHE/s1600/Chan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhydyjxLj2aU2Jn1XvVEdghgGpODsz49A1nRsZoXyt5-k5xFNID9YZpCAoBDugoLB9Dc2hrg0ZvHm5i-aHvcjOBuUUE1qGP4SESCC8NF6sXAq6lUceFoR1z3GU4Js1u5teDOc1hixuJHE/s1600/Chan.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
...and <a href="http://www.artyulia.com/index.php/News">another amazing artist</a> who works three dimensionally with paper...<br />
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<br />1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-7310022029392816052014-08-22T12:40:00.001-07:002014-08-22T12:40:34.365-07:00New scribbleSince I'm trying to re-strengthen my hand now that the nerves are less restricted, I've been sketching a few little cartoons/drawings.<br />
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Here's one I'm pretty pleased with :) ...even the 10 minute Photoshop job to throw in some colour...<br />
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And no, I didn't draw the Seahawks logo... I just edited one I found online.<br />
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I've said before, when I've posted little self-sketches on my writing site, that this is my default drawing style. Yes, from all the years of life-drawing and animation classes, I can draw in many different styles, but this is the one I developed as 'mine'.<br />
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Sure, it's not super wow-worthy/impressive, but I like it. It's simple, focuses on shape, the silhouette against the white-space is interesting (if you delete the green framing oval), and it gives a light/laid-back feeling.<br />
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I inked over the sketch with a micron pen before scanning it into Photoshop, but I really do prefer my original pencil lines... they give more of a sense of movement/emotion. I find the Micron pens make sketches a little more stilted/cold because you're tracing an original drawing.<br />
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One day I'd love to play with a WACOM tablet... but for now, it's pretty low-tech ;)<br />
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...and I love sketching. The mechanical pencil I use I've had since my animation-school days. The lead is thick, about 1/8", so you can get a really diverse variety of line thicknesses, and it comes in different hardnesses. I usually use B or B2. B for cleaner/thin lines, B2 if I want more range in thickness and a sketchier feeling.1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-65829910541097924662014-07-21T10:21:00.000-07:002014-09-12T22:42:34.195-07:00Seminar with Patrizia ArvieriOkay, this post has been... six days in the making, so it may feel a little disjointed and there might be a lot of spelling mistakes because:<br />
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Long-story-short, ribs went out again. I had four chiro appointments in two days, plus my usual rounds of physio/massage/acupuncture appointments...<br />
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And in the end, nothing would settle down, so it was time for a few days of ice, lying still, and some codeine-heavy anti-spasm muscle relaxants. Fun, fun, fun. I'm still kinda loopy, hence the warning about spelling/wording mistakes/etc.<br />
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<br />
So, the seminar... I was excited about this for months. My grandmother always gives money for birthdays/Christmas (one of the perks of being 1 of only 2 grandchildren), and I always hang onto it until I can buy something nice/special... so it doesn't just disappear into grocery bills, gas, etc.<br />
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Since seminars are quite expensive, and since my arm/etc was in poor shape, I didn't sign up for any workshops at the convention, and I only signed up for the one seminar (but there was another one I would have liked to have taken...)<br />
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...which ended up being good because... essentially, I paid a lot of money to 'watch'.<br />
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I was able to do a bit of the prep stuff, but NO painting. It was very frustrating, both because I had been so excited and because I couldn't even control my arm enough to freaking load paint on it properly... it shook so badly that it globbed onto the bristles.<br />
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So I felt like a total faker/loser.<br />
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But I am still REALLY glad I took the seminar.<br />
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In seminars, everyone paints the same piece the same way. It's about learning specific techniques, and that (of course) works best when everyone is doing the same piece.<br />
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Here's a not very good picture of the piece (I pulled it off the web).<br />
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Just like Patrizia's method of painting gold on a black background is very unique (and normally very difficult), the main technique we were learning was painting regular paint on top of gold.<br />
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YEAH... again, her work is so different and amazing because it's like she turns the 'normal' rules around. Since gold is so expensive, usually you put it on last.<br />
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<b><i>Just to put this out there for those who don't know, since these are seminar pieces, a student would never claim them as 'their' work or sell them as their work because the teacher paints on your piece to show you how to do it correctly.</i></b><br />
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So, here are the basic steps...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm5OQ_a9M_zSVoCLlWgQJdrzW6syW3TtSBJMv5yZDbkpNkRn_SWuqJyKCv1pfDsWkMBLo-89HkXASGk1EYnwfRZRsIYrt_TxNz5lP05qIs3ToAddw5n9utesfdJD_oQw2sNMfAGseHp5E/s1600/IMG_0920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm5OQ_a9M_zSVoCLlWgQJdrzW6syW3TtSBJMv5yZDbkpNkRn_SWuqJyKCv1pfDsWkMBLo-89HkXASGk1EYnwfRZRsIYrt_TxNz5lP05qIs3ToAddw5n9utesfdJD_oQw2sNMfAGseHp5E/s1600/IMG_0920.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
Tracing paper... the design is drawn on with a black micron pen. THEN, you use a special porcelain pencil, and draw on the backside. In my case, since I'm disobedient, I used a Staedtler 6B pencil, and it worked just fine... BUT, you can't use just any kind of pencil, because lots of them won't fire off in the kiln, and then you're left with grey smudges mixed in - permanently - with your paint.<br />
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Then you tape the tracing paper (right side up) onto the porcelain and use this funny stylus tool (sorry, no pic of it) that is like a bent pin with a tiny ball at the end to draw over the lines. This will transfer a thin pencil line onto the porcelain (see next picture).<br />
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Then comes the joy of red resist. That wasn't sarcastic... I actually really like using red resist because it allows you to work with very complex designs.<br />
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The only part that wasn't fun was, since I HAD to use my poor right hand to draw with the pencil, and then use the stylus tool to transfer the pencil to the porcelain, my right arm was shaking so bad I couldn't even hold the brush.<br />
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So... red resist all done with my left hand... which didn't get me the clean lines I would have wanted, and even though it took about twice as long as it would have, I did get better at it.<br />
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So, here's my plate with the red resist on.<br />
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Oh, you'll notice there's different shaped plates. Mine is this square one. <a href="http://bailiwick-optics.blogspot.ca/2014/07/pac-convention-demo-yumiko-kanazawa.html">Yumiko</a> used a different square one, but the other people in the seminar all used circular plates. So you'll see different shapes as I took pictures not just of mine (since I couldn't paint, mine was never finished).<br />
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Now, here's the first layer of gold (yes, it goes on black since it's mixed with so many toxic things to keep it in a liquid state). I could do this as well, since you basically just paint it on within the red resisted areas (fine to do left handed), and then blot it carefully with a sponge (also okay to do left handed). I took this photo at this weird angle so I could see the amount of light on the gold... because when you're working with it this way, the texture has to be really consistent so you know if there's full coverage, and to make sure there aren't bubbles.<br />
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Then, when the gold has dried, you pull off the red resist.<br />
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...and you fire it.<br />
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Unfortunately, there was a mishap with the gold... there are different kinds of gold. Fluxed, which has (obviously) flux in it, and unfluxed. Flux makes gold, or paint, stick into the glaze... if you are painting gold on top of paint (like you normally do), you often use unfluxed because the paint you're painting the gold on already has flux in it...<br />
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BUT, we accidentally used unfluxed gold... so it actually wiped off when we tried to burnish it.<br />
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We lost an entire day because everything had to be redone, and we did some things out of order to try to make up the lost time...<br />
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Then you do a second coat of red resist and gold.<br />
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It's always a good idea to take a picture of the red resist BEFORE you put on the gold or other paint because, like this section with the tiny separate piece, once you paint over top, it's easy to forget that little bit is on there, and if you forget to take it off and put it in the kiln... it makes a big mess that cannot be fixed.<br />
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Okay, so burnishing... this is what the gold looks like immediately out of the kiln. Dull, eh? And not really pretty? That's 'cause it hasn't been burnished yet. Some gold you don't have to burnish, depends on what kind of look you want.<br />
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Compare:<br />
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The gold in this picture is... half burnished. See how the light catches it? See all the little lines in it and cloudy verses bright gold?<br />
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OKAY, in the next few pictures, IGNORE when you see unfired gold (the black stuff) on the bamboo. Since we lost that day because of the gold mix-up, some of the seminar students started working on the frogs before putting on a second coat of gold, and did that later... but really, they're supposed to be on first... this was just so everyone could see/learn in the allotted time, and since the teacher was flying back to Italy, it's not like there was a way to extend by a day, or even by a few hours.<br />
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So, there were three different stages of painting on top of the gold. For each firing, about 25% of the paint colour gets absorbed into the gold and disappears, so you have to paint the colours on darker than you actually want the end result to be.<br />
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This is what the first layer of colour for the frog looks like...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixuTihAAWWSIgMzp0eetSsVaSS5vffnauQUumiczRXzKUq2Lq1N4g4daLeaSA8_Mihh6-5AT_k3sPV7kfQDgF3Uq7aDWjcbhX6SltNF1-fUZrKDIZ6RU1hxlncHmcSKvppPDeX70EqNGc/s1600/IMG_0943.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixuTihAAWWSIgMzp0eetSsVaSS5vffnauQUumiczRXzKUq2Lq1N4g4daLeaSA8_Mihh6-5AT_k3sPV7kfQDgF3Uq7aDWjcbhX6SltNF1-fUZrKDIZ6RU1hxlncHmcSKvppPDeX70EqNGc/s1600/IMG_0943.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
And here you can see first layer (bottom half of the frog) and the beginning of the second layer (top of the frog). Depending on the medium (the liquid you mix with the dry/powdered paint), the paint can dry, or it will never dry. Patrizia uses a closed-medium, which means the paint will dry and you can paint over it before you fire. Open or closed medium is determined by the type of oil you mix into the paint.<br />
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Here's someone else's second-layer frog with the first layer of bamboo painting on.<br />
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Here's the red resisted, and painted (before being fired) sky/background splatter<br />
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And here's the first layer of the paint brushes...</div>
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This is the one that was nearly finished... you can see the colour on the paint brushes hasn't been done yet.<br />
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I really encourage you to click on the photo and look at the details.<br />
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Unfortunately, that was the last picture I took... BUT, I watched closely, and several students took videos with their iPads/phones, and someone compiled them all onto a flash drive for everyone to have a copy, which was above-and-beyond nice...<br />
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Learning from Patrizia was amazing. Even though, when everyone heard I wasn't actually able to paint, they all said, aww what a waste of (time/money/etc), it was still an absolutely invaluable experience for me.<br />
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I loved it, and I would love to take another seminar with her in the future.1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-45957013741119869202014-07-09T16:17:00.000-07:002014-07-09T16:17:59.477-07:00Display piecesOkay, this is the last post for a while since my arm and back are killing me...<br />
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We were really fortunate to have so many amazing artists attend the convention... we also had a 'Canadian Theme Competition' with first and second prizes, and there were some amazing pieces in that as well.<br />
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I didn't take photos of all the works, but I did of my favourites... here they are, PLEASE click to see them at full size as some of these are breathtaking... and if I can remember who the artists are (or if the tag is visible) I'll include that.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge6tymo7zl-EQRYxltqmW6LD7o8nUyA4X4R1FLMpkDmKCXrq3AF_HticVvVzl0pkpgYRfhuDdALAK0cKxtZul5m4wplJn8DyfFfwFKFQB7bHHxsNRMQkogtExZI8Al5w5oPfuCpDxqDxo/s1600/IMG_0869.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge6tymo7zl-EQRYxltqmW6LD7o8nUyA4X4R1FLMpkDmKCXrq3AF_HticVvVzl0pkpgYRfhuDdALAK0cKxtZul5m4wplJn8DyfFfwFKFQB7bHHxsNRMQkogtExZI8Al5w5oPfuCpDxqDxo/s1600/IMG_0869.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
This was by Susan Greathouse, a Canadian painter who now lives in Texas. She was on the board for the convention. It's hard to see, but there is a mother-of-pearl lustre on the background, and that lustre is really neat because it picks up the colours of the other paint... which is why the background has almost a peach-y tint, from the mix of yellows and pinks on the seahorse.<br />
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This is Elmira's piece, again.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGz4d7yX8pPeQUlSNB36RZ_CZm_SSYNeKmQv73TZ459O9WXetoWIyl_OD1l_Ij9gBfHrgozy6ZJEG7liq9vymORaze_nkN5ERkf2ewBsovO-caOruYIGK-hLmmIJ4GZVcNhyphenhyphenLESv2qY-M/s1600/IMG_0872.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGz4d7yX8pPeQUlSNB36RZ_CZm_SSYNeKmQv73TZ459O9WXetoWIyl_OD1l_Ij9gBfHrgozy6ZJEG7liq9vymORaze_nkN5ERkf2ewBsovO-caOruYIGK-hLmmIJ4GZVcNhyphenhyphenLESv2qY-M/s1600/IMG_0872.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
This is by Keiko Shimizu, who won First Place in the People's Choice award, AND First Place in the Canadian Competition, and you'll see that piece further down.<br />
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This sea turtle is by the French Canadian artist Martin Lariviere. He had an amazing painting of a clown fish in an anemone (which I neglected to take a picture of) about the same size... and just to give you an idea of how much these things go for, that 12"x12" clown fish painting was for sale at $1,400<br />
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Hmmm, I think this is upside-down? A modern piece by Yumiko Kanazawa. There's a lot of tiny enamel bits on it which give it a really nice texture, and the dark lustres look way better in real life.<br />
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You've seen these by Agnes already<br />
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I'm not sure who did this one (no name tag in the pic), but my grandma is a huge fan of large cats, so I snapped this pic 'cause I knew she's love it.<br />
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A very, very traditional European-style cake platter.<br />
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...and a very traditional European-style clock. I think this was done by Betty-Anne Binstead, the painting friend <a href="http://1000thmonkey.blogspot.ca/2014/04/ribs-birthdays-death.html">who died just before the convention</a>.<br />
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Looks like these birds were also by her as well.<br />
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One of Linda Phelps (my painting mentor, and the Chair of the convention) modern pieces.<br />
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...and another by Linda.<br />
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Ah, yes, here's the one by Keiko that won first place.<br />
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..and Sachiko came in second! LOVE this one as well, you really have to click to see it at full size since there's so much going on inside.<br />
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This is by Martin as well. I like owls almost as much as I like crows :) For the Canadian Competition.<br />
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This was by Anne Clawson, who also helped out on the convention, and took over a lot of Betty-Anne's share of things after she passed. It's from a photo of her husband and son, for the Canadian Competition... 'cause nothing's more Canadian than hockey and the Northern Lights, right?<br />
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Linda Phelps' Canadian Competition piece -> a multimedia. She painted the mountains that are/were visible from the convention centre, which was a really neat idea, and made porcelain leaves, then painted and lustred them.<br />
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I honestly can't remember who painted this one... but it was another really nice piece from the Canadian Competition.<br />
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Okay, my arm is now broken. No more typing.1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-52100158198446196572014-07-09T15:51:00.001-07:002014-07-10T19:36:40.315-07:00Convention demo, Yumiko KanazawaAt the Ottawa convention in 2012, <a href="http://1000thmonkey.blogspot.ca/2012/05/demos-roman-gold-portraits-art-deco-and.html">I sat in on one of Yumiko's demos</a>, and I made it a priority to get to at least one of hers at this convention.<br />
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One extra bit of excitement, she also signed up for Patrizia's seminar (which took place after the convention was over), so we got to know each other a bit. Such a wonderful lady! So nice, I certainly hope to meet her again.<br />
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She has been teaching herself English for several years, and is very good, and she finds English sarcasm hilarious and interesting, since Japanese don't have an equivalent. She was also thrilled at my (extremely poor) bit of Japanese, and taught us to NEVER say 'cheers' in Italian at a Japanese restaurant since 'chinchin' means something... entirely inappropriate in Japanese, especially to be yelling out in public...<br />
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Yumiko has been studying with several masters of Japanese style painting.<br />
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Something which I found strange is a big cultural difference between North America/Western and Japan. In Japan, the masters hoard their knowledge... they don't teach any but the most worthy, so many ancient Japanese techniques are dying out with the masters.<br />
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Yumiko is one of the very few students to inherit many of these amazing techniques, and is very eager to share them. She has a <a href="http://yumiyumayume.weebly.com/">website</a> and a <a href="http://sommerstein0411.wordpress.com/">blog</a>.<br />
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For this particular demo, I only took two pictures! (bad me) but that was because Yumiko is so excited to share these traditional techniques, that for most of the demo, all those attending got to paint with her supplies and with her brush, which, if you're used to using regular paintbrushes, switching to calligraphy-style brushes is quite a change... and even the paint is a really different consistency since it's water-based, but mixed with glue.<br />
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These are the traditional paints for the Kutani style... the paint is actually made with glass, so in the second picture, you can see how it looks when it's fired. So different from what you'd expect.<br />
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The colours are really interesting too... you grind them (I think she ground each for 5-10 minutes each) with a small round-bottomed grinder (the blurry white thing in her hand) each time you use them. The colour she's working on (the grey) I think was either bright blue, or bright purple. The orange paint in the first picture actually fires a beautiful yellow (see in second picture)<br />
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<br />1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-33851627156593224122014-07-09T15:33:00.002-07:002014-07-09T15:33:59.158-07:00Convention demo, Patrizia ArvieriOkay, meeting this artist was seriously a highlight... my grandmother always gives money on my birthday, and I set that amount aside to do a seminar with this artist (will be a later post... be prepared for much gushing...)<br />
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Her daughter, Francesca, came with her from Italy to translate, which made the demo a little interesting.<br />
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There is really no way to explain or describe the beauty of Patrizia's work... seriously, here's a fast <a href="https://www.google.ca/search?q=patrizia+arvieri&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=AsK9U8DCOZbZoASyxoCgCw&ved=0CB0QsAQ&biw=996&bih=781">Google search for images</a>. She's painted pieces for Arabian sheiks, and for the princess of Thailand.<br />
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But here's a small taste of the demo she gave on using powdered gold (YES, actual powdered gold...) to create this unique effect:<br />
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...oh, but one more thing, getting a black background like this requires 'grounding' (there are different techniques, but she sponged it on in several layers), and black is normally thought of to be nearly impossible to paint on because it's super susceptible to flaking off in the kiln... so usually, black is the last colour you paint on a piece, and almost never paint on top of it. I just wanted to specify how extraordinary even the background is...<br />
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<br />1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-31675695529536157702014-07-09T15:23:00.000-07:002014-07-09T15:23:00.440-07:00Convention demo, Elmira HabibullahI feel really bad about this... we spelled her last name wrong on her name tag... (we missed one of the L's).<br />
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Elmira is a young artist (I think mid 20's?) who was born in Iran and moved to Canada a couple of years ago. She's at a Vancouver University finishing up her degree, and she paints in a traditional Turkish style, which she was taught by a master in Iran. You can check out <a href="http://elmiraarts.wordpress.com/">her website</a> for more work, but here's the stuff she bought and demonstrated with at the convention.<br />
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She also gave another demo on a traditional Italian technique (you can see it on her website), but I wasn't able to make it into that demo...<br />
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Oh, and we also had a 'People's Choice' award, and out of everything displayed, she won... second or third prize (I feel bad I can't remember that...)<br />
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That piece is here:<br />
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<br />1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-35643294873798859542014-07-09T15:10:00.003-07:002014-07-16T10:38:21.330-07:00Convention demo, Agnes ZoniBecause I had a LOT of responsibility as:<br />
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Vice Chair, Display Head, Registrations, Commercial Registrations, and generally, the person who ran around everywhere, and drove to pick things up, made/printed signs and any necessary documents, including typing up speeches, etc...<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">(and yes, this kinda all killed my arm/back... I was very, very careful)</span></i><br />
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I didn't sign up for any of the workshops at the convention, and I only made it into four of the demos.<br />
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The ones I did get to were really good.<br />
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The first was the French-Canadian artist Agnes Zoni. She hand-makes these amazing masks, based on the traditional Venetian masks, and all sorts of other things. The demo she gave was on how she makes the masks, which is different than how more porcelain artists work, 'cause in general, you just buy the piece you want to paint on, like buying a canvas... but she throws porcelain on the wheel and makes vase-like shapes (which is hard enough), then she slices them vertically with a wire tool, and makes two masks out of the two sides. This way, every one of her masks is different, because she doesn't use a mould.<br />
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Unfortunately, I can't find a web site for her, but here are the photos I took during the seminar, and some of her finished (for sale) work:<br />
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Agnes CAREFULLY transported this piece of green (unfired, and not dry) porcelain on the plane to use as a demo piece by wrapping it in damp paper towels, and I think, praying a heck of a lot that her suitcase wouldn't get thrown around and squished.<br />
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Some her tools/etc that she uses for texture.<br />
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She's pretty clever in her craftsmanship... she finds interesting buttons/etc, presses them into porcelain, and turns them into moulds to add as little accessories/etc.<br />
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With some added accessories...<br />
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In here she was actually cutting away pieces of the porcelain to give it a more interesting shape, and playing with the positioning of the porcelain cord.<br />
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Here's what some of her completed work looks like, PLEASE click on the picture to see them at full size, the texture of the lustres she used were AMAZING!<br />
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I'm not really big on gifts, so my parents told me, if I saw something I wanted, to buy it and they'd give it to me for my birthday... so I chose these three little cat masks! ...aren't they soooooo cute?<br />
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I need to take them in to get properly mounted, which Agnes cleverly considered, as you can see from the way the back is built...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4PSAXN1tAxjcMPSoHP0sp8Qe8erTBdU3KxHPbO1xCuZ-b65n3Z2UFaM2Ipydoh69gYrBru5648DpHhL5bzSKeyqrSLynzbhLqA4usFlEH1guB45ejLNQJIqDdDQPSo3MNTcLr9rCkVjY/s1600/IMG_0909.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4PSAXN1tAxjcMPSoHP0sp8Qe8erTBdU3KxHPbO1xCuZ-b65n3Z2UFaM2Ipydoh69gYrBru5648DpHhL5bzSKeyqrSLynzbhLqA4usFlEH1guB45ejLNQJIqDdDQPSo3MNTcLr9rCkVjY/s1600/IMG_0909.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
She also made these really neat pendants. They aren't painted (except for the gold, and obviously she added the fresh water pearls later), she used coloured clay slip (really liquify clay, like what I made the maple leaves out of) and rolled it together with white porcelain.<br />
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Again, such a clever lady, the back of the pendants had a pin, if you wanted to stick it on your shirt, but also had a clay backing for you to thread a necklace through them! It's really neat how just those little extra touches make them so much more interesting.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpw09ipnjcRMypBr1lLizjhQ3_NZRpnv3ns_yYrmMMX6U-wKIEzunZQE-Bgue3FhdRcsoOuOH5Ce6Q-MnXxsX5JHrrMKDmqkakbFZZ9POJLoQUHpiab2pPeZdWIWCgN4-7rq-lTaNKhdY/s1600/IMG_0910.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpw09ipnjcRMypBr1lLizjhQ3_NZRpnv3ns_yYrmMMX6U-wKIEzunZQE-Bgue3FhdRcsoOuOH5Ce6Q-MnXxsX5JHrrMKDmqkakbFZZ9POJLoQUHpiab2pPeZdWIWCgN4-7rq-lTaNKhdY/s1600/IMG_0910.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="text-align: justify;">AND, she was such a kind, lovely lady, she gave me this blank one for free (seriously, it was super sweet and absolutely unnecessary... and I was so happy).</span>1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-49854745236749912382014-07-09T14:32:00.003-07:002014-07-09T14:33:30.399-07:00Convention prep stuffY'know, I pulled up iPhoto to put up this post... and realize I was so crazy busy AT the convention, that I hardly took any pictures at all!!!<br />
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Well, here's what I have:<br />
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This is some of the prep stuff, all the gift bags needed to be chosen, bought, stickers made up and stuck to the fronts, then all the stuff inside had to be gathered and then individually stuffed... our theme for the convention was 'A Splash of Colour', so everything was primarily black and while with an occasionally shocking 'splash' of colour (hence the blinding pink tissue paper).<br />
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All of this stuff was prepped and stored in the basement at my painting mentor's heritage house.<br />
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Lanyards had to be made up individually... so, a name tag on the front, then the correct tickets for everything had to be stuffed inside. So, there were the individual gala dinner tickets with names and what they chose to eat, tickets for any workshops they signed up for, tickets for demos, and tickets for raffles. I think I checked these about six different times...<br />
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We also had separate lanyards for people just coming for the day.<br />
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We also had tons of boxes and bags of stuff you might not think of, but had to be done. The box on the left are small gifts individually wrapped to put be each place setting at the gala dinner, and the bags (only three showing) were the gifts for each of the Featured Artists, who were giving the workshops.<br />
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We also had gifts for every single person who gave a demo, and I think there was a total of 34 demos...<br />
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Since all the demos and workshops needed turpentine and alcohol, and those can't be transported on airplanes, we had to individually bottle up and mark enough for every room<br />
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And again, almost every demo needed a clean piece of porcelain for the teacher, and every workshop needed one for the teacher, and extras in case students hadn't brought their own.<br />
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...this picture is actually of pieces for the raffle. We photographed every piece and wrapped it up so nothing would get broken.<br />
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And I'm not going to bother posting pictures of the program I put together. Let's just say it took a VERY long time and turned out amazing.<br />
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...and since it was me, I included several funny things, like this cartoon I found online:<br />
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...and this list, which no one non-local will get:<br />
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<div style="color: #ff2700; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>YOU KNOW YOU’RE FROM THE FRASER VALLEY IF YOU…</i></b></span></div>
<div style="color: #ff2700; font-family: Helvetica; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
<ul>
<li style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>Know more than 10 ways to order coffee, and can taste the difference between Starbucks, Second Cup, and Tim Horton's. </i></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Know the difference between Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>Can pronounce Coquihalla, Tsawwassen, Osoyoos, Ucluelet, and Esquimalt.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>Obey all traffic laws except ‘keep right except to pass.’</i></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Know that finding parking will take longer than it did to drive to your destination</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>Hear someone is “doing the Grind”, you know they are hiking, not hitting the books.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">You know the mountains are located north. In fact, you use them to get your bearings when lost.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>A nice day means it’s not raining no matter how cold or cloudy it is. A beautiful day means you can see the mountains.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">You know that West Vancouver, Vancouver West, the West End, and the West Side are different places.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>You hate the Calgary Flames, but not as much as the Toronto Leafs.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Rent and housing prices make you cringe.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>You know people who are legally adults, but can only drive with one passenger in the car and a 0.0 blood alcohol level.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Have no concept of humidity without precipitation.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>Deciding where to eat is a matter of deciding what type of food you’re in the mood for: Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, Italian, etc.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">You consider anything below 5 degrees as freezing, and over 20 degrees as roasting.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>You’ll always refer to ‘The Telus World of Science’ as ‘Science World’.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Say, “the mountain is out” when it’s a pretty day and you can actually see it.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>The concept of skiing, golfing, and sailing in the same day does not seem impossible to you.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">You become greatly offended when someone mistakes you as American. However, you take even more time to argue that you’re from the west coast and not the east.</span></li>
</ul>
1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-64558317635970783362014-06-26T13:14:00.002-07:002014-06-26T13:15:03.112-07:00WalkiesI'll post stuff about the painting convention soon, but I realized I forgot to put up pictures of this great park I take Eva to (sporadically, as my back/etc allows).<br />
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Since I moved in January, I'm now further out in the Greater Vancouver valley, in Langley, so no seawall or Jericho beach walkies anymore.<br />
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There are two great parks within easy driving distance though, one called <a href="http://www.vancouvertrails.com/trails/derby-reach-regional-park/">Derby Reach</a>, which is right on the Fraser River, and the other is <a href="http://www.surrey.ca/culture-recreation/2135.aspx">Tynehead Park</a>, which I'm going to post pictures from.<br />
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Both parks have large off-leash areas for Eva to sniff around at her leisure, and both have trails (where she must stay on leash) through very natural forested areas.<br />
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I like Tynehead better, even though it's a farther drive. The off-leash area is bigger and it's not just a big flat field, there are hills and the path winds through clusters of trees and bushes. There's also a water fountain (for people, AND one for dogs) right at the entrance so it's easy to re-fill the doggy-water-bottle.<br />
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The trails are nicer too, they weave up and down, over wooden bridges that criss-cross the Serpentine River, and there are several loops you can take if you only want to walk 1km, or 4km, or even 8km.<br />
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It's very similar to where I grew up, my neighbours had about 16 acres of forested land that I played in as a child, and walking through Tynehead is like reliving those years of clambering through gullies, streams, scampering up trees, and hiding in tree trunks so large, a grown man could stand inside, stretch his arms, and never touch the sides.<br />
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Usually I don't take my phone with me while I'm walking, but two months or so ago, I did since it's was a nice day and I wanted to take pictures.<br />
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This flower is a <a href="http://www.nwplants.com/business/catalog/rub_spe.html">salmonberry</a> flower. The season for the berries is near its end, but I have been gorging myself whenever I get the chance. It's the first spring berry, followed by <a href="http://www.nwplants.com/business/catalog/vac_par.html">huckleberries</a> and <a href="http://www.nwplants.com/business/catalog/rub_par.html">thimbleberries</a>, all very tasty wild PNW berries, which are in season now, and the wild blackberries (these are tiny, about 1/4 the size of the blackberries you'd get in a store, and grow on the ground in a low, creeping vine, not in the huge bushes -> those are an invasive species) are just starting to ripen.<br />
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This is a wild cherry, the earliest flowering tree, which blooms slightly before the ornamental species. There's a closeup of the flowers below. They are dropping their fruit now, and they're tasty, but sour. They are so plentiful that bears have come into the area (there are warning signs up everywhere) and you can see their poop full of cherry pits on the trails.<br />
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So cute, a little local squirrel that people have (obviously) been feeding so it's super tame. I'm glad Eva was leashed because as soon as she saw it, she went crazy!<br />
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Wild bleeding hearts. I love these. Only a couple of blooms in this picture as it was a little too early.<br />
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And this! This is wild ginger that carpets the forest floor in green.<br />
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The next few pictures are just random shots taken from the trails to give you an idea of what it's like to walk around in.<br />
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Here's one of the bit stumps. I think these are all old-growth cedar, which would have been a couple hundred years old before they were cut down, or fell down, or whatever happened.<br />
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This stump is a nurse stump -> which means other trees start growing on it, and as it decomposes, it fertilizes them.<br />
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Just a different part of the park. There is a trail through this, and it's like walking through a tunnel. Very cool.1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-9762655599451186092014-05-26T11:30:00.003-07:002014-06-26T13:16:09.096-07:00Secret projectOkay, the convention is over, and now we're into the seminars... I'm going to post a few pics of the 'secret non-painting-project' I was worked on for the convention, and I'll post more of the actual displayed work/etc at the convention when I have time (as in, maybe not happen until June 3rd, when the final seminar is over and the artists have been taken to the airport).<br />
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So, I was making little porcelain maple leafs, right? Well, I started with new-growth maple branches/leaves, twist ties, cutters, and plastic twine:<br />
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Please click on the pictures to see them at a larger size.<br />
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Can you guess? I made masks! There was a big gala dinner at the end of the convention, with a 'Phantom of the Opera' theme, so of course, everyone was supposed to dress up and wear a mask.<br />
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I've never done something like this before, but I've always had good spacial skills (perhaps it off-sets the dyslexia?) I can imagine something three-dimensional, and disassemble/reassemble it in my head even before I start working.<br />
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I created three different ones, just in case I broke/ruined one (or two, knowing me), so I wanted to make sure I had a spare.<br />
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To make these involved a lot of trial and error. Quickly, I realized I could only work for an hour or so, leave the twist ties on, and let it dry overnight, or over a couple nights before I could weave more twigs/branches into these. You'll also notice I removed all the leaves from the branches. That was the first learning phase. Trying to weave the branches with the leaves on quickly shredded the leaves and left clumps of them caught between, which was ugly and made it harder to work.<br />
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When the branches were relatively dried enough that I could remove some of the twist ties, step two looked like this:<br />
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Sorry that first one is upside-down...<br />
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The green twine was used to bend them into shape -> since I didn't want them flat, I wanted them to curve around the face properly. The last four pictures are of the same mask at various bending-stages as this one was the most... expansive? (It was kinda shaped like a clover -> since I've got Irish heritage). It's also the only one I didn't finish.<br />
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This bending process took another couple of days, but by that, I still mean I worked on them for only about an hour or so, then had to leave them to dry. So it wasn't as time-consuming as it may seem. I worked on them in the evenings, usually after I'd been doing convention stuff all day.<br />
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I never actually took pictures during stage three... mostly 'cause the convention had already started, and I was literally coming back and working on them around 8pm at night after being up @ 5am and running around like crazy all day.<br />
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Step three involved resin. You basically have these two bottle and you mix equal parts into a plastic cup, then whip/mix it for a couple of minutes until it starts getting warm and sticky.<br />
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Then I used a paintbrush to coat the entire thing. Since there were still twist ties on many parts of the masks holding them together, I coated them over two days/evenings and let them dry in between. I then added real maple leaves and coated them in resin.<br />
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Stage four, I added the porcelain leaves and copper wire as accents. I did this... literally Friday night (the day before the dinner) at around 11pm, and I was so exhausted that I finished one, threw some porcelain leaves randomly on the second mask, and abandoned the third (which is why I never finished it).<br />
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Here's what the first one looked like:<br />
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An added (and unseen) bonus of using resin was, because to dry it, I had to hang them (otherwise, if I set them down, they would have dried to whatever surface I laid them on), was gravity pulled the resin into the branch tips and created these shimmery little beads that caught the light and sparkled.<br />
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This is the mask I wore to the gala banquet dinner on Saturday (the final official day of the convention).<br />
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The second mask I finished (but didn't wear) ended up like this:<br />
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Since this was the second one I made, the weaving is a lot more complex than the first one, so here are some zoomed-in pictures where you can see the details better.</div>
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This is the underside of the mask (the part that lays against the forehead). You can see the leaves are starting to turn brown because I didn't coat the backside of these leaves... I ran out of time.<br />
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In the end, I feel my first attempt at making a mask out of trees/leaves was successful. I certainly learned a lot while I was working. If I'd had more time, and if my poor arm/shoulder had allowed for it, I would have liked to paint scenes (or something) on the porcelain leaves.<br />
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In the end, the masks were meant to be ephemeral. Out of curiosity, I'm going to leave them on a shelf and see what happens to them... if they start to crack, or grow mould inside the resin (since I was sealing up a live leaf that is full of moisture). When they are at the state to be thrown away, I am going to remove the porcelain leaves and will most likely use them in a project in the future.<br />
<br />1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-56122196773230138962014-04-24T21:22:00.002-07:002014-04-25T16:55:30.778-07:00A new projectSomething I have to make for the convention, I ended up doing my usual thing:<br />
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I could have spend $20 and just bought one...<br />
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Instead, I'm making it.<br />
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Here's the initial stage of just one component.<br />
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This is porcelain slip. Essentially, it's a jug of super watered-down porcelain. You have to stir it like crazy since all the sediment settles at the bottom, then you pour some into a separate jar/cup/etc, add liquid glycerine to make it malleable (otherwise it crumbles when it dries), and pour it onto bats to dry. I mixed enough to fill one (I think it's about 1/4" thick), and had a little leftover.<br />
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Can you see how reflective shiny it is?<br />
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When the slip turns matte on the surface (it dries from the outsides in), you can cut it with a knife, or in my case, I used maple leaf cookie-cutters. The smallest sized one is about 1.25" wide, the next size up about 1.5", the largest size is about 6" wide.<br />
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Note that I laid them down so most of them aren't flat...<br />
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And here they are after they dried enough that I could start punching holes in them, but not dry enough that they would crack/break. It's a very fine line between dry enough, and too dry.<br />
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Going to fire them tomorrow and see how they turn out. I expect they'll shrink in size by about 25%1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-9977657341977748702014-03-03T22:00:00.000-08:002014-09-16T08:13:33.488-07:00Itching fingersI'm currently banned from using my computer/typing, but also from any activity involving my dominant arm, especially precision-related movements like drawing/painting, but with the convention coming up in May, I've been itching to paint... something...<br />
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I mean, isn't it sad that I'm the vice-chair of the board and I'm not going to have <i>anything</i> to display?<br />
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Like I'm 'pretending' I can paint... name only... a facade.<br />
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Well, I've been in Chilliwack for a couple days helping out with convention-related stuff, and while taking a break, I flipped through the latest edition of Porcelain Flash, and here are some of the images that make me want to say, "Phooey!" to my physiotherapist and pick up a paintbrush, especially the first two by Australian artist <a href="http://ingridleeart.com/">Ingrid Lee</a>. Aren't they gorgeously dream-like?<br />
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<br />1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-4641811868587771792014-02-17T10:00:00.000-08:002014-06-26T13:15:22.405-07:00Crows - a near Hitchcockian storyNo one outside of the Vancouver area probable knows about this, but there is an unusually large flock (or murder) of crows in Burnaby that is somewhere in the 6,000 count.<br />
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A quick Google search will supply <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhoWfqYIwlM">videos</a>, and <a href="http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=36562294-3dbd-4c1c-ab49-6359e53bc679&k=95939">heaps</a> <a href="http://www.culex.ca/news/as-the-crows-fly-burnaby-now/">of</a> <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/09/17/vancouver-residents-baffled-as-hitchcockian-murders-of-crows-blackening-the-skies-each-day/">articles</a> <a href="http://www.thewestcoastreader.com/thousands-crows-gather-burnaby/">about</a> <a href="http://www.theprovince.com/life/Murder+mystery+reason+crows+flock+Burnaby+every+night/9085538/story.html">this</a> <a href="http://beatler.com/explorebc/burnaby-bc-kingdom-of-the-black-crows-at-still-creek">odd</a> phenomenon that has been tracked since the 1970's.<br />
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It's something I've always known about, but never actually seen it until a couple weeks ago I drove a friend of mine to an early morning job interview in that area of Burnaby.<br />
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Coincidentally enough, a ton of them were roosting on the building, in the surrounding trees, the trees across the street, and on the power lines. As I waited for the interview to be over, I wandered around the parking lot and tried to snap a few pictures with my phone, which really doesn't do the experience justice...<br />
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I am very fond of crows and ravens, but even this was a little unsettling. Seriously, click the photos so you can see all the birds in the background...<br />
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<br />1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-15597242458004490132014-02-13T11:48:00.002-08:002014-06-26T13:15:31.621-07:00Eagle foodOn Vancouver Island, because of poor fishing off the coast, it was common knowledge not to walk your dog off-leash at the beach, or in dog parks, without keeping a close eye up above since the bald eagles weren't getting enough wild prey...<br />
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On the Bear Mountain golf course, bald eagles would attack deer and kill them... seriously...<br />
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In Vancouver, it doesn't seem like that's as much of a problem, but a couple weeks ago at Jericho, I was walking with Eva and saw an eagle swooping down straight towards us. Automatically I pulled Eva's leash and stepped in front of her, and the eagle immediately turned and landed in a tree not even 20 feet to my left...<br />
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Guess it's a good thing my experience on Vancouver Island made me more aware or my little beagle could have turned into a snack for this guy:<br />
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<br />1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-91004090848015041962014-01-17T07:00:00.000-08:002014-01-17T07:00:00.201-08:00Piggy banks stage 7: more gold, and enamelSo, my first friend had given birth to the baby girl, and the second was due any day when I finally made it back to my painting mentor's house the second week of November. I had 2 days before she left town for a month, and I had to re-do the gold work... and normally you want to do two coats of gold, but I was pretty sure I was going to run out of time.<br />
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So, with my wrecked right arm, I discarded the pen I had used, opened a fresh bottle of Liquid Bright Gold, and got to work. This brand of Liquid Bright went on red instead of yellow (another brand goes on green), which, unfortunately, was pretty hard to use on top of a red micron pen... Again, if it's too lightly applied, it doesn't turn out gold.<br />
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Fortunately, the end result was pretty good. I managed to get all the gold on in one day, and in the late afternoon, fired them. In the morning, I mixed up white enamel, (using it for the first time ever!!!) applied it, and managed to fire them before I had to leave in the afternoon.<br />
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They were actually still hot... had to use oven mitts to get them out of the kiln and then wrap them up in my spare clothes so they didn't cool down too quickly.<br />
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Other than the gold turning out not as dark as I wanted (especially on the Chinese characters), I'm pretty pleased with the way they turned out.<br />
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Here's the end result of the Lotus Pig:<br />
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In this lighting you can just see the enamel catching the light differently... there is a dot on every bubble, on the seeds (on top), and in the centres of the lotuses on the sides.<br />
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Now here's the final Sleepy Pig which, coincidentally, ended up being a boy, and his name begins with 'T' so that was a total happy coincidence:<br />
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You can't see them very well, but the characters in the middle of each 'T' shape are the "four blessings" (si fu 四福) are happiness (xi 喜), prosperity (lu 禄), longevity (shou 寿), and good luck (good fortune) (fu 福).<br />
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Because the parents of this baby are Christian, the characters at the bottom are:<br />
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Blessed:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKK78iWX1VCk32sMF-N8S7WUx9XWUNWltLr8-jiK8Yynhi-fgEOEgjv7Zr5ojz7MY3cNV0ADSgfqHlzrEVnFhlSgk-cVf0lvwoveyVgWXfXdyvibnNikelX_MW4hDHgU_s73B3e6NbZWI/s1600/blessed.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKK78iWX1VCk32sMF-N8S7WUx9XWUNWltLr8-jiK8Yynhi-fgEOEgjv7Zr5ojz7MY3cNV0ADSgfqHlzrEVnFhlSgk-cVf0lvwoveyVgWXfXdyvibnNikelX_MW4hDHgU_s73B3e6NbZWI/s1600/blessed.gif" height="80" width="320" /></a></div>
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And the ones on the top are:</div>
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Faith: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMsqc8t_FDL1O1tPp4v_0rxsJQlxCxHO2Kqv6e4E5cl0Qr_nBY0xpOEoQ51P9Mc5LASPdNBxD8QkbCmI0dHx0TQWyqpLY1L7JUXpzb_4H28tb80BxIJtWeiPQ-_ssIYadcL5KUCu2P4gI/s1600/faith.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMsqc8t_FDL1O1tPp4v_0rxsJQlxCxHO2Kqv6e4E5cl0Qr_nBY0xpOEoQ51P9Mc5LASPdNBxD8QkbCmI0dHx0TQWyqpLY1L7JUXpzb_4H28tb80BxIJtWeiPQ-_ssIYadcL5KUCu2P4gI/s1600/faith.gif" height="102" width="200" /></a></div>
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Happiness: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGv8QGcjfUCisf-B0DhUR51QosfVI8CqjBsocxz5eZP-AFwF8oTZkOGG06M7pUCU2G458ey2E_nToqY0MOTUnOQyQTjxOfcFOTCD4m8T6_u_xPmgzcX-Jj0Mxr3aBGmCTenaFkqu_B7e0/s1600/happiness.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGv8QGcjfUCisf-B0DhUR51QosfVI8CqjBsocxz5eZP-AFwF8oTZkOGG06M7pUCU2G458ey2E_nToqY0MOTUnOQyQTjxOfcFOTCD4m8T6_u_xPmgzcX-Jj0Mxr3aBGmCTenaFkqu_B7e0/s1600/happiness.gif" height="106" width="200" /></a></div>
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Joy: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9wlCYWEnI2DJVGGt5SLCwkJEJJ9eBK0UHkba5WEXM2YhyphenhyphenK_1R3Aggj5vm1UxQk2RRIn2A1v9bEPvTsCGPiRWL9TE2RSVId8IezyCyKyho_A0g40_IznCwZi7g4CR5ZEUTR1cyTGU85w/s1600/joy.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9wlCYWEnI2DJVGGt5SLCwkJEJJ9eBK0UHkba5WEXM2YhyphenhyphenK_1R3Aggj5vm1UxQk2RRIn2A1v9bEPvTsCGPiRWL9TE2RSVId8IezyCyKyho_A0g40_IznCwZi7g4CR5ZEUTR1cyTGU85w/s1600/joy.gif" height="105" width="200" /></a></div>
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1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-452946408967366294.post-59249574719722747162014-01-16T07:41:00.000-08:002014-01-16T07:41:00.829-08:00Piggy banks stage 6: first layer gold lineworkWith all the lustres set, I took a few hours to design the inner pattern for the white areas. Since my friend who was expecting the girl was due first, I concentrated on finishing the Lotus pig up first so, hopefully, I would know the gender/name of the second baby before I had finished the final firing.<br />
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I toyed with multiple ideas for the top of the Lotus Pig (if you click on the picture, you can see each petal has different designs). In the end, I kind of free-handed some lotuses for the wrap-around, and did bubbles in the top lotus petals, which softened up the rigid design a little, and a ring of seeds in the centre around the coin slot.<br />
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...time to crack open the Liquid Bright Gold...<br />
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Because my arm was giving me major problem (shaking so bad I was trying to eat with my left hand instead of my right), I thought it might be easier to use this strange sort of pen instead of a brush as, after all the work so far, I didn't want to ruin it all with shaky/messy linework.<br />
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The pen is really cool, you can see it below. It's like an open ink-pot where you put a couple drops of gold in the top of the little brass(?) head, and it feeds down through the bottom. You can use nib-type pens as well, but even after practicing with them, I couldn't get a consistent flow, which was both frustrating, and the lines were ugly.<br />
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Because this particular Liquid Bright Gold went on gold/yellow coloured, I switched to a red micron pen so I would be able to see better than if I had used a black pen.<br />
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The process went reasonably well. Yes, all the red are the lines I drew on first with the micron pen to make sure everything was lined up/even.<br />
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I also did the Sleepy Pig, but somehow forgot to take pictures...<br />
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...then I fired it overnight, the day before I had to leave to go home.<br />
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...and what was the result?<br />
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BOOOOOOOOO! The gold was contaminated! It ended up black, and smeared/rubbed off when you ran your finger over it.<br />
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Now, either the gold in the bottle was contaminated, or the pen I used had some kind of residue... I did clean it thoroughly with turpentine first... but, y'never know.<br />
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So, an entire day wasted, and I had to go home. At this point, it was late October, and the first baby was due end of October...<br />
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I was rather upset... and my arm was in pretty bad shape.1000th.monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.com0