Author: dustine
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Beautiful Polymer Clay and Beaded Jewelry
I found another talented artist on Flickr, Bridget Derc. She makes beautiful jewelry from polymer clay and beading. I don’t know much about Bridget because she hasn’t revealed much about herself in her profile. An Internet search didn’t reveal anything more. All I know for sure is that I love her work. Below is my […]
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Mummer’s Day Parade
Every New Year’s Day here in Philadelphia, the Mummers march up Broad Street. The tradition of mummery started here in the late 17th century with a blend of European, British, and later African-American influences. In 1901, this informal tradition became a city sponsored event and the march up Broad Street began. Marchers used to wear […]
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Hand Dyeing My Own Fabric
Even though there are many beautiful commercial fabrics around, I’ve fallen in love with hand dyed fabrics. For the last few years I’ve been experimenting with different techniques to add color and textures to my own fabrics. Since I don’t have a studio and I live in the city, I try to do most of […]
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Princesses, Foxes, and Other Crazy Creatures
I’ve fallen in love with the work of another artist, Francesca Greco, a painter and artist living in Foligno, in the Umbria region of Italy. Every year, Foligno holds a medieval festival, Quintana, that is filled with pageantry, jousting, and residents in medieval dress. I’m sure many of the patterns and motifs she uses in […]
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Experimenting with Papier Mâché and Decoupage
This is the first paper mâché box that I made. It is constructed with newspaper and cardboard. I used Elmer’s glue to put the box together and painted over several layers of newspaper with latex paint to cover the text and pictures on the newspaper. I had never tried decoupage, so I painted the fruit […]
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Spring Fever
I really have a bad case of spring fever. Although this winter hasn’t been that bad here in Philadelphia, only one dusting of snow so far, I’m still longing for spring. What happened to that early spring that the groundhog promised us? I’ll never believe his predictions again! I’m starting to think about how I’m […]