crafts

First Self Taught Watercolor Lessons

August 17, 2023

As a kid I was always told that I was terrible at art. I was really creative, but give me a blank piece of paper to draw on and it wasn't going to be pretty. For a lot of years I internalized that I wasn't good at art. I couldn't draw or paint or scuplt. Then I got really into pottery and found that I was reasonably good at it. I've always been creative and can find creative ways to do things, I just didn't know how to apply them to art. Finding the right teachers who could explain things in a way that made sense to me was the key. My pottery really went to new heights when I found Clayshare during the pandemic.

I've watched Jessica on Clayshare and some of the guests she's had on like Paula McCoy of Colors for Earth paint on pottery and I really wanted to do that.

I decided to start with watercolor because I really like how it looks on pottery. I also had it in my head that it was easier than acrylic. I'm not sure I believe that any more, but I'm glad it's where I started. I found a book on Amazon that seemed like it would be a good starting place - Ink and Wash Florals: Stunning Botanical Projects in Watercolor and Ink by Camilla Damsbo Brix. I can't say enough good things about this book. I'm only 1/3 of the way through and I feel like I've already learned in leaps and bounds. I started by drawing the flowers first in pencil and then in ink several times in my sketch pad. Once I felt like I had a handle on the drawing part I drew each flower several times on the watercolor paper.

Then I took the big leap and started painting. Several of the designs require you to put one color on and then let it dry so having a few pages I could go between helped me. Not every flower I've done looks awesome, but there is at least one of each that I love.

I'm working on the next set of flowers in the book and I've already pre-ordered her next book because I find the way she explains things to be so simple to follow.

crafts

Wine Cork Wreath

August 05, 2023

I made a cork wreath a few years ago following a tutorial online. Every tutorial I've found uses a hot glue gun and that's what I used the first time. However, the sun on my front door is hot enough (even in winter with the glass screen door) to re-melt the hot glue. I decided to try again with e6000. Wine Cork Wreath


What I've learned with the e6000 is that it doesn't set as quick as hot glue. That meant I had to do only a few at a time when they were at weird angles and I had to support them.

Wine Cork Wreath


This ended up taking about 2 weeks. Every time I walked path after a few hours had passed I would add another couple of corks. This was pretty messy and sometimes I would have to go back and add a bit more glue if something feels too loose.

Wine Cork Wreath




crafts

Grandmas recipe pillow

June 28, 2021

Now that I've been able to give it to my sister I can share a special project I did for her birthday. I saw a post from Spoonflower where they suggested making tea towels with recipes on it. I picked out a few of grandmas recipes and photo shopped them together. I decided to have Spoonflower print them onto quarter flats. Made a tea towel and this pillow which came out amazing. 

crafts

Productive weekend

May 17, 2021

Sunday ended up being a really productive day. I made new pillows for the couch. The old pillows were just threadbare. As I was making the new ones I realized that I made the old pillows at my first apartment 20 years ago! They held up a long time, but it was time for new ones. I'm really happy with the fabric from Spoonflower and I'd order from them again.


Spent the bulk of Sunday glazing. It is amazing how time consuming it ends up being. I still need to glaze my fish before I'm ready to load up the kiln. I also re-made the zinc free clear that I made a few weeks ago with the wrong silica. I have a few mugs I'm going to use it on the outside on with decals. 


The dogs kept me company while I was out in the garage. Looking at this picture I really need to do another bottle melting to gain some space and also look like less of a wino. 




Finished up Sunday making my own bead/earring holder. This is going to hold a lot more in a much more confined space than what I was using previously. I'm super excited to try it out. 

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