Carlow Made Pop - Up Shop and Carlow Arts Festival 2015

     Start of the Summer is always busy and inspiring. Lush countryside  views and many Summer festivals begin.

     I had a pleasure to show my new floral range designs and Summer ring collection at Carlow Made Pop - Up Shop during the Carlow Arts Festival. It is one of the biggest season's festivals in Co. Carlow when many local and invited artists are exhibiting.

     Carlow Made is a small group of local artists and craftspeople active during the past few years.  This year our group had a lovely shop unit in Carlow Shopping Centre. Work displayed at the pop - up shop included knitwear, handwoven textiles, quilts, pottery, jewellery, woodwork, cildren's clothes, handmade toys, paintings and prints.

     I was particularly happy with my black and white display. Often it is challenging  to set up a stand in the new venue but this shop had really useful fittings I could use along with my adjustable height table and frames from Ikea. I like the mix of TK Maxx props I have.

     The most enjoyable moments during the festival were taking part at Adventures in Abstract Art painting workshop facilitated by Cora Murphy. Wonderful tutor and a great group! We had so much fun and I can wait to paint more. I also enjoyed checking out little Pop - Up Galleries and AIB Éigse Open Submission exhibition at VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art.

     I would liked to visit the Festival of Writing and Ideas taking place in picturesque Borris village but it was one bridge too far this year for me. I remember well the festival atmosphere last year when FORM Designmade in Carlow had first joint exhibition in the Old Laundry at Borris House.

    

     Thanks to everyone who visited Carlow Made Pop - Up shop and I hope you enjoyed the arts festival.

     One more thing to say - we are holding a Summer Giveaway on Valg Studio Facebook page at the moment with a chance to win one of our whimsical designs and treat a friend. To enter press HERE.

All the best,

Liga

Making Floral Birds

         Jewellery inspired by nature is special, I would say dreamy. Sometimes it reflects the symbolic meaning it may have and is important to us. For me the birds symbolise freedom, flowers celebrate natural beauty and femininity.

      Every year I'm making flower canes. I have made various cane designs: simple, common (I think every clayer at some stage has made at least one rose cane) and some complicated flower canes too. Now I am in love with my own tiny flower design canes. For the background I like to use just one colour, it works equally well for various shapes.

     I have been making birds in the past and I was using a blank bird shape base I filled with various cane slices but ideally I wanted to make a bird pendant just using polymer clay. Early this Spring I felt it's the right time. I sketched, cut out various shapes, thought about fastenings, chain or cord and many other things. Challenging was to find the solution for the border around the pendant. I didn't wanted to use one colour line around it so I tried to add organic line of translucent clay pieces  with inclusions (in this case it was glitter and powder) and I'm happy how it worked out.

Scroll down to have a look at step by step process and of course I had to make the  matching earrings.

Enjoy the Spring and Summer, birds singing and flowers blooming!

Take care,
Liga