Soon to be revealed

We are all waiting for May 14th  . . . This is when the selected works will be on display, leading up to the vote . . . and winner of the Tip Shop competition.

I do not know what a lot of the entrants have done with their pieces, but of the ones we know about I am impressed with the variety of techniques used, along with huge doses of imagination.

I have heard reports about the decapitation of soft, cuddly children's toys and the mounting of their heads. . . . Yes! I did say children's toys . . 
Yep! I too am waiting to see what their function will be ????  
I am truly dying to see them!! 
I feel that is a new in  UP-CYCLING
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Yes! I am intrigued.

Trevor Moore and Jennifer Hamilton

A couple of the pieces I do know about are the entry from Jennifer Hamilton and Trevor Moore who combined their artistic skills to transform a daggy set of draws into a highly original piece. . . 

I love the waves of black oil slick on the top and the black wavy draw handles. . . . which contrast beautifully with the Bright, vibrant draw lining.


I want one too . . . .

Nancy Brown and Co-workers  -   I adore that edge!

Nancy Brown and her Co-workers have also contributed an interesting work that will also develope further past the time of the competition.

They aim to add layers of screen printing to the surface over an extended period.

Cam, Bri and Me - we all LOVE a bit of  RED

I forgot to take pics of ours toward the end of the process . . .  .so this one is the last I have . . . . with Cam half in it, adding the light fittings . . . . 

We added layers of pictures on the outside and kept it innocent, clean . . . .  & Oh! So WHITE

 However, on the inside it is all shelves for drinks, glasses, Gold leaf, red crushed velvet and lighting for the necessary bling effect . . .  . Oh! SOOOOOO LUSCIOUS!

Always fascinates me how a bit of paint and some IMAGINATION can transform a piece of the ordinary into something rather extraordinary  YUM!

Tip me over and . . . . . .

Well life is moving quickly and it is nearly time to present our finished works for the endeavour TIP SHOP competition.
The aim of the shop is to reduce the amount of waste ending up in landfill while also offering the public a chance to grab fantastic bargains and support people with a disability.
Endeavour Foundation Industries (EFI), which provides employment and training opportunities for people with a disability, will operate the West Acacia Ridge site.
The Council will supply products from its four waste transfer stations.
EFI staff and volunteers will receive, sort, and prepare the goods for sale at the Brisbane Tip Shop.
All proceeds will go toward supporting people with a disability.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for the public to not only have access to affordable goods, but to know they are directly helping people with a disability,” said Endeavour Foundation CEO David Barbagallo.
“Not to mention the obvious benefits to the environment, in saving thousands of tonnes of re-useable goods from ending up in landfill every year.”
The Brisbane Tip Shop is located at 46 Colebard Street, West Acacia Ridge open to the public every weekend from Saturday May 15.
Opening times will be 8am to 4pm Saturday and Sunday.
Back to the comp . . .  . We have fierce competition . . .though to date they are all friendly . . . .

Step by step . . . .transforming an un-loved brown cupboard

           Piece by piece . . . a bit here and a bit there . . . .

  I could not resist adding some red . . .  .yep! RED

One of the other people/group competiting is the talented Nancy Brown. I will be very interested to see what they do with their BIG BLACK TABLE . . . all will be revealed this Friday.

Porcelain piercing Workshop with Julie Shepherd

What a weekend !
I have just had the most enjoyable time with Julie Shepherd doing a week end workshop for porcelain piercing . . . . though it covered much, much more.

You do not need to have any previous experience . .   Julie will explain it all - very clearly.

There will be another one for the Mothers Day weekend in MAY 2012.

Julie Shepherd    Mob 0417620229

Julie.Shepherd  
specializes in fine polished porcelain with pierced or translucent decoration using bowl and sculptural forms.  

Her porcelain work has become an expression of her femininity because of the strong linkage with traditional female textile crafts.
She started using translucent porcelain to express the fragility of the natural environment due to human impact.

The piercing resulted from looking at electron microscope illustrations of the lacy structures within nature. 

The workshop was over two days and covered a HUGe variety of techniques . . . . explained clearly and concisely.

Throughout the weekend, I felt there was a genuine sharing of ample knowledge. We started with mould making, pouring, and creating our forms to pierce and decorate. 

(The process of piercing is very similar to using a needle while sewing) The outward appearance of the porcelain is of fragility, however the work has immense inner strength and durability.

I would highly recommend doing this weekend workshop for the sheer enjoyment of the process.

Email shepherd.julie1@gmail.comwww.julieshepherd.net

No unecessary destruction or waste

Inspired by the luscious growth of the last garden we developed, we felt the time was right to work on another project!!


After much thought, we decided the on going saga of the NEW STUDIO needed re-invigoration.

Way back in 2009, we were advised to clear an area near the existing shed & house, as the existing trees posed a serious fire hazard. ( remember we were still suffering the affects of a difficult drought period, which meant our property was as dry as a bone. Also, around this time there had been horrendous fires, where people had died, resulting in 'bushland near homes', being an issue on all our minds, especially those of the local fire brigade.

I was loathed to clear too much, but understood the necessity of being responsible.
We thought it through carefully and decided, if we had to remove the trees we might as well utilize the now cleared area to build something . ..

Oh! You could feel the full blast of the gleam in my eye, for miles. I had an idea and it was a beauty . . .. to have a new studio installed. Ha! it sounded so simple.
We eventually contacted the tree lopper who did the necessary, but very sad deed of felling the beautiful trees. . . . .Which of course presented us with a new dilemma . .. what to do with the trunks of the trees. I would not allow them to be burnt or wasted, which would have added insult to injury.
So WHAT to do with them ?
After serious discussion We decided to use the felled tree logs to build a new veranda along North wall.

Using the logs for the supports of the new North facing veranda

The process took approx 4 months of our available weekends to construct, and only then with the valuable help of various, generous individuals amongst family and friends . . .thankyou once again!

So! finally having finished that project we presumed we could quickly move onto the next . . .the building of the new studio.
No!! now we found ourselves ruminating over the question of, the stumps!
What will we do with all the glorious stumps? I imagined roots that would be worth exposing and thus be gorgeous . . . we hoped! So what will we do with them all . . . . if we were un willing to just burn them out of existence?
Cut them up for Fire wood? . .. No!! what a waste !
Make tables out of the roots? . . . No!! already too much furniture & not enough time,
What to do ???? We looked, thought, discussed . . . and looked again.
Cameron & and I thought we'd get them out and then think further, at a later date. . . . .

Ha !!! Easier said than done. Poor Cam found himself suffering because of my latest whim. Stumps & roots.
All those weekends of digging exposed a net work of roots worthy of saving . . .So I thought. I think Cameron could happily have see them go up in a quick burst of hungry and all consuming flames . . . . it had been a lot of hot and hard work and they were being stubbornly strong to the last root, which eventually had to be severed by a series of small controlled burns.
Another reason for us to be thankful for the rain . . .
and the result was this gorgeous creation . . . . However, Now where to store it and all it's brothers & sisters ??


We decided to make it ( along with it's siblings ) features in the garden, until their eventual purpose is revealed and we have time to do something about it.

They have proved their worth just as pieces that generate interest and discussion. Many have voted for the addition of eyes or other anatomical features . . . . I have so far resisted the urge to make the suggested 'improvements'.

So, a big Thank you to all the generous individuals who lugged rocks, dug soil and helped mulch the new garden. With the rain it is growing beautifully . . . .though the wallabies have taken a shine to the new hibiscus plants, which has resulted in the new wire works, being constructed to protect the numerous plants . . . .

Without any further obstacles to hinder the advancement of the new studio, we are back on the path to construction . . . . Now the important questions need to be addressed;
How many windows,
Which way do we face the glass doors,
How many glass doors,
How many sky lights,
Cement or wooden floor,
Insulated & lined walls,
What configuration ?????
I have sought and received some valuable advice and information, however any useful suggestions are appreciated . . .. I have looked forward to having my 'very own studio' for awhile, so I do want to get it right
... and of course I look forward to sharing many hours of creative process with quite a few of you, when it is completed.

PAPER Cut out - recycled - re-newed

OLD Books

Pre- Loved

Unwanted

 . . . .. . . DISCARDED





What a WASTE !




Wall paper Glue
Scissors
Brush
MDF

 

. . . . . . TIME

IMAGINATION . . .. . Altered . . . NEW from OLD

Tip

Tip Shop People’s choice Competition - continued

Anyone who knows me, knows I love to recycle. I hate the unnecessary purchasing of the NEW. If there is something I need and I can find it in a condition I can 'MAKE NEW', I am a very Happy lady. So for me this invitation to enter the Tip Shop competition is more about highlighting the unecessary WASTE of things that are thrown out . . . .  and the ability to RE-NEW or RE-INVENT, than about the winning . . . . though that would be a nice BONUS.

The main criteria for entry into the Tip Shop competition was, to choose a piece of furniture or bric-a-brac, which we had to transform into an interesting piece of FUNCTIONAL art.

We selected a cupboard. A BROWN uninteresting OLD TV cabinate, that someone had discarded.  . . .that was made of good strong wood.

        ·         First we had to decide what we wanted to use the cupboard for ?  FUNCTION

·         We had to decide what was it going to look like ?  CREATIVETY/ ART

We decided, rather than painting our own design or using mosaic on the cupboard; we wanted to use some of the many pre loved books, available in the Shop,  in a form of Collage.

 

All BOOKS at the TIP SHOP are sold for $0.50 cents each, so we were able to find quite a few amongst the MANY that would not be wasted when we cut them up.  We deliberately chose books that had been loved to the point of being obviously damaged, or those altered with artistic additions of crayon and pencil by previous owners, or ones that we felt were out of fashion.

We thought WHITE outside . . . .  . .RED inside, with GOLDLEAF & crushed velvet.

We decided we wanted the cupboard to look like a CHILDRENS TOY CUPBOARD on the outside,

while serving the function of a DRINKS CABINATE on the inside.

I looked on Google to find information regarding the practicals processes of fixing holes, sanding, painting etc.. . . . .

We decided it needed the addition of a few shelves for glasses and Bottles.

MATERIALS

Sandpaper

Paint.   White, 3 in one for outside.

 RED paint for inside

Goldleaf

PVA glue for adhesion of goldleaf

Material to line inside.

Rollers for paint

Brushes for glue and paint

Drop sheet to prevent mess

Nails

Glue.  Wallpaper paste for collaging

Scissors to cut out images

Extra wood to construct shelves

Wood beading,  to support shelves and frame collages

Hinges for doors

 Let the WORK begin . . . .

With our Cupboard from the TIP SHOP and purchases from BUNNINGS  - we got started . . .  .

#     Washing the cupboard to remove the dirt

#         Sanding to remove the old varnish and then washing again to ensure surface was clean to paint.

#       PAINTING, painting and more painting.

It is starting to LOOK like a VERY FINE piece of FURNITURE.

Stay tuned . . . .