Owl Assemblage

Last week, we a Virginia Artists meeting for the first time in several months. We've been together for quite a few years, and it was so good to see everyone and catch up. Each of us made an owl assemblage during the meeting.

I had the song "Royals" by Lorde stuck in my head, so my owl turned out to be a bit regal. The face is a prize ribbon, the eyes are earrings, the neck piece is a resin pendant, and the body is an oblong wooden bowl that I found at Goodwill. As usual, I can't make just one. I'm already working on an idea for my second owl.

Halloween Mischief - Day of the Dead Barbie Heads and Pumpkin Family Portraits

by Leslie Brier, Brier Design Studio

It's been a drizzly-miserable week here in Virginia - perfect weather to get me in the mood for Halloween. This year, I thought I'd try some Day of the Dead inspired pieces in addition to the vintage Halloween items that I love so much.

This are my Day of the Dead Catrinas that I made using Barbie faces in vintage tart tins. (An appropriate setting for Barbie, wouldn't you say?) They have a coating of ICE Resin on top to preserve their makeup.

I think the ladies that volunteer at the thrift store must really feel sorry for me, because I buy the rattiest dolls that I can find. Messy hair, missing arms and legs... it doesn't really matter. I just want to harvest their faces. (The dolls - not the thrift store ladies. I love those ladies!)

I did a bunch more "punkmen" this year, too. I decided to line them up for a family portrait before they got shipped off to shops.

 

I'm going to miss these little creatures, but I know they'll all go to good homes.

Happy Haunting!

Upcoming Classes

I'm getting excited about teaching my fall classes.
Saturday, October 12  PonShop Studio and Gallery

Day of the Dead Collage Workshop

10:00-12:00

We’lll transform an image of a woman into a Day of the Dead Catrina complete with skull face paint and a halo of flowers. This is a fun introduction to collage techniques. All supplies are provided.

Ages 12-Adult

 

PonShop Studio and Gallery, Fredericksburg, VA

　

Vintage Tart Tin Ornaments Workshop

Saturday, November 9

10:00 am – 1:00 pm,
AND
Aristic Artifacts Annex, Alexandria, VA
Saturday, November 3
10am-3pm

We’ll use ICE Resin® to create up to three unique, heirloom-quality ornaments using vintage tin molds and holiday ephemera. All supplies are included, but feel free to bring favorite greeting cards, ribbons, trims, buttons, pieces from costume jewelry and other trinkets to create your ornament in the style of your choosing.

Ages 12-Adult


Artistic Artifacts Annex, Alexandria, VA
Upcycled Textile ShirtTuesday, November 12, 2013
10:00 am – 4:30 pm, ½ hour lunch break

Using simple sewing skills, suitable even for beginners, you will piece together your own one of a kind altered art to wear. This is a wonderful way to repurpose worn or outgrown clothing...or use thrift store finds!

Photo by Sylvan Brier

photo by Sylvan Brier

Here are some more examples of the upcycled shirts. I wore the short-sleeved version to class, and some of the students asked if my mom and I would teach a class on making them. It's a great way to upcycled vintage linens and shirts.

 

Playing with Knives -Perseverance Pays Off!

 September was not the quiet month that I thought it was going to be, and before I knew it, it was almost over and I was up against a deadline. I spent two days pushing things around on the table and got nothing accomplished. Then, I looked to Stephanie Lee's  book Semiprecious Salvage for inspiration and came up with this tintype buckle pendant.

And after that, I got stuck again. I knew I wanted to work with some hollowware knives that I had, but wasn't sure what direction to go in. This is what I made next:

I was happy with it, but I still wanted to do something different. After another day of trying and failing at a bunch of different concepts, I was starting to panic a little.

 I finally hit on a pendant that had the look and feel that I was going for, and my Knife Rocket Pendants were born.

 

Of course, now all I want to do is work on knife rocket pendants! Unfortunately, the real world has other plans for me, but I'll be back in the studio as soon as I possibly can.