First Ramble

Back in May I had a random phone call at work asking me if I would do a sponsored hike for charity.  Sounds eay enough, I thought, and before I knew it I'd signed up for a 40 mile hike through deepest darkest Yorkshire.  40 miles in 17 hours was the target...

So I spent the early part of the summer walking everywhere.  Every weekend, and some nights after work, walking, walking and walking.  And I didn't do too bad - I managed 34 miles in 17 and a half hours, and between us the team made around £1000 for Action Medical Research. 

But then the rest of my team said that they wre never going to walk again, so I was left without any walking partners, and I'd been really enjoying myself, so I had to come up with a plan b.  And so I've joined a rambling club.  I'll only be going on one hike a month, I would think, because I quite simply won't have time to do more than that once college starts again.  But at least I'm still doing something I enjoy, seeing new places, meeting people, and being healthy.

My first "ramble" was Sunday just gone, and I was rather nervous at having to get on a bus full of people I didn't know, but it actually wasn't as bad as it could have been.  I managed to beat the nerves and speak to people at the bus stop, so at least I'd broken the ice before getting on the bus!  We did a 9 mile walk through Teesdale, which was pretty strenuous, and stopped for lunch at a lovely little place called Middleton.

And it was in Middleton that the best incident of the day occured...

We stopped to eat lunch, and me and the woman I’d got talking to were just sitting on the grass on this little slope.  Most other people had managed to get on a bench, but we’d sprawled on the floor.  I was just finishing my lunch when this lovely black and white cat wandered across the road, and I made some joke about him coming to see if there was any sarnies left.

A few minutes later one of the other women yells over to let us know the cat was coming our way (bit of a warning in case we didn’t like them, I suppose), and I turned to see him standing just out of reach, so did the usual “hold your hand out and make a nice noise” thing.  He came right over and let me stroke him, then sat right down next to me like a dog! 

Just then a woman came across with her little boy – kid was about 3 and wanted to see the pussy cat.  So while the kid distracted the cat I got a few snaps of it because other than being much bigger than the cat next door to me (who has discovered how to get in my kitchen window!) it’s got the same facial markings and colouring.

I ended up half kinda laying down to get the photos, and when the kid left, the cat came back over to me, and calmly climbed onto my stomach and curled up to go to sleep!  How mental is that???  But isn't he lovely?

This last picture is kinda fun cos you can see my leg and feet, so you can see exactly how he was laid on me.  Made my day, anyway!

Quackers!

Sorry, I know that title is really bad, but it had to be said, didn't it???  Especially since I've spent ALL WEEKEND building a box around a giant duck. 

It's Tuesday morning, and it's all done except the eyelashes and the decals.  It's now sitting on Sarah's desk as a surprise for her when she arrives this morning.  Well, I say a surprise - she should be expecting it!  So, I spent the weekend cutting up bits of foam and sticking myself to everything in sight with superglue...

Start with a quick "mock-up", of course - this is held together with masking tape, but at least it let me know how it was going to work:

I stitched the box together to begin with, because I figured it would need to be held together pretty tightly if it was going to survive the trip down the river.  Then overlaid all of the stitching with superglue, just to be sure of it! 

We'd decided that the duck needed to be "blinged up" a little, so I added a touch of lippy, and shoved him back in the box to see how that looked...

The container then needed to be corrogated (as all of our boxes are), so it was time to cut strips and stick them on.  Lots of strips, and all needing to be stuck on in perfect little rows.  Lets face it, I'm a perfectionist!  Problem was tho, that I'd reckoned without Mal's excellent superglue (Sarah's having ran out within a few minutes!).  For those who want to know, it's "Loctite" and he got it from B&Q.  I managed to get the strips on, fairly straight (honestly, even a second, and this glue has stuck rigid!) and then played a little with some cornering pieces. 

I also added a few sticks of wood around the doorframe, because it desperately needed something sturdy in there to hold it all together!

Finally, the doors...  The question was, do I do full doors that will pretty much mean that there's no hope in hell of the duck winning the race, but the container will look damned good, or do I go for some other vaguely-designed look that won't be right, but might help the duck to swim?  After consulting Sarah, we decided that the container was more important than the race!  So full doors it was, and it turned out just as I'd wanted it to!

Finishing touches - a reg plate for the back - "MMUK" of course - and a graffiti'd plate of my signiture. 

 

I'm happy with him! 

A call for help!

Well, it's been quite a while, but with the panic over college deadlines, and then the relaxation of college being finished for the year...  But there's lots to say, and lots happening, so here's a start!

I had a frantic email from my friend in the marketing department of the company I work for yesterday.  "I need your help - please come see me when you have a minute!"  Needless to say, my curiosity alone had me in her office within minutes.  I don't quite know what I expected, but it wasn't a rubber duck.

Yes, a rubber duck.

And isn't he a handsome chap???  A little large for the bath, but perfect for the River Mersey.

The story goes that one of our customers asked us to sponsor a duck.  The duck would be sent to us to "decorate," we'd then return it, and it would go on display in a museum in Liverpool before being a part of a rubber duck race down the Mersey.  I'm not entirely sure whether Sarah needed my help because of my creativity, or just because the insanity of the idea is right up my street!

Sarah simply wanted to cover the whole duck in sparkly stones, but I had other ideas...  We work for a container company - what have sparkly stones got to do with that???  The duck should be in a container!

Deadline is looming...

That "comfortably far off" deadline is suddenly not-so-far-off, and the panic is beginning.  So much to do, and now the Easter break is here, it suddenly seems too close!

So, what have I got finished?  Well, there's various iron plates, from small to large, in ceramics...

This one is simply lumps of clay pressed into an old iron plate, which was then carefully removed as one whole piece.  Not very easy to do, but effective.  It was covered in copper carbonate, which should have given it a nice dark green colour in the cracks and crevasses.  Didn't work quite as well as I would have liked, but it's still given it a nice sheen.












These are all approx 1.5 inches long, are made from
porcelain, and are splattered with a translucent glaze. I made quite a lot of these!







I've also made some metal iron plates.  And a metal iron.  The iron was a whole lot of fun to do!  All made from copper, and "stitched" together with some nice strong cotton thread.

Along the same lines, I've done various irons in fabric.  It was a puzzle to decide what fabric to use for these, but I finally figured that you can't get much more "domestic" than ironing, so I should use some domestic fabrics...  An ironing board cover, and a tea-towel!

Busy doing nothing...

So much for good intentions of blogging every Sunday...  Four weeks in, and already I'm two weeks behind!  Although I do have an excuse - Dad had an operation on his foot last Monday, and while it's nothing major, I've been living between two houses while he recovers.  Mind, I suppose that doesn't really excuse missing the first week, does it?

I had a lovely week off work last week, except for the living-between-two-houses thing.  My birthday, a glorious spring week, and nothing much to do except walk the dog and enjoy the sunshine!  Yes, I could have been getting on with college work, but deadline is still a comfortable way off, so I thought it would be nice to have some time to relax.

Of course, relaxing, with me, certainly doesn't mean doing nothing.  I did do some college stuff, but mainly I did more toys.  Can't claim credit for the ideas on these, but still...  This one came from Linda Kopp's "Plus-o-rama," a book I fell in love with a few years ago.  Of course, I did have to change it - it only vaguely looks like the original.  And then I changed it some more, and made it much smaller, stuffed it with dried lavender, and called it "a skellington to hang in the closet".  Many thanks to my beautiful AussieSister who made a chance remark one day that set me down that line!

There's also the ever present crochet now, too.  I honestly do feel like I've forgotten something if I leave the house without a hook and a ball of wool!  This week I did two zombies and an elephant.  Oh, and I'm part way through a dinosaur.  Again, not my designs, but I figure it's helpful to follow a few patterns before I start creating my own - figure out how they work!  Pictures of those will follow...

The Biscuit Factory

Yesterday was a visit to the Biscuit Factory in Newcastle, with Lesley.  As part of the course, we need to be checking out art galleries, and so we decided that the Biscuit factory would be a good place to visit.  There was plenty to look at, and lots of different art forms were in evidence, from the usual paintings and prints, to bronze and wood.  There was a lack of "textiles", but a lot of both glass and ceramics, which were all very interesting.  The jewellery was also interesting, and although there was nothing that really appealed to me personally, I could at least admire the work that had gone into the pieces.

There are a large number of artists displaying and selling in the Biscuit Factory, and although it's actually a small place, it's not cramped.  I cannot possibly name all of the artists on display here, but there was a few pieces that stood out for me...

• Stephen Beardsell, a glass artist, had a lot of pieces on display, but by far my favourite was his "tree fungi sculpture" which is a real wooden log with glass mushrooms "growing" out of it.  Sells for £3100, so I don't think I'll buy it for my garden!  http://www.stephenbeardsell.com/
• Ceramics from Chiu-I Wu stood out for me, although Lesley was not as impressed.  I love the big shapes, and the simple detail.  "Thoughts" was one of my favourite pieces on display from this artist.  http://www.chiuiwu.co.uk/home.htm
• Probably one of the best ceramic artists on display, for me, was Mark Dally.  The pieces on show from him were all black and white, simple forms, slip-trailed.  For someone who always wonders what to do with a ceramic form once it's made, looking at his work gives me some inspiration - with some (a lot?) of practice, maybe I can create something so wonderful, from one simple technique?  http://www.markdallyceramics.co.uk/Home.html
• Another favourite piece was "Watermother" by Fidelma Massey.  This one would only cost me £4920, but at least it's not so big that it would need to go in the garden...!  All of her work appears to be based on ancient mythology, which I love, and the greens and golds are perfect for the subject.  She works in both bronze and ceramic, and some of her pieces are absolutely stunning.  http://www.irishsculpture.com/

If anyone's interested in visiting the Biscuit Factory, the website (http://www.thebiscuitfactory.com/) has all of the usual contact details and maps, etc, to help you get there.  I will point out, for those of you who don't know Newcastle, that there is a one way system in place around there, so watch out!

I also need to warn you all...  There was a severely huge, extremely disappointing, lack of biscuits.

And in the Beginning...

Writing a blog...  Something I've thought about in passing a few times over the last few years.  Then today at college, Eyv tells us it's now a part of the curriculum.  Guess it's time to give it a go, then!

So, where/how to start?  With me, I guess!

I'm currently studying Applied Arts at Cleveland College of Art and Design (CCAD), and I'm in the third year of a part time Foundation Degree.  If I get through this year, and one more, without going completely insane, I get to wear the daft hat.

So, what am I doing at college right now?  I'm studying irons.  Yep, that's right.  The domestic iron.  Why?  Well, we were all given a domestic item at the beginning of the year as a starting point, and pretty much let loose to do as we wished.  And I got the iron.  Well, it was better than the nailbrush!

I've made quite a few irons so far, in various materials.  Copper, porcelain, tea towels.  I'll put some pictures up soon, when I have time.  For now, I'd like to request some help.  No, not mental help.  Honestly, I'm looking at irons for a college project!

What I'd like everyone to do, if they don't mind, is a rubbing from the bottom of your iron.  You know, hold a piece of paper over the iron plate, and scribble all over it with a pencil?  I'm collecting them, and although I've got a lot, I'd like even more.  If you could do it, and send me a copy, I'd really appreciate it!  Just so you know what I mean, here's a picture of one I've already collected...