Sunday 12 May 2024

DomeScapes from The Artful Dragon Studio

When I was a young girl, I always remember seeing a glass dome sitting on my grandmother's sideboard in her house in Scotland.  Inside the dome were beautiful butterflies sitting on dried flowers.  I wanted to re-create these domes,but not with real butterflies and so I have spent many hours embroidering them.  I have also taken apart some silk flower blossoms and changed their appearance.  

I have to admit that I have put one aside for me and it sits in our dining room on the wooden sideboard, just like in Nana's place!!

Here are some of the domes that I have designed and created for 2024

















Wednesday 3 January 2024

Happy New Year!!

Here are the shows I will be participating in during 2024, so far.  I will add information for other shows as they become available.  Click on the following links.

Fantasy in the Forest July 2024

Mallorytown Village Fair - August 24, 2024 from 10 am to 4 pm

Fantasy in the Forest September 2024



Sunday 15 October 2023

Where to see more of my work

If you would like to see more of my work please check out the following:

Flickr - Lea Hamblett   - Artful Dragon Collections

The Artful Dragon Studio - Facebook Page - Artful Dragon Facebook

Wednesday 31 May 2023

Another Year, Another Collection

As a new year approaches I am always looking forward to creating a new collection in my Studio.  For 2023 I have decided on hand made leather journals.

The Designs on the covers are first burnt into the leather using a pyrography burning tool.  The stippling process creates shading and definition.  Colour is added using different types of acrylic paint, leather dye and coloured pencils.  When the design is complete, the journal is put together using saddle style hand stitching.

The notebooks inside can be easily removed when full and a new one inserted.

With Fantasy as my theme, here are a few of the designs completed so far.








Butterfly Wood - A fairy and her bunny pal having a conversation!












                                             Celtic Owl














Tree of Life
















Butterflies and Flowers











Wednesday 9 November 2022

The Fairies are Here...

Over the Summer I participated in the July Fantasy in the Forest and the September Fantasy in the Forest Shows just north of Kingston.


What great shows they were.  Lots of Fantasy Costumes, live music and everyone having a fun day.  

At the July Show I learnt very quickly that fairies were at the top of people's lists and so for the September Show I added some fairies to my Koi Ponds. 






Here is a Bubble Fairy with her Bunny Friend

This Fairy is spending time with her Butterfly Friend























New were these Dragon Eye Pendants


I have lots of ideas for the 2023 Shows and a long Winter ahead to spend on creating some interesting pieces.  Leather will also feature on my list of creations and I will keep you posted.

I wish you all a very happy and healthy holiday season and will post again with some new creations.

Watch this space...

With regards

Lea


Thursday 9 June 2022

It's Showtime!!!




Summer is nearly here and I have been working on some new pieces for the upcoming shows.  


Firstly, I have to say that I have always been interested in embroidery and have done many pieces over the years, but none for my Artful Dragon Studio.  In January I discovered a new type of embroidery called Needle Painting - very detailed stitches that look just as if they have been painted.  


So, I decided I would like to create some butterflies as brooches.  It took quite a bit of practice, but it was certainly an interesting process.  First I wired the outline of the butterfly wings so that they could be shaped when the piece was cut out from the embroidery hoop.  That and the rest of the stitching takes anywhere between 12 and 15 hours.  


                                                                

I have really enjoyed this and plan to take it a little further during my down time this coming Winter.


Dragon Eyes

I have always had an interest in Dragons (hence the Studio name) and so have created Dragon Eye pendants this year.  


The eye is painted on the reverse, flat side of a glass cabochon and then I wire weave around the outside to hold it in place.  





The eye is then mounted on some Vegetable Tanned leather which I have cut, tooled and dyed.






I am in the process of creating earrings to match.  Watch this space!!!






















Wednesday 27 October 2021

Where does the time go?

It's hard to believe it is nearly the end of 2021.  As we all know, Covid restrictions have made our lives very different, but staying safe is the most important thing we can do.

The restrictions have meant lots of home time and I have put this to good use.  A new collection is available now, Koi Ponds.

I have always been fascinated by Koi fish and the serenity of their environment.  The legend of Koi Fish even includes a dragon.

One legend tells us an ancient tale of a huge school of golden koi swimming upstream in the Yellow River in China.  Gaining strength by fighting against the current, the school glimmered as they swam together throughout the river.  When they reached a waterfall at the end of the river, many of the koi turned back, letting the flow of the river carry them away.  The remaining koi refused to give up.  Leaping from the depths of the river, they attempted to reach the top of the waterfall to no avail.  Their efforts caught the attention of local demons, who mocked their efforts and heightened the waterfall out of malice.  After a hundred years of jumping, one koi finally reached the top of the waterfall.  The gods recognized the koi for its perseverance and determination and turned it into a golden dragon, the image of power and strength.

Now I couldn't make koi ponds, as they are usually quite large to transport round to Art Shows, so I decided to make miniature ones.



Each of my ponds contains koi fish, lily pads and lilies, all cut from metal and hand painted.  There can be up to 8 layers of resin and each one holds fish and some lily pads.  It has been a very good learning experience with the resin.






For this one I added a hand made bonsai tree        
in the centre.






I was able to find some really interesting bowls for these ponds.


Of course, I couldn't leave it there, could I?  No, I wanted to find out just how small I could go with making a koi pond!!  Of course! - a pocket watch with the mechanism removed.





And, Yes, I am thinking about another way of presenting Koi Ponds.  

Stay Tuned and Stay Safe!