Snow Day

Massachusetts is closed today!   Why not spend a snowy, lazy day browsing Etsy Treasuries? I'm in the one below and it's a perfect color match for a day like today!

Sumi-e

Every winter I try to take a couple of workshops.  I'm a big fan of workshops - I find them inspiring, energizing and, well, just plain fun.  This year I've decided to try my hand at Japanese brushpainting, or sumi-e.  I've signed up for an 8 week class at the CCAE with the amazing Jan Zaremba.  I'm really looking forward to it and seeing how I can apply sumi-e techniques to my polymer work.

While on the subject of Japanese art, I found this inro page at the V&A museum website:

 

Inro's are small containers used to carry seals and herbs.  These fabulous museum pieces are inspiring me to revisit inro making.  I took a polymer clay inro construction class from Seth Savarick a couple of years ago, but haven't really had the time to pursue it much.  Making inros in polymer is a long, painstaking process, but there is something very zen and calming about careful, laborious work.  

Here are some boxes using inro construction techniques that I made after taking Seth's class.  I'm itching to make more and decorate them with my soon to be learned sumi-e skills!