This post is “the rest of Opus Daily Practice”. A bit of traveling managed to happen at the end of this project which meant I was able to post to Instagram, but my cell phone data plan was unhappy with the usage needed for blogging. Below are the rest of the pieces created for the […]
Opus Daily Practice day 8. Today I decided to work on projects in progress than start a new one based on the prompt. Cold weather is allowing me to get a lot done. One bag finished. One hat finished. The maple leaf drawing is super close to finished, and the kayak drawing is in progress. […]
via Opus Daily Practice – Day 8 — Debra Hunter – Canadian photography, art and handmade
Opus Daily Practice – day 5. Hand carved toggles and a small ink drawing. http://www.debra-hunter.com http://www.handmade-canada.com . . . Ads belong to WordPress.
via Opus Daily Practice – day 5 — Debra Hunter – Canadian photography, art and handmade
Opus Daily Practice day 4. The prompt today was “melting”, which made me think of how the colors of a sunset melt together. The above drawing is still in progress, but it is a start. Speaking of “in progress”, The mini bag is progressing with a strap and toggles being the last two steps before […]
via Opus Daily Practice 2017 – Day 4 — Debra Hunter – Canadian photography, art and handmade
We are currently in the process of taking out a rather mongrel hedge and replacing it with a fence. The hedge seems to consist of all sorts of different bushes and trees cut to hedge size. Every now and then, as we pull out the hedge 8 feet at a time, we come across a decent sized tree trunk and branches; these have been going into the “save” pile.
Above is a spoon cut from the hedge. It sits on the remainder of the branch it came from. I am eternally fascinated with taking a raw piece of wood and turning it into a functional object. As the wood has a mind of its own, you never quite know what you will get.
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I thought sharing a post on eco-printing was a suitable post on Earth Day. A lot of the textile work I do focuses on natural and plant based processes rather than chemicals.
The scarf pictured above has been eco printed. This is a process where the silk has been dyed with the natural occurring pigments of leaves through a lengthy process of bundling the item tightly to achieve the best contact with the leaves. Results can vary depending on the time of year the leaf is picked, the length of time of the bundling, the type of fabric , and the mordants used.
The leaves on this scarf are peony and maple, picked from the garden. Results are always very random with a combination of leaf prints and abstract shapes and lines.
If you are interested in seeing more images of this scarf, and how it looks while being worn, there is a gallery on my other site www.handmade-canada.com , or click here for the link .
Eco-printing and slow cloth by Debra Hunter
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I know my blogging has been a little quiet lately, and one of the reasons is I have been working away. In addition to a busy photography month, I have also been updating my other project, Handmade in Canada. Let’s just say when you dye your own yarn and knit your own items it takes time.
So after weeks and weeks of knitting, the shop has finally been updated. There are a ton of new items and we are pretty excited about sharing them with you. All our items are naturally dyed by hand and made by hand too. If you have a moment check it out.
Also at the bottom of the Handmade in Canada site are our social media links. We can be found on Facebook and Instagram (@handmadeincanada), plus you can hit the follow button to follow the blog. I hope you will follow along and see all the cool items we are making.
I thought today would be a good time to put up a “Works in Progress” post. 2016 seems to have given me a lot of opportunity (or possibly inspiration) to work on creative pursuits. So here it is, in a visual presentation, the current works in progress.
Carving, wood burning and painted accents. This piece when completed will be a ring dish.
Adding more Canadiana into the knit line at www.handmade-canada.com . These pieces are not on line yet but will be coming soon.
Natural dyeing of wool…..a lot of natural dyeing.
Carving spoons the perfect size for the sugar bowl. Large spoons are next on the list thanks to a brand new gouge.
Lots of “road knitting” while working on larger pieces. This will be a Cowichan inspired pillow cover.
Still working on the Roe Islet series of paintings both on panel and paper. The large squares measure 2 ft. by 2 ft., while the paper works are larger.
Handmade toggles with wood burned embellishments will be decorating new knit items in the near future.
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A lot of items being worked on at the moment. Most of these images are from my Instagram accounts, it is where I post my most up to date works in progress. The accounts are @handmadeincanada and @debramhunter ; feel free to follow if you like to see quick visual posts.
What is up next? More natural dyeing, more toggles, knit cuffs, more spoons and finishing a painting in progress. Hopefully soon a few of these new pieces will be available on www.handmade-canada.com .
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Carved spoons is my latest handmaking obsession. It is something I just had to try and I admit I am hooked. I have a thing for functional items. We live in a small house with lots of people, there isn’t a lot of room for 3D decorative items, but if an item can be beautiful and functional I am thrilled to own it.
My first ever spoon is the one on the left. Chunky and rustic, yet measures a perfect teaspoon. Great for measuring sugar and spices.
My second spoon is the one on the right and in the picture above. I was able to refine the shape more to seem less rustic. The branch in the picture above is the left over part of the branch that the spoon was carved from. This one went from being part of the crabapple tree (it needed pruning!) to a spoon in two days.
A third spoon has been made and just needs oiling and finishing, while a fourth has just been started.
As the spoons are being crafted from prunings that would usually just be collected by the city’s green waste program, it is great to see “waste” turned into functional items. As I find larger pieces of wood I will be able to expand my scope to scoops, cutting boards and other usable objects.
Photography by Debra Hunter
www.debra-hunter.com
For more handmade objects check out www.handmade-canada.com
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h..... the blog 
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