Basic Ingredients

by Leslie Brier, Brier Design Studio

The Art About Food Show just opened at LibertyTown last Friday night. I'd been collecting items to use in a food-themed assemblage for awhile and I finally got them all together about a week ago. It started with a cocoa tin and a small antique doll. (I think she's about 4 inches tall.)

And this page from a promotional cookbook:

Normally, I would make a color copy of it, but I started this project late at night, so I decided I'd go ahead and use the original.

This was my rough layout. I painted the rolling pin to match the ad, and then placed items where I thought they should go. I took this photo so I could put everything back after I added color and texture to the background. (Sorry the quality of the photos wasn't better. I wasn't thinking about showing them to anyone else when I took them.)

I had some old paper ribbon that I was used by 3 Chefs Restaurant to wrap around cardboard boxes of fried chicken. I used it to define the different areas of my artwork. You can see that I added color, too. Nothing was secured to the board at this point, so I took that photo to refer back to later.

This is the finished piece. It's rare for me to stay this true to my original concept. Usually, what I start out with and what I end up with are miles apart. In this case, I had a lot of time to think about what I wanted to do, and not a lot of time to complete it, so I had to trust my instincts, and get it done. In the end I was pleased with the result.

Mockingbird

This is my entry for LibertyTown's "Bird's the Word". The idea is to incorporate art and words having to do with birds. I chose the traditional lullaby, "Hush Little Baby".

Hush, little baby, don't say a word,

Daddy's gonna buy you a mockingbird

And it that mockingbird won't sing,

Daddy's gonna buy you a diamond ring

And if that diamond ring turns brass,

Daddy's gonna buy you a looking glass

And if that looking glass gets broke

Daddy's gonna buy you a billy goat

And if that billy goat won't pull,

Daddy's gonna buy you a cart and bull

And if that cart and bull turn over,

Daddy's gonna buy you a dog named Rover.

And if that dog named Rover won't bark,

Daddy's gonna buy you a horse and cart.

And if that horse and cart fall down,

You'll still be the sweetest little baby in town.

Leslie Brier, Custom Collage work

This is a detail of a custom collage piece that I did for the adorable Miss Taylor.

Taylor's mom and I met at the Hurkamp Park art show, where I was showing my collage titled "Spring". The girl in the picture reminded her of her daughter. We decided that I would recreate the piece with a few minor changes. I made the hair longer and parted on the side, and changed the word "spring" to the name "Taylor".

It was refreshing to recreate a piece. It felt good to be confident every step of the way because I had already made my design decisions when I created the original artwork. It also gave me an opportunity to make little adjustments that probably wouldn't be noticeable to anyone but me. How often in life do you get a do-over?

Doesn't this remind you of the flowers in the collage? This pin is a gift from my friend Elizabeth Woodford. She creates these fabulous flowers from discarded cashmere sweaters. They are so soft to the touch, and so glamorous! I've been finding all sorts of ways to wear mine. It's my new favorite accessory.

If you'd like one, (or ten) she has them for sale at the LibertyTown Emporium here in Fredericksburg. They will definitely be on my shopping list for the holidays!

Collaborative Jewelry Work

Elizabeth Woodford and have been working on a collaborative jewelry set to donate to the LibertyTown Patron's Show in May. We decided on an ocean theme, and then combed through each of our bead stashes to assemble a group of beads to work from.

Elizabeth created this stunning bracelet. I borrowed this photo from her blog, where you can read more about her creative process, and see more images. She had to rework the piece several times to get it just right. I did some reworking myself, mainly due to the fact that I had to come up with something that would be a suitable companion to Elizabeth's gorgeous piece!

I decided to do one of my salt shaker pendants, and add a little more beading than usual. I had purchased a mermaid bead from Green Girl Studios when I was on vacation in Ashland, North Carolina and this seemed like the perfect  time to use it.

She is dangling from the bottom of the salt shaker, along with a variety of beads from our collective stash. I added a beaded section on the top of the salt shaker. I like the effect, and intend to explore the idea further in the future. I added chain to the very top, to coordinate with the salt shaker and mermaid, and then added a splash of beads on the bottom half of the chain. (You can click on the image for a closer look.)

The middle photo above also shows the earrings. They have shells with a variety of beachy beads spilling out of them.

There are still tickets available for the patron's show. Tickets are $150, and each ticket guarantees the ticket holder an original piece of artwork. (Or, in this case, three original pieces!) I hope you'll consider coming down to join the fun! For more information, you can visit the website at http://www.libertytownarts.com/.

Felt Heart Pins -- Leslie Brier at LibertyTown Emporium

On Tuesday, I finished up the heart pins I've been working on and delivered them to LibertyTown's Emporium. First Friday is this Friday night and they will be showcasing student work. It's always a great show.

I started making these pins when my daughter was in preschool, and they've evolved over the years. The first ones were very grandmotherly heart shapes with lace all around the edges. Now, I cut out squares with my pinking shears and layer on top of that.

When I first cut the two squares out, they look like little felt raviolis. I do ribbon embroidery on the hearts, and then I add seed beads and my own made-up embroidery stitches around the outside.

Felt was one of the first materials I worked with as a child, and it always brings back happy childhood memories. It is a material that I tend to gravitate toward at this time of year, so making hearts seems appropriate.

It's hard to believe that my own child is now old enough to make these with me. She's upstairs working on one now. I think I'll get a cup of hot chocolate and join her!

Rocket Baby at Liberty Town

Meet Rocket Baby. He's my newest assemblage piece. He was made for the Discarded Potential Show at LibertyTown here in Fredericksburg, Virginia. (http://www.libertytownarts.com/).

The show requirements were that the pieces submitted had to be primarily made from discarded materials. Rocket Baby's car is almost entirely made from cast-off items. The only new elements used were epoxy clay to bind some of the heavier elements together, and acrylic paint to blend the transitions. Even the wire that binds many of the parts together is made from a discarded craft kit. Of course, Rocket Baby himself had been discarded as well.

Some of the items used in Rocket Baby's car are: a typewriter hood, clock gears, broken model car parts, four vintage pencil sharpeners, metal game pieces and a hair curler.

I was thrilled when I got to LibertyTown's opening the other night to discover that Rocket Baby had won first place at the show!