Studio Forty - Ange J Lee

Available to buy!

I have this completed embroidered hoop wall art available to purchase. It is one of three Sugar Skull designs I have done. The third is still under construction and hopefully available in a few weeks time...but after that there are no more of this design being made. So they are limited edition, one offs, never to be exactly repeated.

Each one is hand embroidered so all have subtle differences, and bead embellishments. Base fabric is natural coloured organic cotton canvas, with black embroidered detailing. The skull is padded applique for depth and dimension, the flowers are all crafted and woven by me and applied by hand. Hoop frame is wood with brass metal fixing.

These make lovely wall decorations, you can either pop a nail or hook on your wall and hang via the metal screw fastening at the top of the hoop, or attach a ribbon loop to suspend it....or even, as the customer who bought my first one did, just securely prop it up on a shelf. They are pretty cute and the photos don't really do them justice.

Size - approx 13.5cm wide (not including screw attachment), and approx 1.5cm depth.

Sorry but I'm currently only selling and shipping to UK addresses.

Paypal payment accepted only (for buyer/seller protection)

£30.00 which includes p&p.

*Please message me if you want to buy. I require payment within 4 days max, and will dispatch once payment is successfully cleared. Non payment within this timeframe will mean the item will be relisted. Please be aware this item is also being advertised for sale on other pages.

The back is playing up, so plans to garden and get some jobs done on the allotment plot went out of the window!

But hey, when I can't go outdoors...I work indoors on something a little more gentle...and get some bird sketches inked out and ready for a bit of colour.

My second porcelain jewellery course at the Midlands Art Centre, Birmingham is now well under way and it's great to be back!

Prior to starting the course I made a simple plaster mould so that I could experiment with slip casting cabachons. I've never made anything like this before so I wasn't sure if it was going to work...but following advice from experts and online research I tried it, and it's actually been quite successful.

I used plasticine as my shapes to take casts of, and placed them into a plain small container which then got pottery plaster poured in and over. It took a few weeks to full harden and dry out before I could remove the plasticine and then refine, sand back and smooth off the overhang etc.

Last week I used it for my first casting of slip clay which was a terrazzo style experiment. White porcelain slip, containing a mix of colours was poured into the moulds and allowed to set. The plaster sucks out the excess moisture from the clay, it shrinks slightly hardens and then easily releases from the mould. Then I refined the cabochons by carving them back in their green unfired state which revealed the colours. They are extremely fragile at this point so it took some time and very careful handling. It's also a dusty process, and clay dust is not nice...so I wore a respirator and ensured I had good ventilation in the studio.

The next stage is to get them bisque fired...then if they survive that, they get another sanding down, some will get glazed, and they're back into the kiln for the final high fire. If the kiln gods are kind to me, and this experiment works, I'll end up with some lovely porcelain terrazzo style cabochons to make into pendants with silver bezel settings.

Latest of my British Wildlife paintings.

'PineMartin' watercolour & ink
©️ StudioFortyAJLee

I'm back at the MAC next week starting my second course with porcelain jewellery and the brilliant Libby Gillies...

(who, incidentally, exhibits at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery and currently has a new ceramics collection ready to be dropped 'Finding Mother' which a number of us have had a sneak peek and it's fabulous!)
..I've just been sorting out my 'stuff' to prepare in advance and also having another look at the beads and pendants etc I made under her excellent tuition last time. Since I bought them home they've had a polish with some fine renaissance wax which has defined the black oxides more and I'm rather pleased by that. Some of the black volcanic ash clay I experimented with I've added a bit of gilding too...some worked, some not so good...I'll probably share about that another day.

Some of the porcelain pieces I already wear, threaded onto basic string cords for necklaces, or attached to silver hoop earrings as individual statement pieces...but the main project a wearable-com-art-installation I had mapped out is still a work in progress and I'll hopefully report back on that later. The problem with personal projects is that they have to take a back seat for most part as I spend as much time possible prioritising work that earns me money...and at the moment that is the paintings. It's also a project that means an awful lot to me emotionally and I have to get it spot on. So if it takes time to come together as I wait for appropriate and meaningful components to turn up...then that it how it is...how it remains...and I'm being patient.

Anywhooos...I haven't really shared much about the finished pieces so here are some of the most significant and favourites -

The flat, low relief pendants turned out just as I'd hoped....and look great on simple cords for neckware. I love the detailing on the leaf/feather veins...picked out just right by a tiny application of black oxide. The doughnut shaped one (bottom right) I've worn as a pendant but the original idea is to use as a brooch too...I'll be making a metal pin for as soon as I'm back metal bashing. The bee didn't pick up enough oxide but I might gold gild some of the body to compensate....having a think over that for now though because once it's done, it's on and permanent whether it looks good or not!

The six animal (familiars), hound, rabbit and rat pendants are a great comparison to have side by side. It's show how far I came in my confidence handling, shaping the porcelain clay and developing and refining my designs during just a few weeks. The top three are cute in their own right, but too 'cute and cartoony' for my project and by the end of the course I'd redesigned and produced something much more appropriate and refined.

Little Acorn man was NOT something I was initially impressed with and was going to scrap it before firing...but the rest of the class kept saying it was one of the favourite pieces and I must keep! The more I look at him now, the more it makes me smile. He IS cute, he won't be part of the main project...but he's now a keeper and I have indeed started wearing him in a necklace..although for most his days he resides in my 'white ceramics cabinets of curios' next to a wade greenman figurine.

Excuse the state of the background...it's the only thing I had to hand at the time to help show up the porcelain 😆

After years and years of really tight precise detail artwork I'm finally feeling comfortable 'loosening up' the brushwork!

I'm finding my happy place and 'my style' is emerging,..and really enjoying the journey...

The journey is not over by a long shot though....it will continue on....and on...
..and that's a good thing.

It's never too late to try something new, to change things up and shake things down...and my art will ALWAYS be a journey, neverending discovering new joys!

Some new watercolours happening!

Happy New Year to you all!

I've had a bit of a slow start to the new year...in the middle of a studio clear out, tidy up and redesign so that's biting into work hours....it's a necessary job though.

I have got a few more silver clay pieces hand fired recently...some oak leaves and solid 'yoni' designs for pendants.

The oak leaves were actually coated with paste before Xmas last year and I usually fire them immediately after they've fully dried out...about three days after the final layer is applied. The leaves are still quite fresh and supple at this point and left in situ when I hand torch fire them...so it's a job I do outside on a dry calm day. The burning leaves in addition to the small bit of smoke and flames from the burning off of the clays organic binders is not something I am keen to do inside my small studio! ...
..however, I didn't get around to firing them until recently and noticed the long time left untouched, the leaves had actually dried up, started to disintegrate and lift off the clay. I very very carefully peeled them off using fine tweezers (the unfired thin clay layer is very fragile at this point) and voilà leaves removed cleanly and my torch firing became a little less messy and flamey!

Much nicer to work with so I might try this again, but will be mindful that all leaves are different and it wont always work...but it was a nice discovery!

I also hand fired a piece of copper clay. Now I don't normally like doing this and most copper clays need to be fired inside a kiln, usually inside a special tin containing coconut fibres or a fibre blanket. This is to block out oxygen getting to the metal and causing fire scald. But this particular clay apparently could be fired by torch (if small and light enough). I was sceptical....because torch firing means the clay is wide open to the elements and oxygenation...but I experimented for fun. As expected it blackened up bad...really bad, and will need a LOT of cleaning up to bring back any hint of copper colour. Being small jewellery pieces it's also very fiddly work!So, weighing up the time and effort in cleaning up versus time spent in a kiln fire...I think kiln firing is how I'll keep on treating the copper clays. No photo of that piece yet...I'll do another post on it later.

The solid silver yoni came out perfect, I'm undecided if to antique it, or keep it shiny, so I might have to make another and compare them. The size is perfect for a pendant and I'm intending on making smaller one too, maybe as a charm bracelet component....and if there's enough interest, they will be available to buy.

That's a wrap! Today was my last day mailing out for Xmas so StudioForty is now closed to taking orders until the New Year.

I'll still be busy, beavering away in the studio creating new works for the new year, but will not be posting out until then...

So I want to say thanks for everyone's support this year, albeit it being a quiet one social media wise and I've not posted much...thanks for sticking with the page and checking by. It's much appreciated.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays etc...however you celebrate, what ever you're doing...have a lovely time full of peace and good cheer.

# # # ANGE # # #

I've been a bit busy of late...

I signed up for a course on porcelain jewellery at a local arts centre a while back and we've just had half term so I've had 'homework' off the tutor to complete for when I'm back in class this Thursday (oooooh get me n all this home work, class, tutor lark...it's been some years since I had to deal with all that).

Anyways I've been hard at work sculpting jewellery elements, pendants, beads etc and it's all getting exciting as they're now ready for their first bisque firing. Then the fun begins to discover what survived, or not...and then there's the glazing to go on and then the final firing. Hopefully I'll get a decent selection of pieces by the end of it all to put together a necklace project, plus some bits left over to make up some other stuff. There's actually more pieces made than shown in the photo...quite a bit has already been made in class and still at the centre. Hopefully they've already been bisque fired!

I'm used to working with polymer clay, metal clays for jewellery, and air dried clay for larger sculptures but porcelain is something very new for me...and I'm loving it. It's certainly giving me lots of food for thought as to whether it's something I can really get into and include in my jewellery repertoire...and for items to sell. Only time will tell.

Keep your eyes peeled...more info coming soon!

More silver clay leaves in the making. Using teeny tiny oak leaves today that I gathered off the beautiful oak tree we have on our allotment site.

Getting acquainted with metals clays again, using silver paste on real leaves and the detail it picks up is fantastic!

Things are going to get interesting.....🤪

PLEASE NOTE

I have had to make a small alteration to my Terms & Conditions regarding payment of items etc. Please read the following -

If you wish to purchase an item from one of my albums, please comment on the relevant photo and contact me asap to arrange payment.

I'm sorry but I now only sell and ship to UK address.

Payment via Paypal ONLY

Once you have received payment instructions, I require payment within 14 days. If you change your mind within this time frame and do not wish to purchase the item, PLEASE contact me so that I can cancel the sale and relist the item.

If payment is not made within 14 days without notification, I will consider the item unsold and it will be automatically relisted.

I can no longer offer to hold and/or reserve items as I do not have the storage space to hold reserved stock long term.

COMMISSION WORK - please contact me directly to discuss art or jewellery commissions. I will require a deposit to secure and cover for purchase of relevant materials etc. The deposit amount will depend on each individual piece. This deposit will be non refundable if you change your mind once work has commenced or completed. If I cannot complete the commission due to my own personal reasons, the deposit will be refunded.

HORSE HAIR JEWELLERY & GIFTS - This personalised service is not available at present.

Many thanks

AJL

Gosh I'm just 7 days in of 30DaysWild and 5 bee paintings completed so far...and I'm touched and taken aback by the positive and lovely responses I've had over them, both on FB and Twitter.

I've had a number of messages and enquiries regarding the paintings and if they are for sale...so I thought I'd just explain the situation here.

Firstly yes, I sell artwork. These particular bee studies however are part of an on going commission which comprises of creating over 40 different types of bees... so will be quite a long term commitment. Not all the pieces may actually be selected by the buyer on completion, and so those not taken I will be then making available for public purchases.

At present, until I know when the commission and sale is finalised, I cannot say how many, and which ones will be available.

What I can tell you is that any that do become available will be original watercolour paintings, not prints. Each measures 13x13cm and will be sold unmounted, unframed. Prices will start from £15.00 plus p&p. Sales are to UK only, I am currently not selling outside of the UK.

Depending on availability I will also be offering larger sized paintings, original hand painted art cards, and printed greetings cards (prices to be confirmed at a later date) of bee species. Also depending on success of sales I'll be painting more of the most popular bees..each one unique and original and, unless specified, no prints are taken from them so you own a true one off piece of artwork.

My FB page StudioForty-Ange J Lee is where I'll be selling the artwork, and I'll be releasing sales details on here plus on Twitter page Ange Lee (). So make sure you follow and receive notifications! Find me by looking out for the StudioForty bee symbol!

Hope that helps and clears any questions up...but please do not hesitate to contact me if you have other queries.

Cheers, and thanks once again for your interest!

Ange x

This last year has flown by....and no, I've not left this page....I have had issues accessing it, and my allotment page, via my phone which is not letting me upload photos or videos. I have to transfer to files on my laptop first before I can then post on here which is getting frustrating and time consuming...but hey ho...I carry on and hope to get it solved and sorted one day.

So, I've been pretty busy on the artwork/painting/illustration front, sadly no new jewellery items to share with you, but lots of projects and news in the pipeline that I hope to post about soon.

I've been working on a collection of mini paintings of British mammals and birds and these will be getting printed for greetings cards, I've also been producing some larger bird and other themed paintings for art prints and possibly some sold as originals, and also have participated in a few fund raisers, donating original artworks that I'm pleased to say brought in a decent little amount of money for the relative charities. I've also been revisiting needle felting...more on that soon!

As always, please respect my art, all images are copyright AJLEE, please do not copy or download in any way without permission.

A recent make, a commissioned piece, bangle to match part of the meditation bowl collection.

please note this collection is now retired and no longer made to order.

Continuing on with my watercolour swatches I realised yesterday that I've never done any for my Coliro pearl metallics...so set about rectifying that and it gave me the opportunity to start comparing them with the latest White Nights metallics I've bought. I've filled in the front part with the info I have just now, which is pretty much just the names and reference number. In a couple of days I can test the opacity/transparency and staining properties and add that to the details too.

Finetec Coliro were suggested to me while ago as one of the best waterbased metallics products to use for calligraphy with dip pens. I also wanted to use them in my other artwork...and I haven't been disappointed with them at all.

Firstly what attracts me to the Coliro paints is the massive range of colours they have, and in particular the wide range of gold shades available. They can be bought as sets, but also sold as individual pans (as far as I'm aware these paints only come in dry pan form, not in tubes or bottles) so if you find a particular colour you like and use more than any other, you can just buy that on it's own to refill your tin without the restrictions and expense of buying full sets. They are reasonably expensive to buy, but are quite large pans compared to traditional rectangular w/colour pans...so that reflects in the price, and will last longer. I only use metallics as accents in my artwork, only a small amount used per piece so they really will last me some time. They come in hard pan form so you activate them with water as and when you want to use them, which means they are very easy to store, no worries about them going off or needing constant agitating. As with all watercolour metallic paints, they include mica and so you expect more of a pearlised effect, unlike say the w&n drawing ink or Schmincke aqua bronze paints that contains real metal pigments that give a more realistic metal effect. But unlike all the other water colour metallics, these Coliro seem to be higher on the pigment content and give a much more richer and even finish. When you're activating the Coliro paints, the trick is to apply the water, then wait a couple of minutes to allow it to absorb in and activate the pigments before going in with a brush, gently mixing and loading the brush up to use. The pigments stay nicely distributed throughout the liquid for a long time so extends the usage without the need to reactivate all the time. One of the things I like to do in my watercolour work is to play with wet on wet and allow the paints to flood, disperse, bloom and spread naturally so that I get very organic patterns occurring. This is hard to achieve fully with most metallic watercolour paints, the pigments are obviously heavy and tend to sit and not flow so easily and fluidly so you end up having to persuade it more with a brush which detracts from the natural look and can look forced. I jokingly call them 'lazy paints' those that need a bit more egging on and effort to move about. Sadly the Coliro are much like this too, despite their superior colour...but it was expected, the nature of the beast I guess. Also, like the others, when applied thickly as possible you get the best even coating and effect but the more you dilute and apply as a thinner wash the more the pigments are prone to separate and you get granulation.

To compare and pick a favourite between this paint and my Winsor & Newton drawing inks is hard, both have their pros and cons. The drawing ink is a different type of medium. It's a liquid form, and whilst it has the ability to be diluted down with water, it is a flammable liquid, it contains a shellac binder, gives off fumes, and its use and storage capacities are more problematic. The metal pigments are heavy and separate in the liquid very quickly so you need to constantly agitate and reactivate the liquid during use to achieve an even colour and distribution of pigment/binder. Even in storage (and if you do not intend to use the ink for a while), you need to be mindful to shake and agitate the bottle to stop it clumping up and becoming totally unusable. The ink is very fast drying, the shellac binder becomes sticky and can adhere the lid to the bottle to a point you cannot open the bottle at all and have little option but to break the glass to access the contents or buy a new one...so you have to be extra careful maintaining a clean bottle rim and lid...this also can make cleaning brushes an issue too. If you want to apply with a brush, then don't use your expensive treasured real hair ones and you have to wash them immediately after use which can be an inconvenience! On the plus side, when used correctly, the ink gives a superior metal look, even coverage and flows nicely when used with a steel nib dip pen or ruling pen and it's quick drying properties are advantageous once applied to paper...no hanging around waiting for it to dry or attempting to speed the process up with a hair dryer! This ink also has excellent lightfast properties and is waterproof once dried, but I've yet to find anything about this regarding Coliro, so may have to conduct my own tests. At the end of the day, If I want a more realistic metal look, this is the go to ink over the watercolour paints. (Schmincke metal pigment powder is even better than this ink, but I'll post about that another day!)

I achieved a much better like-for-like comparison with my White Nights range. The Coliro range of gold shades is broader, but saying that I only found one gold in the WN range and one silver to resemble any Coliro metallics, so using them all together has enabled me to extended my watercolour range of gold shades to 7. The upside of WNights is that they offer 2 shades of silver plus a copper and bronze (as far as I'm aware Coliro do not have these). Applied wet, both brands of paints acted very much the same in flow and distribution of pigment, but when dry it was apparent that the Coliro was more superior and really stood out. Hopefully you can see this is my photos.

On first glance The WN Inca Gold looked closest matched to the Coliro Gold Pearl, and the WN Light Silver looked like the Coliro Sterling Silver. Applied wet to the swatches the paints looked very similar but once dried there was an obvious difference in the gold shades....and when held up to the light it really was apparant that the Coliro was better.

Applied to black or very dark paper and backgrounds are where these metallic paints really shine and work best and you can see them to their advantage. I have yet to make black paper swatches but will certainly be doing so in the near future.

I appreciate there are other brands and types of metallic paints and inks out there....so this is purely a comparison and personal opinion of the ones I DO have to date, and which are suited to my needs. I believe Kuretake now have a range that many people love and some say are almost identical to the Coliro range regarding colours and quality. I cannot comment on that but comparisons and evaluations of these products have been conducted by many calligraphy and artists who post their finding on their blogs and youtube, so you can easily find those should you wish to look at the any other brands and products available.

In my previous post on here I showed you my swatches that I've been making up for the latest additions to my White Nights watercolours. I forgot to add one photo with the breakdown of info how it relates to each colour and for some reason cannot go back in to edit and add it. I've posted the image to the comments below the post, but just in case it gets missed, here it is again. I also briefly mentioned about the opaque/transparent, and staining tests I do on the back of the swatches...so here's the full explanation for that.

On the reverse side of each swatch paper strip I draw in a line with black waterproof marker pen (I use a Copic pigment pen designed for use with alcohol inks etc....a Sharpie pen does the trick just as good) and then apply a layer of the corresponding paint across part of the pen mark and extending out over the paper. I leave the paint to completely dry out for 48 hours (you can speed up the process with a hairdryer but I prefer to just leave it to dry naturally) which is very important to enable you to get the best test results possible. Then I return back to it to conduct my testing as follows -

Firstly, the pen mark enables me to judge how opaque/transparent the paint pigments are. If the black ink is clearly visible (and often looks like it has been drawn in 'on top' of the paint) then it is very clearly a transparent paint. If it's obvious to the eye that the black ink line is 'underneath' the paint layer then it has opaque properties...the ink can still be visible to a degree, or it could be totally blocked out and so is made up of much more solid pigments. What this test does is to determine the different applications of the paints. Thin washes of transparent paints mean you can build up layers/glazes and still be able to see what is underneath, this can be used to great effect, but it can also help you be more mindful of initial pencil sketch lines that you need to erase prior to paint application, so as not to have them showing through and potentially spoiling the final painting. Opaque paints can be applied undiluted to create solid layers in which little or nothing underneath shows through.

The second test is to determine staining properties ie whether it contains 'permanent' pigments which fully absorb into the paper fibres and once dry cannot be lifted, or 'non staining' pigment that even when dried for some time, remain workable, can be reactivated and the pigments can be lifted off or moved around. There is also an inbetween level of 'semi-staining' that some brands will refer to which can be confusing...and as watercolour paints can react and work differently depending on paper used, I like to conduct my own test to determine and judge the levels of staining for myself on the particular paper I use. Understanding these staining properties is very useful...you will learn which paints require more respect and attention on application because errors made cannot be easily rectifiable, and which paints you can erase errors completely or to a reasonable degree without ruining your painting or the paper. It helps you determine if the final painting also needs 'sealing' to aid it's life span and protect the work from being ruined by moisture. Oh and permanent paints can also stain fabrics/clothing and skin...so another thing to be mindful of!

so, this is where the extended painted area comes into play. I load a clean brush up with clean water and use it to attempt to reactivate the pigments, and lift the paint back off the paper. As I'm doing this I intentionally smear diluted wash of the paint across the edges onto the clean paper to replicate me making a small error of 'going over the lines', so to speak. I clean my brush, reload with water and attempt to go back and clean that bit off too. If the paint doesn't budge from this area at all I know the paint is a staining one. If it all comes off pretty clean to a point the paper is almost showing it's original white state, it's classed as a non staining paint. Anything inbetween that I cannot clearly define as a stain or non staining paint, I class as semi staining.

Most water colour paint companies will give you helpful guides as to their paint properties...most are very accurate, but I say always err on the side of caution and see these as starting points only. Test them yourself to get a truer reflection....and bear in mind they can react very differently depending on the surface they are being applied to.