shininess

Thinking about getting back to some mosaic work has been haunting me of late. So, I was very happy when my friend G. brought me some photos of a piece I had made for her many years back:




I had forgotten how pretty it was! Now I want it back. The piece is approximately 20 inches in diametre. To the best of my recollection, it was made using an old tabletop I found in some garbage area or other.

Speaking of garbage, I just learned about the work of Rod Humby, who is a real genius when it comes to making mosaics out of found objects. For example, this piece uses old chair backs:



This one was made using blocks stacked one on top of the other:



And this?


Everything but the kitchen sink! Anyway, check out his website,
The Joy of Shards Mosaic Resource. If you don't immediately rush out and buy some tile grout and cover a table or two in your place after that, there's something wrong with you.

Having said that, I won't be able to get back to any mosaic work today. Why not? Because I started work on Project Purple yesterday and am now obsessed. Sorry, no pics: I'm thinking about trying to get it published. It should be done in the next couple of days, everything being equal.

(What's that? You thought I was going to start on the Pheonix Rising by Sivia Harding? Hah! Approximately 23 minutes after deciding that, I changed my mind and hauled out the Silken.)

Speaking of Sivia Harding, she has just published a new pattern for the River Rock scarf, which was previously only available in the No Sheep for You book. This was my version, made last year:


This year, Sivia has outdone herself, coming up with four variations on the theme and providing a great bead tutorial as well:

The pattern is available for sale on her website. And, not to blow my own horn of fabulousness, but I have a small connection with this version: Sivia asked me if I had any suggestions about the pattern before publishing it, and has very graciously given me a credit!!

Which makes me feel all shiny and happy...

Happy Sunday!

a fulfilling day

Well, yesterday was a truly great day even though the snow is still lying on the ground. Why?

Well, for one, I finished Clue 7 of my SOTSii!




But that was at the end of the day. Here's how my lovely day began...

First, I got to meet Wannietta for the first time at a knit cafe called "In The Loop" in my neighbourhood. Also met another local knitter, Kelly. I had a lovely time.

I also scored some royal purple Silken!! It's Wannietta's fault. Really, it is. She threatened me with dire knitting curses such as "You will frog three rows for every two and a half that you knit" if I did not buy it.

So, now I'll just have to make another River Rock scarf, I guess.

Then I came back home and did some work on the SOTSii:

I then ventured out again to run some errands. While standing in line at #@$&(#*&$@(@#*$& Forest Hill Loblaws, I decided that I was way overdue for a visit to Zia Mosaics.

I bought some inspirational materials (after all, all lace and no glass makes Kristina a dull girl, I fear):

I'm also a sucker for stained glass as you might imagine, and the following pieces just leapt into my hands while I was standing at the cash register to pay for the other stuff:

This is a cross between violet and deep purple, if you can't tell from the photo:
I've never quite seen a shade of rose like this!

And finally, my all time favourite colour of stained glass: oilslick!!!

Susanna at Zia calls it "gas glass". I truly love it. If Handmaiden came out with this colour in its seasilk line I would likely have to declare bankruptcy within about a week.

And finally, I headed to the Goodwill and scored this hot pink fleece top and necktie!

I then hauled all the goodies back home and resumed work on the SOTSii:

This particular phase of SOTSii was very satisfying for a couple of reasons:

- I came to the end of my beadwork pattern at Row 419. This will make the rest go much faster.

- I only started my third skein of Malabrigo at Row 417!!! Which means I have plenty left for the shawl!

I feel as though I'm in the home stretch... I think there are only two more clues to go.

So, that was my Saturday. Today, the Icarus!

Have a good one!

memories of mosaics, etc.

I came across these old photos this morning - so excited! Instead of going to work on time I immediately had them scanned at Grand & Toy (I am so technolame as not to have bothered to buy a scanner for home. In my world view, four or five skeins of a Handmaiden product is far more useful.).

These were all made in late 2000/early 2001 or thereabouts.

1. Cute Flower Wall Hanging


This was made for a very close friend and was photographed by him on his wall in this photo. It is approx. 12-13" diametre and the backing was made from the top of a lazy susan found in his building's laundry room.

Patterns used were adapted from The Mosaic Idea Book by Rosalind Wates.

2. "I have seen the light"


The same friend (a treasure from trash hunter extraordinaire...) gifted me a very ugly but functional lamp (sans shade) that he had found outside his building after someone moved. I decorated it with beads and stained glass, grouted it with silver grout and found a cheapo shade at Zellers.

In this photograph, the Orthodox icon lends a nice irony, I think. I should note I am not religious, but very superstitious. In this regard, I have had icons on the east wall of pretty much every room in every apartment I've lived in, just in case. I have moved 15 or 16 times since coming to Toronto and the icons have always been the first things to go up, even before the phone (and later, the computer) was plugged in.

3. Sunflower Table


Although I've posted this before, this is the best picture I have of it. And I still love it.

4. "I've really, really seen the light!!"


(or, by the look of it, the inside of a pub or three. I think I had friends over that night and was bragging about the lamp).

Given the level of sunburn on the face, this photo was likely taken in the summer of '01. I base this assumption also on the 2001 calendar shown in the photo and the layout of the apartment. Having said that, it could well have been taken a year later than that - it would certainly not be the first time that I have forgotten to change the calendar from year to year.


5. Film Noir


This photo is a fragment of one photo of several I took when, apparently not realising that I did not know how to use a camera, I went through a very pretentious "arty black and white" phase. The rest of the photo contains my mother, who was visiting... and it is actually quite a nice picture of her.

I attach this fragment for three reasons:

(a) top corner: if you look very hard, you will see two shadowy figurines. They are those creepy little artist model dolls that IKEA had all over the shop at one time. I had stained them mahogany and then outfitted them in little butch and femme outfits. For some reason, they then started to creep me out so I gave them away in the next move.

See what I mean? Creepy. UGH.

(b) middle: another mosaic piece, my Bird of Paradise chair. Here it is, photographed tonight in full vibrant Technicolor:



Of course, she looks far better when covered by dirty sheets and other laundry as it usually is. I had to leave the bag on the seat lest she feel naked - she is very sensitive and prone to catching cold in the harsh Canadian winters.

Some detail pics:


I don't recall what the significance of the blue strings attaching the bird to the tree are. I'm sure it was all very deep at the time, though.



A tree trunk and a flower. Cool, eh? And... easy!

Now, back to our regularly scheduled (if rather blah) programme.

(c) bottom corner: do you see two funky patterned taper candles which are bent and twisted? This photo was taken during August 2001. At the time I lived in a 1920s walkup on the top floor in a corner unit with a tar roof and no AC. The week the photo was taken, temperatures reached over 35 degrees Celsius outside and well over 40 in my unit. I came home from work one day and the originally straight candles had morphed into what you see here.

So, a little bit of nostalgia from the Millenial Annals of Brouhaha!