DESIDERATUM Art Jewelry ... Whimsical Designs... 12 for '12

Cat and Kitten

The Crows

 Twisted Fish

 Twisted Men

Makin' Music.. horn and strings

 Primitive People

 Fishbones

 Little Birds

 Dancing Men.......... ar-tic-u-la-ted

 Cat and Bird

 Wow?!

Scissors and Thread

 Our DESIDERATUM Art Jewelry Earring designs are created using solid Copper and Sterling Silver.

 Every pair is manipulated into shape by John and my hands, here in our studio.

They are textured for character... hammered for strength... and forged to contour.

  Hope you like them... We think they are Fun.

We made extras so they are all stocked up.

 DESIDERATUM Art Jewelry,
  

  

 All the background drawings were done with pen, ink and washes

 and are from my sketchbooks.

What Did I Say About Waking Me Up?

Disturbed, Gwen Buchanan

Cats are their own bosses... 

Do what they want, when they want.. 

Independent.

They only tolerate us Humans.

We are here to serve.

They have us trained well.

8 1/2" x 11" White, Black and Sanguine Conte on colored card stock.

 Desideratum Art/Jewelry Studio, St. Martins, NB

Hand # 7

Hand at Rest, Gwen Buchanan

 ...very, very loosely done .. sketchy...  almost a doodle,

 exploring  texture, line, washes, cross-hatching, tone....

 This drawing was done earlier in the spring

'cause lately......

I've been working non-stop in the jewelry studio 

catching up, sending out, making more, pulling out my hair and drinking lots of coffee...

as a matter of fact my  hands really do look like the one above..   

rather worn out and wonky

but no time for resting hands at the moment,

 'cause I'm........ 

 "Making hay while the sun shines"

 John Heywood, 1497-1580, writer ... best known for his Proverbs

even if it's raining.

Cheers All  xoxo

Lily

Lily by Gwen Buchanan

 She tells me that her name is Lily... 

  I will always think of her that way.

She cautiously considers her path upon the morrow...

Forward...
Backward...

Come what may.

GB

"There is a Garden in her Face,

Where Roses and Lilies grow."

 Thomas Campion, 1567-1620, Composer, Poet.

 ...my drawing desk just after I finished "Lily"

... yes, cluttered, I know... but really, I need all those things.

Lily... approx. 7 1/2' x 9 1/2", Sanguine conte and charcoal, with matt and frame 16" x 18 1/2"

..  The Hand Series will return with my next post.

Hand # 6

 Accuse, Gwen Buchanan

"But alas to make me 

the fixed figure for the time of scorn

to point his slow unmoving finger at."

 Othello 4, 2, 54... Shakespeare

 

I rubbed away most of the red chalk  to give the background more subtlety 

 and used the eraser to expose the white of the paper as

 the highlights of the hand and the gauze of the sleeve.

 I outlined the finger with graphite to represent the darkness associated with accusation.

 This is my interpretation of  Leonardo's "Study of a Hand"  c. 1483, 

  His was done on dark grey prepared paper with black chalk heightened with white.

It is stored at Windsor Castle Royal Library, England.
also found in "Leonardo da Vinci, Sketches and Drawings", Frank Zollner, Taschen.

 6" x 8" , sanguine conte, graphite, eraser on card stock weight paper

 created at Desideratum Art and Jewelry Studio, St. Martins, NB Canada

Hand # 5

 

How do you like your coffee?  Gwen Buchanan

The Turks have a saying...

" Coffee should be Black as Hell, 

Strong as Death and

 Sweet as Love"

 ... I like mine with Foamed milk and Chocolate shavings... 

...a morning Ritual ...

 It got me thinking...

about how many people are taking part in this same morning ritual worldwide... 

...we are doing it Together... but separately,  in different places..  

and as a continual wave as the world rotates...

it's a huge communal Earthly coming together... even if we drink it all by ourselves. 

6" x 10", 140 lb. Arches watercolor paper, india ink, conte, brush, pen
...found a set of 4 of these heavy pottery blue and white mugs at a favourite thrift shop in Saint John last Fall.

...created at Desideratum Art and Jewelry Studio, St. Martins, New Brunswick, Canada

Hand # 4

Sanguine... Gwen Buchanan

"Will all great Neptune's ocean

 wash this blood clean from my Hand?

No... this my hand will rather
 the multitudinous seas incarnadine,
making the red one green "

Macbeth 2, 2, 60  .... Shakespeare

... experimenting ... something about the shade of sanguine...

6" x 10",  pen/ink, india ink wash, watercolor, sanguine conte, charcoal,chalk,  140 lb Arches watercolor paper

Hands # 3

 Reach... Gwen Buchanan

"Ah, but a man's REACH should exceed his grasp,

Or what's a Heaven for?

from Andrea Del Sarto  by Robert Browning... 1812-1889

The ring in the drawing is known as  "the Goddess"..
I made it from Silver and Copper years ago.. it's my favourite.

6" x 10", Crow quill dip pen, brush on 140 lb. watercolor paper in sketch book, india ink, sepia watercolor

...drawn at Desideratum Art and Jewelry studio, St. Martins on the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick

Hands # 2

Offering, Gwen Buchanan

This line drawing was worked from a photograph taken with my web cam

... wonderful tool for self portraiture.

I like the simplicity of Line drawings..  

... attempting to describe Foreshortening, Contour, Outline..

... chewed fingernails are a bad habit...

"To see a World in a grain of sand,

And hold Heaven in a wild flower,

To hold Infinity in the Palm of your HAND, 

And Eternity in an Hour"

from Auguries of Innocence,1... by William Blake,  1757 - 1827

7" x 9" line drawing, micron pen, 65 lb.  Canson  Universal recycled acid free paper

To All Those Who Work With Their Hands... Hand #1

Hand with Pen, Gwen Buchanan

For the next while I will be posting a series of  HANDS   I drew during the last 2-3 months...

..

 There will be versions in line, paint, charcoal, conte, chalk, ink..

on plain and colored papers, rough brown paper  and watercolor paper.

This is a drawing of my hand with a pen I have had so long I can't remember where it came from,

but I like the way it feels and lays in my hand when I use it.  

I remember I was wearing that thick orange sweater to warm up 

as my hand was cold from keeping it so still in order to draw it. 

"Reason is our Soul's Left HAND"

To the Countess of Bedford,1... by John Donne, 1573-1631

approx. 12" x10" on brown paper and colored conte.

...created here in our DESIDERATUM Art and Jewelry Studio in St. Martins, 

on the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick,  Canada

How to Make A Headboard

Bohemian Headboard ... Medieval influenced

....from things you may have laying around the garage...

First you get that old door you have been saving 

that didn't fit any of your doorways and it is too nice to cut up.. so there must be another use for it..  and you were sure it would come in handy sometime... well now is the time.

...this is a 5 panel.. not sure of the age ... but it is old and it has an aged hand applied grain so it is special to me cause someone already spent a lot of time on  it before someone else threw it away.. 

It helps if it is the same size as your mattress.... or you can trim it on either end if need be.

Then you gather all your leftover thick gauge sheet steel...
we used 2 ga. which is about 1/3 " thick...

(what? ... oh... come now, everybody has sheet steel cluttering up the place, right?) that has  rusted and seen better days from lying behind the barn for years...

 gather up some big old heavy nuts and bolts... and grab your drill with the oversize drill bit .

..just leave any patterns formed by neglect on the surface of the metal.. 

it makes it more interesting and tells a story of the life it has had and where it has been.

.. you will also need to cut the steel into shapes you find appealing.. we like this gothic arch shape.. 

 and make sure they are spaced so the design  fits all the way across the door/headboard to be...

 we used an oxy-acetylene torch for cutting the steel... leaving a slightly uneven edge

 then a hand-grinder to smooth and buff up the edges for contrast... 

this steel had originally been black so the shine around the edges really emphasized the shape.

...maybe you also have some old angle iron (this is 3") to use for the the corner posts.. that is nice and sturdy ...  

and maybe some parts off an old haycutting machine... never know what is out behind the barn..

of course some folks may think this makes the headboard look more like a torture devise 

but we'll pretend they represent little decorative spindles...
  I really like the combination of these diverse gathered materials.

... put a coat or two of varnish on the steel so the rust doesn't come off on the bedcoverings or you...

clamp on a couple lights because now there is something to lean on to comfortably read your books

and Voila... 

you have a Headboard of some unusualness that will stand the test of time.. and you have cleaned up your garage and behind the barn at the same time...

...Sweet Dreams...

This is a link to a Carved Headboard that I made a long time ago.

Charles Darwin

Portrait of Darwin by Gwen Buchanan

 Because of Charles Darwin's intense studies and lifetime dedication to his work...  we understand EVOLUTION.

Ape Skull by Gwen Buchanan

...below... an excerpt from Charles Darwin's....  "Origin of Species"

""As many more individuals of each species are born than can possibly survive, and as consequently there is a frequently recurring struggle for existence, it follows that any being, if it vary in any manner profitable to itself, under the complex and sometimes varying conditions of life, will have a better chance of survival and thus be naturally selected. From the strong principle of inheritance, any selected variety will tend to propagate its new and modified form.""

Charles Robert Darwin... Born 1809... died at 73 years in 1882

to learn almost everything about his life,  go HERE ...

I especially like this excerpt from his examination of
 "The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals"  

Portrait of Darwin ...........   approx. 11" x 12",  charcoal, conte on brown paper

Ape Skull..............   approx. 8 1/2" x 11" charcoal, conte on colored cardstock

....... both kinds of paper have a great tooth for holding these drawing mediums.

The ABC's of Patterns..... K

K for KNOT...

It has been a while since I posted any pages from this little book I designed and made a few years ago..

...an Alphabet book of Patterns...

endless... no beginning... no end... eternal...

 on and on and on...

 Celtic knots also had this same element... 

smooth sailing... tight corners...

rather like life with it twists and turns....  and repetition of events

I cut the endless Knot from heavy watercolor paper ...  

...attached colored paper behind  making the image stand out...

 I remember how much I loved doing this project..  at first it seemed daunting,

then the more I thought and researched  and drew up ideas of  what could represent each letter 

and how I could  do the cutwork for each of them... 

it was like working out a puzzle... it was hard  to stop...

some were easier than others but it eventually all came together.

Years earlier, our Logo  "Becoming One"  evolved as a sort of endless Knot... with this eternal feel  ...

 twining  interwoven bodies...maybe a little medieval...

John hand-cut my logo design from Copper... it is about 7" - 8" across...

 ... we patinated it to this lovely verdigris color... 

which was then attached to the top of each of our Jewelry display stands ...

I  like the mottled effect...  it reminds me of old copper roof tops.

... our little black and white image appears at the top of each of our DESIDERATUM Art Jewelry Cards.

 ...a link to my previous ABC's of Patterns pages, 

going backwards from J.

approx. 6" x 7" x 1"... ...handbound... hardcover

George Orwell

George Orwell told it like he saw it.

..." All animals are created equal,
but some animals are more equal than others"...
animal farm, chapter 10

... Like we all still see it...

I'm sure you have read his book...   What do you think???

...8" x 9",  in my sketchbook... pen, ink, cross hatch, watercolor...  

Crow inspired by Arthur Rackham... 

Desideratum Art and Jewelry Studio, St. Martins, New Brunswick, Canada

10 Drawings of Ears..

moi

When I take a break from making earrings, on these long winter days,

I go on over to my drawing desk.

  I like to pick a subject and spend some time with it...

 but what will it be...  

perhaps a more indepth study on one of the facial features..

.....since there was no one else to consult...

I chose Ears... 

.. all the ears in this study belonged to family members and I hope they don't mind...

and their names have not been changed ... 

so don't be too severe if you know them in real life 

and their Ears here are not exactly as the ones on the sides of their heads.... 

I tried...

Well, the more I read about Ear shapes and examined them... 

the more unusual they seemed to be...

 way more than initially meets the eye...

sort of like when you repeat a word for the 100th time

and you can't understand why it is pronounced that way anymore 

and the spelling just doesn't look like a word anymore either... 

well that is how my obsession with Ears felt...

How did we ever come to have two attachments on the sides of our heads like this... 

 that we rarely pay much attention to or hardly notice.

.. but really they stick right out...and they are right there in everyone elses  face.

...parts with names of Helix and Antihelix...   Tragus and Antitragus...

Lobule, Concha and not to forget, the Ear notch...
and these are just the outward visual parts...

and even though I make my living making earrings to hang off these little attachments,

these were new words to me.

and to think all I have ever really been concerned with, about them before, 

was just a spot to hang a pair of Earrings... 

 Ears are so much more!!

... the more closely I looked at each Ear 

and discovered each ones individuality, shape, tilts, turns and little nuances...

I became entranced with them..  structural, rounded, curving, flowing lines, depth, shadows...

   

 They are beautiful flesh and blood sculptures and we each have two...

They are amazing !!

.......and without which..... how could we hear the music?

or

 ...hold our glasses up?

...drawings from my sketchbooks.............   baby, children, teenager, adults ears... pencil, conte

at DESIDERATUM Art  and Jewelry Studio, St. Martins, New Brunswick, Canada

*******


The illustration below was what first caught my eye and the instigator of my Ear Study....
 from "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes"

... an excerpt from the story with the grand title of...

 "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box"
by Arthur Conan Doyle
Illustrator  Sidney Paget

... now you will have to get the book and read the rest of it...

One Thing After Another

...approx.  8 1/2" x 11"... a page in my sketchbook... drawing and lettering... pen, brush, ink, watercolor

Gwen Buchanan,  Desideratum Art and Jewelry, New Brunswick, Canada

Borzoi

A dog bred in Russia...

perhaps developed from the Saluki and long haired Collie-types ...

once known as the Russian Wolfhound... now Borzoi...

Tall...  height at their withers is at least 29 inches..

has a silky wavy coat in a multitude of color variations....

Borzoi have elegantly long and powerful jaws... 

jaws bred for clutching wolves and game hunting...

long muscular legs...

capable of running at tremendous speed...
the word Borzoi means "swift".

due to their intelligence... and stubbornness...

one of the hardest of all breeds to train...

much patience needed...
loyal... 

rarely bark... can be aloof...

...a sight hound... keen eyesight...

They say their temperament requires understanding...

 it is not wise to annoy them.

Dogs are still taking my attention..

approx. 5½" x 8½" pen and ink, cross hatch, watercolor washes.

Trivia.... The Borzoi is the symbol of  "Alfred A Knopf"  publishing house.