Lady Bug Circus

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Obsessed with making tin birds...

The joyful process of making recycled tin birds is taking a piece of metal and zeroing in on the perfect spot. In this case a Christmas popcorn tin has some really nice design elements that are better than the whole.

See how exciting these wings are when taken away from the surrounding area of the tin.

Gearing up for the Tacoma Urban Craft Festival, now in its 8th year. Come by on Saturday, June 30 and check out the birds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So much fun.

Recycled Tin Birds available on Etsy

Little tin birds are migrating to my Esty shop, one by one they are flying in.

Humor in Craft a new book by Brigitte Martin

and on page 60, 2 images of my recycled tin artwork. This is a huge ego boost for me.

click on image to enlarge.

Thank you Brigitte from the bottom of my heart.

More tin birds on their way to SAM Shop

48 to be exact. Available soon at the Seattle Art Museum gift shop. Recycled beverage cans and metals.

Tulips in the Northwest

If you ever have the opportunity to be in Seattle in the first half of April, don't miss seeing the tulips in Mt vernon.

Tulips in the Northwest continued

I think these women are retired nuns who just couldn't completely give up their bad habits.

Easter egg in my cup, recycled tin art

These pieces were sitting on my desk and they just all seemed to come together. An earth magnet holds the Easter egg in place.

Jenny Fillius makes another whirligig at Hutch Studio

Hutch Studio is the place to go if you want to learn how to make a whirligig! and no I haven't lost my mind by referring to myself in the third person, it's just a way to be on Google more. Pathetic, I know.

Let's Talk About Easter

Here it is finished. This was one of those pieces that practically made its self. Measures 15"x 10".

Easter art?

Our mother always made Easter baskets for us that were over the top with jelly beans,speckled malted chocolate eggs, foil wrapped chocolate eggs,peeps, little dime store fuzzy chicks and unique little toys from around the world. It was like nothing else. I miss that kind of thing and so I'm making this piece for my sister as a fun reminder of those special baskets and our mother.

Whirligigs in Motion

 

Whirligigs from recycled pop cans

My new obsession is with things that spin in the wind. Look at these amazing whirligigs made out of recycled pop cans. I'm in love with them. They spin in different directions and look so beautiful in the garden, like little fancy lanterns. You too can have these in your garden just in time for Spring for $5 each OR buy 5 at once for $25 plus shipping. Click here to go to Your Healing Garden on Etsy and Wanda will fix you up.

Make Button Flowers

...until real flowers come out. It's lightly snowing here today, can hardly wait for Spring.

Whirligig re-done

I didn't put locking nuts on some key screws and they were falling off. My mistake. So I brought it into the studio and took it apart. The top was bothering me too. It didn't feel right so after spending some time goofing around I attached this tin toy bank globe. It spins around now too. Love it even more. In time the bank will fade and at that time I can easily replace it by cutting the nylon ties. So many possibilities.

Jenny Fillius

Valentine for David

David Ishii is the first friend I made when I moved to Seattle in 1987. We lived in the same apartment building in Pioneer Square. We had fun going for coffee in the afternoon, he'd close up his rare and out of print book store and we go to Torrefazione Italia on Occidental Park. During baseball season David would treat me to ball games at the now long gone Kingdome. Sometimes we'd go out late for noodles in the International District and occasionally the Opera or movies. He baby sat my cat when I'd leave for the weekend. He introduced me to his friends and included me when he went to their parties. For a few years i made Valentines and he sold them in his shop. Over the past few years I haven't made Valentines but this year I did. This is a special one for David.

Whirligig

If you live in the Seattle area and you love whirligigs, may I recommend that you take a whirligig workshop from Chris Theiss. I did and it was more fun than I've had in ages. I loved learning how to put it all together. Chris is a marvelous instructor. He is patient, kind,thoughtful and has a wealth of knowledge and expertise in making whirligigs. If you don't live in the area but want to learn how, you can buy Chris's instructions. Soooooo much fun.

Amassing whirligig fodder...

I was in La Conner last week and came upon Hutch Studio. There were marvelous whirligigs spinning in the wind and a little sign that said Whirligig Workshops.  I just about lost my mind with excitement.

They were closed at that moment but I found more information on Google and was able to sign up for a workshop. Stay tuned.

 

Almost finished...

Oh so nice to have the studio in shape for the new year.

Just a little tin flattening to do and it will be done. After it is flattened  it will take up about a quarter of the space it does now.

I'm lovin' the clamp on lights. It's great to have more light.

No new works for a bit...

Doing a bit of reorganizing. I work on it for a while, then feel overwhelmed and go inside the house and play a computer game or check email and FB. Then I go back to it. At this rate it will be a few weeks before I'll be back making tin pieces. I fear a trip to Ikea is in order, sigh.