Seashell Paperweights

Remember that old tongue-twister that we all mumble at some point during our growing-up years: "She sells seashells on the seashore." Okay, now say that five times in quick succession before you read further! :)

Hah, no one sold us any shells but since we came back from a beach vacation, we brought along a bagful of pretty seashells. So naturally it was crafting time using our new-found treasures.... and we made these seashell paperweights, a reminder of our beachy vacation.

Good thing we got these done, for I always seem to have loads of loose paper strewn on my work desk. Finally, they won't keep flying off.... and maybe the hubby can be gifted one for his Father's Day gift.

Am planning to make more crafty things using our seashell collection. Meanwhile, for the how-to of this project, you can go here. Do drop in a comment if any of you try this out, and sharing pictures will be even more fun. You can find my email in the right sidebar. Hoping you all have a creative weekend!

The Final Outcome

The searing heat is getting too much to bear so am off on a vacation.... In the meanwhile, as promised last week, here is a peek into what that last sketch turned into.

I haven't named this one yet; any ideas from you all, dear readers?

First Strokes

Does it ever happen to you?....

...That the first few strokes look so amazing that you never get around to working on the rest of it!!!

Yes, it happens with me many a times. This one lay on my work table like this for a week before I actually felt like going in and finishing it. Of course the finished piece always looks quite different from those initial strokes.

Come back next week and I'll give you glimpses of what this finally turned into!

Laburnum: A Quick Study

My walk in the park today drew my attention to the bunches of yellow hanging overhead. The Laburnum or Amaltas was blooming again, the faint sweetness of its fragrance hanging in the crisp morning air.

As I looked up, I could see a maze of yellow flowers, green leaves and brown stems, with bits of sky filling up the background.

That is exactly what I have tried to capture in this quick study of the Amaltas, a flower I have admired for long but could finally bring myself to paint only now.

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Reflections

Again one of those abstracts that came to me as I lay in bed preparing to fall asleep. How these pieces assume shape and reach you through the haze between sleep and wakefulness is something I am unable to comprehend.

I remember thinking of beachy sunsets, and of that stage of sundown where the sky and the water seem to merge into one. And then this piece emerged.... carrying reflections of one in another.

The blues look strong and piercing through the camera but upfront they are a more pleasing shade.

Been doing some papier mache recently; hop over to my Facebook page to see what got made! Hope you all are gearing up for a good weekend....

Glassy Landscape

As I told you all a couple of weeks back, I had been working on a piece of cut and shaped glass for a friend. The glass had quite a few peaks, with a broad bottom half leading up to a narrow top. It was difficult to handle because of the jagged edges, and yet it was the ideal shape for a soothing landscape.

I really enjoyed doing this piece because it challenged me to think up new ways of depicting the obvious. So I mixed colours, used the process of stippling, and worked keeping in mind the tenets of reverse glass painting.

The end result is this gorgeous piece.... pity the camera doesn't quite do justice to the varied hues of  blue, especially used in the river. I can only give you a stilted, lying-down view but when you stand it up, the colours look amazing! Sharing with you a part preview for now since the friend has not yet seen the finished piece, and I don't want to spoil the surprise.

Snooze Mode Musings

Yes, the blog has been running on snooze mode for a while. Post-exam holidays for the kids, new session madness, and a hundred other things on my to-do list meant very little time for any creative endeavours. Also, the change of seasons somehow meant more photography and less painting. So while I have some fabulous shots from our garden, I have very little painted stuff up for the walls....

Even then I have started working on some very interesting pieces of glass that a family friend brought along. He got the glass pieces shaped and cut because he wanted a particular look, especially with the larger piece. To take a look at my work in progress, check out my Facebook page.

In the meanwhile, the Facebook page itself has thrown up some pleasant surprises. It reached a 100 Likes at an excruciatingly slow pace but it has amazingly crossed 200 Likes in a little over a month. I'm ecstatic, of course!

I have a thousand ideas in my head but don't know how I'll squeeze out the time to convert them all into reality. Hang in there, dear readers.... the pace may have slowed but as long as there is progress there is nothing to worry about! Leaving you all with one of my photo compositions for a change.....