Week 1 of my 100 days project Scotland
It’s week 1 of the 100 days project, Scotland. You can find out more about the project and my own project plan here >
Taking on a project that I have to do daily for 100 days is quite daunting and I wanted to make sure I could keep it up so I have chosen to have a new theme each week to keep my interest! This week the theme I’ve chosen is nature. I plan to pick up different things on my daily walk to use to create an imprint in the clay.
I am documenting my project over on Instagram and I plan to share it on the blog weekly too.
Day 1 - Leaf
Saturday 16th May 2020
I started day 1 looking for a leaf. With silver clay you need something that has a very strong texture so some leaves aren’t that great e.g. ivy. This one is great because it has texture on both sides. A tip if you are going to use leaves in your silver clay work is to always have the underside of the leaf pressing down onto the clay. That tends to have the most texture.
Day 2 - Cow Parsley
Sunday 17th May 2020
It was raining a bit today when I went out but I’d seen what I wanted to get out of my window. I am so fortunate to live on the water of Leith and see it outside every window. I walked along the river a little and picked some cow parsley. There’s so much of it right now. I had to roll this in twice, the first time I wasn’t happy with the impression I got from it.
Day 3
Monday 18th May 2020
I’m definitely beginning to wish I’d left nature week until a more summery month! Oh well. I popped out today to find a new texture and here it is! I found it by the water of Leith, a gorgeous spot for rooting around for natural texture.
Day 4 - grasses
Tuesday 19th May 2020
It’s fairly warm but very cloudy here in Edinburgh today. We popped out for a walk and I was looking for some grasses today for my piece.
Day 5 - daisy
Wednesday 20th May 2020
It’s a scorching day here in Edinburgh - yay! A great day for watching the bird life in the river.
Today I went for a daisy. I’ve cut it off centre to make it a bit more interesting. There are still some bits of flower left in the clay which I will remove once it is dry or leave as it will burn off during the firing process.
Day 6 - sycamore
Thursday 21st May 2020
I spotted these sycamore seeds a few days ago and knew I would be back to pick some up! It took me a few attempts to roll them into the clay to get the most in the shape I need but I managed it! This tree is outside the supermarket, although there are another couple closer to home.
Day 7 - grass
Friday 22nd May 2020
The final day of my nature week and the wind has picked up! I went out to the post office to send a birthday present to my Dad so took the opportunity to pick some grass. I used grass seeds on day 4 and wanted to layer the grass itself today. Again, I had to do a couple of tries to get a good impression in the clay.
Right now I am making the silver clay pieces and filing them once they are dry. I will not be drilling or firing them for a while. I had the brainwave to make the neckpiece I’m making reversible and to have a quote on the back. To do that I am going to need to have some or even all of the pieces made so I can arrange them. I don’t want to arrange them in order of making as I think it will look better in a more abstract order.
I am sharing my daily progress over on Instagram @annaccampbell with the hashtag #100silvertextures
You can follow all the projects over on https://www.instagram.com/100daysprojectscotland/ and the project website is https://www.100daysscotland.co.uk/