Tinacious~ NuministaChic Earrings

Remember all that vintage tin I got from Suzanna at Sushipotparts?

Well I've been workin' it in between orders for crusty rusty bits in my Etsy shop.

You guys are keeping me hopping with the orders. This is a first for me I'll have you know.

Somehow it doesn't matter how many orders I get in the vintage and supply shop it just isn't the same glory as selling my own stuff to you all. Many thanks, I know that there will be some more torch days coming up.

So this is what I've been doing with the tin.

I am discovering something about designing assemblage style pieces...

that they don't necessarily hang the way they look all nice and flat on your work table.

In fact they tend to flip around quite a bit.

I decided to solve the problem on the previous earrings by adding a bit of bling to the back side so they won't be just one sided earrings ( especially with the big blank white space on these.)

Wouldn't you know I just happened to have some of my beads that matched the tin, already made and waiting on my work table?

I have lots more tin left and some pieces cut out in the queue waiting for me.

I had a mishap the other night which involved rescuing an elderly man on the roof.

We were enjoying a warm night on the patio with our friends when one of us heard someone crying "help me!"

In house downhill from us lives a man that has obviously suffered a stroke before.

It's dark and I try to find where the voice is coming from and he's on the roof! ...and it's dark out!

Well I basically had to run around the block while I was on 911 so I could determine his house number.

Meanwhile the guys were trying to find access to his yard which was quite a heap of obstacles.

I went through his house to get to the backyard while my other neighbor climbed up to help get the man down. Meanwhile I was directing the cops to  his location and they were having a time of it getting up the steep ladder. One had to take off his bullet proof vest because it was getting snagged on boards and nails. I went to assist holding the ladder and didn't realize there was a ditch between me and the ladder and fell snagging my ring on some wire that was holding the ladder to the was. It practically yanked it out of the socket. The old man got down and we ascertained that he had been up there for a half hour and presumably was fixing his antenna. ( he has speech problems from his stroke) He was uninjured just stuck and I have a numb ring finger that doesn't seem to be keeping me from making stuff so all is well.

It was an exciting night though.

It Comes in Waves

It Comes in Waves 

by Kimberly Rogers

SOLD!

I made this found object assemblage in response to the earthquake in Japan.

The news of the devastation and impending effects of the nuclear disaster

is hitting me in waves.

Made with pieces of rust, a discarded squeeze tube, Japanese postal ephemera,

antique porcelain doll arm and button.

a mounted on a composite stone backing and framed in a used discarded frame of linen and wood. 

detail

detail of body

Outdoor shot

I am offering this piece for $100

All proceeds not including shipping will go to a Japanese  Earthquake relief fund of your choice.

I'll calculate shipping depending on where it's headed.

estimated minimum of $20

Thanks, Kim

Trying to put it all together

Cassiopeia

detail of bottom

detail of top

detail of top

Some elements that you may have seen already here but now I've put them together

postcard with some swap items

 So now that I have any number of bit and pieces and elements in my stash from the image transfer class I'm trying to incorporate them into larger works. I could just go nuts doing nothing but making smaller elements  but the trick is for me how to use them in bigger pieces  and bringing it all together.

 I find assemblage to be with many challenges as I have mentioned in previous posts. One must be very careful to assemble things in the right order or you may find yourself figuratively painting yourself into a corner. Some mistakes can be hard to fix and retrieve the look you're hoping for. One of the biggest problems I seem to face with my backgrounds or substrates from found objects and thrift shop finds is that fastening elements can be quite a challenge. More than once I decided to use tiny screws and have them not grip the composite wood  background and  "waller" out. Then if it's a thin piece you have dangerous sharp screw ends sticking out the back and  have to find a way to saw or clip them off.

 I struggled with the Cassiopeia piece because while I was happy with the elements I had chosen the composition ended up  looking to rigid with images floating in there own  quadrants of the  box. The composition seemed too static for me. I remember being told in an art class that numbers and letters carried more visual weight as does faces so adding any more text or elements such as that might really make the eyes crazy.  I  tried to remedy it by dulling down the white images with a wash of light metallic blue paint and highlighting the background with copper and blue metallic paint on the distressed corrugated. I really have a greater admiration for assemblage artists every time I attempt one myself.

Moroccan Inspiration

I really wanted to do some Moroccan inspired pieces after my trip in January. The place was so rich in colors and imagery. Camera candy everywhere you look.

I'm in the habit of picking up bits from the streets and sidewalks everywhere I go now. My biggest criteria being that it won't rot or it's not plastic. (now that I have this patina treatment I may have to revise that edict if it's an interesting plastic shape and I can make it look like metal)

On our last day in Marrakech I suddenly realized that I hadn't picked up a little gifty for someone that had put in a request for something from our travels. This involved a hurried walk back to the market area to do some last minute shopping. I had been eyeing leather slippers (round toed) but hadn't been in the mood to engage in the bargaining process with vendors. I found the bargaining to be much more hard core and less fun than the easy going bargaining that I've been accustomed to in Thailand. Luckily we found a fixed price shop of artisans' wares. We knew we'd have to pay a bit more but it would shave the time involved in bargaining off of our dwindling schedule. We had a shuttle to catch to the airport soon.

I am a swift shopper and had my little pumpkin colored leather slippers, some beautiful aubergine tassels and a few other goodies in hand in record time.

On the way back to the hotel I scanned the sidewalk for my last chance at some enchanted bits of Morocco.

I thought that rose petals, a feather and some braided trim would go nicely on the flattened can with an image from a school book and a Moroccan coin. I mounted this against a round oak wooden piece from an antique store, an image of an arabic calendar, a piece left from our bamboo kitchen flooring project and hammered some copper to finish it off.