Monthly Archives: May 2014

Regaining Momentum

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I am finally squarely into the double-digit land!

Since my sewing machine is off at the hospital for what I hope will just be minor surgery, for Project 11 I played with a different tool – a 45deg mount cutter.

My mother-in-law MamJill gave me a really pretty birthday card a few years ago which I saved in our memory box, fully intending to frame it one day. I love the colours and how just a few well placed strokes can convey such strong lines.   I like framing greeting cards as I think it’s much nicer to have them on a display if you can instead of just squirreling them away. We did the same with our wedding invitations and some wedding cards which are hanging in the kitchen, and it’s nice to have something to smile at whilst chopping onions.

Some time ago I was on a framing rampage and bought a bunch of the ubiquitous Ikea Ribba frames in different sizes.  I picked a square one for this, but felt that the  window in the mat was a little small given the proportions of the picture.  I drew a bigger square around the existing window, set my rescued T square against the edge of my cutting mat and started cutting.  The cutter did feel quite magical as I got a nice clean 45degree cut. I did make the mistake of not extending the blade far enough  during the first cut – I had to go over it which made the line a little crooked, but it isn’t too obvious so I’m cool :).

Project 12 was the re-knotting of an old pleather belt – the belt had an origami-esque knot that looked cool on screen but turned out to be a flappy tail when it arrived in the post.. 2 years ago? And I bought 2 as well! The good thing was since it had been hanging around in the tropics for so long the glue seemed to have softened so I could semi take it a part before retying it.

One of the best things about Project 48 (when I don’t take unplanned hiatuses..) is that it compels me to look around for things that need to Get Done. When I first started I felt I needed some amazing before-and-after to kick things off and it felt that my amateur photos and projects were not worthy of the Interweb. I still feel a little shy, but at the same time I’m glad I’m making a conscious effort to make time for play. Both Husband John and I work such long hours that we won’t have time for our hobbies unless we schedule them. A little sad, but true for now anyway. we just returned from a lovely holiday in Boracay – spending entire days reading on a beautiful beach really reminded us how 55 hour weeks really shouldn’t be the norm. Tomorrow will be different I say, I shall press the productivity button and get twice as much done in half the time * insert horned cats here* ..

From the jaws of failure?

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An unplanned hiatus! Things just got really hectic at work, and since I started CFA revision free time has been rather elusive to say the least. I’m not sure if I’ve completely rescued Project 48 yet  (how is it May already??), but at least I’m almost at double digits!

I have still been painting regularly and am averaging 5 hours each weekend,  so dear Rhino has been progressing well.   Also my giraffe whom I have named Molly is hanging, perhaps slightly self consciously, alongside the works of other artists in the studio I go to  – my first exhibition!

First let’s see how the as-yet-nameless Rhino is doing. My last update was in February, and since then I have made quite a lot of progress on the table, face and hands.

Fast forward to May and this is how he looks now!

May

I’ve changed the shade of the blue numerous times through lack of planning and am a little unsure about the wallpaper, but will see how it evolves. The hands have actually been a lot of fun after the tough time I had with the John and Ollie portrait. The funny thing was that as I was essentially using my own hands as a reference point, despite being  very conscious that I’d need to make all limbs beefier, he still ended up having very feminine hands in the first round. The ruff is proving to be quite a challenge, but I bought a new set of short and very thin brushes that I’m loving for the detailed work. You get so much more control compared to conventional long handled brushes.

For Project 9  I repainted an ikea shoe rack we have been using for plants. It was red and is now  pale blue as I’m trying to create more of a restful vibe in the living room.  Project 10 was a little terrarium.  Some may say it’s a trend that has passed it’s prime, but I do like them and am hoping the contained environment will reduce the suicide risk. I think I should probably go to a nursery again – some of the shortcuts like buying potting mix from the market which contained more charcoal than soil haven’t really worked out.  Unfortunately despite living in the tropics and sneezing distance of the equator, our flat is actually quite dark thanks to the tinted AND recessed windows – what were they thinking.. The shape of the terrarium isn’t quite right either as I wanted a much bigger container,  but it’s still quite sweet and can serve as a reminder to water plants as it sits pretty on the coffee table.