Sketching in lino, Part I

A couple of art nights ago I let myself just "sketch" in lino.... apparently I had bugs on the mind since both prints turned out to feature bugs. Here's the smaller of the two:



I can't figure out a consistent way to cut nice-looking circles in lino. I think I want to make friends with a dermatologist so I can appropriate one (or more) of those sharp little tools that punch out perfect circles from skin that's going to be biopsied. I bet those would work on lino.

My kitchen was busy last weekend...

This is what just over 4 hours of canning will yield in my house:



(14 pints of canned peaches plus a medium batch of peach jam [8 jars], a medium batch of cherry-rhubarb [8 jars], and a small batch of peach-cherry [5 jars].)

And then you get even better/faster at it :) I've since also canned 5 pints of elderflower cordial (yay urban foraging!), but that stuff isn't very photogenic.

Repurposing glass for garden art

Later this week these dishes will be in my garden as large(ish) garden flowers:



Very much a borrowed idea, but it was too neat not to try out on my own. The plan is to use epoxy and then use my oven to anneal/strengthen the bond. I have another box of glass still in my car from last weekend's flea market trip waiting to be made in to some more once I find some inexpensive and interesting colorful second hand glass dishes.

Stained glass progress

The other day I realized that in August I'll be helping to teach a stained glass/fused glass class and yet I haven't actually finished any stained glass in.....well, years. So. Back to this project started in 2008....

Over the course of about 5 hours (across two days) I finished grinding, washing, and copper foiling it to get it to fit in the frame (with a few design mods due to carelessness and limited glass to make up for mistakes. ooops.):



I've since also finished 80% of the soldering, too, but have yet to take a picture of that. I'm still working out how I want to finish the outer edge and what patina to use on the solder. This is intended for my bathroom window, but I don't think I want to permanently install it. So..... lead came? Or a wooden frame? I'm not sure yet.

Copper disk earrings

I finally started using this etched piece of copper that I made in a class some 8 or 9 years ago. Of course, I forgot to take a picture of the metal sheet before beginning to cut it up. Sigh.

First, a pair of earrings:

Sushi plate experiment

Last week I visited my parents. You never know what kinds of adventures you might encounter while over there. This time, my mother turns to me and says, "I want you to make a sushi plate."

OK (^_^) of course! Here are the results. One worked, one did not.