New Jewelery Pieces

My work table has been extra crowded lately. I've been working on jewelry for the PonShop Studio's jewelry show that opens in November.  Here are some of the pieces that will be part of the show.

Leather braided bracelet with resin dome.

Lots of bracelets in this style!

Large resin pendant with lace and an antique button.

Risque burlesque girl with a corset that actually laces up right through the resin.

Sweet little All-American boy and his dog.

One of three mermaid pendants I've been working on.

Owl neckalce with raku bottle.

Wire wrapped stone pendant with resin tree.

Steampunk airship necklace with resin gauge.

Balloonist's Box of Curiosities

The Balloonist's Box of Curiosities is one of the classes that I am teaching at Art and Soul Virginia Beach.

According to the British Library, cabinets of curiosities, also known as 'wonder rooms', were small collections of extraordinary objects which, like today's museums, attempted to categorize and tell stories about the wonders and oddities of the natural world.

I'm constantly collecting  odds and ends and miniatures, so the idea of a cabinet of curiosities intriques me. I decided to create a collection of not-so-natural items to include in my own little collection.

Since I photographed these pieces, I found a large lantern to house them in. There is a little light inside the box, and it looks so pretty when it's lit up at night.

In the class, we'll make a hot air balloon, which can also be worn as a pendant. I'll also show you how to make different components to use in your display.

For more information on the class click this link.

I'm Baaack!

I'm getting excited for Art and Soul Virginia Beach 2015! I've kept up with my facebook page pretty well (Brier Design Studio) but realized that it's been over a year since I did a blog post.

The first class that I'll be teaching in Virginia Beach is the Upcycled Textile Shirt. You can follow the link to get the whole description of the class.

 This is one of my favorite jackets. I designed it and my mom pieced it together for me. We make a good team, because each of us thinks that we get to do the fun part.

 Here is a closeup of what is literally a "handkerchief hem"!

 This is Lily puppy posing with the jacket. She is giving her sultry look.

 This is Bordeaux. She likes to nest in piles of vintage linens.

This is the front of the jacket. One of the best things about fall coming, is getting to wear my favorite clothes!

Art & Soul Portland and Kansas City

Greetings!

It's almost time for the Art & Soul Retreat in Virginia Beach! I've been posting on my facebook page, but neglecting my blog. Portland and Kansas City were so much fun. The atmosphere is so welcoming and creative that I always return home energized and ready to work on all sorts of new things. And my students were fantastic!

This was a fantastic piece from the camera-bots class. See the nest inside the flash? It's so you can keep your eye on the birdie!

This is a work in progress from the Kansas City Santos class.

More fabulous Kansas City Work!

This student had never done assemblage before. The detail in this piece is incredible and beautiful.

 This is a tribute to Frieda Kahlo from Portland. I love the little houses inside.

I learn at least as much from my students as they do from me. It's so much fun to see how they take the class concepts and put their own unique spin on it.

Frozen Dainties

Frozen Dainties is a piece that I completed during the snow storms while looking forward to spring. (I'm still waiting!)

The words "Frozen Dainties" come from the cover of an 1800s cookbook that I modified. The original had desserts depicted, and I changed the desserts to birds.

The inside of the shrine is layered with ripped purple satin that came out of a circa 1900s jewelry box. The hand is sitting on a toy ice box. Inside the ice box is a real robin's egg that I preserved with ICE Resin.  The hand is holding a resin pendant with a victorian bird image.

The "ice" inside the piece is actually shattered windshield glass covered in ICE Resin.

This piece is at FCCA for the month of February. It received an honorable mention by the show's juror.

Tip Top Shape Shop

I just finished adding some new things to my booth at the antique mall and thought I'd share a few photos with you.

The doily assemblage at the top was created by my daughter and me at the height of my Pinterest addiction. It's made from vintage linens and wooden embroidery hoops. The tall black wire stand is a bag holder from an old general store.

Here's an overview of the booth.Since the photo was taken, the green smoking stand and the tub of railroad items have sold, so it's almost time to make another run to restock.

I brought manequin man home for a few days and completely restocked him with jewelry. I have tons more to price and bring in. On my next trip I'm going to Springify the place a little bit with the vintage Easter items I've found over the past year.

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.

Keys to the City and New Robot Assemblages

Scarlett Pons and I had the pleasure of teaching a workshop to a group of travel writers who were visiting Fredericksburg. The students made a "key to the city" with me, and a pottery box with Scarlett.

 Each bezel was collaged and then filled with ICE resin.

 

Here are the finished projects. I think they turned out beautifully!

 

I took a new group of assemblages to the PonShop last week.
Sprocket, the dog, looked a little worried!

 

 

This piece was the first one to sell:

 

These two are still waiting to be adopted:

 This is Sprocket, looking much happier.