The Real Artist Emerges From Vickieville

 Every so often, the "Lady With The Agate Eye" has to remind me who the real artist is around here (hint: It ain't me!).

Along with the rest of the world, we are coping with the isolation and myriad other effects of the covid situation. And while we haven't had any cases in our area, we dearly miss seeing family, friends and...tourist customers! Empathetic, logical people feel it worse than others and Vickie is such a person. So a while back I suggested she "retreat" to a place of her making and we decided to call it "Vickieville". She, of course, is the mayor but I got to be Director of Sanitation! The theory is to create an environment where you, not the government bureaucrats, call the shots. And it seems to be working because after months of artistic ennui, she is back at her passion. Here is the first result.

It is different in many ways from her previous work and that is understandable since an abstract artist like Vickie paints her feelings and mood at the moment.

This piece, entitled "The View From Vickieville" is large (30"X40") and shows a new, simpler colour palate but a sense of confidence not shown recently. It is a reflection of a lot of practical changes such as giving away massive amounts of art materials, clothes and household items and making a practical assessment of our situation and how to maximize it for our physical and emotional well being. We are both eating better and exercising a bit and losing weight. We have more energy.

If you are not coping well, I suggest you give this idea a try. True, everyone has a different set of circumstances but remember, if you don't feel good about yourself, you can't have a very positive effect on those around you. We don't look upon this as ignoring reality. It's still there. But this creates a bit of a mental and emotional "buffer zone" that is helping us to have a more positive outlook.

We fear that this covid cloud is going to be with us for a long time- possibly the rest of our lives- and I can tell you that life is pretty good in Vickieville these days!

I'd love to get your thoughts.

Cheers and stay healthy and sane.

Time to Shut Down The Cab King

 Half way through the summer I bit the bullet and bought a Cab King cabbing machine and it has exceeded even my high expectations!

It was so much fun that even the lady with the agate eye tried it out!

But now the days are getting shorter and it's getting pretty chilly in my Lap of Lapidary Shop so it's time to shut 'er down and do a clean up and let me tell you, it will be a lot easier with the Cab King! I may even be able to con "The Real Artist" into helping if she wants to collect the rock dust to make pigment!

My last task was to finish a bunch of local Bay of Fundy agate and jasper I had rough cut earlier and I have to say they turned out even better than I had hoped! The Cab King is awesome!

I also finished off some more petrified wood so there will be lots to work with on the jewelry bench when the snows are being blown around by our winter gales. And speaking of that, we are going to get a visit from Hurricane Teddy on Tuesday with wind gusts supposed to top out at 130+ KPH so that should be exciting!

Work is continuing on our new web site- the Seawall Emporium- and I have about 35 pieces ready for photography with a goal of having 50 listed by the end of October so stay tuned!

Stay healthy and sane!

Wire Wrapping Grooved Stoned

 Today I'm going to show you how I wire wrap pendant stones that have been grooved around the edge. I'll use the three stones I featured in yesterday's video. Actually, I'll use two of the three as one had a small chip come off in the groove cutting process and the customer chose a new stone.

A few words about the video. First you will notice that the venue has changed. That's because I'm working on my assembly bench located within the spacious confines of the studio belonging to the real artist in the family- Vickie. And secondly, I apologize for the overuse of the phrase "So now" as well as the phantom voice over "one" that my highly trained videographer threw in. You truly do get what you paid for!

Several people have pointed out that the third tip was missing from yesterday's video so I included it at the beginning of today's. I'd like to say that I did it as a teaser but it was just a glitch. Hey, I'm old!

So here goes:

The results were very satisfying as I ended up with three stones that are very tightly wrapped and look awesome. So the next step will be to choose the leather cords. Stay tuned.

Today's Output- 3 wire wrapped Petrified Wood Cabs

Latest Pieces from The Lap of Lapidary

Well, it certainly has been a "different" summer- in many ways.

First, there has been the weather- definitely not the year for "fun in the sun" as we have had very few nice days to date.

And then there's "the Virus".

Although there are tourists from other parts of our "Atlantic Bubble" in town, we decided not to open the gift shop because of its small size and will look to establish a significant web presence in the fall. That has meant that it is really quiet around here and while we miss meeting all the interesting people who stop by, it has given us more time to "create". Vickie has been doing some very interesting artwork which is nearing completion and when finished, I'll do a post on it.

It's been fun playing with my new toy- the 8 inch Cab King and a new old (50+ years) toy- my 10 inch Mercury oil saw that daughter Sandra updated with a new and more powerful motor.

I am in the midst of a massive project to create pendants, ear rings and rings from the beautiful petrified wood slabs gifted to me by Glenn Cooke (miss you guys!) but have taken some time to finish a few pieces of local stone that are now ready for wrapping.

The first one is a perfect Digby Neck pendant.

It is shaped just like The Neck- right down to Brier Island- with little druzy pockets in each segment and is made up of the basic rock that makes up The neck- basalt and agate.

The next piece comes from Brier Island- a beautiful piece of dark green brecciated (broken) jasper

I plan on cutting a groove around the edge and wrapping it with silver wire. Should be dynamite!

And then there are these two little gems. They come from a small stone found on a nearby beach that offered a really nice surprise when cut. The smaller is about an inch long.

The colour and detail on the patterning is awesome and deserving of a nice setting.

All for now. Hope to see you soon. Cheers!

What We've Been Up To

So how are we all bearing up in these "unique" times? It is so strange not having tourists visiting the shop but we are still keeping busy.

The new Cab King has proven to be amazing and we are producing some really outstanding finished product.

I have run into a bit of a problem though in that the "real artist" has decided she likes working on it as well and has even demanded her own apron!

Fortunately, she got bored and returned to her own side of the wall where she has been busy making gelli prints. I have no idea of the process other than the fact that I can no longer remove any of the various weeds around the house. The results are pretty cool I must admit. Here are a couple that are about 12x16 inches.

I find the detail amazing and, frankly struck by how beautiful an image a weed can make. Almost makes up for the fact I live my life in a grade 7 science project!

Next week I will shift my attention to some cutting on the 10 inch saw and making some polished specimens on my Hi-Tech slant lap so stay tuned!

Back in the (Lapidary) Saddle Again!

Well, I held out as long as I could.

My original plan was to wait on cutting until I had completely cleaned up the shop but Vickie had found some really interesting stuff recently and I had an itchy trigger finger so I put some oil in the small saw and voila!

Here's a great piece of agate with several different types.

We have some lovely examples of fortification (grey area at the top) and plume and there are some gorgeous little islets in the center.

This next piece is a great example of a stone that didn't look all that good on the outside but on the inside...

Gorgeous areas of fortification and plume- what some would call our local moss agate. The patterning and colours are very organic and I have cut one slice and plan on getting a few more. These will make some beautiful small pendants.

So now I guess I have to get the big saw going so we can get at some of her larger pieces. Stay tuned for more interesting materials in subsequent posts.

Life on Digby Neck

Every summer (well maybe not THIS summer) we get tourists stopping by and saying how much they would love to live here. Well, we sure love living on Digby Neck but it isn't without its challenges. Take yesterday for example. It started raining softly mid afternoon and the winds slowly picked up. After supper, Vickie checked Windy, her weather app, and casually informed me that the winds we had expected to peak at about 90 KPH were now projected to get to 110! So by about 10 PM the winds were roaring off the bay across the street and it was like someone was hitting the front of the house with a firehose. Amazingly, the power was still on.

We went to bed (our bedroom is at the front of the house) but the noise made sleeping impossible. And besides, by now the whole house was shaking and moaning (it is, remember, over 170 years old!). So we decided to move to the back bedroom. The sound was a little less but the shaking was even worse. It as like a freight train was running in the room with us. So we went downstairs to the main floor expecting it to be better but there is a vent in the kitchen that was clanging so we climbed back upstairs and ended up in the TV room. By now it's about 1 am and the wind gusts are over 120 but amazingly, I fall asleep. And when I wake up around 4, an eerie quiet has descended on the house (what I imagine the old cone of silence might have been like). We go back to sleep and wake up to a sky that looks like this

.

Amazingly,the house is still standing and we didn't even lose any more shingles and it is supposed to be sunny and +14 by the afternoon. Welcome to Digby Neck!

But not to worry, spring is definitely in the air. The Great Blue Herons are back in the marsh.

And if we can ever put this virus in our rear view windows, maybe we'll get to see you this summer.

Stay healthy.

The Spring of Covid 19

Well, we sure didn't see THAT coming!

Like most of the rest of the world, we have been self isolating. It was a little easier for us because I had my second hip replaced on Feb. 24th and because I had a nasty post op staph infection after #1, I had been told to stay away from people for a while and since I was using a walker, visits to town weren't an issue.

Then we started hearing reports of the effects of the corona virus and it became obvious that this spring would not be "Business as Usual".

On the hip front, things have been going great. Thanks to my loving wife (A.K.A. Nurse Ratchet") I did my rehab faithfully and I hope to be fully cleared to get back to normal activities when I meet with the surgeon by telephone later this week.

That means that I will be able to get back to doing lapidary in my shop!

As per normal here in Nova Scotia, early spring lingers because of the icebergs and cold water temperatures but the weather is slowly improving and Vickie (she with the agate eye) has been able to do a bit of rockhounding. here is her latest find.

This is a great specimen of Bay of Fundy flame agate and I can't wait to cut and polish a face.

But that's not the only thing she has been up to. When you are married to a mixed media artist, you come to realize that, somewhere in your house, there is one of everything! Vickie uses pieces of her art, combined with 50+ years of accumulated "stuff" to create art books and here's her latest.

The little blond in the last pic is the artist herself as a (very) young girl growing up in Norwayand when I look at it I am very jealous of that little boy.

So what happens now?

At some point, life will gradually return to "normal" but what that normal is remains to be seen. The Fundy tides will still come in and go out like clockwork but I suspect many other things will change forever.

Our shop may or may not even open this summer. I doubt we will see many tourists, that's for sure! At the time of this writing, we are still shipping our famous Seawall Fibres hand dyed yarn all over the world and I am selling some jewelry through the Seawall Fibres web site. I will probably put more pieces on the site in the near future.

Digby, and Digby Neck will dearly miss the tourists. For many, the reason will be economic and while that will be a factor here as well, what I will miss most of all is meeting all the wonderfully interesting people from all over the world who pass through our doors- many who have become friends.

If you had hoped or planned to visit us this summer, don't cross us off your list. When you come to Digby Neck- the most interesting part of the most beautiful province in the most beautiful country in the world- you won't be disappointed! And I guarantee that you will leave with memories that will last a lifetime (and possibly a piece from our shop!).

Stay safe. Stay healthy. Let's beat this thing and put it in the rear view mirrors of our lives.
And let's count our blessings.

The Fish Are Getting Larger!

With the cooler weather, the focus around The Artist's Mark has shifted inside to the art and jewelry studios. And while our shop sign is now sitting on the ground, if the sign says "Open" come on in. We plan on being open, at least on weekends, to the end of the year.

Currently, we are doing a bit of a renovation in the art area, but Vickie has been painting up a storm. As discussed in a previous post, her current fascination is the interaction of ink and watercolour. And her focus has been on creating "Fundy Fish", whimsical creations that highlight just how "special" this area is.

She started small but as the creations flew off the shelf, her focus has shifted to seeing if the idea could be executed in a larger format. So now she has moved to an image that fits into a 5"x 7" frame.

By the way, the above is shown in a "Ribba" frame by Ikea. Online reviews of these have been a little spotty but we really like them and find them very good value. Who knows how large these fish can grow to become. Lobster season starts here on Monday so with them gone, these fish might get huge!

And speaking of Ikea, they make another line of frames called "Hovsta" which we also like. here's another of Vickie's latest works shown in this frame.

We hope to be able to offer these pieces online at some point and if that becomes possible, we'll let you know.

And by the way, I have been asked to participate in an exciting lapidary product trial so stay tuned for further developments!

Cheers!

We Have Fish!

In previous posts, I have chronicled the ongoing scientifically experimental nature of my better half- She Who MUST Be Obeyed. Its most recent manifestation is ink- homemade ink and also how ink could interact with watercolours and other materials in her artwork.

She started by simply putting the two together on different papers using different brushes without paying much attention to shapes and colours but in the process, a fascinating shape started to emerge.

FISH!

But Vickie doesn't see fish the way most do. She is fascinated by things like steampunk and whimsy and a mark making process called "zentangles" that has led to her producing images that have even been put on t shirts.

So her fish eventually morphed into...FUNDY FISH... fish that morphed into hybrid creatures with unique personalities.

She started small (about 4 inches x 6 inches)

But gradually, they got larger.

These are two to three times larger and now she is making them in all sizes and colours. So now the question is, how big can she go. Some of Vickie's pieces are very large 4 feet by 3 feet so should she make them larger still?

With no real promotion, we have sold many of them and since, eventually we will be offering these via the Seawall Fibres web site, we now have to take a trip to Halifax to source larger mats and watercolour sheets. She even has to get bigger brushes! And I have to crack the whip to make sure I have inventory!

I have successfully co-opted the cats in this endeavour because apparently, they also really like fish!

So stay tuned and, if you like them, let us know and also let us know if you think they would look good in a larger size. For your information, Vickie is a signature member of the Federation of Canadian Artists and we sell her work by size- $2.25 Canadian per square inch of image size so since these have a lot of white space, the price is reasonable and they fit in standard sized frames.

We want your feedback!

Cheers.

Something's Missing!

Several weeks ago we sustained a direct, 2 day hit from Hurricane Dorion and apart from losing power for 52 hours (no big deal when you have a propane generator) we suffered no ill effects- not even the loss of a shingle!

Well, last week they forecast a little "blow" that turned turned out to be somewhat larger with wind gusts topping out at 120+ KPH! This time we had some damage to an area of siding at the back but the real loss was our beautiful shop sign that for several years has served as a beacon for tourists and locals alike as they travel The Neck.

As you can see, our sign got blown right off its clips and is now sitting about 30 feet out in the marsh. It's not the end of the world as we had already cut the wood for a new one we were going to make over the winter. I had secured the "closed" sign by a bungee cord but the hooks holding it were also pulled right out of the post so it is now jerryrigged as well.

But not to worry. As they say in that movie, "We can rebuild him- even better!"

And in the meantime, although our sign might be gone, we're still here and open most days (although we will be in Halifax this weekend) so if you are looking for yarn or that perfect gift, call us at 902 482-2188 and we'll make arrangements to meet you at some point.

Cheers,

Fall Comes To The Neck

Well, another tourist season is drawing to a close and the scene of activity now shifts.

Yesterday, the last stones were groove cut and all the saws, tumblers and wheels have now been drained,cleaned and put to bed. The VT Rock Lab is in hibernation mode.

The oil cooled 10 inch saw is in Dartmouth where, hopefully, my talented grandboys will be replacing the neanderthal 1/3 HP motor with a new 3/4 HP beauty and mounting it to a nice laminated countertop piece courtesy of East Coast Countertops. Who knows, knowing them it might come back equipped with bluetooth!

So now is the time when I take inventory of what I need to make over the winter and get to work at my bench in Vickie's studio.

The first priority is to finish some ear ring and ear ring/ pendant sets as I sold quite a few of these over the summer. I get to use this beautiful space as long as I keep my mouth shut and don't disturb the REAL artist.

Here she is working under the close supervision of one of the two studio cats (the true rulers of the domain!). And here are a few of the pieces she is working on.

So while it is cold and rainy outside, we are all set for a fun, creative winter inside.

The shop is still open and we still have a good inventory of Seawall Fibres yarn so if you are in the area, come on by!You might want to call first to make sure we are here.

The Great Ink Experiment

It started as it often does, with Vickie on a quest for knowledge. Actually, it is more an exploration, a voyage of discovery of possibilities, and she's been on it all her life.

"What would Peter be like if I could mold him completely in my image?", that sort of thing!

Vickie is constantly learning and taking in knowledge of anything and everything. I have often said she might die one day but she will NEVER grow old, as she is one of the youngest people I know, mentally.

Hence my entire married life has been lived in the context of a grade 8 science experiment and I have often felt that I might be one of the exhibits.

This time the subject was inks. She often uses them in her art and wanted to explore the possibility of making her own.

Example of various inks with w/c - India, walnut, acrylic

Step 1 was to scour the Internet for info which led her to the idea of making ink from acorns (as opposed to oaks). Thus the experiment began.

The first phase was the gathering process, which was made exponentially easier when we discovered that our friends, Dan and Lucie, were sitting on a veritable ink mine of acorns. In short order we had several pounds of them. But, there was a bit of a problem in that all she wanted were the caps, and so we drifted into acorn Processing phase, where caps were separated from the acorn via a rubber mallet and pulverized in the kitchen Ninja (which, by the way, made a heck of a noise!).

Then we entered the Extraction phase. This was accomplished by dumping the cap particles into a stainless cookpot along with a couple of rusted nails (for added flavour) and a bit of vinegar plus a small bunch of cloves to preserve the batch, along with copious amounts of water. This witch's brew then had to simmer for 3 days and, since it gave off a rather pungent odor, what better spot than in MY workshop??? Actually, while the smell was strong, it was not unpleasant.

Now we come to the next phase, Filtration. Using paper coffee filters (mine) and a filter basket (mine) and numerous plastic containers (also mine), the pulp was extracted.

She has yet to find a viable use for this stuff, but it's just a matter of time! BTW, the colander is also mine!

Now the big moment! Would it actually work as ink??? We dipped a piece of paper (mine) into the concoction and voila!

ignore the "cut/cut" copy - the ink is the brown stuff on the right

At this point we knew that the fluid we had obtained would colour paper, so now the question was, could we concentrate the colour? To do this, more boiling was necessary to evaporate excess fluid. The original strip is sitting, half covered, in a window (blocking MY view) in order to test light fastness. Finally Vickie was satisfied with the consistency and colour and it was time to test it to see how it reacted with watercolours.

The test strips are at the bottom and as can be seen, the colour has darkened and it makes a beautiful graduated wash, lifts almost entirely (apparently this is a good thing - she says she still needs to add gum arabic - I don't know why she couldn't just use Canadian gum, but apparently this stuff is the ink equivalent of  "eye of newt"), makes a lovely edge (she says) wet on dry (???) and spreads fabulously wet on wet (more????). Also, it interacts with watercolour perfectly!

So the experiment appears to have been a total success, and I can look forward to many more brewing vats appearing in my shop in the future.

When all is said and done, she ended up with about 3/4 cup of ink....I now understand why others charge $18 for a small bottle! Incidentally, if you want to check out her earlier experiment using the rock sludge from my lapidary shop to make watercolour, check out the earlier blog post.

Of course, this isn't the final destination. The voyage of discovery continues and where she goes next is anybody's guess, but when she gets there, it will be on the blog, so stay tuned.