Heartbroken

Like many people I was devastated to see the death and destruction in japan caused by the earthquake and tsunami. I was grateful that all of my friends there are ok but horrified to think about what everyone was going through.

I thought that I'd re-post something that my friend, Taoyoga founder Jesse Lee Parker, wrote about the situation there:

During this time in Japan, there are many amazing stories and people are coming together and expressing a positive and brave state of heart in these trying times; the country is working together to rebuild externally, and also to regain the inner state of a Positive Heart.

Here are some amazing stories I have seen that have inspired me:

~Hideaki Akaiwa, was startled at work by the now infamous earthquake and tsunami that shook and overtook Japan on March 11, Akaiwa rushed to high ground and immediately called his wife of two decades. When she didn't answer, Akaiwa ignored friends' pleas to wait for a military rescue, instead rummaging up some scuba gear and diving into the dark, cold, debris-filled tsunami. Hundreds of yards of swimming later, Akaiwa found his wife struggling against the 10-foot current that had overtaken the couple's Ishinomaki home. He later went on another scuba diving journey through the dangerous and dark waters to rescue his elderly mother who was trapped and alone on a roof top surrounded by water.

~Red Cross Hospital Stories from Ishinomaki, Miyagi
This hospital which escaped serious damage,
seems like a field hospital, with doctors working round the clock.
Rika Suda, 22, gave birth to her second daughter on Friday,
and was the 61'st baby born in the hospital since the earthquake hit this area on March 11.
Life goes on, and new life is coming....

Doctors and nurses across Japan have come together to offer their medical help and services to those suffering in the north of Japan - we must all give our respect to their hard work and sacrifices...

I spoke with my spiritual friend and teacher the other day, who is a Zen Priest, and a teacher of meditation, Yamashita Roshi, about all that is taking place in Japan. He said this is a unique and special time for all of us living here. He spoke on how often times we read books and scripture to gain spiritual learning, but such learning is of course limited. He went on to speak that NOW, we are able to learn spiritual lessons in a direct way, due to this intense experience we all share here in Japan; this is real spiritual learning....

Let us all pray for Japan, and let us as a world community come together;
let us shed the barriers of race, country and religion....
for in the end, we all wish for the same things...
We all wish for Peace, Happiness & Harmony...

Let us all come together,
Let us all be a world family,
Let us create Peace on Earth....

I love reading what Jesse writes because he focuses on the postitive rather than dwelling on the horror and fear. If I was still in Japan I'd be so grateful for his classes and wisdom.

Here are some of my photos from my time in Japan that I'd like to share.

 
To read more about Tao Yoga click here to see Jesse's website. 


Love and light xxx

A big parcel of felt and other fabric

I got this wonderful parcel of handmade felt from my friend, Ailsa, yesterday! What a lovely surprise:D 

Ailsa has also handstitched into the felt and added elements from nature that she finds on her walks or in her garden.

She's sent me some of her felt with the idea of me experimenting with it and making it into something. I'd quite like to try making a  felt book for my jewellery course to put my samples in, and a hanging. I shall have to have a think about it.

The above fabric are 2 lengths of silk that I printed at Uni, one on habotai, the other on georgette. I did a devore print with that screen too, and then the design was washed off the screen ready to be used by another student, and so these lengths of fabric are unique. I just can't decide what to do with them, they're too pretty to be sat in my wardrobe, they're too big to hang in my house. 
Ideas welcomed.

 My dress is coming along very slowly, painfully slowly. I've never made a dress before and I've never used a pattern before, so I'm a complete beginner. This is the back panel. The fabric is a lovely liberty print.

Thank you Ailsa:D

Love and light to everyone xxx

A sigh of relief

How wonderful it is today to feel actual warmth coming from the sun, to feel that hint of spring in the air:D

Walking through the park today it was like my whole body heaved a big sigh of relief, the warmer weather is coming!

 Tinker is happy in the warmer weather too.

Love, light and sunshine xxx

Jewellery Course-Sketchbook

I love pattern and the silhouettes of leaves, branches and blossom against the sky, and the shadows they throw against a surface as the light touches them. My work here is exploring this love of pattern and decoration, inspired by nature. The paper cuts I’ve been doing can hopefully inspire my jewellery making process, as I’d like to combines layers of materials, silver over silk, for example. I’ve been looking at other jewellery makers for inspiration too. 

Here'a a few pages of my sketchbook, followed by some of the jewellers I'm looking at for inspiration.

 Kate Smith

Leonor Hipolito. I can't find a website dedicated to her jewellery, but if you google her you'll find images of her work on various sites.

 Penny Davis

 Rosanne Antico Hall. Again, you'll have to search on google, I couldn't find a website for her.

 Sally Grant

 Yu Chun Chen

What beautiful work there is out there, and so much more to come.

Love and light xxx

My best one yet

Now that my friend has recieved the sketchbook I made for her I can share the images of it with you and not be in danger of spoiling the surprise! I'm happy to say it was very well recieved:D

The above paper was handpainted by me, I've been wondering what to do with it for ages. I think it works really well in the sketchbook and adds that extra something as it's totally unique.

 Such beautiful paper!

And of course, overseeing the entire project, my beautiful cat, Tinker:D

Love and light xxx

Jewellry Class

For the last month I've been attending a City & Guilds jewellry course led by the wonderfully talented 

Adele Kime at the Glossop Adult Education Centre.

Not only is her jewellry beautiful but she's an exellent teacher too, which is just as well as I am a complete beginner when it comes to actually making anything. As I mentioned in the last post, I've made a sketchbook for the course as I'm very keen to make everything by hand. It's quite a discipline keeping a sketchbook again, it's something i got out of the habit of doing, I just dive straight into my paintings usually without much of a plan.

The first thing we're learning is etching onto brass and copper. We had to design something in black and white (I chose the drawings I've been working on lately) and then the images were photocopied onto special blue paper that's usually used for printing on circuit boards. The paper's called Press-n-peel Blue PCB Transfer Paper.

This is my original image, followed by the blue paper photocopy next to the piece of brass it's to be transfered to. I cut sections of the image to be photocopied to minimise the amount of blank space.

I put a thin sheet of paper over the brass and heated the metal with an iron (no steam), for about 4-5 minutes, then I quickly placed the blue paper, image face down, onto the brass, covered it with the paper, and heated it again with the iron for another 4-5 minutes. Then I plunged the brass, paper still attached, into a jug of cold water for a few seconds before taking it out and peeling off the paper.

Very exciting!

Not all the detail came out, the drawing of the face is very subtle, lot's of little dots, but I was happy with it. You can get a blue etch resist pcb marker pen that you can use to draw directly onto the metal with but it's not a very fine nib, so the paper allows for more detail.

This is my brass after it spent 3 hours in the Ferric Sulphate solution we made at the centre. I still have to give it a final clean. The face is so subtle you can only see it when tilted towards the light, so I intend to oxidise it to blacken the raised areas. The module of the  course i'm currently studying is all about producing samples and experimenting with different techniques.

What do you think?

Love and light xxx

Very Busy Bee

Apologies for not posting for a while, I've been moving house again! This is definately the last time I'm moving for quite a while I hope. I really like the new house, it's  less expensive than where I was before, and the landlady loves cats, so for the first time ever I've been able to get a cat:D

So I now have a black cat called Tinker. I got her about 2 hours ago from a lady who's just had her first child, who, it turns out, is allergic to cats. Tinker is 8 yers old and is so far very shy, I'll take a photo of her when she comes out from under my bed.

I've also had a few projects on the go, these are pictures of my first attempt at making ny own sketchbook using a tutorial  by Dani Jones. You can find the tutorial here if you want to give it a go.
It's a good tutorial but I did mess up my sketchbook right at the end by not reading the instructions properly. It's not too bad though and I'll still be using it, I'm just a perfectionist. I'm really happy with the papers/colours I chose for the cover though, it looks pretty:D
I'm making one for my friend next so the second one should be better, lessons learnt.  
The sketchbook is for a jewellry making class that I just started last month, 3 hours a week of happiness!

I uploaded the photos in order of my progression in making the sketchbook but for some reason they've come up in a random order and I can't seem to change it. Oh well, randomness it is then!

This is as far as i've got with making my work space nice and pretty. I've a lot more pics to put up and I'd quite like some shelves too. The sewing machine is really old and I'm not sure yet if it works or not, I might have to treat myself to a new one.

See you soon

xxx