Textures, Color and Fibers

As a nature lover and ceramic artist, it is easy to say that I am inspired in my work to create textures often repeated by what I see in nature.

With Ceramics, it is usually in my hand carved texture plates (which I later use when bisque fired - hard and porous) that show the textures. I use those plates to press porcelain or stoneware clay into to create a reverse printed texture.

When it comes to using my ceramic pieces in finished jewelry, I tend to stall a bit.

This I believe is because there are so many possibilities, I have a hard time getting my brain to settle and focus on one technique (talk about ADHD!)

And I'm all about the quality, so I tend to work things through a few times before I come up with something I'm happy with (this bracelet below is still a work in progress).

 When it comes to colors, these Hand Painted Silks (painted by Ute of Silk Painting is Fun) that I have been carrying now for over 10 years, are an endless supply of inspiration.

Marsha Neal Studio presents Silky and Fairy Ribbons

Marsha Neal Studio presents 2mm Hand Painted Silks

 I love to pick through and make specific color palettes from the 80+ colors I carry (in three styles: Silky Ribbon, Fairy Ribbon, and 2mm round).

 And I am seriously delighted with every order that comes through because I get to see a bit into what you are picking out and are working with for your jewelry (or other) designing.

If you are interested in using these in your work to add color and texture, you can shop for these ribbons through my Etsy shop or my Marsha Neal Studio website.

Recently I have been fiddling more and more with Needle Felting Wool Roving and Locks (see SarafinaFiberArt for beautiful supplies). And luckily Sarafina Art House is about 25 minutes from my house/studio and I have picked up working there part-time, helping with orders, stock, and whatever they need me to jump in and do. Which is a whole other chapter opening up in my creative life - working outside of the home around other creative positive people helping run that business is SO what I need right now.

What kind of fibers are you into using?

And what techniques make you giddy?

Look for some posts on fibers (all kinds of fibers) coming up in the next couple of months as we get through the holidays and back to our creative time.

Needle Felting and Nature Inspiration

I've been fully bitten by the needle felting bug!

Do you ever experience an overwhelming sense of having to figure out everything you can as soon as possible when you finally get your hands on a material you have been wanting to try out, but have never really had the right encouragement, inspiration or materials to give it a go?

These are some of the books I have gotten out of the public library this week.

I looked up "Felting" and these are what popped up, so they went on hold and I got them last night. With the exception of the two at the bottom - those are mine from home. 

And having a background in Entomology and Wildlife Conservation, I go directly to nature for inspiration. The colors, patterns, textures are everywhere you look in nature. And I like to reference scientific books or field guides for a soft inspiration on realistic things, although my final work rarely incorporates exact replicas from nature.

 Taking time to walk outside will allow you to find unexpected things like this mushroom above.

And hanging out with friends, that have friends, that are interested in art, can quickly open new doors - quite literally in this case. I took a needle felting workshop last December in my friends kitchen and met Sara from Sarafina Fiber Arts. I had always had a round about interest in needle felting - but did not quite experience the "bite" until after this workshop. And now Sara has opened a shop where she teaches workshops, sells materials and finished art from local artists, and creates a bunch of How To videos on You Tube for sculptural needle felting.

Above is a quick photo of the Sarafina Art House after a pumpkin workshop (I was there to drop off some of my ceramic items for her to sell in the gallery). I purchased a bunch of needle felting supplies from her at the open house not even two weeks ago, and went home to watch a few of the videos to remember some of the basics (there are three video in Sara's pumpkin videos).

I wanted to make some Autumn Pumpkins!

 I just love these candy colored locks that Sara dyes and sells - I could have purchased the entire basket she had at the shop! They add such color to the pumpkins...

There is this thing that when I make, I like to make a lot of things - it's an obsessive personality trait. I think it's exactly why I can sit and make and make a ton of beads at a time (give me good music or an interesting audio book, or podcast and I'll be there for hours!).

And it becomes about technique and seeing what I like as I make things, comfortable changes in technique as I work, how I can picture the development of a general shape - like a pumpkin, and move it forward and make details that are more appealing to me - most of the time - it ends up having spirals and swirly lines somehow...

So the pumpkins started getting these spiral stems.

And the bottom points of the stem onto the pumpkin, started getting wavy ends if they were long enough (after this in-progress photo).

I loved the banana fiber and how it frays, twists and twirls. 

I make and I make, then I move onto something else.

Like - what about making some ceramic pumpkins?

It is the season for them to ripen and be everywhere and in every shape and color!

Since I do already have all of the ceramic stuff from my bead making, small terrarium sized ceramic pumpkins were a natural. Notice the points at the bottoms of the stems. Those are there because in Sara's video, Lee mentions making points from the bottom of the felt stem. Cutting the ceramic clay to make points - that was fun to figure out and make happen (you have to work fast so it does not dry out and crack off).

Now my brain is set to figure out how to combine felting with beads in a more sculptural way.

Not by any means coming up with "new" as there are many artists out there that combine sculpture, beads, art, etc., but rather, new to me. Exciting to me. But ways to find my voice and learn techniques then pull all this work together in a way that is uniquely an expression of the things deep within.

What about you? Do you share a love for felting?

Even if it is just a visual love vs a "making".

Who are some of your favorite "felting" artists?

Social Media Links:
Like Sarafina Fiber Arts on Facebook
(there is also a group if you are into felting).
Like Love My Art Jewelry on Facebook.

Fall is in the Air!!!!

 Although I've lived in Florida for years now, I grew up in NW Pennsylvania, and fall is always one of my favorite seasons....It's hard not to get a little wistful when I hear talk of people busting out sweaters, hitting up football games on a friday night, talking about weather that calls for spiced lattes and teas...I fondly remember the crunch and crackle of raking leaves and seeing summer's bounty slowly fade into oranges, reds, and then into warm browns as nature, finally spent, winds down for a rest.

Although, our fall here in  Florida is much less pronounced, I look forward to turning off my AC and opening the windows for some fresh cool air that begins coming in a few short weeks!

So, let's grab a nice spice chai tea let's take a fall walk through Love My Art Jewelry member's shops to celebrate the season!

This beautiful pendant by Mary Jane evokes the smell of burning leaves and the beautiful glow of a autumn bonfire.......

Doesn't this collaborative set of Staci & Genea's remind you of a perfect day at the pumpkin patch? These colors evoke the beautiful hues of autumn with just a pop of beautiful blue sky.

Copper enameled hoops by Mary Ann can't help sing the praises of autumn's beautifully changing leaves.....

My own Lumpy Vertebrae beads remind me of smoldering bonfires.......

The colors in these fantastically shaped beads by Libby remind me of the first frost on the tips of the leaves.....

The buttery warm medley in Stacie's earrings remind me of taking a deep breath on a fall and feeling the last warm rays of indian summer kissing my face.

and finally, this stunning pendant by Julie, reminds us to pull on our cozy hats as autumn fades into the coolness of winter!

Thanks for taking a fall walk with me! I don't know about you, but I feel very inspired by autumn now, even way down here in Florida!

Playing with Palettes.....

Like Mary Jane mentioned yesterday, I don't often use color palettes to inspire my work. While I am a vivid and avid use of color, I generally rely on my own intuition or the properties of the paint I am using to inform my beads.

Spending the last week in Pennsylvania where I was born and raised, I was struck by the lush and vivid greens that are so different from my normal landscape in subtropical Florida, that I took some photos of some of my favorite colors and textures from Western Pennsylvania. Putting these through the simple color pattern generator at Big Huge Labs, I easily extracted some new beautiful colors to inspire me long after I go back to Florida.

Here are just a couple I whipped up this weekend:

Do you ever make your own color palettes?

Are you more inspired by using color palettes created by others? or by creating your own?