Folk Art Walking Stick-Photos

Ivy Leaf and Vine Walking Stick

Today I attempted to photograph one of the walking sticks I had made.  I was really having a time of it.  If I was far enough back to capture the whole stick I lost the detail.  Also, I learned I had very few places in the house where I could place the stick upright that did not require moving furniture or art work.  After becoming thoroughly annoyed with my photo attempts, I decided that I would place the stick on the floor take a picture of it and start shooting close ups of the detail.  I was so focused on the detail of the stick that I was forgetting to check what else might be in the frame of the picture, so a lot of the photos required some serious cropping after the fact.  I guess I was not doing very well on the photos today. 

I put a cane tip on my walking stick for indoor use.  The cane tip can be removed for outdoor walking.  I have used a walking stick while hiking for years.  I had to use a cane for a while after an injury, and I must say I would rather use a walking stick any day. A walking stick helps you stand upright.  A cane makes you lean slightly to one side and forward and places a lot of weight on your hand and wrist.

This walking stick is made from a Locust sapling, a very strong hardwood.  The design was wood  burned into the stick and then painted.  Locust wood is very white, so I added an antiquing stain to the wood once it was painted to pick up the wood grain.  The stick was sealed with varnish after painting.

Diorama Update - Photo

Close up of the latest building.

Since I last blogged, I've been out of town.  I have not done any painting on the diorama.  Today I'm playing catch up with the laundry and errands.  I will start painting the last building tomorrow. 

Diorama--New Photo

I've finished painting the fourth building of the diorama.  It won't be long before I have get started on the fifth building.  There will be a sidewalk in front of the buildings, so the doors will look like they are at street level once the sidewalk is in place. 

After I have finished painting all the buildings, I'll paint the background and glue the buildings in place.  Then I will get to work on the sidewalk, which should not take too long to paint.

This picture is a close up of one of the latest buildings I painted on the diorama.

The latest update is that I have not done a single stroke of painting on the diorama for about ten days.  I have been pretty much working full time the last couple of weeks.  The compressor for our heat pump and air conditioner died and we had to replace the unit.  I had a house full of workmen on the days I wasn't at work.  We had to pull everything out of the attic in order for the workmen to get up there to replace the unit.  So while we had all the boxes out of the attic, my husband and I took the time to go through them and get rid of some stuff we had stored up there. There were boxes sitting in the middle of the floor in every room of the upstairs. When the heat pump compressor died, we were right in the middle of refurbishing the bathroom, all the way to ripping down the old drywall and putting up new mold resistant drywall.  There are construction materials stashed in every room downstairs. The entire house is covered in a layer of fine dust from the construction, and I'm frantically cleaning up so I can get back to painting.  At this point I am feeling a little over-worked.  I can't get back to working on the diorama until I get a little order back in my life.

Latest Photos of Diorama

I've done some more painting on the diorama.  Two more buildings have been completed.  Here is the latest photo.  A sidewalk will be in front of the buildings which is why some areas have not been painted towards the bottom.  Once all the buildings are painted and the sidewalk installed, the street will be painted and the car and figures attached.  The piece is titled Devil Looking for Trouble in a Small Town.

Update and Mosaic Photo

Diorama Update:  I have completed the second building and I am about half way through painting the third building.  I expect to finish that building today.  Once it is completed, I will take some more photos so you can see the progress on the diorama.

The photo is a slightly closer view of the mosaic I posted on last time I blogged.  It was my first mosaic and I was just learning how to make them.  The mosaic was cast in a stepping stone mold with the flower design in it face down.  Fine sand was sifted into the spaces between the glass pieces about half the depth of the glass.  Then the concrete mix was added to the mold. 

Once the concrete had set, I removed the stone from the mold.  I used Liquid Nails brand glue to adhere more glass tiles around the edge of the stone.  Then I grouted the piece.  After I made this piece, I read a book that said that you should not stick tiles around the edge because they would not stay.  My glass pieces have stayed intact.  However, I will note that this is an indoor piece and has not been exposed to weather.  I can't say what might happen to it outdoors.  All in all, it is much easier to paint the edge of the piece than to adhere tiles and grout the edges.

Another Mosaic

Everyone has to start somewhere on learning how to make mosaics.  This was one of my first attempts at creating art with glass tiles.  I cut the glass myself.  Each glass piece is about a 1/4 of an inch to 3/8 inch.  This design taught me how much space I would need to make a mosaic pattern on a large scale.  I learned that I had better plan to work larger or I needed to learn to cut the glass smaller.

I cut my own glass because I am generally using scrap glass left over from my husbands stained glass projects.  Buying pre-cut glass is expensive.  However, if you work in a small format, it is probably worth it to buy tiny tiles because they are very aggravating to cut.

Update

Just a quick note today.  I did a little work on painting the second building this week.  I will be doing a little more work on it this morning.  I hope to finish it tomorrow.  I should have a picture of it up on the web by Tuesday.  Work and spring cleaning have taken up a lot of my time in March.  Now that it is April I should have a little more free time.