Wyncia

Fiber and Color in Kauai

Hey there.  Just a few shots of finished medicine bags and beautiful colors and patterns around the National Tropical Botanical Gardens.

Purples

Reds

Green

White

Orange

Blue

Enjo sacred sight and please send healing energy to Rhonda as she begins a journey of recovery. Namaste.  Wyncia

Aloha Fiber Work and Beaches

I did a bit of sea inspired fiber work.  This medicine bag awaits a sea glass button and a few tiny ocean charms

 

And then we went to a swimable beach.

Seen through a mother tree

From whence hung our hammock

Where rested my tired cliff climbing legs!

Here a plumeria blossom fades away in a lovely pattern

Grandmother Island says some patterns need to be broken, some simply fade away, most hold beauty that is with just for the moment.  Namaste, Wyncia

Aloha from Kauai

Mahalo, dear daughter, for a wonderful day.

Opening into the Grandmother Island.

 

Waters within

Trail to the beach. Oh my.

Beauty all around

Only play in the tidal pools

  

 

I am ahappy camper, slow on the up hills, and breathless at times, but maybe a bit mad.

Eating guava from the trees

I made it back to the trailhead!

Check out the damages

  

And the rewards

  Best fish tacos on the planet!

Namaste abd good night.  Love to all, Wyncia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

Twisted (cord)

I am engaged in a never ending search for the perfect cording for my smaller bags.  Colorful parachute cord works well for the straight forward, informal bags.  I want something else for others: more fun for whimsical bags; fancier for dressy bags; and just different for truly boring bags.  This morning I twirled up some yarns and thread to make my own twisted cords.  I started with these

Tied the threads to a chair

 

And began the twisting

Here are some results

 

We all need something different now and then, like the rock and roll song says:

You know you’re a twisty little girl,
You know you twist so fine.

So, shake it up, baby, now,
Twist and shout.
Cmon, cmon, cmon, cmon, baby, now,
Come on and work it on out. 

Recorded by Topnotes, Beatles, Mamas and Papas, and others.

Elephant are Beautiful

Elephants are known for there memory, enduring emotional attachments (we humans call that love), and nurturing motherhood.  These huge creatures are so like us.  They are at times gentle, caring, angry, rampaging, playful, and sad.  Sounds like the average day to me!

The elephant in art is beautiful.  When I dyed and embellished fabrics at Gail Denton's natural dying studio, I chose the elephant stamp for a final flourish on one piece.

Here is a recent secret pocket bag from the fabric. (Sorry, I have already passed ownership to another.)

See how to open the bag.

 

More details

 

And it has a place for your ear phone to exit, if you are packing an ipod!

 

Not too bad, eh?

 

The materials used: hand dyed and printed rayon, cotton print, metallic scarf, handmade fabric beads, bone beads, gold paint and pigment, gold filigree ornament, cotton braid, and waxed fiber cording.

Thanks for stopping by!  See you soon!

 

Stone Button Bag Completed

Here is the final result.  What do you think?

And from same fabric in a lavender color way with fabric barrel beads...

Thanks for stopping by!  Namaste, Wyncia

Hand Made Stone Buttons

Crossing through the Great Lakes region last summer, we stopped along Lake Erie for a night's rest.  Larry skipped stones into the water, while I collected rounded smooth stones for buttons. 

This week these stones became buttons to embellish a fabric bag.  First I made the button shanks or hasps from common fencing wire. 

Then I attached these to the stones with epoxy putty.  I think it helped that there was putty in which to bury the base of the hasp. 

The buttons are a bit thicker than I want, because of the extra putty, but they will work.

I also used an irregular shaped flat stone from the main closure of the bag.  I found my chosen piece to be a bit fragile.  I reinforced it with a net woven of copper wire.

I added some interesting paper to the back to cover the messy confluence of wires.  (I really do need to take a quick class in wire work!)

Here's the layout on the bag, waiting to be sewn.

 

Notice the handmade fabric beads, too.  Finished bag will soon be revealed so stay tuned!  Namaste, Wyncia

Snowy Day with Library Books

Happy Equinox!  September 21st and the night is equal in length to the day.  Autumn is official; we are headed into winter. Our days are going to get shorter and shorter for a while.  As we get ready to bundle up in our winter adobes, we were urged on by the first snow fall of the season!

Thankfully, I stopped by the library yesterday and came home with a marvelous load of fiber and bag books.  Little did I know today would be perfect for curling up by the fire to be inspired!  (Larry was especially wise to bring in wood last night, but neither of us has been chilly enough to start a fire yet.  Oh. well!)

Here is my picture post for the first snow:

 

Not a good day for breakfast al fresco

Pooh and I rescued the geraniums before they froze

The trellis is lonely in the snow

The books of inspiration await me

This is the one I find most fascinating!

I hope this first day of autumn find you enjoying the balancing of the seasons! This is the time when Mother Earth's fruits have ripened and she anticipates the quiet, introspective time ahead.  Look west toward the setting sun.  Let wisdom deepen.  And good reading!

Namaste, Wyncia

Alma Mater Boarding School Beads: Pure Kitsch

Here is what you have been waiting for, maybe.  These are individually hand-rolled paper beads made from the fall Choate Rosemary Hall alum bulletin. They are about 1/4 inch in radius (remember your geometry!) and up to 1 1/4 inch long!

You can see pictures of people from the schools' history and text on the beads.  They are really sort of fun.

   

Colors of the rainbow

 

The fund raising drive

Vintage sports...rah, rah team!

 

If we could save time in a bottle....and we can

You can even buy the beads at my etsy store  And make your own earrings, bracelets and necklaces.  Wow!

Now that this obsession is over, I can see if I remember how to make bags!  Namaste.

etsy Reopening and Interview

This is fun!  See my interview at the etsy Fiber Arts Street Team  (etsyFAST link) blog!  Wyncia's etsy store re-opening today! 

Bubbles, Bangles and Fabric Beads

Recently I have been fascinated with turning bits and scraps of fabric into beads.  Here are some of the supplies.  I used the top to a fruit box to create a workspace, but the work sprawled all over the table anyway.

  

My first attempts have involved rolling pieces of fabric and fiber scraps around a waxed string.  Like this: 

 

After the rolls are dry I have finished them with several coats either oil based (messy) or acrylic based polyurethane.

Then I pulled out the core, leaving a hole, and cut the rolls into beads.  These are then finished by treating the bead ends with varnish, paint, or lacquer.

 

The results are interesting, but not quite what I want yet.  I am looking for a slightly larger hole.  The beads do not drill out well because fibers twist onto the drill.  I also want a harder substrate and finish that is more like typical beads.

What I like is the primitive look of the beads.  Slight differences an the size and shape of the beads is natural.  I think they will combine nicely with glass, wood, and metal beads for a gypsy-esque look.

 

 

Doll Repair at my Dining Table, Mountain Style

At the Boulder Farmer's Market last month a customer bought a Gemini doll based on a stump doll pattern from Frowning Francis. The doll is made of  Japanese style quilting cotton treated with transparent gesso, then highlighted in acrylic.  Her arms are hand dyed and stamped.  At her heart center window hangs origami peace crane.

Later the customer called to say that she discovered a crack in the hollow wooden base of the figure which may or may not have been there when she purchased it.  This crack was at eye-level for the purchaser when she places the doll on her shelf.

Hard to see the crack, but it needed to be repaired.  She also said that she wanted the figure to "lean forward a bit more" to look better on the chosen shelf. So I gathered the necessary supplies for evening doll base repair. The lovely dark beer is Pearl Street Porter created by Twisted Pine Brewing Company for the 150th birthday of Boulder Colorado, the town down the hill from my studio. 

Wood putty was colored with a jar of mixed paint that had been used on the base.  (Tofutti sour cream is great stuff, but it will not fix a crack in wood.) It was  not the exact same, because I paint by mixing acrylics on palette (usually a pie pan or something like that).  I squirt out colors, dab a bit of each, and go at it for many layers.  But this jar of left over paint was close.  Mixed unevenly with the putty it made a gooey, spreadable mix.

I urged the stuff into the crack and painted it over the rest of the stand.

In the back I urged some of the goo between the base and the stump bottom.

Then I leaned the doll forward, balanced on a couple of paint tubes in hopes she will lean more forward as the customer requested.

She looks okay on my shelf, an old piano that doesn't get played much anymore. 

 

I hope the customer is pleased with the results.

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Sharing Artist Stories: Mimi Kirchner

One of my favorite doll artist has made a video of her life as a doll maker.  I am sharing it with you here

My favorite work of hers are the swaddled babies with embroidered gardens.  They are a wonderful combination of simplicity and elegance.  You will see them in the video.

By the way, the little girl pictures of Mimi look a lot like me at a tender age.

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Ah...August

Larry and I started August driving back east to upstate New York to meet our visiting grand baby.  We love her and hope she joins the family forever.

 

We returned to Colorado in time to welcome daughter Sara and best loved friend Chombo. 

 

Part of Sara's visit was dedicated to filming for a video about Larry's shutter project...the design and manufacture of insulated window shutters that will open and close automatically or on demand.

Sara filmed in the field, above Larry's workshop and

in the shop.

To capture the shutter's many variations in the video, we needed to complete a couple of models. The shutter on the left has a clear window in a shamrock shape; on the right semi-opaque insulation lets in light, but not as much outside temperature as the clear one.

  

Here's Larry!  

Here's me! 

OMG...the studio is still awaiting my return to my work, while I am helping with the shutter project.  Look!

I cannot even walk in the door!

Meanwhile we still had a farewell dinner to enjoy with Sara and Chombo.  I thought it was a wonderfully cool evening to eat outside.  The others put on their winter garb!

Now, up to the studio to clean up and return to work on bags, dolls, and  more!

More Blog-cation Goings On

Oh, my! I am still trying to figure out where July went and I am well into August!  Just to catch up on the earlier part of the summer when I was a bad blogger:

 

Boulder Farmer's Market Fine Arts and Craft Fair

 

 

Jenn's Birthday:

 

 

A cake and a couple...then the Conifer Music Festival

With dancing dolls, Beth's scarves and big bags..

. 

We were Bwyneth Fiber Arts

 

And now july has moved on and August calls for new work.  Fabric beads and buttons coming up!

Blog-cation

The recent weeks turned into an unintended blog-cation.  This is unlike the newly popular stay-cation when people stay at home during time off from work.  Stay-cation is distinguished from the recent lay offs when people struggle to stay in their homes because they are out of work.

No the blog-cation is a pause in blog writing brought on my too much life-action living (LAL) to have time to write. 

Here is an LAL summary:

The "old" computer died...some say five years out of a lap top is good, I say there are villages in Europe with 600 year old buildings.  We need to do better with the longevity of technology by making it with up-datable components and repairable elements!

The new computer arrived. That meant transferring data, upgrading programs, learning new software, catching up on ancient email.  Eventually deciding to run two computers for different jobs to avoid purchasing new soft ware that I cannot come close to affording this week because by the time the new computer got Microsofted the cost was not so reasonable!

Then there was what I am loath to call "real work."  Working on automated insulating shutters at the Synergistic Building Technology shop.

 

At at homein the room formerly called the dining room.

 

Here's me and, next Larry applying a high tech radiant barrier ...aluminum foil...to a shutter's innards!

I hate to call the shutter building "real" work because I really intend studio fiber and fabric work to be real enough to satisfy the Horatio Alger part of me.  To  struggle successfully in the face of adversity (or at least my barely sufficient amount of skill,  creativity, and contemporary stylishness) to gain both wealth and honor, ultimately realizing the American Dream through art and craft! 

But then there is an even greater struggle on Larry's part to achieve the American Dream by getting energy efficiency to appeal to the American public.  And so 'round and 'round we go in existential circles!

More to follow about July's blog-cation.  Stay tuned, please!

Artists Wanted for Lafayette Co-op

Local Colorado Artists!

Uniquely Natural has opportunities to display and sell your hanging wall work as a gallery artist for a month.

Each month's gallery artist is introduced to Uniquely Natural's friends and neighbors at a First Friday opening.  The artist's work hangs for the rest of the month till the next show is hung for the following First Friday.

Uniquely Natural is a recent addition to the growing community of art and specialty shops on South Public Road.  The store is within a block of the newly opened Festival Plaza.  It features healing arts practitioners on site every day.  All gift items are specially chosen to be natural, healthy and usually hand made by local artisans.

Showing the works of regional artists is integral to Uniquely Natural's mission.  The store is a pleasant and friendly environment for our customers to get to know you and your work.

Uniquely Natural asks you to apply by emailing an inquiry to Heather Luttrell at uniquelynatural@gmail.com and check out the blog at uniquelynatural.blogspot.com and our Facebook page.

 

 

Earth Air Fire Water: Elemental Art Figures

Recent work includes two series of elemental art figures. Earth, Air, Fire, and Water spirits, just 9" tall.  Inspired by elinor peace baily's Fire Dancer pattern. Take a look!

 

And

Check out individual figures HERE

Soon they will be for sale at ETSY online and Uniquely Natural in Lafayette, Colorado.  See you there.

Need one right away?  Contact me using the link on this page!

The cat in the Window and Ann's Real Bag

We live in the hills above Boulder Colorado.  The is prime wild fire country. As we say, "It is not a matter of if these hill sides will burn, just when."  One important means of fire mitigation is to cut the beautiful mountain meadows that grow wherever the pine forest has been pushed aside.

We generally cut around the house and on the down side of the hill with one of those string whip cutters.  After rain like we had this spring, it is real sweaty work to mow through the thick tall grasses. 

More meadow photos here.

Our helper this year worked her way through the grass and a bit to close to the ground, throwing rocks (good old Rocky Mountain rocks) into two windows. The outer pane was shattered in place and the inner pane unharmed.

The glass in both looked like this.
 

Wild, eh?

Yesterday the  other broken window began to shed pieces of glass into the driveway.  I covered it with cardboard and found the cat in the window, waiting patiently to emerge.

By the way, I was not quite honest with you all the other day.  The bag shown as Ann's was actually the bag I made as a test of the pattern. A finished piece, but not the one that went to Ann.  Here is hers:

 

Thanks for coming by!  Wyncia