Starting as I mean to go on.......

2014 has started with a flurry of bird making.....I fancied making some slightly more specific birds than the usual generic OPI birds so I started with a wren and then a robin came along and some crows and a magpie and after showing them to my Facebook pals and getting a lovely positive response Its been birds for the last two weeks....

Its less than ten days until the Open Studio event starts and then straight after I will be packing up to go to the Contemporary Craft Fair at Bovey Tracey.....I dont know where the year has gone ....I seem to have been working flat out and I still dont have enough stock to do this fair....Hmmm.....I do have something of a butterfly mind though....I often find myself full of resolve to tackle a particular commission or order and as soon as I cross the threshold of my workshop I get mysteriously misled....Had hoped to finish most of the commissions I have at the moment this week but have made a large gardener... just found the perfect piece of wood for the base and it wouldnt wait.... a small flotilla, several green bird toys and yesterday as well as working on a large single boat...I found the perfect wood to make a row of swimmers.....Wish I could be more organised but after twenty five years of this lark I guess I have to start accepting the way I work.facebook Jane Ryan Opi

Current beard simply doesnt cut the mustard so I'm off to the workshop to have another crack...

I am working on a lovely commission at the moment that requires a good slightly naughty beard....Hmmm its a bit tricky but I do love a challenge....

Its seems that my strategy for dealing with my backlog is to bury my head in the sand and make something completely unrelated to the logjam....Yesterday, despite having many commissions on the board I spent the day finishing a couple of large boat toys....The six boat flotilla has a base made from a piece of soft wood that has had a bark beetle infestation at some point...This has left a wonderful texture on the bark surface. I microwave any wood that has had infestation, although the wood itself on this piece was completely unaffected, then I burn it with a blowtorch burnish, paint and rub through...I love finding ways of acheiving more interest on base surfaces....Anyway almost finished...just need seagulls I think...but these have to be put to one side today so I can get on with the orders.......Hmmmm