Glass

Glass ball with bubbles of air in it. I’m a bit of a collector of glass paperweights. I started collecting about thirty years ago when I got two with gold and silver leaf embedded in them. My latest one was a few weeks ago when I bought a apple shaped one with glass spirals. Given my current situation I don’t think I will be buying any more.

A glass world

Glass paperweight

Like a water world with tiny golden islands on an ultramarine sea.

I have a few paperweights but this is my favourite. I look into it and am enchanted by how they managed to embed gold leaf into it. They must have gathered the blue glass and rippled on the black layer, then put gold leaf on and blown into the glass to make it split up or maybe just let loose gold leaf fall onto it? Then gathered (added a layer) of clear glass on top.

I’m only guessing about the technique but however it was done, it’s beautiful.

Jazz melody

Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was melody. My melody is Jazz. Subtle juxtaposition of lilting tunes and jagged zinging dischords….

I added gold leaf to add the sparks of musical energy.. I used felt pens for the background. I drew triangles around dots that had bled through from the other side of the page.

A few recent doodles

Playing and twisting lines. Black and white, gold and grey. Plus gold leaf. A bit of collage too. Its a bit of fun, different ideas, not sticking to one style. Using contours and texture to get different ideas across.

One thing I do tend to do is draw profiles or three quarter portraits facing left. I discussed this with other artists a while ago. It may be that right handed artists draw left facing profiles and vice versa? Is it something that’s ever been tested?

Energy

I keep doing abstracts! This one is based on electricity and uses gold leaf for the sparks!

Gold leaf, gold, grey and black felt pen, bits of paper that held the gold leaf. For the prompt for today for #bandofsketchers which was ‘energy’.

I enjoyed doing this collage, but the gold leaf was fiddly. I cut out a star but it didn’t work very well.

Cat work in progress

Looking through my photos of small paintings with gold leaf, I found this of my girl cat. I think I was about half way through this painting. I used the gold leaf to emphasise her eyes and the cushion behind her. I know I have a bit left over. I was not very good at attaching the gold leaf, its hard to stop it wrinkling and breaking up, but I would say its fun to use and have a go if you fancy it.