tiny heads - January

so here's 31 - I think he reckons himself a little..... ladies beware....

and so heads-up for January



and enjoying the winter sun....

mosaic monday

1. Untitled, 2. Georg Baselitz Upside Down, 3. A bit of skirt..., 4. Untitled, 5. sktchbk2, 6. Frida set6, 7. used..., 8. ice blue winter heart, 9. Specs, 10. loshadki, 11. home - ribbon lettering mini pillow, 12. BHV, 13. 1, 14. Chandelier Lit, 15. Flower Girl cameo brooch, 16. A Bunka-Style Doll, 17. They Buried Me Deep (But I Dug Myself Out), 18. Stitched Landscapes, 19. Still life with pepper, 20. tytj, 21. frozen water droplets, 22. Untitled, 23. New Stuff, 24. Book8

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Good Monday to you..... here's another mosaic of interesting images via my Flickr contacts - please click on the links to find out more and to discover what may be behind the white squares.... many thanks to all the artists for sharing their work...

A frosty, blurry, so-so kind of start to the week - weather-wise, but today I plan to have a colourful, busy day with plenty of embroidery..... well that is my plan...

plus.... today being the last day of the month I have the small challenge of photographing 31 tiny heads all together..... so later I hope to share with you the photo I've been working toward through January....

I'm hoping to have new embroidery stitch work in my Etsy shop this week.... I have one or two pieces to complete and new ideas to explore, so I will get started and wish you a very good start to the week....

sketchbook sunday

two pages from my sketchbooks this week..... I've been thinking about the Chinese New Year, so the red has entered my work, and rabbits of course....:)

many thanks for all your kind and supportive comments this week - much appreciated! just one more head and a month of tiny heads will be mine! >:3

take care and more soon x

30/365

new paintings

One of a few paintings I am adding to my etsy this weekend.... I particularly liked painting this portrait and how it flowed, without too much thinking..... too much thinking can ruin a painting, for me....

29

28/365

goggles or glasses? the choice is yours......:)

have a good weekend


I'll be adding a few new works to my Etsy shop over the weekend.....

27/365

Yes she can feel herself tipping, uncertainly, or perhaps certainly, tipping backward.....

Today has been the first day I have sat down to paint the head (sculpted always quickly the night before) and have felt: oh my, oh my.... slightly underwhelmed by what I have in my hand to paint....

You see, last night I didn't forget to sculpt a head - I just remembered a little late... infact it was quite late and I was standing in the dark possibly asleep when I squished the clay together to make this one...

But somehow we (the head and I) kind of worked out something...

26/365

25/365

she won't mind admitting, she's seen better days...

thanks for all your comments and suggests

re: using gesso to seal the clay - I have attempted this in the past, but find gesso needs a few hours to dry.... as I am making these tiny heads very much 'on the go' I don't think I can factor this in, but on a larger work when I have more time, then yes gesso is a good first layer.... thank you

24/365

two things that tested me with this one.... the clay is my 'back-up' and not what I like to use, and somehow does not like the way I paint it.....I do aim for areas that look 'worn' and 'aged' but this clay seems to shed a layer as I paint it....

second moan: I sculpted a leaning head that won't stand upright... I know I have only myself to blame, and well she does stand upright, but only on one particular spot on the windowsill and no other windowsill.... so I after various failed attempts I took her back to her spot and photographed her there.... talk about awkward...

:)

mosaic monday

1. Untitled, 2. pages side @3, 3. Untitled, 4. Emir girls,, 5. The gifts of making, 6. Untitled, 7. bunny bag front, 8. RAW #4 WIP, 9. 20110123 Paper Hearts, 10. making sewn doodled man, 11. Blueberries Brooch - Blaubeeren Brosche - Broche des Myrtilles - Broche de los Arándanos, 12. 18 1 11, 13. Art journaling, 14. 2x1, 15. Naissantes, 16. home, 17. not sinking, 18. a Boat, 19. a lot of K, 20. Untitled

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

A chilly Monday here, once again.... I was going to say the last of the month, but next Monday is the 31st..... still time is flying by... many thanks to the artists featured here for sharing their work, via my Flickr contacts. All so fab and individually inspiring....

This week I have new stitch and paintings in the work, as well as clay.... the tiny heads 365 continues and my finger is very slowly healing (see 365 posts, nothing to worry about)....

I hope to add a few new things to my Etsy shop this week, so do take a peek some time.

Many thanks always for kind comments and mentions.

Have a very good start to this week's journey..... onwards.....

sketchbook sunday

two pages from my sketchbook this week......

I miss the brown pages of my December book - so I cut some brown card and sketched.... I like adding things like tape to a sketchbook, I should like to experiment a bit more with collage....

hope your weekend has been a good one and thanks always for your comments

23/365

22/365

I was sorting the recycling and cut my left middle finger on a broken jar (not too badly but it is sore). Although I am mostly right-handed (eg. hand-write with my right) I do many things with the left, including sculpting clay. So the next few days whilst my finger heals are going to be interesting.... I attempted to sculpt tomorrow's head (as you may know, I sculpt one day, paint the next) and it felt awkward but hopefully tomorrow will be better.....

I'd never really thought about it before, the fact that I nearly always use my left hand to sculpt, so perhaps cutting my finger has given me something.....

And apologies for the poor light in this shot but I left the photography until a bit later today, got distracted by weekend things, and so the day was getting dull..... roll on longer days:)

21/365

I say old chap,
have a good weekend....

20/365

I really enjoyed reading your comments yesterday (as I always do).... thank you

another moustach'd one today....

I am working on some slightly larger heads - that are not for the 365 project
*

few new items in my Etsy

19/365

18/365

Read an interview with.... me... at Red Road Design (Thanks to Jay Anderson)

A new little mixed media embroidery book in my Etsy today....

17/365

full of hope for the week ahead? Or, putting on a brave face?

mosaic monday

1. Haru wo yobu (2011) Oil on canvas, ink, pigment, charcoal 455x455x45mm, 2. Water Pillow, 3. flickr.com/photos/73074723@N00/5361433023/, 4. Untitled, 5. bird-a-month! (january), 6. my beautiful rabbit, 7. birmingham city museum and art gallery, 8. week 2, 9. Cubotoy Gigante!, 10. M39, 11. Untitled, 12. studio view 2011!, 13. your ears are so soft, 14. Mama pin-cushion, 15. seated (viewed from behind), 16. Jim Harris: Nightlife 2011, 17. party, 18. WIP wednesday, 19. A little bit of spring, 20. a map for monday

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Hello again, another Monday, a new mosaic.... many thanks to the artists featured for sharing their work via my Flickr contacts.

And so this week, a very rainy start but I think we are having an interval of calm just now..... I am busy with various media, including of course the 365 tiny heads, other work with clay, stitch, painting.....

Hoping to add a few new items to my Etsy shop this week, so will update you...

have a very good week and more very soon

sketchbook sunday

two from my sketchbook this week..... I seem to have discovered teeth, both in my tiny heads and painting...hmmmmm :)

16/365

Something rather ducky.....

Hope your Sunday is a good one

Sketchbook Sunday coming shortly....

15/365

I seem to enjoy painting heads that are not 'round'...... I think she has a bit of a cold (fortunately, touch wood, I do not).... Hope you have a good weekend and thanks always for your comments.

14/365

It's so gloomy today, she needed yellow hair..... her varnish is drying in this shot.... busy busy today

enjoy your weekend

13/365

 

13 already...... Thank you for your supportive comments and suggestions as I work my way into double figures and beyond.... So, to answer a few questions etc...


Kate (and others) asked if I have plans to turn any into dolls after the project.... I may do this. A few I can see as 'becoming more'.

I am working on this project on a day-by-day basis. Quickly sculpting a little head each day, then the next day painting, varnishing, photographing... It is the process of that is interesting me. The doll heads sat together make me wonder just how bizarre my final photograph (if I get to that!) will look.... but until then this is about daily practice and the exploration of... I am not putting too much thought into each, I am going with the flow and allowing different personalities to emerge. Some I like more than others, I think that's to be expected.

Patricia asked how I am enjoying the paper clay. Air dry clay is something I have used over many years, but not so much recently. I have handled 'proper' clay such as porcelain in the past and have some experience making and firing my own ceramics. So handling any kind of clay is something I find quite enjoyable and at the same time challenging, because I always have certain ideas and wish to make my best... I have switched clay brands. Now I am using Gedeo air-dry clay, which is very much like pottery clay to handle, it is smooth and dries not too quickly. The heads can be sanded once dry, but I tend not to, preferring a more primitive, handmade feel.

Cindy suggested this book:

Ode to the Human Face
Seeing/Molding the Human Face as Meditation
Frederick Franck
http://www.steinerbooks.org/detail.html?id=9781930337121

I have not seen this book but really want to find a copy as I think it would be interesting. Especially as I do feel these tiny heads are like meditations on.....

I've been asked here and elsewhere (Flickr etc..) if I will be selling, what I will be doing with the heads. My plan is to see how this goes. Just take one day at a time. My other 'main work' keeps me very busy indeed. So far I am able to find time for this project. If I do complete however many that I am able, then great I hope there may be heads to share out, make something else with, etc....

Thank you for all your suggestions and questions.

Meanwhile, I have a new poem published over at Nevering. I have not posted anything over there in a while, after a bit of a break from writing....

Also I have a new brooch in my Etsy today.

12/365

I think she's happy.....

Thanks for all your comments and questions - I will put some responses here tomorrow as I have to dash up the hill to school right now... more soon

11/365

she scares me a little.....

hope your Tuesday is a good one....

10/365

mosaic monday

1. Untitled, 2. barn ledge, 3. When i was a little girl, 4. Yoyo ing~*^^*, 5. map rorschach, 6. In my small leather journal, 7. Untitled, 8. In the making, 9. 孔雀獸 / 詩集 /陳允元, 10. intentions, 11. Untitled, 12. on top of snowflake mountain, 13. Winter 4 (Found), 14. petites' craft room, 15. Per i skogen en natt, 16. 2011, 17. 3/1.2011 whirlygig quilt - WIP, 18. tapping into the spine, new Body work, 19. Misisi, 20. S/T. Acrílico sobre papel 24 x 32 cm. 2010

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Happy Monday and many thanks to the artists and photographers featured here, sharing their beautiful images via my Flickr contacts....

First mosaic of the New Year and first Monday when things feel like they are getting back to 'normal'.... after the holidays break. I have a busy week ahead, as always. 

This week I am continuing with my 365 tiny heads project and many thanks for all your enthusiastic comments. I am enjoying your responses. I'm working with various media, including stitch, paint and clay. Hoping to have work to share later in the week.

Wishing you a very good, creative week ahead

sketchbook sunday

Sketchbook Sunday is back for 2011! Well, I have not found quite so much time to fill pages in my sketchbooks over the past few weeks... the tiny heads are, in a daily practise kind of a way, my 3-D sketchbook....

The pages above are recent, playing with a little colour - it feels rather odd working on white paper after the December brown pages.....

Thanks for your encouraging comments this week.

9/365

Today's is slighter taller... about two and a half inches.... To answer a recent kind question: am I naming the heads? No, though I do now think of them as 'the yellow hair girl' or 'the ones with teeth'.... But no names.

Sketchbook Sunday later....

8/365

another quite tiny tiny..... tomorrow maybe a slightly bigger one (easier to photograph!) Have a good weekend x

paper dolls

paper dolls.... new in my shop today.... and a new painting also....

7/365

This one is quite small - about two inches or less in height...

6/365

rainy, sleety day..... she does not like, so escapes into her own little world....

5/365

I have just re-opened my Etsy shop - and have added a few new paintings.... stitch and more will be appearing in days to come....

4/365

the ageing process.... for a clay head that is.....

many thanks for all your encouragement as I begin this challenge.... to answer kind questions: yes the heads are each sculpted in less than 10 minutes, using paperclay. I sculpt them the day before. Then they are painted and varnished. I am not selling any as I am working toward the ultimate photograph. However, I may offer paperclay work in my shop in weeks to come..

3/365

Happy Monday..... mosaics return next week......

This week: my Etsy shop re-opens Wednesday and I will be adding new things gradually over coming weeks. I'm busy designing and thinking of new stitches, sketches and more...

Have a very good week

2/365 tiny heads

Happy New Year: 365 challenge - tiny heads

A Happy New Year!
My 365 personal challenge for 2011 is to create a tiny head every day...... the heads are to be sculpted using paperclay, air dried, then painted. The sculpting process should take no more than 10 minutes. There will be a stage by stage process to this. A head may be sculpted in the evening and then painted the next day. The daily part is to photograph and share that photo.

I chose a 3-D challenge because this is something I don't feel so confident with.... and I want to indeed challenge myself and to *not worry* if there are good results or not so good results. Choosing a different medium to what I usually create with may just free things up and allow some further experimentation... I would like to not just work with clay but also add mixed media details, but we shall see...

This project may evolve or may be scrapped by February, but here's hoping.... This is my first 365 challenge but I felt this  year was the one to try it....