A2Z Studio

03/21/2024

My personal page was removed by FB. I am trying to find out why, but for now I'll post here and think about how I can find out what was posted.

01/23/2024

Well, this is the 3rd time I writing this... I don't get it finished and have to start over... I'm slumping wine bottles and decorating the necks with jewelry that has a problem and can't be sold. Most slumped bottle trays sell for around $45... I'm making mine for St Vincent de Paul's fundraiser in September. The jewelry they'd throw away because earrings are missing mates, chains that are broken, broaches without pins and rhinestones. It's fun, but today I'm meeting a friend and working in metal... creating a 10" x 10" by 48"tall rectangle made of L shaped angle iron that I am making a soaring bird flying above and it will have Bullseye glass over the opening and our house numbers written vertically on the front. I'll post tomorrow my progress. Today I'll show you a sampling of the bottles...OH, BTW, if you'd like to come to the auction this September and help SVdP raise money to help them help people who need helping, drop me a note and I'll start a list to mail when the time gets closer.

11/10/2023

01/06/2023

The owner of an African printed-material design wear store gave me some left over material, which I will use to cover books and make cards from. I find it most appealing, as it is colorful, has a variety of shapes represented on it and is unique when compared to the usual fabric here in the USA. If you wish to see her wonderful shop she is at the Tacoma Mall in the hall across from the Mall entrance to J.C. Penneys. I'll post my cards here when I've done some.

01/06/2023

This man was forced to give his dog to the Humane Society due to undergoing lengthy hospital stay.

This nurse found out and immediately went to the shelter and adopted his dog.

She brings him to visit daily and will return him as soon as the man is released!❤️

Credit: Reddit|Sensitive-Ad-8403

01/03/2023

01/03/2023

After I finished the stained glass window I began making hand bound books. I used Japanese designed fabric for many of the patterns and some rich winter designs. I'll be posting the images of my books and you can see I used fabric rather than paper to bind the book with.

10/21/2022

I have been working on a stained glass window that resides at the foot of the stairs in a Craftsman style house, with Mission furniture. So Lisa, my friend, and I worked out what she wanted and I spent about 6 weeks, between doctor visits and my other obligations and, of course, my family... it was installed Tuesday. I got there about 10 am and it took until after 6pm to get it to fit into the frame. I don't like to remove too much at one time... so I made a channel in the old wood frame to accommodate the window. The window sill was bowed and I failed to notice. So I didn't get a photo of it with the sun shining through it. Lisa sent me a photo with daylight backing it. She wanted the window because she wanted to block the strong light that comes through and heats up the house and makes it so bright one almost could wear sunglasses. Working to install the window I got a mild taste of what it must be like. She was tickled with it and I am pleased she is so happy. I have trim to put up and a couple of small repairs from the installation...

03/05/2022

After tutoring a calligraphy student I dropped in to the Tandy Leather Company on my way back to the North end. I bought a remnant of a split hide dyed a yummy reddish brown. When I got home I made a cover for my sketch book to help keep it fresher. Time will tell if it will work well or not. But here is my suede leather cover. Love the star closure.

02/21/2022

I tried encaustics. I've heard about it, but never tried it. I love the relief, but the crows only show up when the surface is lit as they are a very dark purple and green sheen (Like and oil slick) I thought it fun to work. I couldn't find my paint stripper, so I used my oven on broil and watched it very carefully. I like black, red and silver so that was my pallet except I needed more black and then I got some bronze.... more to come.

01/13/2022

I am presenting at my Sumi painting group on February 1st. I am showing members how to carve into an eraser to make a stamp for signing their paintings. In Japan it is called tensho. To the Occidental members the symbols used in Chinese/Japanese stamps are very foreign and one needs to be careful to have a native speaker let you know if it means what you hope it means. To go to the trouble of carving your own tensho you want the meaning to be spot on. Once the meaning is confirmed carving won't take too long.

Using Art Deco and Nouveau alphabets you can create monograms that have a wide variety of shapes, making them very versatile; and the look isn't like one just used some type; it looks very artistic. Making stamps like this for gifts is a great idea. You can artistically create monograms for just married couples or graduates. The stamps can be used to stamp books for personal libraries or notecards. Most people don't have a clue as to how to put letter forms together to make something artistic and not just letter forms. Have fun. Enjoy what you're making.

In preping for my presentation I had books, tensho, monograms, stamp pads, and cutting tools sitting on my desk. I sketched it and as of this posting only have an ink sketch, but I took a photo of the scene I sketched. Watercolor comes next.