Inspired by Klimt

 I have ordered some more jewellery making equipment - sculpey/polymer clay (you may know it as 'Fimo'), to make my own pendants.  So why is this post featuring Klimt, you may ask?  Well, I was watching jewellery maker on a polymer clay demo day and the designer made these beautiful pendants which reminded me of a Klimt painting.  Not the figures, you understand, but the lovely jewel colours and amazing patterns in the backgrounds.  In my opinion, Klimt would have been a fantastic textile designer/maker.

Apologies as the quality of some of these images isn't very brilliant, but that's due to them being tiny cropped pieces of not very big pictures (most from www.klimt.com).

 I really like the repeating shapes and the colours.

 In fact, to me, the backgrounds are far more interesting than the subject of the paintings.

 Here are a couple of flower filled sections.

 This one combines shapes and earthy colours very effectively.

 I love the purple and pink swirls here.

This is from an unfinished portrait, but still has the pattern and colour taking shape.
So, I am waiting rather impatiently for my new kit and DVD and then I shall launch myself into the joys of making canes, using foils and trying to bake the clay at the correct temperature.  I am very excited as I love learning new things! 
At the moment, I have two creative projects on the go - a blog swap, with the theme of 'cosy autumn' where I need to make at least two items out of a minimum of five and send them to a partner blogger (my partner is in Ireland) and also Peacefelt 2012, where I will be given the name and address of someone to whom I send a piece of felt work.  Someone else will be given my details and they will send a piece of felt work to me.  It's all very exciting at the moment and I am enjoying the various challenges.

A new felt piece (at long last!)

Having not made a new piece of felt since (gulp) April/May, I finally got on with it!  It is based on a view out to sea at Saltfleetby, on the Lincolnshire coast, looking over the mud which was covered with purple sea lavender.  I added some silk thread at the front to emphasise the clumps of plants.  This photo shows the piece in all its soft fluffiness, before being felted.

After felting, it loses the fluffiness but becomes more defined.  I think it has a bit of an Impressionist feel to it.  The horizon went a bit more wobbly than I would have liked, but that's the joy of felt making - the wool decides what it is going to do, despite the maker's best efforts to coax it into position. I think it needs a bit of embroidery although I haven't decided quite what yet.  I shall make another one and then choose the one to go to America as part of the Peace Felt project. 
Having started making felt again, I need to continue as I have missed it over the last few months.

My PeaceFelt gift to America

Above is the sunset felt I made as my PeaceFelt gift to send to America. I sent it at the end of September but have only just heard that it arrived safely (the email got lost in the ether!). The recipient said she loved it and was going to get it framed. I sent it without fixings so that she had the flexibility to use it or display it as she wished. I incorporated lots of gorgeous rich colours of merino wool and then highlighted some of the areas using silk threads. I am so pleased that she likes it. PeaceFelt was a great thing to be involved with and now I have two contacts in America who share my interest in and love of felt making.

Peacefelt - designing the felt

I have received the name of my Peacefelt partners, both of whom are from the USA. I now have a month or so to design the piece I am going to send, and I am thinking of a variation on the sunset above. This was Chris' suggestion and I think it will work very well. Sunset is a peaceful time of the day, when things are quietening down and everything is getting ready to sleep. I really like the colours in this piece too, and the addition of the silk thread gives another texture (and a bit of shine) to the design. I wonder what felt piece will be sent to me? It will be very interesting to find out! When I send the felt out, I can include information about myself and where I live and what my hobbies are too, so hopefully, the person who sends me her piece will do that as well. It's a really nice idea.

Five followers...

This is great because I now have five people following my blog. (I'll have to start making more of an effort to put things on here!) I have been really busy with work and my garden just recently and have lots of little seeds ready to be potted on - Zaluzianskya, Echium, Poached Egg plant, Oriental Poppy and Verbena Bonariensis, to name but a few.

I have been working on a couple of felt pieces which I want to embellish with some embroidery and I have also signed up to an initiative that partners you up with another Felter somewhere in the world. The idea is to promote and celebrate International Day of Peace on September 21st 2010 by having thousands of felt creations crossing the continents. I really like the thought of that - how exciting to have something sent to you and to send something you have made out to someone else. Who knows what will turn up in the post, but I'm looking forward to it. Please click on the link to find out more.