Holidays 2012

Hello everyone! I haven't written a blog entry in quite a while, I don't have internet service at my house anymore unfortunately and I can't post blog entries from my phone. Yes, I am on the brink of insanity.

  Anyway.

  (Photo credit: TJ Kurtyka)


I hope everyone had a good holiday, and I hope the winter is treating you good thus far. New Year's eve is tomorrow and I hope that goes well for you also. 2012 was a strange year for me... I'm pretty happy for it to be over. I'm hoping 2013 will bring me a bit more luck, and I hope it brings you luck as well.


As for art updates. Wow. I've been all over place the past 5 or so months. I feel like my head's been in a cloud so it's been difficult for me to actually put actions to my thoughts, but I'm getting there. I have so many ideas written down but I only started a small amount. I'm looking into doll making and I acquired quite a few more shadow boxes as well as some antique cloches (!!). Little background on the cloches, god these are GORGEOUS. I bought them at an antique fair at Batsto this past October. They were CHEAP, 3 dollars a piece I think, I purchased three. I wish I had brought more money with me because I would have taken all of them. The man was selling them all for 30 dollars, and there was about 20 of them. A steal. At least I got three though, I am happy with them. I'm anxious to work with them, but at the moment they are set up in my room harboring small animal skulls and dried flora.

I got more resin last night, and I got some really creepy, cool, silicone molds to use with them. After I post this up I believe I'll work on some of them tonight!

 Oh, I also realized I never took photos of these really cool shadow boxes I made back in September. For some reason it keeps slipping my mind, which is odd because they're some of the coolest things I've ever put together and I'm extremely proud of them. I'll have to do that sometime this week because I would love for you all to check them out!

For the locals who read this and aren't already aware, the Smithville Artwalk is on April 20th this year. Registration starts in January, so if you haven't checked it out yet or registered, please do so!


http://www.facebook.com/smithvilleartwalk

"Like" the page on Facebook for more updates and whatnot.

I think this just about sums up this post. I'm a bit drunk off a of that Jersey Devil wine I posted up there and I'm hoping this post made sense, or was at least entertaining or informative in some way or another. I wish you all a blessed new year and look forward to hearing from you soon!

Tweet- me- up!

A few months ago I was invited to do a project for Tracey Moberly's Tweet me up! Exhibit in the Tate Modern, needless to say I was thrilled. Below is a preview of what I have submitted, which I've called "Procession".


"August 24^th has been assigned as the celebration of the‘International Day Against Intolerance, Discrimination and Violence based on Musical Preferences, Lifestyle and Code.” The project will look to highlight individuality and expression through the arts and music. The words and images provided will include participation from outside groups from art schools to artists; social centres to artists and music makers and any other individuals interested. It will be covered nationwide and internationally through magazines, newspapers and online forums."






                         

                     

Smithville Artwalk, working with new mediums and 1692 Creations on Facebook.

The second Artwalk in Smithville Village, hosted by Underground, was an absolute success, I honestly can't wait until September!! As I walked into the house last night nearly collapsing from exhaustion I kept thinking of new ideas...I felt like my brain was ready to explode, cursing myself for being to tired to materialize these thoughts. Being around so many talented people all day got me so inspired and I couldn't do anything about it!

   It was great meeting so many awesome people yesterday, whether it be fellow artists or admirers of art. Though rain was called for, it was sunshine all day. The wind was pretty destructive at times; knocking down glass frames and shattering them, making tents and art go flying across the parking lot and causing general havoc, I had to take my umbrella down because it kept flying out of the table and nearly impaling me, so I got some pretty bad sunburn. I can't complain though; I sold some art, met some great people and made a few bucks. What can be better? And all for Free? Perfect.

Now for some more updates. I FINALLY made a Facebook page for jewelry and what not. Actually, I lied. I made it in December but I just recently got around to posting stuff on it. Better late than never right?

So, if anyone actually reads this blog and doesn't already like it, please do so! :)

http://www.facebook.com/1692Creations

It's a work in progress, to say the least.

Now onto a few projects I've been working on. I've had the idea in my head for a while about using bones in my art, but it wasn't until the last couple of months I've actually put the thought into practice. I found an old deer skull nailed onto an old barn at a relatives and decided to have a go. The skull wasn't in great condition; I had to rip off one side of the jaw off because it was too fragile,( but I extracted the teeth out of it and plan on making some sort of bracelet), a horn is missing, and the remaining horn was gnawed on some time by squirrels. Even in it's condition I still saw the beauty in it, and I knew I had to paint it.

 I started by first painting it black, than gradually layering colors (powdered pigments), adding a bit of glitter and finally Swarovski crystals to make a nebula/space scene. I also painted the teeth a silvery sheen.

The camera didn't really capture all of the awesome colors that were on this piece, but I'm sure you guys get the jist of it.







The next project I did involved dried foliage. an antique doll head and plastic crosses.

This was a fun one to do! When the project is laying down, the dolls eyes are closed and when it's hung up they come open. I had this one displayed at the artwalk, everyone was so creeped out by it, much to my amusement! ;) I found the doll at a big flea market, at the end of the day some people just leave their stuff for people to take, I saw this doll and knew I had to have. I'm not sure when the doll head is from, I'm going guesstimate from the 50's or 60's. It wasn't in good condition so I didn't feel bad about ripping it apart. I'll totally be making similar projects like this in the future.

Resin jewelry and some updates!

  It’s been a crazy couple of months and I haven’t had the time to post (not to mention losing my email address AND password to the blog). On Feburary 24^th some of my mixed media art was showcased in the new 11 East Gallery, in Glassboro. It was a night filled with some amazing art, live music and some cool people. As of now, I’m working on some new projects for the up and coming artwalk in Smithville in April. I’ve been working on a plethora of new jewelry, and that is the subject of tonight’s post, resin jewelry to be exact.
I have been dabbling in resin for about a year now, and it’s become such a fun, addicting craft for me. When I first laid eyes on resin jewelry, I wondered how it was done. I imagined it being a long, difficult process, and also very pricey. I couldn’t have been more wrong. While it’s not exactly “cheap”, you definitely get your money’s worth. One set of resin makes roughly 30 pendants. Pretty damn amazing. So with a little research on the subject, I bought some resin, molds and mold release and got started. I had no clue what I was doing at first and my first bottle of resin was wasted while I got a feel for this new art, with some practice, I’ve produced quite a few pendants that I can say I’m pretty proud of. Just be sure to pour your resin in a WELL VENTILATED area. Fumes are not cool. I do mine outside (if you do it outside make sure it’s not windy, that spells disaster) and I let the resin harden in one of our sheds. The anticipation of the resin drying is the worst part. I let mine sit a full 24 hours before busting them out of the molds, they should harden completely at about 36 hours.
What you can do with resin jewelry is only limited to your imagination. You can literally capture almost anything inside, as long as it fits into the mold you are using. Here’s a few pictures of some of the jewelry I’ve created so far, much more to come of course!

  

Mixed Media, part 1.

                                       "Lady Death"

                          a close-up of the smaller image at the bottom

                                         "Play Time"

                                     

                                      

                                     "Innocent Mind"

                               Close-up of text in her head

                                       "Recipe 666"

                                      "Digital Fetish"

Hello, Hello

   Ladies and Gentleman; I welcome you to 1692 creations. A blog dedicated to the strange and unusual,a place of art and creation, mystery and madness. I will be showcasing my creations here, whether they be art, jewelry or other nifty crafts. However I am no one trick pony, I have a plethora of other goodies lined up for this strange road ahead of us, so you just stay tuned!

      On another note, I hope everyone had a delightful New Year!