Wednesday 19 October 2011

Life gets in the way of Art...

So, I haven't posted anything for a little while - things like the day-job and migraines got in the way.   I'm hoping, over the next few days, that I will be able to work on the pieces that are sitting on my workbench in various stages of completion.

One thing that has surprised me since opening quisam for business (as opposed to just pleasure) has been the challenge of taking decent photographs of my pieces.  

For the first few weeks I used my iPhone to take my 'pack-shots'.   Whilst being great for on-the-fly portraiture, the iPhone camera isn't up to delivering the sort of shots needed for etsy.  It's pretty good at close-ups but very limited at mid to long range.


(I love this photo of my daughter being carried by my husband - soft focus is great for this type of shot but completely useless for etsy product photography).

(And dark, contrasty black and whites aren't exactly gonna show the rich colours of quisnam)

Piers, my husband, has a super-duper digital SLR.  But, seriously, who can be bothered changing lenses to get a decent close-up.   Having tried using my daughter's cheapo digital (crap) I bit the bullet and went out and bought a reasonably decent Olympus.  The brief to the sales clerk was 'must take a good macro'.  I have to say I have been bitterly disappointed in my purchase.  It is unbelievably hard to get something in focus, let alone get a decent range of shots needed for etsy.  I have no idea what the solution is. There is some great advice online (including really helpful info from fellow etsian sparrowsalvage)  but still the magic eludes me.

On a lighter (much less whiny note) look a this little darling purchased from etsian www.evaelena.etsy.com.  Isn't she sweet.  


And the naked lady theme continues.


Actually, I want to cut the hands-off and use them as charms (sounds like serial-killer stuff).

Oh, and these photos were taken with my iPhone, of course.  'til next time.

Tuesday 4 October 2011

School holidays sap your strength (and everything else)

Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with my children ( I mean some time - not all the time) but school holidays sap the creativity right out of you.  It's not that I haven't had time, it's just that I haven't had the inclination to do much of anything.  I haven't been completely idol though.  






It's my sister's 40th birthday in a few days time and I wanted to maker her something special. This is about the fourth version of this piece.  I had disaster after disaster so ended up starting afresh and I'm pretty happy with the finished article. Of course it won't make it in time for the big day (but then my presents never do, I'm hopeless).


I also found time for shopping (of course):




The bits in the middle tray are an old ink bottle and some vintage lipstick cases.  Here's a closer look:




I've also continued experimenting with resin.  And by experimenting I mean ending up tearing my hair out in frustration at my ability to pour just up to the top rather than over it. Here are some bits that actually worked OK.






The bezel in the middle is filled with tiny screws. I know there are lots of air bubbles but I like the effect in this piece.  The  bezel at the back right has a picture of a bug I found in an old encyclopedia (just had to use spell check to get encyclopedia right, doesn't it have an a before the second e though?).


Now I just need the children to go back to school ....