Week 27/52 Weeks: Making Things
As well as painting and drawing, I like to sew. My Grandmother, Gladys, taught me how to sew and embroider when I was a little girl. The very first thing I ever made was for her. It was a little bag for her hair grips, and she kept it in the pocket of her dressing gown until she was old.
Week 22/52 Weeks: Butterfly Trinket Box
Things that make me happiest? Doing ‘Lick and Stick’ with my girl. When Orla had her sixth birthday, I asked people to buy her art and craft things, which they did. This was one of the craft projects, which we did together. A ‘Butterfly Trinket Box’, and unlike most of the kits, it didn’t take hours to dry between each stage. I did all the cutting and Orla did most of the sticking and we chose what would go where together. It was a lot of fun and looks very pretty. It now has pride of place on her ‘fairy’ shelf in her bedroom.
School Project Mark I
Have you ever seen that ‘Grumpy Old Women‘ episode where they talk about the ‘letters from school’ and having to make things for school projects? Costumes, cakes, makes etc, and the terror of looking in the school bag to find yet another letter from the school asking for this that and the other. Contributions for this, help to make that, donations for this, cartoons, carboard, this list is endless…
Well, a few weeks ago I was handed a blue piece of cloth, and a letter explaining that we needed to make a collage hand for a community project in which all finished hands would be put together to make one big collage. We had to use the blue square with which they had supplied us, and we could then use anything else we wanted. Fabric, paper, glitter, all sorts.
Being a creative person, I had lots of good ideas, but then like most things in my life, I left it to the last minute. So, realising the deadline was upon me, I pinned down my protesting daughter, drew around her hand (so I could at least with a clear conscience claim she had been involved), used the cutout as a stencil and used some pink felt for the hand shape. I Got some PVA from her craft box, and the day before the deadline start gluing on my stars and sequins, having used spray mount to affix the hand. That worked quite well. I left it for 24 hours, which I thought would be ample time for it to dry. It did indeed dry, however, when I lifted my square, all the stars and sequins started to fall off. I then re glued again with craft glue. Left it for two hours, went back..again everything fell off.
By this time I was getting desperate as I had only an hour to go before I had to hand it over, the deadline having all ready been and gone. Frantically I rushed upstairs to my studio and got my very expensive (only to be used for serious art work) pot of Golden Matte Gel Medium. I got some more glue, and carefully stuck my stars (beginning to look a little worse for wear) and sequins down and painted the gel medium over the the top, then somewhat haphazardly and over enthusiastically covered it in glitter, it actually worked a treat.
I left it pinned to the line to dry and carefully carried it to the school and handed it over with nary a backwards glance, relieved to be rid of it.
It was a stressful day all told and am so looking forward to my next school project.
Hand for school project
Hand for school project
Lorrie Whittington
Visual Artist and Designer
Chichester, UK
