THE ART OF BOOK FOLDING

Now who would have thought of it - giving an old book new life - simply by folding its pages! I saw some objects created from folded pages and I thought I must give it a try.

My mind works like a photostating machine when it comes to crafts. Just like that - no lessons, just observation of the finished products being displayed.

I started making the simplest form - the mummy hedgehog. After that I went on to make the daddy and the baby. All these while watching some good documentaries like George Bernard Shaw or James Joyce on television.

I was hooked. I went on to make more complicated projects like the Christmas tree and the Bird cage.

Then I decided to make something for the wall with a Christmassy theme.

Since this will be stored away after Christmas, I decided to make another one for the rest of the year.

Finally I decided to challenge myself to make one even more difficult than the last.

I created a big top for the circus. My friend gave me some small elephants when she moved house a number of years ago and I thought they fitted in very nicely with the circus theme. I managed to find a very thick book with lots of pages in order to create a 360 degree big top.


                                                                         front view

                                                                               top view

                                                                        inside of the big top

PUMPKINS GALORE

Autumn is my favourite season. This season of mellow fruitfulness where leaves turn a myriad of rich browns and reds. And the fruit that captures the essence of Autumn is the humble pumpkin.

At the October Castletroy guild meeting, some of our members decided to make a pumpkin pin cushion. Due to time constraints, I prepared the basic pumpkins and stems and the ladies did the rest.

 It was a beautiful night altogether and everyone did so well. All the pumpkins were lovely and I  enjoyed facilitating the session.

BATIK & PASTEL NAGOMI ART

I have always been interested in batik painting. When we went to Kuantan, Malaysia last month, we stayed at the Swiss Garden Resort which was a stone's throw away from the Kuantan Natural Batik Centre. I went there and did a simple piece of batik painting and immediately fell in love with the art.

When I returned to Kuala Lumpur I decided to look up Sam Karuna, a master artist in batik art. 

Sam invented Dyetik. Dyetik involves placing little dots on the material to form the desired image, à la Pointillism (a technique developed by Georges Seurat in the late 19th century). The result is a uniform mottled surface glow that Sam effortlessly tweaks to incorporate depth and dimension to his paintings. Unlike traditional batik techniques, he uses relatively less wax and more dye in his works.

This technique requires the use of a fine brush to paint the dye onto the fabric, a process called micro-pointillism.

So I went to his studio and spent 4.5 hours learning the basics of batik painting from canting to curing the art so the paints will stay fast and not bleed. Sam was extremely patient and I enjoyed the class thoroughly.

According to Sam, the word Batik means wax painting on a piece of cloth. The basic principle is to define a theme by blocking out the white part of the material with a mixture of melted paraffin and bees wax with any impression of dots or lines. Then adding on the colours, which will be absolved by the non-wax parts. To reach the dominant theme, the wax is dissolved, leaving the colours. The process is repeated until the artist reaches the motifs, making this a very interesting and challenging medium to work with.

Besides Batik painting, I also learnt Pastel Nagomi art from Lee Hsia, another patient and creative teacher from Melaka. Pastels are available in several types: hard, soft, oil and pastel pencils, each with their own unique characteristics. One of my favorite applications for pastels is sidewalk chalk drawings.

Pastel Nagomi Art originated in Japan. Nagomi means 'Harmony' and this art form is therapeutic, something similar to adult colouring. 

Lee Hsia taught me how to use pastel chalk, fingers and stencils to create a number of beautiful designs.

Now that I'm back in Ireland, the challenge is to practise both batik and pastel nagomi art on my own without the help of the tutors. I have bought the necessary raw materials for both the art techniques and can't wait to start trying out soon....

SUMMER ART CREATIONS

It's that time of the year where everything is blooming and looking very good. So with the beautiful spate of good weather I decided to do lots of stuff with a floral theme.

Barrels

Inspired by some barrels that I saw in Durrow last summer, I began hunting for empty plastic barrels to paint. The owner of River Spices (Indian takeaway) gave me 2 small chutney barrels. I wanted a bigger one so I went to the milk market to source for one but I didn't like what I saw.

When I visited my friend Catherine, I saw some blue barrels and it was so nice of Ned to give me one. He loaded it into my car boot - a perfect fit! So I've transformed the barrels into 2 planters and one water butt to catch the rain that runs down the gutter..

I like the saddleback pig because of its distint black and white markings. So I modelled the water butt after the piggy.

Path

I couldn't leave a path in its original state.   I had to give it a makeover.

and the original path below

Wigwams

I planted more climbing plants so there was a need for bamboo/willow wigwams.

Pallets

I saw how pallets were painted at the Bloom and Clare garden festivals last year and so I decided to try it out.

Cable wheel

I turned this cable reel into a small table.

Food Cover

And to keep the pesky flies away, this is a bee hive with a difference!

I spend much time in the garden and it's all very worth it....The roses are all blooming and there is also a bumper crop of vegetables

I bought a chimney pot from a Recycle Centre in Scariff and did mosaic work on it.

and decoupaged a plastic chair

                         ..............made two floral hair clips to match my dress

                                   gave 3 bedroom windows a new stained glass look...........

       and finally did mosaic work on the window sills which won a lot of admiration from passers-by .               ............

SUGAN TEACHING

When I learn something, I love to teach others.

A year ago I went to the Slieve Aughty mountains and stayed there and learnt how to weave a sugan chair. At that time I had sprained my ankle badly but nothing was stopping me from learning such a beautiful craft.( (11 May 2016 - Making a Sugan Chair
http://kreatifhands.blogspot.ie/2016/05/making-sugan-chair.html)

I also wrote an article about it in my column for the New Straits Times Malaysia. (A Chair by Any other Name would make a Great Seat - http://soo-livinglifeasitis.blogspot.ie/2016/08/a-chair-by-any-other-name-would-make.html )

A year later I contributed a sugan chair to the Scarriff Cooperative Cafe. When the director heard about it he contacted me and said there were several sugan chairs that needed repair and asked if I could teach?

I thought it would be a lovely thing to do and so the coop put up a notice. It was a free workshop for anyone interested. The only thing was the participants could not bring the chairs home.

I ordered the rope from Dublin and when the day came I had three eager participants. They were all fast learners and in two hours we wove new seats for 6 chairs.



One of the participants said it was very interesting that a Malaysian was teaching them an Irish craft. He also asked me about the history of the sugan chair and I readily shared whatever I knew. Then he asked whether I knew other traditional crafts. I said yes: willow basketry and limerick lace making. Then he  cheekily asked if they would be having Malaysian satay later. In fact, two of them had been to Malaysia before!

It was really great to teach those who are good with their hands and we had a wonderful time that Saturday morning.