Charity Auction for Japan

I am part of a Collective of artists who do occasional charity auctions. As we were about due one anyway Mel has kindly organised an auction of work which starts today and runs for one week. The proceeds will all be going the Japan Appeal via Oxfam.

You can see all the details here.

There are some wonderful items in this auction so I shall be placing a bid or two myself I suspect :)

You will find my Rainbow in my Heart pendant above and my Peace Dove earrings below in this auction.

I know everyone has already given generously to charities for helping Japan but if you can afford a little more with the added bonus of winning some fantastic work then please do go and check this out.

I would also be really grateful if you would consider posting about this anywhere you can, ie a blog, facebook, twitter etc. Anything that brings in people and hopefully raises more money would be really appreciated.

Thanks

Joy x

Bird a Week 12/52 - La Fenice

Last week we went to Venice for a few nights to celebrate my 50th birhday. We had a wonderful time. One of the places we went to have a look at was the very grand Teatro La Fenice. Inspired by this wonderful place I decided to make a very theatrical enamelled phoenix for this weeks Bird.

Made from Art Clay Silver and enamelled, it is patinated with Liver of Sulphur and set with 2mm CZs. It measures approx 45mm x 48mm.

This is the equally theatrical reverse!

All very OTT isn't it :)

I have put two of my pieces of jewellery into an auction with the proceeds going to help in Japan. It starts running next week and I will post all the details here. The two lots are my Peace Doves which were my BIrd a Week last week and also a rainbow enamelled heart. Watch this space for details on how to bid...

An Open Invitation...

On the 2nd April we have an free open demo day here in Hastings!

Come along for a taste of two different types of clay :)

Hope to see you there!!

Bird a week 11/52 - Peace Doves

As I am a bit short on time this week I had to get ahead of myself so these are early birds! :) (no worms though!!)

A pair of doves made using Art Clay silver and patinated with Liver of Sulphur XL gel. I have called them Peace Doves.

With Japan on everyones minds at the moment I thought you might like to know that we have heard that all our friends at Aida who we met on our trip last year are safe. It is nice to hear a little good news.

Twice a Cover Girl!!

ONCE!! - The latest issue of the Art Clay Society Quarterly Newsletter is out and I am on the cover!! (well actually one of my pieces is). If you belong to the Art Clay World UK Guild then you are automatically a member of ACS and can log in and download the newsletters which are full of great articles.

If you are not a member yet you can see a sample of this newsletter here.

TWICE!!! If that was not exciting enough I had fantastic news that I am also on the cover of the next Metal Clay Artist Magazine!!!!! (ok that is my work again not actually me!)

Here is a sneak preview of how the cover will look when it is published ...

Metal Clay Artist Magazine is the only international magazine dedicated to metal clay lovers. You can subscribe online or, even better news for us in the UK, from this next issue you can buy it in W H Smiths. If you are elsewhere in the world check the website as new outlets are being added all the while.

You might also like to start following the Metal Clay Artist Magazine blog. Here you can read a short interview with me!! I shall be adding blogs posts on there myself and if you have a look back you will find I have already done a few.

In the next few days I shall hit the big 50 and never imagined at my age I would be a cover girl twice!!

 Good job it is only my work and not photos of me ;-)

Bird a Week 10/52 - Tori

My Bird a Week piece this week is made from something I have had sitting around for a while. Hilary comes to my workshops and bought a lovely notebook with her a while ago. I rolled out a bit of Art Clay Silver and took this impression directly off the front cover of the book as I thought it was so lovely.

This week I cleaned up the shape and added the hobnail decoration down the sides. Then I added a bail and decorated the back. Once the piece was fired I added some fine silver spirals and 24k keum boo. Finally I patinated it with Liver of Sulphur and gave it a light polishing.

I have called this piece Tori which is the Japanese for bird (I hope!!).

Here is the reverse which is set with a 2mm lab ruby.

It has been an exciting time for me in the last couple of weeks, I am a cover girl - TWICE!! - and at my age!!!

More on that in my next post in a day or so. ;-)

Bird a Week 9/52 - What a Hoot!

Another pair of earrings this week. I have to admit these were inspired by the ceramic workshop I have been taking. Anna makes lovely little owls and these are my take on them.

I think these are happy owls :) I have called them What a Hoot!

Made using Art Clay Silver with a brushed texture and 2mm orange CZs for the eyes.  

My ceramic session last Sunday was a longer one and I went with an idea in mind. I will be honest that the first piece looks a bit strange. It started out ok...

Then I got to the finishing touches - that stunted palm tree thing is supposed to be a fountain! It is to hold a few flowers. Bear with me on this one, I am hoping that once it is blue it will look a little more like water! Of course I had to add a little bird!!

Finally I made another coiled bird. I did not have an idea what type of bird I was going to make so started off with a large sealed coiled shape and then the Make It Bird just appeared!! This is about 6 inches in diameter I think.

This Sunday is my last ceramic workshop. I have really enjoyed these. We will be adding glazes to some things and packing a dustbin full of others to smoke fire so we end up with a mixture of different finishes.

All very exciting!!

Here are some more Bird a Week Challenge entries