Floating Fossils Part Two

Interesting about the circles Carol. How do you suppose they find out these things? Do they ask ‘Why do you like circles?’ and get the reply - ‘Well, it looks like my mum’.

Thanks, Artisue, you always say the right thing.

Thank you for the kind words Corryna. I like the look of the metal voile you showed on your blog. It looks like gold leaf flakes. Who makes it?

I’m in a state of controlled panic as I’ve just realised that it’s almost March and next week I have two classes, all my exhibition work to finish and preparations to make for the Jersey Textile Showcase. So it’s been nose to the grindstone all week.

Yesterday was ‘hissy fit’ day as several vital teaching samples went missing. My usual calm deserted me as I searched high and low and considered having to remake them (they were made from quite complex layers, in the form of stitched books). Poor Clive could do nothing right - if he tried to help he got in the way and if he didn’t he was accused of not caring. He retired to the shed. An appeal to St Anthony always works and, sure enough, they turned up. What a relief.

I am now ready for the classes and most of the Jersey stuff is done. The exhibition work is on-going, mostly because I got so carried away with the ‘quicky’, hopefully saleable, items. Here are some more floating fossils.
A background of ammonite drawings, with a little colour added using tinted charcoal.

Then some cast paper fossils, painted with grey mica and brushed with blue and verdigris wax when dry. Then I drew some tiny fossil-like shapes and digitised them. I spaced them out so that I could free machine in between them.

A little hand stitching and finally I cut them out with a soldering iron.

Stitched together they were float mounted over the background drawings.

I’d found some really deep frames and they look OK now they are finished. I have priced them quite cheaply as they were not supposed to be so much work. Pricing is so difficult and you don’t want to put the work out of people’s reach. On the other hand, it devalues everyone’s efforts if it is too cheap. The gallery, quite rightly, also has to take a share. Everyone is saying that it is hard to sell anything now so they may not go anyway.

I am going to put the labels on the five finished pieces. That always makes me feel virtuous. Four more to go but two of them are mixed media, which I am teaching at the Jersey festival so they can be finished over there.