assemblage love...

for the past 8 weeks, every thursday evening my niece and i have been attending our local tafe college for evening jewellery classes.  we've tried our hands at creating glass pendants, brooches and earrings, enamelling and clay/glass pendants.  it's been a fantastic experience playing with materials, machines and kilns that are normally so out of reach. 

my glass pieces are a tad on the average side, but i really enjoyed enamelling.  obviously being a jewellery class we were supposed to be making such things, but for this piece, it just took on a life of its own and developed into an assemblage piece of art instead!  the copper plates making up the wings and central section were pressed/embossed through a cuttlebug and then wired to the house using copper wire.  the house was cut from a rectangular piece of copper and then enamelled.  the copper wings were attacked very ferociously with a blow-torch to achieve those gorgeous rainbow colours (that was fun!).  the little heart was also embossed and enamelled with a little 'd' twisted from wire adhered using clear enamelling powder.  and the wirly-gigs are made of copper wire of varying thicknesses and threaded with beads.  the assemblage is adhered to a felt/paper collage using 3d squares ( i was inspired by a gorgeous soul meg who does beautiful landscapes from material on wood.)

the house represents me (i sign my work 'donna heart' - hence the letter 'd' in the tiny heart).  i'm finding my creative wings and starting to soar with a trail of loveliness being left behind!!!

 just today i was reading a great post by mati rose   she writes... "when i get stuck and overwhelmed with the oodles of art and trends and thousands of ways of doing things. i now simply look up and say "mati, show the world... you... your magic". what no one else has that is uniquely YOU. this is not easy mind you, but it helps to start from this place and eliminate some of the creative clutter and doubt."  this is so true.  i really do get overwhelmed especially by all the amazing talented artists 'out there'.  and then that teeny tiny (but oh so powerful)  critic in me rears it's ugly head to give me all the reasons why i'm wasting my time and really shouldn't embarass myself by showing my art to others!  but it's heartening to read that this is actually a very common experience and emotion amongst creatives, and knowing that many of you out there triumph daily over these pesky little gits gives me that same courage to push mine a little lower,  look up to the universe and say 'show the world your magic too'

x me