AGAIN - A CHANGE OF CREATIVE PACE

 

My body has decided, over the last few months, to give me a hard time.  My balance is really poor, and I have been trekking to and from an oxygen chamber (supposed to help people who have had strokes), and I have been busy not doing enough vestibular therapy exercises, because I hate exercising and my brain rebels and I find myself inexorably drawn outside to the studio instead of indoors to exercise.

Working with my enamels, which involves balancing a blazing red hot bowl on a metal trivet and carrying it gingerly to and from a workbench, while it wobbles precariously, is out of the question.  I would inevitably drop the darn thing, and set light to my clothes , myself AND the studio.  Working with heavy glass is a problem too..just bending to get the glass out of the storage unit and up onto the table to be cut is difficult and exhausts me. I suppose I could have stuck with tiny bits of jewellery but it still involves cutting glass and I have very unsteady hands and it makes me nervous.

One day, while surfing the internet.  I noticed a beautiful DANDELION HEAD ENCASED IN RESIN, as a paperweight.  I knew I had a couple of packs of resin left over from experimenting a few years back, so out it came, and I began a little new creative journey into the world of resin. My husband could not understand why I insisted he stop the car so that I could collect dandelions. He noticed me eyeing front gardens, looking sideways at flowers....and was bemused when I would come back from a lone walk with pockets or plastic bags full of flower heads, he was convinced I would get arrested (mostly they were wild flowers!   Mostly.  I do admit to stealing a big white daisy from someone's garden one day, it had a broken stem and had fallen over so I figured it was dying.....) 

Here are a few of the pieces I have made so far - I enjoy working with the resin, even tho it is horribly sticky... it is safe for me right now.  No kiln, no heat, no sharp knives or glass edges.  And actually, it is fun to make things that I cannot make easily with glass in a kiln, so it is not just a new challenge, it satisfies a creative muscle.  

When adversity strikes, instead of allowing it to spoil your life, or make you feel bereft and miserable, why not try to recreate your life in a different way?  It might even be fun!!!  Here are a few pieces just to show what I have been doing.

1.  Thinking of Lalique

2.  A little love - we all need love

3. Botanical paperweights - real flowers and petals

4. Finally .... A pendant full of wishes! One of my favourite pieces. It took me ages to get it out of its mould, but it was worth the effort...I shall wear it, and wish for better health to be able to pursue my creative loves.