Sooke Fine Arts Show 2013

What fun it was to go to the Artists Reception at the Sooke Fine Arts Show last night and discover my piece on display amongst all the other beautiful pieces of art in the show.   When I go to an art show in which a piece of mine is showing, I am rather like Nancy Drew on a mission (grin) wondering in which niche I will find it on display.  What a thrill it is to turn a corner and voila... there it is!  Last night was no exception.

My hip operation was cancelled at the last minute (it is re-scheduled towards the end of August) so I was able to attend the show.  It was made even more special knowing that my  piece had already sold.  

That was the message on the answering machine that greeted me when hubby and I got home from a last minute trip to Seattle to see the Chihuly Gardens of Glass which I have been wanting to see for quite some time now and still get back in time for the show.  

Preview night (the night before the art show officially opens) attracts gallery owners and art lovers who pay a premium to get into the show beforehand to browse and purchase art they are attracted to.  It's quite a thrill to have a piece sell on preview night.

As promised a couple of weeks ago, here is a photo of the polymer clay shoe I entered.  The name of the piece is "Malona Flanick" and yes, it's a pun on a rather famous Spanish shoe designers name... the shoe designer reputed to have created "toe cleavage" in the women's fashion shoe industry.  If you ever watched "Sex in the City" when it was on T.V.... you'll have a good little chuckle as you make the connection!

When you first see the fruit on the "flan" part of the shoe, it looks very real... almost good enough to just pick one of the mouth watering berries off and pop it in your mouth!  What fun I had making that shoe.  Having it turn out exactly the way I had envisioned it right down to the colour of the "custard" on the "crust" and the "blue-black" of the blueberries and blackberries was a real bonus.

Thanks for stopping by for peek.  If you live in the Victoria area, make a point of going to this year's show... it's on until August 5th.  This year's show is even better than last year's... and I thought that one was hard to beat!

Have an arty week...

Cheers,
Sharon

If the Shoe Fits...

 Fantasy Art Shoes that will bring a smile to your face and a chuckle to your heart...

Oh naughty me for not having posted since the beginning of last month!  My big excuse... I have been very busy with art *stuff*, doing some spring cleaning and supervising (tee hee) hubby's planting of our garden for this year. 

It is about to get even busier in our household as my hip replacement surgery date was set this week for the middle of next month.  Of course this would happen after I bought my super duper backpack beach chair for this beach this summer!  The sun had better shine a lot in the next few weeks so I can at least get to use it LOL

I did promise awhile back to post photos of the shoes I created for entry into the Coast Collective Shoe Show in mid May.  Of course I meant to post them earlier... before the show began... and alas the show has come and gone BUT I did take photos of my entries. 

The show was delightful to wander through and discover paintings, sculpture, and drawings you could purchase of  vintage shoes, boots, running shoes, fantasy shoes, RCMP riding boots, sandals, high heels as well as real shoes all "gussied" up... you name it, it was there.

I had a real blast making my shoes for the show.  It was a lot of fun and I laughed a lot as they came together.  It's delightful to experience that kind of joy when creating "art"!

The first shoe is called "Meal on Wheels" and the wheels on the shoe actually do turn!  Made from polymer clay, that cheeseburger, topped with a dill pickle and the crispy fries look so real you could almost pluck them off the shoes for a little snack and the strawberry for dessert is mouth watering luscious. 

I was surprised that this shoe "art piece" didn't sell at the show... it is just adorable sitting on a windowsill or shelf in a kitchen.  It certainly brings a smile and chuckle to the faces of people who see it!  Guess it is just waiting for the right person to come along, see it and want to give it a home in their kitchen. In the meantime, it will sit on the top of my pie safe in my kitchen along with Chef Pierre (remember him from a few posts ago?) and look cute!

The second shoe "Which is Witch?" is something to behold when you see it with light shining on it.  The sparkles are glorious... and something that photos just can't seem to capture and do justice to!

This shoe is a combination of many different mediums... a real shoe, paper mache, bookboard, clay, ribbon, acrylic paint, and more glitter than you can shake a stick at LOL. 

Anxious to see what it would look like and being somewhat impatient to get it finished,  I started applying the glitter at my art table.  I just happened to look down to see my little white dog, hovering around my feet,  starting to glisten and sparkle in orange, purple and glow in the dark glitter!  Well outside we went, pretty darn quick I can tell you, to finish the job.  Hubby remarked that we had the only glittering grass in our little village for at least a week. 

Once it was done, I just smiled every time I looked at it.  What a perfect Halloween shoe... I just loved the way it turned out.  Well I wasn't the only one it seems... "Which is Witch?" sold at the show and is now in a new home... no doubt bringing smiles to the face of its new owner.

So there you have it!  There is a third shoe that I did... I was definitely into this... that is just as delightful as these two... actually I think even more so,  but I am saving it for now.  I may enter it into an upcoming show and see if it makes the cut.

Have an "arty" week and see you soon...

Sharon

Bet Mr. Levi never thought he'd see these...

cute jean place mats with bandana napkins sitting on the kitchen table...

If you've got an old pair of jeans hanging around that have seen better days, these place mats are super easy to make in a couple of hours.   I made these mats a couple of weeks ago from new jean material and attached two back pockets from an old pair of my hubby's jeans.  You could cut the mats from the jean legs if you wanted to... you may need to adjust the size.  Here's what you need if you want to make a pair of mats like mine:

Jean Place Mats

3/4 yard of jean material
gold coloured thread
twin needle (optional)
3/4 yard of fusible batting for the back
2 jean pockets... you can also use the pockets from kids jeans... they are somewhat smaller

If you are using new material, make sure you wash/dry it before cutting it out. These instructions are for one placemat.

Cut one piece of jean fabric 20" x 18".  Sew a pocket  to the fabric on the right hand side, Place approximately 3-1/2 inches from the bottom edge of the fabric and 1-3/4 inches from the side.  Sew around the pocket to attach it to the "placemat:" using gold coloured thread.

Serge all four edges of the fabric.  Fold under 1" on all sides. Press with an iron.  Cut the batting 18" x 16".  Fold back the fabric and iron the fusible batting on to the back of the jean fabric.  Fold the "seam allowance", miter the corners , fold back over the batting and pin. On the right side, sew all around the placemat in a double row.  You can use a twin needle or do each row approx. 1/4" apart.  You're done!

Bandana Napkin

1/2 yd, red bandana fabric
1/2 yd. blue bandana fabric

This is enough fabric to make 4 napkins.

Cut a 14" square out of both the red and blue bandana fabric for each napkin.  Pin wrong sides together.  Serge around the outside edge.

Tuck a napkin into the pocket on your place mat and you're done!

Now throw some beans in a pot, get a pot of chili brewing and break out a cool brewskie!

Cheers,
Sharon

Polymer Necklace and Buttons to Match...

This year's Christmas sweater from hubby (he buys me a special sweater for Christmas each year... lovely man) was an Irish knit patchwork sweater.  Instead of the traditional creme colour, he bought me one in a favourite colour... Aubergine.  The sweater is very similar to this one... just shorter.

 I fell in love with it, the minute I saw it.  It is definitely "my kind" of sweater.

As it happens I was making some buttons in the same colour to bring to the shop where I sell them. I quickly decided to make a pendant to match my new sweater and fulfill this month's "obligation" in one of my Flicker groups... 12 Polymer Clay Projects in 2013.

It's a perfect match in colour and the first time I have tried embedding tiny marbles into the clay.  Was an awful mess doing it... those miniscule marbles go everywhere... but it worked and it looks great on.  I've also sewn a couple of the buttons on one of the patchworks in the sweater as well.... makes for an interesting look!

Wishing you a fun, arty week,
Sharon