Leather Tray Etsy treasury

Starting from my previous post, I turned to searching for leather trays on Etsy. The best are selected for my latest treasury. Naturally, this not purely devoid of personal interest, as I am thinking of making some myself. So, as usual, Etsy treasures provide a source of inspiration. I have selected here trays and bowls that do not require stitching, as I find this among the more difficult operations in leather working.

Leather DIY projects

I've compiled of list of indestructible that I find useful or good sources of inspiration for leather projects. There are naturally, many more available online, but some are silly and other far too complicated, requiring specialized tools and a lot of know-how. This is a bit of middle ground.

• Leather tray (catchall)
• Leather plant hanger  
• Stool cover
• Feather earrings
• Pouches for kids
• Cord organizers 

Below are some of my own projects, i.e. earrings which I find very effective (light, warm, and comfortable to wear), easy to make and granting interesting aesthetic effects. See the following previous posts here:
- round earrings with accessories
- coral shaped leather earrings
- leaf -shaped earrings
- DIY leather earrings

 

Round leather earrings

Last weekend I experimented complicated leather accessory designs, human masks, three-part Ionic column pendants and other ideas. They proves just that: too complicated to be cool. So I turned to a very simple solution: round earrings with accessories. Each item consists of two leather circles in assorted colors (using as pattern two of the most common Romanian coins) and some recycled glass, sand beads, or bronze decorative elements (leaves). See how you like them and feel free to try.

Or check them out, with full descriptions in Romanian, on my website, Atelierul de istorie. 

variants of color and accessories

brown and grey + three leaves

white and grey and black sand bead

black and white and bronze leaf

tones of black and bronze leaf

black and grey and recycled white glass beads

white and grey and turquoise glass beads

brown and red and red glass beads

Hybrids and monsters

Art and culture are full of hybrids and monsters, beasts, and mixed creatures, marking people's fear and curiosity towards the boundaries of their own kind. One is familiar with the classical ones, such as sphinxes, centaurs, and sirens, but contemporary culture and popular culture still come up with new ones, more disturbing and contorted. One of my oldest Etsy treasuries [Hybrid creatures] tackles just the topic, though I could not find that many examples that I like...
Here is a good article on the topic: A Brief History of Monsters

Sheep and the Roman garden

Camp Virtus, the reenactment park in the making near Cluj (Romania), faces a tricky problem: sheep. Their presence was first noted when all the ivy planted along the fence has been completely eaten by the next morning. Traces of wool have then showed that the young shepherds do everything in their power (ruin the barbed wire fence and the gate) to get the sheep inside the camp. This proves very difficult for the planner Roman Garden, which now has to be fully enclosed with a wattle fence. While this enclosure is being made, through copious work and sweating, the Roman plants grow in exile, on my balcony: mustard (just producing hairy pods), sage, coriander (with a rather unpleasant taste), laurel, and ivy. Just hope they will adorn the actual garden, soon!

the garden

mustard pods

sage

mustard

coriander

 

The transformations of a mercury jar

It all started with a pair of beautiful, hand-painted eighteenth-century apothecary glass jars from the Pharmacy Museum in Cluj. The items were once used in the "Red Crab" Apothecary Shop from Bratislava, hence the red crab depicted on top of the signatures that read "Mercurius niger mosc[at]" and "Mercurius Phoshpor[ic]." In the Early Modern period many mercury preparations were actual used as medicine, though toxic in higher concentrations and/or dosage. The jars are included in the temporary exhibition on show, The History of Poison.

Working with the items I felt inspired and prepared a large linocut depicting historical apothecary jars, among which one of the jars in question. The signatures proved rather tricky, as due to the printing itself, left and right become reversed, so inscriptions have to be rendered flipped horizontally (a usual procedure is to draw looking at the model through a mirror, though my hemispheres seem to get too much confused and I simply transfer such elements). The full work is available in my Etsy shop.

Mirrored drawing of the signatures

Detail of the linoleum plate

 

Detail of the printed linocut

 

 

Architectural linos

I believe lino is a great medium for architectural topics, with its "encouragement" of straight lines and perspective effects. My latest Etsy treasury reunites several examples that I like, see the collage in the first photo, while the second photo renders the "linocut" section of my own Etsy shop Ana-Maria Gruia ART.

The eye of the beholder

These are two early paintings of mine that I always smile to look at due to the interpretations they have received. The works, variants of the same topic, are entitled "Jesus and Pilate" (Christ's Judgement), as were made during my religious iconography phase (research for my PhD). A friend of mine, a perfect atheist, when asked to guess the subject matter, declared that he saw "two men, one in a very ugly sweater". It is all in the eyes of the beholder...

Air plants

I am surprized I did not know of air plants before. Well, they might not be that popular in temperate climates, I guess. My latest Etsy Treasury is dedicated to this new discovery and to the diversity of air plant accessories: hangers, cradles, misters, planters, himmels, and terrariums. Don't you know what they are? Check them out, it's fun!

Curious about the names of these air plants? They are just as fascinating as their shapes and colors: Tillandsia, Butsi, Bulbosa, Tenuifolia, Straminea and so on.

Here's a bit about how to grow them.

Venus pudica

I have just added another listing in my Etsy shop, an original linocut print depicting a female nude (Venus to be more elegant). The title, Venus pudica, is inspired by an ancient iconographic type of depicting the goddess of love, in which she seems shy and hides her face and key parts of her body. The print is part of a series made last month for a special commission.

For the print I have employed Van Eyck brown typographic ink, applied by roller and by hand, and printed on white graphic paper. It is signed and dated in pencil, marked epreuve d'artiste as all items in the series are different in color and technique. Actual print size: 15x17 cm (5.9 x 6.7 inches).

See Venus pudica on Etsy.

 

Crepundia bracelets

I have returned to my ancient Roman passion for inspiration in making a new series of products for my reenactment website, Atelierul de istorie. The new bracelets. amulets or Boho chic according to modern terminology, were a type of collage/mix pieces of jewelry meant to protect the wearer against the evil spirits and dangers.  Though modern in their arrangement on elastic cord, the crepundia bracelets combine elements made of various materials and colors: hand painted ceramic beads, precious stones, bronze, shells, and other elements.

Feel free to check them out HERE.
See also the crepundia necklaces HERE.