Darkness Rising

the past couple of weeks have been quite a roller coaster ride for me. between me and Maia, we had high fever for 2 weeks. started with me having another episode of a plugged duct. those of you who have breastfed would probably know what it is and how painful it can be. after that cleared Maia had her fever. really high fever like 40C for about 3 days before bursting into millions of tiny pink rashes called Roseola Infantum. and then the fever made a U-turn back to moi ... this time with a vengeance. i was practically lying in bed for a good 6 days with a backache that makes first trimester pregnancy, pale in comparison! (i had a perpetual backache then too). Man ... i have never had that bad a backache, which radiated all the way to my toes! they even had me do a blood test to test for Dengue fever cos the fever didn't seem to wanna go away and i'm popping paracetamol like a drug addict. but thank goodness ... it did go. finally. after a week. 

and i could work again. commissions that should have been finished 2 weeks ago were added to the 'now' commissions, and rushing is no fun. but ... i did managed to come up with a journal that i'm quite pleased with :) remember my dark magic journal that's supposed to be inspired by Lovecraft? well ... Lovecraft didn't happen cos i just couldn't wrap my finger around that world. perhaps becos i haven't read that world. so i made a decision to make the Grimoire inspired by another world ... one that i have read. and i read all 5 books in 7 days :) it's by the author Karen Marie Moning and this was her Fever Series. just can't get away from fevers now can i?!

Darkness Rising was inspired by the concept of a book called Sinsar Dubh in the Fever Series. 
 

… as an act of atonement, the Unseelie King poured all of his dark side into a single Book, sealed it and promised never to unleash this darkness into the world ever again. In time, the Book was forgotten. But IT … did not forget. As eons passed, the Book took on a life of its own … and then, it was ready, to unleash itself into the world …

The central motif was derived from a pair of wings which the “Unseelie King” in the series was said to have possessed. The wings were then stylized and made into the motif you see, and then hand-sculpted with clay to achieve a 3D effect.

i think if i'd forced a Lovecraft, i wouldn't be truly satisfied with it. but i loved how this turned out ... becos i knew where this was coming from, i could immerse myself in that world, and it was real for me. the creative process is always more enjoyable when you're comfortable with what you're doing.

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no-solder birdhouse tutorial

i have been asked by several people how i made my no-solder birdhouse in my piece 'the House of Alternate Reality' :)

well ... here's how :)

 

1. i'm starting with a piece of paper becos it's easier to write the measurements, but you can begin straight with a piece of metal.

the measurements can be any numbers. i cut the paper to 65mm x 45mm becos this is the size of the scrap metal i have for the birdhouse later. 

2. divide your metal sheet as such. 10mm off every edge except the top edge which will be the roof of your house. measure 15mm for that.

3. snip off areas as shown on the right sheet

4. this is the scrap brass i have. it's kinda black becos i've tossed it on the kitchen stove to anneal. makes the metal more pliable and easier to shape.

you can see that it's been cut to shape and the edges filed down so it won't be too sharp to handle.

5. and now it's time to fold the house, origami style. you should still have your lines on the metal. i use a flat nose pliers to help fold the metal along to the lines.

6. i shall let the photographs do the talking in the next few steps.

7.

8.

9. when you're done folding the bottom part of the house, it's now time to complete the roof.

find the center point (in our case since the width is 45mm, then the center point is 22.5mm). mark the center and draw 2 diagonal lines to meet the 'wall' on both sides

10. before you begin folding the roof, make a hole for the bail. i dun have a hole puncher so my method is pretty direct. ice pick, hammer and some brute force ;) 

remember to file down any sharp edges surrounding the hole

11. now you can proceed to fold along the diagonal lines.

12.

13. in order for the roof to look like it's covering the house, you need to push the roof (from behind) slightly forward so that the 'eaves' sit on either sides of the 'walls'

14. to make a bail from your wire stash, roughly curl one end of a piece of wire (this is a 16g brass wire)

15. push the other end of the wire thru the hole, leaving the curly part inside

16. make a loop and wrap the remaining wire round a couple of times as you would when you make a wrapped loop

17. and you are done!! now all you have to do is to fill it with treasures of all sorts!!

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romance

this has been a great week ... a romantic week. before i say goodbye to romance and welcome dark magic, i thought i should blog about the romance that's been in the air.

last month, a customer wanted me to do a journal commission for her as a gift to her friend. she explained that her fren likes to write poems. so this journal would be for her poems. she wanted something close to one of my older works Je T'aime Forever, something romantic and ornate. 

i managed to find a beautiful escutcheon and layered it with other filigrees.

with a collage of old postcards as side panels, a heart and a barrel key, this journal emerged. i totally fell in love with it. it is not often that love at first sight happens in a commission piece. but it happened to this piece. immediately, the song "My Heart Will Go On" popped into my head  ... so naturally,  this became the name of the journal too.

the romance lingered. i let it, as i continued to play with hearts. i'm doing that a lot lately ... using a lot of hearts in my work. it must be reflecting something in my consciousness. do you have a favourite symbolic element that you like to use in your works? and do you ever wonder why you keep using it at that point in time?

anyhow, i was twiddling with a small heart and i absentmindedly put it into a bezel. i liked the look so i went further. i nested it and put a rusty wire mesh over the bezel.

at first, i really didn't know what to do with it. out of boredom, i took some photos and did some simple manipulation with the GIMP. i loved the tone and mood of it.

then last night, i decided that it needed to be on a romantic, turn of century inspired something. i whipped out an old faded jean seam, the old crocheted table cloth with some other stuff and started putting them together with no particular design in mind.

i was literally 'Lost in Time' ... it was just liberating to let go.

and so the heart in a bezel now has a home on a cuff bracelet. this would probably be the last of my romantic streak for the moment. this morning i received an email from a customer asking me how his commission was coming along ... i told him that i shall be starting his next week. i needed some time just to allow the 'romance' to ease off before i can immerse into the realms of dark magic (his commission is an evil Book of Shadows, inspired by HP Lovecraft)

that email conversation made me realize suddenly that i do need the time to get out from one realm, before i can get into another. just like i did when i was doing TV work, i needed to get out from one character before i can take on another character/role. i was a little surprised that it felt exactly the same. now that, was pretty cool!

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alternate reality

i've often wondered about parallel universes. if they exist. i believe that they do, well ... at least they do in my imagination. this week was particularly exciting ... becos the imagination was exceptionally active and the visuals vivid. i love days like these! its an escape. i travel to places where no one's been, and i travel without being out of the house. yea ... i'm a weirdo.  

my adventure began when i saw myself on a ship. a ship from a bygone era. i saw myself in a gown, with an old leather suitcase, a map of the New World (the 'then' New World) and an old fashion telescope. i felt wind in my face and i felt my heart pound with anticipation. it was SO real, and i wanted to remember this feeling in an artwork. so i grabbed one of my little book pendants.

the New World ... this piece is called. Faint gold writings on the back of the motif, just like an excerpt from my diary detailing my travels to the New World.

and the Key ... symbolizes the key to discovery, the key to freedom.

my next piece started with an experiment. i often view experiments as a journey of discovery. courtesy of Barry i have quite a few pieces of recycle mixed metals in my possession which i guard fiercely. today i picked out a piece of copper which was not too thin. i dun own plenty of professional tools so i use what i have. and what i had was a garden shear which surprisingly cut thru the copper sheet like butter!! and then it went on the kitchen stove to anneal, becos i knew i wanted to fold it.

what came out of it was this little house, origami-style-no-soldering house. 

i twiddled with it for a day, marveling at its cuteness (^.^) i knew i wanted to do something unique with it tho i didn't have a concept in mind.

i wanted to house a book. and maybe call this piece the House of Knowledge. i quite liked that. unfortunately it didn't work out. and then i made another little house, becos i wanted a House of Science and a House of Arts. those didn't work out either. but i still wanted my little book snugged cozily in there. then, as always imagination took over. 

my mind again traveled into a different realm ... this time it looked like a laboratory, old world laboratory. lots of instruments in brass, weird artifacts and loads of books on the shelves. it looked like one of those scenes in a hidden object game, or the movie the Golden Compass.

and as i placed the book into the house ...

like a time capsule, i was propelled into that alternate world. secret codes written in the book, if unraveled, would perhaps take you to a different place and time. wires twisted and knotted, like brainstorms, like conduits for the mind to travel into this alternate reality.

my heart that hangs off the little house, give it that goth-steampunkish look that i so love. and to remind me that every time i follow my heart, magic happens.
 

the miniature book is releasable from its catch, but attached to the house with a chain so you may not loose your secrets at any time. and so ... finally, it happened. the House of Alternate Reality.

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asymmetry

it's nice to be able to blog again so soon, tho i suspect after this post i'll probably disappear for another 2 weeks or so since i've started taking orders again and intend to begin the frenzy tomorrow. took 4 days off since Thursday ... mostly off exercising actually, cos yours truly here, snapped something in her shoulder Thursday morning getting off bed and could not move her head for the past 4 days. couldn't look down ... not upward pass the thighs anyway. could only see as far as my thunder thighs and the head wouldn't bow any lower UGH! today is better, i could see my tummy :)

but that didn't deter me from making stuff now did it? of course not!! i just have to bring my materials up to eye level! over the weekend i made 3 pairs of asymmetric earrings. relentless! i realized that my last 6 items on etsy were earrings!! i remember there was a time when i just couldn't make earrings and now ... Maire was right she said once you start making them, you can't stop.  

it began with Lost & Found

i love how pretty but simple this pair came out ... sometimes its just freeing not to overthink things and let the energy flow where it wants to go. i didn't even realized that i had made this pair when i finished. that's how zoned out i was ...

and then of course, the smart-alec Otak (Brain in Malay Language) have to stick her nose right back in and i thought ... hmmm ... i wanna make another 2-word-jargon-inspired (whatever you call these idioms) piece.

the next 2 words that popped right in was Torn & Tattered

i could make 'Torn' with torn paper (i thought) but wanted to add something more to just, well ... torn paper. so out came my ever cute miniature music notes, torn and resin-ed into a bundle. and a 'Tattered' linen and lace bundle was the match.

i often find myself pretty unpredictable ... and that's how my creative energy flows too. Perhaps an attribute of my Piscean nature? 2 fishes swimming in different directions simultaneously. and so after all the old-world-oh-so-sweet-and-romantic-lalala, Otak decides to start a rebellion.

and the result is this dark and goth Angel & Demon!

would anyone even want to wear something like this!? 

'Angel' was easy-peasy to assemble, but 'Demon' ... hrmph!! true to his nature ... it took me treble the time to assemble him, dismantling and assembling at least three times before i was satisfied! little troublemaker!

anyhow, i am quite pleased with how this pair turned out ... 'art'-wise ... but wearability-wise ... hmmm ... i guess they are for very special, especially rebellious occasions :p 

ok ok ... i'll stop now ... a bit chatty today aren't we ...

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of epochs, excaliburs and editorials

after giving myself a break from taking orders, i am slowly getting back into it. it was break i should have taken earlier! this week i completed a new journal and an old old commission that i've been putting off becos i just couldn't do it. i hope she still wants it! i realized that if i ever get into this seriously, like having a studio and doing this full time, i need to find a way to get myself out of this kinda 'rut' situation where my mind's telling me to be responsible and go finish the commission, but my heart is acting like one of those spoiled Hollywood brats whose only vocab is 'NO'.

anyhow that brat's gone, and here's something new i made ... it began as an experiment but turned out pretty convincing. sometime ago i did an online class with Mr Supremely-Awemazing Michael deMeng (one of my 3 favorite artists of all time) and he taught us how to use something called caulk ... yea, the kind for home repairs. this could be a cheaper alternative to texture paste. so when i had this design in mind, i wanted to try his 'caulk' tip.

The Coming ... this is called. "it is said that on the 21st day of the 12th month of the year 2012, the World as we know it shall end and a New Epoch shall begin ..."

the base of this cover was covered with the caulk substance and the raised areas is epoxy clay. you can see that after painting and aging, you actually couldn't tell between the 2 mediums! so that was pretty cool.


next, is the commission that i was finally able to complete. it's a revisited version of my Nimloth of Eressea journal, but with a twist. 

the client wanted it to have a sword and a crest of some sort and wanted the base to be forest-y green. something that a horseman of Rohan would carry. and altho the sword comes from another fantasy game call Warcraft, i thought it looked pretty lethal when put together in this assemblage.

them books was what kept moi busy last week, amidst the treadmill-ing, and the extra cardio running after baby Maia. oh YAY!! Maia is finally walking!! at 17 months! and now she's running ... *pant pant pant* ... better exercise than my treadmill actually (O_O)


there's one last thing i wanted to share. last month i made a couple of earrings and listed them on etsy. one night i received an email from a sweet lady named Debbie Blair who turned out to be the Managing Editor for a magazine called Handcrafted Jewelry. and it turns out, they wanted me to do a tutorial on one of my earrings, to be featured in their Fall's 2012 magazine! YAY!! 

i accepted and a tutorial on how to make "Ephemeral" will be coming out around September in the Fall 2012 issue of Handcrafted Jewelry :) 


before i go, for those of you who are interested in caulk, this is how it looks like and one of the surfaces you can create with it. you need to buy the acrylic or paintable caulk. don't get the silicone base ones, cos you can't paint on them. comes in a huge tube and you'll have to get a 'gun' to use it ;)

epic!

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