[Sandra]

Hi Folks,

My name is Sandra, and I'm an Australian who's bucked the trend and moved in the other direction, to New Zealand. I've always enjoyed making stuff, drawing and mixed media work when I was younger, and needlework when I was older. Recently I undertook a short course in bone carving, partly because I have some interest in beading but couldn't find the sorts of pieces I was looking for, and thought I might make them instead.

I found I really enjoyed the carving because, for once, I could actually translate the picture in my head fairly accurately to the real world. I've made a couple of pieces for the course, firstly a Maori style fishhook design (we all had to make one) that I changed a bit and it ended up looking as much like a canine tooth as a fishhook. For the second one, I was inspired by the trocanters on the bone to make a feather from the natural ridgeline, which turned out alright. I was quite disappointed by the quilling done with the Dremel though, I'm not sure if that is a matter of practice or if I just don't like the Dremel for that purpose.

I will be going through the site with interest. I practice Kendo and love the Japanese aesthetic, so will be taking a look at netsuke.

Regards,

Sandra