Maniq Monday for real

Final stages of preparation on Deirdre

Had such a great day crafting side by side with Heather , Me working on Deirdre and  Heather working on her clock . These pictures show Deidre almost complete ready for paint , and I know she looks a little busy at the moment the first coat of black base coat will put pay to that . I calculate there is probably about 6 hours of painting before she can be sealed and finished .

Full frontal showing detail to chest piece , rotten and  burnt flesh . I haven't decided yet whether to do pustules and blisters .

No this isn't a moustache.

Side view of Cyclopean visor

Maniq Easter Monday.... me working on Deirdre

Me working on Deirdre

Had a Great day working on Deirdre and I have gotten her to the point where she is ready for paint.

I must admit I have spent a hell of a long time finishing her, but there as been a lot going off this year and my muse left me for awhile . My muse/ mojo is now back with a vengeance and already planning the next project. Excuse the bewildered expression I didn't realise I was having my photo taken .

Spelling bee

cool retro pick ups

Another couple of cool pick up items I think these are early sixties but not sure . The letters will probably end up on a canvass or some similar project.

50's Ray gun....maybe

Could this be a 1950's ray gun??

This is actually a 1950's automotive battery charger but when I saw it I couldn't pass it up . It looks  more like a 50's taser to me . I was actually going to turn this into a steampunk weapon but not sure that I can bring myself to change it , it is one on the coolest things I've found.

what a cool 50's design

how cool is this hey

Crank up the Tazer

Jess by the fire

How Cold??

I wouldn't have said it was that cold on Saturdy at  Fleetwood, but somebody had recently had an hair cut and was suffering from the cold. She even had to put on her sweatshirt and sit by the fire . Bless you Jess.

Ladies Twilight Dreams canvas's 12th of March 2016

Finished Twilight Dreams Projects

Here are the finished projects from Saturdays Workshop at The Craft Company, Fleetwood

Although the ladies started off with the same kit, the personal objects they brought or bought make every canvas completely different and they all turned out stunning .

Moira's

Sandra's

Alison's

Jane's

Marg's

Twilight Dreams gesso workshop 12th march 2016

Steampunk Goddess

Hi Guys , this is the latest of my Twilight Dreams ( black gesso ) canvass's this one is titled steampunk Goddess and is from my latest workshop at The Craft Company in Fleetwood. I must admit this is very symmetrical for me and although I'm not adverse to symmetry, I must admit I do prefer asymmetry. There are many different layers and dimensional elements to this piece as you can see from Venus to railway tracks .

Hope you like it

Soundtrack to my week 08/03/16

Soundtrack to my week

Adventures in Stereogram world

I had a really good week as far as music goes this week. I have been on the lookout for a stereo system to play my vinyl and cassettes on ( yeah I really am that old ). While perusing one second hand shop, I found a 1980's Sharp stereo system, pictured below. No Speakers. Is it Working? I asked, The shop keepers  reply was a shrug of the shoulders . I plugged it in and the turntable started turning but still no speakers meant I couldn't try it . Do I take a chance ? How much is it I asked .......£4 was the reply . Ok I said, I'll take a chance .So I take it home with no speakers to test it .

Later that same day in a different town I walk into another second hand shop and guess what I spy? Tucked away at the back of the shop is only a 1970's Toshiba Stereogram in excellent cosmetic condition . Now I know that this is ten years older than the one I've just bought ..... but it has speakers! So, to the question, how much ? The answer £50 . Is it all working I ask . Yes but there is no belt for the turntable, hmmm I says, I couldn't possibly pay £50 not knowing if the turntable works or not . So we do the dance and I walk away, ( when I say walked away I staggered away this thing weighs a tonne ), with it for £25, result!! ( there was also a treadle sewing machine in the deal as well but that's a story for another day.

So £30 two stereograms one has no speakers one has no turntable belt .I goes home and I plug the sharp in and attached the Toshiba speakers . I turn it on , we have power I select phono and lift the arm and the turntable turns. I lower the needle to the record and its alive, wow!!! what a sound from a system that's 35 years old . So I am happy to say that my purchases were a success  sometimes you buy a lemon but this time the boy did good, oh and by the way did I tell you I'd picked up another treadle sewing machine as well .......

Soundtrack to my week has been as follows

Judas Priest :- Killing Machine :- Vinyl
Stryper :- ISAIAH 53:5 :- Vinyl
Thin Lizzy :- Black Rose :- Vinyl
Dr Hook :- Rising :- Vinyl
Dividium :- In Terrifying Colour :- CD Ultra rare Instrumental version courtesy of the band
Iron Maiden :- Book of Souls :- CD

Mini Brag Books

Brag book samples

I guys here are a few examples from my brag book workshops . I have taught this half day workshop about a dozen times . It has always been sold out and everyone seems to have enjoyed it . I haven't taught it for a couple of years now so maybe its time to revamp it. If you would like to do this at your local shop I am happy to travel if there is enough interest .
Thanks for looking and come back soon to John Glossop's Dreams of Vintopia.

Creative ExpressionsShrine #3

Sunday Night Offering

I know, my apologies I am a day late.

But here it is shrine number 3 . I know I am biased but this is my favourite , The shrine is covered in my homemade faux copper and metal embellishment . The head is made using Creative Expressions Mutli Tex Powder, Painted first with black gesso and the Micaceous Iron Oxide . The stand and bobbins are painted with Cosmic shimmer Gilding Polish and then wrapped in the faux copper .

Creative Expressions Shrine Sample #2

Friday Night Offering

Well here we go .I said I'd try and put the second sample up of the Creative Expression shrine . This one was done by Heather as she is a lot better at the girly stuff than I am but it shows the versatility of the Shrines. This one is wrapped in paper (Couture Creations, vintage rose garden), it was then embellished with various metal embellishments and self adhesive swirl pearls. The pin tops and the rosette centre are coloured with Cosmic Shimmer gilding polish. Other embellishments include a couple of resin roses and some chain. The centre piece is an old necklace.

Creative Expressions Shrine Sample #1

What's happening its Thursday ??

Yeah, yeah, I know its Thursday but I wanted to show you these samples I made using MDF Shrines cut by Lisa Horton for                     Creative Expressions.

My plan is to put one on tonight one tomorrow and one Saturday.

The top picture shows the front and centre picture, I wrapped the entire shrine in comic book paper and painted the interior black to accentuate the contents and the front face of the shrine. Then I added a bingo counter to the centre of a bottle cap and stuck this to the apex of the front face. Inside the shrine I placed the old die-cast jaguar, Monopoly piece, Scrabble tile and Howzat dice. On the outside I attached a couple of pieces of hardware in the form of a little door handle and a bookplate finally I added the Boy's room text ( deliberately spelled wrong just to get comments and open a dialogue ) the last thing to do, was to cut a couple of phrases from the comic book and stick these on. All done.

The stand is made from the recycled base of a figurine painted with cosmic shimmer gilding polish topped off with a couple of wooden bobbins covered with mini 4 x 4 tyres which I thought looked quite cool.

I have tried to show you all the angles to give you an idea of the end effect. The pictures don't do the finished article full justice

Don't forget to check out the other pieces, later in the week.

Soundtrack to my week

This week has mainly been about The War of the Worlds

Yeah what can I say listened to it a lot this week but have also listened to the following:-

Enrique Iglesias :- Sex and Love

Bryan Adams :- Reckless

Chris Rea :- The Very Best Of

Creative Expressions new product showcase

My Sample piece using the new Creative Expressions Products

Just love these products and this piece, as you can see its not my usual style although it is heavily textured and I've already been asked to teach this in future workshops.

The new products are as follows

Lisa Horton's MDF Hexagon tiles

Cosmic Shimmer Lustre Paints

Cosmic Shimmer Gilding Polish

Multi-tex mould and paste texture powder

               Here is the piece on display at  The N.E.C in the new product showcase cabinet.