I hang my head in shame!

Faithful blurkers and followers I apologise for not posting for eleven days, that seems like an eternity.

I this time I have thrown a very successful teaparty which will have  a blog post all to itself once I have edited the photographs.

Found a job, phew! Which means I can now pay the bills, impose a structure on my life and will ironically free me to produce more artwork. Its not exactly glamourous but the pay is pretty good.

My DH is away in Cardiff at the moment investigating his/our future.

The cat is being a nag as is his perogative, the gerbils are being antisocial and my land snail is continuing to gain mass.

Its been a huge emotional rollercoaster lately but things are starting to stabilise a bit and I will get some art done :)

Lazy post

Hi guys, sorry about this but it feels like my life is boiling down into a few catagories. Those being 'failed job applications', 'unrealistic expectations' and 'why are you not making stuff'.

My intention is to join the Somerset guild of craftsmen and to do that I need to create a series of 'master works' to photograph and use as a portfolio. I have planned what I am going to make and thus far failed to create them. I am going to make some buttons, tile pendants, revolution pendants, drop earrings and a few assorted sculptural items. Photograph them beautifully, generate some text and them have an online service print a few copies as a photo book. This photo book could then be used to bolster my self esteem and to get wholesale accounts for my work.

Suffice to say this grand project has not yet happened. I have both time and clay but am lacking in motivation and determinaton. If I do this, then it will generate money. I need money so I should do this. Easy, or 'Simples' as a certain russian mammal would say. I don't know why my head makes it so hard.

Par example, these are revolution pendants made as earrings. I learned the swirling technique from the fabulous Desiree McCrorey and  I have been making them for four years now.

This is first pair of earrings. I love carefully measuring and cutting the clay then rolling it into the initial ball to start the process. I love how unpredictable it can be and how it needs precise attention.

I am not so keen on how my flab seems to roll about as I swirl the clay but nothing is perfect. Making these pendants makes me happy, again I have clay and material so why the lack of motivation?







My dear friend commision some charm bracelets from me and I had a lot of trouble getting started on them. Then it dawned on me to use swirled lentil beads and voila it looked fabulous.

All chunky and funky and what not.

Its time to ask that question. Am I depressed, demotivated or just plain lazy?

If I am lazy, then well I don't know what to do. I don't to be a lazy person, it goes against the fibre of my being. For other people for work situations I always push forward and work really hard. For me? Not so much.

I know there aren't many folks reading my blog but of those that are out there. Please comment and let me know what you think I can do to reinvigorate myself. Its really starting to get me down.

Catch you later

HJ Purky

x

Mini-Soiree

We hosted a mini party on Saturday which was kinda fun.

When I say kinda fun, I mean on Friday night I was dancing down the aisles of the supermarket filled with delight at the opportunity to cook (love cooking) and to socialise (adore socialising).

I did battle with my house to make it really tidy clean and presentable.

Would you like to see my spread?

I massively over-catered.

Cheese fondue, home made bread, meaty snacks and retro plates :)

Mmmm home made felafal!

Creamy, winey, cheesey hot gunk mmmmmmmmmm

My veggie side, home made roast vegtable pasta salad, home made potato salad, salady salad, indian veggie snacks, crudites and dips :D

Just for good measure here is my DH playing Guitar Hero

And my cat looking magical :)

It was a really pleasant evening and cheered me up immensely. Took my mind of having no money, no job and a poorly car.

I have secured a commision for some silver jewellery today which has cheered me up a lot and posted my work up on craftster forum for some critique and comment.

Catch you laters

H xx

Wierd Wednesday-ness

I am not doing brilliantly with the passage of time at the moment. How can it possibly be Wednesday? It would perhaps help if I went to bed when it was dark and got up when it was light and indulged the neolithic man inside myself.

However, I am going to bed at two or three in the morning and getting up between eight and ten in the morning. Same amount of sleep but a much smaller amount of rest. Last night/morning I applied for loads of jobs including one in a bank! Can anyone really see me working in a bank? I got a few rejection emails this morning which is a shame.

Had some cheery-ness yesterday (daytime) when I saw one of my items had been listed in a treasury, yay! However still no sales on the etsy front. I think that is mostly due to my listing style so I am going to attempt to remedy that soon.

In an attempt to stop myself being dragged down into that annoying self doubting misery I have been photographing things I have made and believe have artistic merit.

These tasty chaps are my large single bead pendants. Designed for that instant bit of colour :) I enjoy making them because pretty much each one is unique or of a very limited number.

I want to get back into making smaller beads and then using them to make necklaces and such. Really pretty ones with pearls and semi precious stones. Also kinda tempted by making much larger beads and wire wrapping them.

It appears there is a real trend in polymer clay at the moment for naturalistic items so may push myself in that direction.

Or just be multi-coloured. I was quite cheered when I found a stash of pictures lurking on photobucket of my older work :) I will do a post on them at some point, so I can do a sort of progress report.

I had best go now before I ramble even more.

Purky hugs

Harry xxx

Silver Saturday

After a somewhat stressful week I had the urge to crack open the silver clay starter set I had been given (4) years ago.

Inside I found

well plus a few other bits like instructions and such. There is a burnishing tool, double sided file, the cutters and mould are mine anyway. The metal mesh is for gas hob firing the clay, metal brush for finishing the piece etc.

One of my lore stone moulds, incidentally its quite large would have needed at least 20g of silver clay to fill it!

a ginko leaf texture plate that I purchased, I think this one is from sculpey studio range.

I got all excited and forgot to photograph the bit inbetween but esentially I rolled out one piece and textured it with the leaf and then cut it into shape and made the hole. The other I rolled up all the scraps into a ball and pressed into my mould and then reshaped into the rough triangle and made the other hole.

I dried the pieces in my clay oven and then used a file and microfibre sanding pads to refine the shapes. It occured to me the edges were a tad pointy and once transformed into fine silver may be a bit jabby!

I was then baffled by my kiln instructions and then realised that had been my excuse for the last four years. Yes I have had a lovely kiln for four years and not used it, much to my shame :(

There the little fella. Its dead groovy with a bead anealing door for when I eventually start lampworking :)

After firing there is a fine white residue left on the silver clay from where the binder burns off. The metal brush in the kit is very handy for getting rid of it.

Hopefully in this pic you can see the difference from where the silver is starting to emerge after the vigorous brushing.

This is the oxidising solution which you mix up with warm water and a chemical from the kit. It is supposed to be a translucent ochre colour, so evidently I mixed it too strong by accident! It smells like rotten eggs so I am guessing its a sulpher solution.

The pieces are supposed to take about a minute to oxidise but mine were ready in seconds...perhaps I did mix it super strength!

After being oxidised the pieces are washed in clean water :)

Then buffed and scrubbed with silver polish and a fibre cloth to take the oxidisation off the upper surfaces. This highlights the texture :) and makes the shiny bits uber shiny

Voila :) I am really liking the leaf texture and the 'aged' look of the other piece from all the cracks.

 and

 :)

Added to a sterling silver snake chain (the jump ring is too big and will be swapped) and the flash was too strong so you cannot see the patina sigh lol!

  and the other piece!

I am pretty happy bunny with these bits and pieces. I of course have mounains of ideas and want to try enameling the finished pieces and adding fused glass and all sorts of fun stuff.

thanks for reading and will post again soon

H
x

Tuesday has arrived.

Heya, its a bit murky in Purky Towers at the moment but I promise that I am doing my best to keep making things.

You see I have had this big box of plaster whites that I cast up in October last year and decided (with some poking) that it was high time to get them painted up.

They are pretty much all from ice cube moulds I have found in cooking shops, homewares, skips and charity shops.

I dug out some lovely paints including the pearlescent and glitter paints as well as some brushes and set to work.

I gave everyone an undercoat of either gloss black acryllic or metallic silver and gold.

I like the blingy hearts. Initially I was worried about the brush strokes but I think it looks sort of charming.

Here is a 'goth-berry' :) I will drybrush it at somepoint.

These are hearts which have been black glossed then painted with different colour glitterpaints. Also they have been sealed with lacquer :D

Purple :)

Gold :)

Green :)

and Raspberry :)

 I tried giving a more aged look to this face and think it looks kinda swish.

A group shot for luck showing off my 'golden-berry' to the left.

and finally a very blue and silver strawberry :)


Painting these up cheered me up briefly. I have been listing an item a day on etsy in my 'purkyproducts' shop which is yet to bear fruit but my listings are far from perfect methinks.

My DH is sulking with me at the moment so I believe I am in trouble because the agency hasn't phoned to offer me a £35k a year job. We shall ignore the fact all the cooking and washing up has been my department for erm...how long? Sigh. I am probably being unreasonable, though I have taken up any days the agencies have offered and the well seems to have run dry. I am temping as a carer this week, its only twenty hours but its got to count for something?

There are some great jobs in the Blackmore Vale Magazine but I just don't have....I don't know. The urge to apply? Is this a lack of confidence or laziness? All I want to do is make things and then sell them. Unrealistic? Probably in this economic climate with the minimal investment cushion available to me.

Its like my life is enveloped by an extensive feeling of 'meh' and nothing is shifting it. There are lovely people around me and the house is pleasant, my cat is ....well a pain in the arse but brilliant with it.

Also in a bizare twist an abusive figure from my past has reappeared and I am not keen on that frankly. Lets see how the rest of the week goes.

Ta ta for now x

Studio Saga

I am messy..... well, I like to think I am untidy rather than dirty. Healthy clutter?

Anyways I and my friend the FutureRobot took on my studio earlier this week so that I had space to actually do some creating rather than just mulling over Purky past. It started like this....

Entering from the stairs of doom, the studio is the middle room out of three. We live in a maisonette which is a posh way of saying two storey flat. I hate clutter and mess but it seems to love hanging around me.

From left to right we have half used milliefiori canes, colour samples, scrap clays, inks, powders, a corner full of crackled metal leaf projects, a partly completed lamp project, chemicals, boxes of beads etc. Urgh. Note Pasta machine location as well.

 From right to left we have canes, unbaked projects, disorganised sheleves of mediocrity, a fleeing Ikea lamp that cannot take the mess anymore!

 Plaster, baking racks, resin scales, commendeered food processors and my baby clay oven.

 And a pile of stuff in poorly stuffed drawers...eeek!

 But then my friend FutureRobot said 'Have no fear, we shall sort this out!'

 He waved his dual function wand / sculpting staff and my powders, clays, inks, foils, leaf and tools became magically organised.

 The work surface was restored to white shiny-ness. Although the fractured leaf project is still in the corner... My pasta machine moved itself to a better location.

 The task specific lighting breathed a sigh of relief and cast their gaze upon the newly discovered table tops.

 The food processors and ovens stopped their territorial feud realising there was space for all of them to co-exist happily.

And my tools had a massive gang bang in their new drawer. I mean seriously, every time I look there seem to be more. I swear they are breeding.

The new view from the stairs of doom :)

There is the saga of the Purky Studio, deep in the Purky Tower, in deepest, darkest Somerset.