September Musings: CHROMOSOMAL DOORSTOP

Here is a view of where I walk my dog every - well almost every- morning and most afternoons.
Peaceful isn't it? That's just to get into the mood as Today- and all of this week I have a target: I have to finish a project for my Diploma City and Guild's course and it's a doorstop.....
Not only that but I chose it to be inspired by the shape and texture of a chromosome.
I got the texture part from some electron -microscopic pictures in a book.
This was started in the summer of 2006 and yes it REALLY was a lovely warm summer and I made it in the state it's seen below:

I made it from jam jars filled with sand from the children's sandpit- they are too old for it now anyway- which I wired together with chicken wire and then I put a few layers of papier mache over the top.

Hence the newpapery look of it.

To allow it to stand I nailed it to a little plinth of wood but which also is to be covered in newspapers.

Funny how - just like when you have fish and chips- newspapers are suddenly a riveting read when you are supposed to be doing something?

It then spent many a month sitting on our fridge in the kitchen- well a logical place to have a fridge ..- I digress- as I couldn't decide on a colourscheme for the piece.

My original ideas and drawings had been in rich reds and blues with touches of olive green and purple but then I had my doubts.

The inspiration was turkish carpets but it just would not translate in my mind to the doorstop and I spent a lot of time in displacement activities: my crochet especially!!!

And now it is to be finished in just one week..... mainly because we may be moving to Geneva and I need to have finished this Diploma before we go.

In theory I had another 9 months or so but this has shortened to less than 3 months.

I need a sign that says DON'TPANIC just like the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy book- anyone remember that?

Maybe I should crochet myself a sign- NO I'm procrastinating again.....

I have chosen a colourscheme and a set of textile techniques and more of this tomorrow.

One of them involves metres- or is it miles?- of machine wrapped cord and this is NOT one of my favourite activities- in fact I'm always thinking of things I'd rather be doing than wrapping as soon as I've done a few INCHES of this technique, sitting behind the sewing machine.

It feels like a life sentence!!!

This afternoon I was daydreaming that I was doing a live broadcast of demonstrating the technique on a podcast to be shown/linked to this very blog- I think I 'm going mad?

To re affirm my previous sanity I end today with a picture of a mountain which is my VERY OWN handiwork: hand painted on silk and machine embroidered freehand: a mountain with lavender to calm the spirit, soothe the mind and help visualise the scenery which I might be walking the dog in after the move to the Geneva area - if it happenz....

See you tomorrow.