giveaway

Don't forget to head on over to martawrites for the giveaway tomorrow! I had some of that beautiful blue mixed ink leftover so I decided to print a bag for the etsy shop.

wabi-sabi placemats

Wabi-Sabi is the Japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection. In our everyday lives, isn't this really what it's all about? I think so. Keeping your eyes open for hidden surprises, seeing the beauty in a chipped plate, a scratched table, a faded book.
My inspiration for these placemats came from this way of thinking, and from Japanese sumi-e ink paintings. Simple strokes which evoke a feeling. My strokes here are in the form of wispy black merino, laid and felted to resemble branches. I have a few more mental sketches which I'd like to try using this placemat medium. It's like a canvas of sorts, and laying out the wool strands almost echoes painting.

** The lovely Marta of martawrites is having a giveaway this Thursday featuring my ekster apron. Leave a comment for a chance to win!

green

Not much to say, just pictures to share.

11 lessons further

Monday past was my second last ceramics lesson. I had glazed three of my vessels the week before, and was quite excited to see how they had turned out. My favorite of the entire batch is a simple cylindrical vase, which might I add I threw entirely on my own. After it had dried to the leather-hard stage, lead letterpress type was used to imprint a small excerpt of text, namely two sentences from the song, 'Ahead by a Century' from The Tragically Hip. It's one of my favorites, and the one which introduced me to their music. The one that made me stop dead in my tracks, at the age of 15, in my old Canadian home, in a time when I listened to anything but that genre. The one which I still find so hauntingly beautiful, I still get goosebumps when I hear that guitar.