Xmas is approaching fast

As I had some time last weekend, I did this...

Little work, filigrees based on circle shapes, each circle being different. It's not unintersting but it could do with a little more mork. If I have some time before the end of the year (I don't think so), I 'll do another version.

Declaration

Work in progress. Little by little, my latest work is coming to its end.

Still have to write the title and its decoration, hope to finish this before the weekend...

Knotwork

I already told you about the embossed version of this knotwork, based on a triangular pattern. Here is the etched zinc version.

I like both versions, next step is to create a more complicated knotwork and to mix embossing and zinc to realize it...

Mea culpa

I was recently telling you about things clams have to say and insisted on the fact that it wasn't really enunciated sayings.
I first received some protests which were not really convincing.

Then I received other ones and I now have to admit that clams are not clumsy :-)

Some can play (& even win) a tic-tac-toe game.

And others are scholarly, they know latin, psalms & english and are even able to arrange bilingual play on words.

In short, I'd like to apologize to all clams I may have offended and hope to hear from them soon.

Embossing

My workshop on embossing approaches fast, time for me to review the basics.
I'm also doing some researches on knotworks based on triangle patterns and not on the regular square ones. The result is this little knotwork embossed on watercolor paper.

As we are talking about embossing, here is a small ampersand, done a few weeks ago.

Unlike the regular embossings where the embossed parts are smoother than the others, here I added some texture to the embossing.

clams have things to say

Well then, they are clams, not philosophy professors ;-)

All these clamshells have been acid etched, the last one I decided to etch the number and not the surrounding because of the shades of the shell that would have been lost otherwise.

everything went well

3 hours is too short for a workshop about filigrees but the participants really took up the challenge.

It was a good afternoon, I hope everyone appreciated it, I was really delighted (and exhausted, I didn't remember how much energy one has to have to teach a course).

Can't wait for the next workshop !

ready

Everything is ready for this afternoon's workshop.
To be consistent with the topic, I drew some filigrees on the tablecloth.

knots

passionate by the clams, here is a little knotwork etched with acid on a clam's shell.

The etching is not very deep but enough to be visible.

Nonetheless, I think I can improve the process, another shell is in progress...

Alphabet - next step

Once cleaned, here are the letters from my alphabet (technological miracle, I inverted the pic so you can see them on the right side).
As you can see, I made a mistake on some of them, the ones that looks inverted after being inverted :-/

Moreover, my printing tries are just awful, so awful that I won't show even a bit of them.
I tihnk I'll have to restart from the beginning, differently, with more care, briefly : to be followed...

To make you wait, here is a pic of the residues of the cleaning which is, probably, the best thing I got out of it.

Alphabet

I'm working on a new project (yeahhh, I know, I didn't finish the previous ones).

I made an alphabet in the Celtic style, etched on zinc ( & reversed, which supposes a further printing), inspired by George Bain's book, Celtic Art : The Methods of Construction.

By the way, I doubt he found all of these letters in the book of Kells or Durrow. Those gospels probably didn't show these K, W or Y...

Another fail !

Success is not guaranteed... 
Anyway, I have to show you the pictures of my latest failure, I'll restart soon, I already know how to improve it.

some text

I've been quite busy these last ime, preparing my latest exhibition but I didn't work only on this !
I worked very hard on a new project with quite a lot of text and in a much larger shape than what I'm used to. Until now, I spent about 30 hours working on it, I think I've done the most of it. Until I can say it is finished or failed, here is a picture.

Next steps next week if everything goes well.

the ring

My wife lost her wedding ring. It slipped off her finger during a swam on a beach where we use to go.
The waves movements quicly make it illusive to get it back.
By way of vengeance, I picked a pebble on the beach and made her a ring out of it.
Here are the steps of the design :

The pebble (doesn't wonder what will happen to him)

The same one, sliced

To avoid to much sanding, after marking the inside diameter of the ring, more cutting

Here comes the hollowing out

The inside is sanded, time to even up the outside and to polish it all

The ring finished, all angles polished to avoid sharp edges, only the varnish to get done

And my wife's hand has a new ornament, phew, the worst has been avoided :-)

Eclipse

Back to work on paper.

A little pic of my ongoing work...

To be continued...

stuff

Still no time (or desire?) to start new and large works, so I do little things while testing electro-etching.

A new filigree pattern, a bit smaller than the first one :

And a new seal made from a bolt, this time using a new and more little one :

slate engraving

You know about my obsession for filigrees and my yearning for engraving, here is a little try mixing both with a pattern I invented engraved on slate with a simple nail.

The pattern is approximately 2cm large, now that I proved that it is possible, I can try more ambitious works :-)

rust & vine

After quite a long time under the rain, followed by a scraping, more rain and a final sanding, I still can't get the expected result from the plate I already told you about here.

It's not bad, it's just that I was waiting for something else.

I think it will go back to rust in the garden :-)

50%

I've just finished two little brooches (approx. 2.5cm in diameter) and failed the etching of one of them :-/

The knotwork I made with acid etching and the filigrees with electro-etching. This one got eaten on the edges and I'll have to redo it. 50% of success, I have to improve the ratio :-)

Bolt

Digging in the garden, I made an almost archeological discovery, an old bolt eaten by rust. I cleaned it a bit, not too much for the patina to remain and, as I found it really beautiful, I decided to find another use for it.

I turned it into a seal by electro-etching a man hole cover pattern on his head.

And the result is perfectly functional as you can see.

This is how to turn rubbish into design and original object :-)

Ar Rannou

I've just finished a work started years ago, that was left unfinished because of an overdose of knotwork.

It is a breton text from the Barzaz Breizh, a collection of songs published by Th. de La Villemarqué in the XIXth century.

I used a semi uncial for the text, séparating each verse by a knotwork panel and ending by the title in drawn capitals inspired by the Lindisfarne Gospel. To breathe modernity into the work, I took colors different from the ones used historically, using only earth pigments (Sienna, Umbria, ...).

Another detail can be seen here, and the whole work, there.

Plexiglas monogram

My first try, as good as the design was, wasn't deep enough to tool the soaps.
Hopefully, I found an old bit of Plexiglas lying around in the garden so I tried once more, this time using a little milling machine to engrave it.

As the Plexiglas is transparent, this time, I can show you the monogram right side up, it is still an SC.

I think it will do the job this time, I'll post a pic of the tooled soaps once their maker would have tried this new seal.

And of course, it gave me tons of ideas to work with Plexiglas, to be followed :-)

Stained glass

Back from Coulon where I spent a marvellous week in Gérard Guerry's workshop, I can show you my latest work.
As it wasn't very convenient to bring all the mandatory materials for engraving/etching, I went back to work on paper.

It's the structure of a stained glass window from Saint Hilaire church in Niort, embossed with carbon paper. I finished it by filling the pattern with my unavoidable filigrees :-)

To see the whole work, follow the link to the gallery.

susuwatari

I continue playing with electro-etching. This time, I inverted the polarity to darken the engraved parts at the end of the process.

As you can see, this time I etched an old blade of a metal saw. I can't stop recycling :-)