A Button for Every Project

   

    Few things give me greater pleasure than creating my own ceramic buttons. I make these from stoneware clay, using commercial stamps or fabrics to create texture, or with molds made from found objects or my own creations. Some of my buttons are glazed and fired a second or third time, while, others, I choose to hand paint with acrylic paints. Each technique has its own merits. Glazed buttons are more durable, and can be machine washed, while hand washing, or not washing at all, is required for those which are hand painted. Yet, these are so very special in that each can be a mini painting. I have even painted landscapes on some of them!

    Hand made buttons have many diverse applications, from sewing onto your favourite sweater,  purses, scarves, lapels, quilts, cards to embellishments on wall art hangings or in mosaics. The limit is one's imagination.

    Today I am sharing with you a glimpse of a small selection of  buttons I have created in recent years. They currently sell at Jocelyn & Co. in Gimli, Manitoba, Global Garage & Art House in Stonewall, Manitoba, Wayne Arthur Gallery in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Selkirk Community Arts Centre in Selkirk, Manitoba, as well as through my Etsy shop, The Casual Goddess, and on my website, Aradia's Gallery.

Do you have a project in need of the perfect button? I would love to help you with it!

Contact me via Aradia's Gallery or by Email.

See some more Manitoba artists and artisans HERE.

Manitoba Crafts Museum Needs Your Votes

Manitoba Crafts Museum needs votes for their idea. They could be awarded up to $50,000 to implement their plan to create a hands-on craft area for visitors in their new Winnipeg location. View this idea for details, and cast your vote.

You can also see them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Manitoba-Crafts-Museum-and-Library/258347936251

VOTING CLOSED

Let's Get Moving on Valentine's Day

    Winter's not quite done, but at least in January we can look forward the the warmth of Valentine's Day. Here are a few photos of my love-inspired work. My specialty is hand carved bas relief tiles. I have created several dozen tiles from drawings of artifacts. The first is a tile of Aphrodite. I have seen a similar one in the form of a bronze statue. This figure, is also known by the name of Tana, from ancient Italy.
   Below is a tile of Alpena, Goddess of flowers. The original depiction was painted on a vase, a shard of which was found during an excavation somewhere in Italy.

  I am inspired by the old gods and goddesses, so have spent a great deal of time in the studio on these. Here is a recent one of the Roman Goddess of the Moon and Hunt, Diana. She still exerts her influence upon the world. I find this face to be haunting and powerful. I can feel her energy drawing me. Can you? A friend of mine told me she scares him. My opinion is that he has to look deeper within and embrace whatever it is that frightens him. He might be surprised at what he discovers!

 
  I also love, love, love to create ceramic jewelry. The next image shows 3 little Elm leaves made from stoneware that have been glazed. A lot of my jewelry is hand painted with acrylics on clay. Very interesting little works of art that always draw admiring responses for the wearer.

 

I have new things in the works for Valentine's Day, as well as for spring.

Custom requests are invited.

See more of my work at http://aradiasgallery.com

~Teresa

*If you are a Manitoba artists or crafter, your comments and web link are welcome. Please share what you do. (You may even be invited to be featured in a future post!) ...Or if you just love art, please leave a comment.