Creative Miscellany

Current Obssession

2012-02-18T11:08:00.000-06:00

I have a great affection for glass. Clear, colored, leaded, pressed, blown, cut... Some women go for glitter or diamonds, I like sparkly glass.

I had the nifty idea to use orphaned china saucers married with glass bowls to serve as whatnot dishes. I have a couple in my bathroom holding lipsticks and hairpins, but they could hold change, bracelets, sweetener packets, etc. I saw the idea for reducing clutter functionally in a magazine: You collect pretty cups and saucers, but have nowhere to display them, so put them in a dressing table drawer and use them to hold jewelry. That's all fine and good, but I don't collect teacups, and I don't have a dressing table. Also, the tiled-surface bathroom (where I put mine) seemed like a good way to shatter the pieces, so I used E6000 to glue them together, making it less likely that I'd tip the bowl off the saucer, making the assemblage more stable, reducing the risk that I'd end up with glass in my foot.

The center two are in the bathroom, holding hairpins and ponytail elastics, and lipsticks, respectively.

I was in Goodwill scrounging the pieces, and spent ridiculous amounts of time finding the right glass piece to go with the saucers I'd chosen. The base of the glass dish needed to fit in the depression that was for the teacup, and I wanted the look of the glass to compliment the saucer. For instance, the top right pair both have a swirled texture - hard to see from the picture, but the lip of the saucer has the same kind of texture as the little bowl.

So that's where my lunacy started. Then I looked at the piece of garden art my mom got me for my birthday: a "flower" of stacked glass (plate, bowl, vase, nested together and displayed on edge, perched on Rebar), and started looking online for other examples of repurposed glass. I found more flowers (most of them not as skillfully made as the one Mom got from a central Illinois artist), and I found "garden totems." Garden totems must be the official garden sculptures for the Royal Society for Putting Things on Top of Other Things. Basically: vase, plate, vase, bowl, plate, vase. They can be perched on poles or set directly on the ground. (Here's a link for pics and how-tos.)

It seems simple enough, until you hit the thrift store and start trying the pieces together. It's a little tricky to get scale, color (if you're using colored glassware), shape and fit just right. Like my saucer/bowl pieces, I want the various pieces to fit together well, so that the fit will help the glue do its job - if the bowl on top of the vase is too small, it will be harder to get the pieces to glue perfectly vertically; if too large, it might make the overall piece tippy even on a stake, and might lead to breakage.

Since I wasn't sure what I wanted, exactly, I might have gotten a little carried away...

Goodwill haul after hitting three different locations.

Most of the pieces I picked up were 99¢ though some were more, some less; they average at about a buck a piece. Colored glass was much harder to find and some of the glass is painted not colored itself. The orange vase is painted, so it may not weather well, but it was so pretty I decided to take a chance.

Isn't that orange spectacular?!

I'll pair that orange vase with some amber glass, and a small ruby bowl, and get a warm little tower for my garden. The green pieces might seem crazy... green glass in a (hopefully!) green garden might be lost. But perennials are expensive, and I'm far too lazy a gardener to mess with annuals every year, so my garden art will serve as pretty little bits of color until the beds fill in.

Sparkly!

Making clear glass sculpture will be a cinch! Tons and tons of candle holders, vases, bowls, plates - some leaded glass piece, even. I'm looking forward to playing with this, and looking forward to spring, and making my flower beds look a little less sad...

Conversations with My Dad

2012-01-09T08:52:00.000-06:00

Dad and I are a lot alike, much to my mother's chagrin. They were up for Christmas this past weekend, and Dad (being Dad) made a pretty snarky comment about my admittedly poor housekeeping. (I've been hearing it for years; he can say all he wants, but nothing is going to make me love doing dishes, running the vacuum or washing clothes. Since we are a lot alike, comments like that roll right off.) He said maybe if I painted a rainbow on the vacuum, or in the laundry room, I'd spend more time on those activities. (Not.) However, it did make me think... what if I DID paint a rainbow in there? It's in a rarely-seen corner -- you'd only witness my insanity if you used the powder room (or the washer/dryer), even coming in the back door, because of the way the door swings, you might not see it. Hmmmm...

My love of color and creative side comes from Mom. (Weird combo, huh? "Piss off" attitude in a Rainbow Brite package.) The other thing I've been contemplating recently is a large art piece using broken tempered glass, a technique I saw on Color Splash with David Bromstad. I had to scan through a full 3 seasons, and 2 episodes of season 4 before I found it to refresh my memory and learn what he used for adhesive. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my "canvas" (he often uses plywood, as he did with this piece), only that I wanted to do something incorporating broken safety glass that I was lucky enough to save from a dumpster (before it went in the trash). Then I knew what I wanted to do.

Incorporating both ideas, the rainbow in the laundry room, the art-with-glass... And now I'm so damn excited, I can hardly wait to get started. It's going to be Big -- taking up a large portion of the wall above the shelf over the washer/dryer. It's also going to be heavy, so I may need my husband to rout out "keyholes" on the back of my substrate to hang it on the wall, using heavy screws in the studs. Details, details... don't trouble me with those little things, I have a mess to make!

Wearable Audacity

2011-12-26T09:42:00.002-06:00

Once upon a time, as a teenager shopping with my mom on a summer vacation trip in Mississippi, we happened upon a boutique that had a denim skirt and jacket. The pieces were sold separately, but were meant to be worn together. Both were elaborately embellished. Both were outrageous and funky. Both were fabulously expensive. I wanted them desperately, but even a self-centered teen is capable of understanding ZOMG-that's-expensive! Mom apologized, said she'd get it for me if she could, but it was just too expensive. And it was - the pieces were really the first time I remember seeing something that could be labelled "wearable art." They were not overpriced, just beyond what the budget could bear. She told me that we could make it ourselves - maybe not the same thing, but we could alter a jacket and skirt and make something similar. We gathered a few supplies, but quickly realized that just buying the embellishments added up fast. The project never made it off the ground.

Fast forward about 26 years. I'm coming into my own as an artist. I'm learning to sew and am good at reverse engineering. I have developed an adventurous spirit when it comes to trying something new. I can barely recall what that original skirt and jacket looked like - it's been more than half my life since I saw it! And I know now that the skirt wouldn't suit me now, and it would fit anyway. And as a teen, wearing it would have gotten more ridicule than admiration. Now, I simply don't give a damn what people think! (Back then I had chutzpah in the traditional sense: insolence, arrogance and audacity* - I brazened my way out of high school trying to survive. Now, it's more disdain.)

I know when I'm wearing something that suits me because I'm comfortable. I know when I look awkward, when something isn't "me" - my challenge for the new year will be to find the right jacket, the right jeans to alter into a skirt, and recreate that wearable art set that has percolated in the back of my head, O these many years. I have another jacket project I want to get back to, as well. And some purses I want to play with. Will I find what I want? Create the nebulous vision? WHO KNOWS! It's a whole new year and anything could happen.

Update: I also want to do a pair of Converse Chuck Taylors to go with them. I really need to start some design sketches....

* I've always loved the word audacity. Most people regard it as a pejorative. Not me. "Boldness or daring, especially with confident or arrogant disregard for personal safety, conventional thought, or other restrictions." I am arrogant. It's not one of my nicer qualities, but it's there. I am an audacious person. Maybe it's time to stop trying to be something I'm not, and embrace the core of who I am. Look out, world, this is your only warning!

Miniature Recipe Box

2011-12-14T13:53:00.001-06:00

I wanted to make recipe box ornaments, but I knew a full-size box would be too big and heavy. Using a metal box as my guide, I made a template that can be printed out on 8.5 x 11" paper. If you print the template directly onto the paper/cardstock you're using, be sure to print it on the BACK side of the paper, so the lines won't show. Or you can print it on heavy cardstock and use the template to trace the lines onto your paper.

The finished box is about 2 7/8 inches wide, 1 7/8 inches tall and 1 3/4 inches deep.

Cut out your paper. On the template, the dashed lines are folding guides; solid lines are to be cut. If you fold all of the pieces before you start to assemble it, your life will be much easier!

I used double-sided tape, but you could use a glue stick if you hold until it sets. Fold in the top flaps (shown above), taping them to the sides of the lid.

This shows the top flaps folded and taped to the lid sides, forming a boxy shape.

Fold in the flaps on the three sides of the lid.

Finished lid

Tape (or glue) the smaller back flaps to the sides of the base, then fold in the larger flaps.

Back flaps are in place; folding up the larger flaps, roughing in the bottom of the box.

Once you have your sides in place, fold in the small flaps (taping or gluing them down), just as with the lid.

The box doesn't close very well since it's not hinged like the metal recipe box I used for inspiration, but I'll leave that up to your creativity - tie it closed with a ribbon, use a brad and string, leave it open... so many ways to play with this little box!

Download the template here. You are free to use it and share it, with attribution please (I worked hard on it, getting credit is a small thing to ask), but you may not sell the template or include it with other works for sale - it isn't yours to sell.

A Million Ways to Procrastinate

2011-12-09T15:27:00.001-06:00

I signed up at Pinterest in June as part of 30 Days of Creativity, but didn't really do much with it after the month was done. A friend of mine started using it, which made me take a second look at the site. And I have been using it to daydream about new projects ever since...

Ever since I got over my initial horror of destroying books, working on my own altered book, I've been looking at them with new eyes. So many books are discarded! I would never destroy something valuable (collectible, rare, etc.), but there's an awful lot of books that don't fall into that category. If you just look at the people who've tagged recycled books on Pinterest, there's tons of amazing, creative and fun projects. There's Christmas ornaments in particular I am dying to make. Currently, my vintage aluminum tree is set up in the library... but wouldn't it be awesome to have a book-themed tree?

We're working on finishing up our unpacking and organizing (we moved in last July) in the basement, where a lot of boxes ended up, yet to be unpacked. I know how I want to decorate that space, and Pinterest is giving me a lot of inspiration there, too.

Whatever you can think of, there's probably someone at Pinterest who's thought of it, too. And you will find a million ways to procrastinate.

Hydrangea Topiary

2011-12-03T13:52:00.000-06:00

This is super-easy to make. I used a 4" styrofoam ball, 2 large silk hydrangeas, a 4" clay pot (painted), 1/4" dowel (14" long), dried moss, florist foam, ribbon, hot glue, wire, and a toothpick.

Cut all the florets off the flowers and press the stems into the ball. I used a toothpick to make a "pilot hole". Start at the top and work your way down, spacing them so that they're bunched together and look full. Leave space at the bottom to insert the dowel. If you have any florets left over, carefully look at your ball and see if there are any places that look spare, and fill in. You can also rearrange the orientation of the 4-petaled florets to cover any thin places.

I happened to have a 14-inch piece of 1/4" dowel on hand, so that's what I used. Paint the dowel (I used a mossy green), let dry, and carefully insert into the ball, being careful to keep it vertical. If you don't, it will go in crooked and your topiary will look lopsided.

Paint your pot, if desired, and let dry. Trim a piece of florist foam (I had some on hand; you could also use styrofoam) so that it fits into the pot very snugly. Mark the center of the foam and insert the dowel - again being careful to keep it vertical.

Attach dried moss to the top of the foam with hot glue. Gather several loops of ribbon with a small piece of wire and twist the wire to hold the ribbon loops in place. Wrap the wire ends tightly around your toothpick and insert the pick into the base of your foam ball, near the dowel. Done!

The eggplant and mulberry colors in my topiary are inspired from the shower curtain, which has dusty mauve, plum and moss, on an off-white background. You don't have to use hydrangeas, of course, small rosebuds work for this beautifully, but you need a ton of them. The most tedious and time-consuming part is putting the flowers in the styrofoam. I think I spent over an hour doing it - on a 4-inch ball! (Finished ball is about 6 inches across.)

Bah! Humbug!

2011-11-27T11:06:00.000-06:00

I have a confession: I am beginning to loathe Christmas. I worked for several years in retail until I had my daughter, and even worked on and off part time after that. I have enough retail holidays under my belt to make anyone hate this season. The only things that keep me from chucking it all are #1: My daughter - she's 14, autistic, loves getting presents and going shopping. #2: I like Christmas decorations, I just really hate seeing them before Hallowe'en! #3: I like making them.

I suppose what I really have issue with are the mad, materialistic crowds of people, the fact that the holiday is encroaching steadily on my favorite holiday (Hallowe'en), and the expense of it all! I can understand that some holiday things need to be available before Thanksgiving; if you're making a Christmas quilt (etc.), you have to have the themed fabric well in advance. But the ceramic villages, the ornaments, and the candy for cripes' sake! does all that need to be out on the sales floor before the jack o'lanterns get moldy? (Here's a hint: NO!!!)

If I could manage to stay in my home until January, I think I'd be the happiest camper in the known universe. Alas, I'll have to go to the grocery store, run various errands, do a little gift shopping, whether I want to or not... I just want to be Howard Hughes (without the crazy fingernails or the tissue boxes on my feet) for a smidge over a month - is that too much to ask?

UFOs

2011-11-07T10:55:00.000-06:00

UFOs... the bane of my existence. UnFinished Objects are all over the house. They're in boxes in the basement, in pieces all over everywhere, mocking me. How often do I start something, all gung-ho, only to get bored/disgusted/distracted/stuck with a project? Sometimes it's that I just don't know how I want to finish it. Sometimes I know what I want and can't find some elusive something I think I must have. Other times, I run out of time finishing a seasonal thing, and shelve it for next year (theoretically).

A couple days ago, I picked up an oldish crochet project that I keep meaning to finish. And I need to hurry it up if I'll get to use it this season: it's an openwork poncho sort of thing, and if I don't get it in gear, it'll be next year before I can wear it. The front and back pieces are finished, and I've stitched the shoulders together, but I think I need to make the neck hole smaller, since it's pretty ginormous at the moment. Then comes the fun part: adding the fringe. Miles of different textures and fibers, all in rusty autumn shades (another reason I need to get it finished). I hope I can make what I see in my head come to life in the yarn. There's only one way to find out...

Will post a pic when I get it finished, hopefully in a day or so. (Don't hold me to that!)

Who put that graveyard there?

2011-10-21T10:30:00.000-05:00

TOMBSTONE TUTORIAL

For the last couple weeks, I've been working on a project. I wanted to make some tombstones for the yard for Hallowe'en, so I watched a bunch of tutorials online, read a bunch more, came up with my plan and executed it.

For durability and weight, I decided to use treated plywood (1 3/8-inch, 4x8-feet panel), glued to the back of styrofoam panel insulation (half-inch, precut 18-inch x 4-feet pieces). I figured I could get a dozen 16x24-inch tombstones out of that. I bought my materials at Menard's and Home Depot, and overall spent around $60.

Cut slabs of plywood

Once all my plywood was cut into manageable pieces, I sketched on cutlines for fancier tops, which I used a jigsaw to cut.

At my husband's suggestion, I used a belt sander to clean up the edges of the cut pieces, which also made them more comfortable to handle. I then used the cut pieces of plywood as my template for the cutlines on the styrofoam... and that's when I hit my first snag. The styrofoam pieces were not 16-inches wide as I assumed they were, but 14.5-inches - this was MY fault, the package they came in did state that, but that meant 3/4-inch needed to be trimmed from both sides of each plywood pieces. My husband did that in about 5 minutes with his table saw, and I was off and running again. Styrofoam was cut using a snap-blade utility knife.

I had bought 3M's foam adhesive, and used that to spray on both pieces, sticking them together and stacking them on the floor, with heavy buckets on top to keep the pressure on to help with adhering.

In the morning, I hit my second snag: some of the pieces were NOT sticking together. I think this is probably my fault, but the spray glue did etch into the foam pretty badly, removing some of the surface area for the wood to stick to. I ran and got some Loctite foam glue and used that to reglue the pieces.

From this point, I was ready to get my lettering started. I'd seen an awesome tutorial using extruded foam (the pink or blue stuff, not the beady white stuff I used), an iron and photocopies for toner transfers. I got my epitaphs made, printed them out reversed, made the photocopies and made a test run on scrap.

The styrofoam melted quite a bit, and the paper stuck to the foam pretty badly. I tried using less heat, less pressure, and that resulted in a transfer that was too hard to see. I played with some other ideas, tracing the lettering with a Sharpie (letting the ink bleed through the paper onto the foam), tracing with a pencil (too hard to read), tracing with a woodburning "pen" (lettering blurry on the surface), using a pin to "trace" the letters (OMG, that would have taken me years to finish)... and finally decided to freehand the letters.

Heat transfer, melted styrofoam

Sharpie through paper, partially re-traced; pin-hole transfer, traced with pen

freehanding

I wrote them in pencil on the styrofoam, then traced my pencil marks with a soldering iron (instead of the woodburning tool; the soldering iron had a pointed tip, the woodburner was chiseled, got cleaner lines with the soldering iron). I did this on my screened sunporch with the doors open and the fan on, so I wasn't inhaling melted plastic fumes.

Once I was finished with that, I sprayed into the letters with black spray paint, knowing that it would eat into the foam (making the surface look "rockier"). Alas, I got carried away, and some of my pieces got eaten TOO much, and I still had to go back and do the lettering with thinned acrylic paints...

bottom: painted lettering using thinned acrylic (craft-grade) paints; top is not yet painted

here's one of the ones that got eaten by the spray paint pretty badly, even once I added the black acrylic to bring out the lettering, some were just too damaged to be legible

Once my acrylic lettering was done, I used exterior latex house paint (that we already had on hand) and a roller to apply the grey paint that would (hopefully) look like stone, more or less, AND protect the surface, front and back.

before house paint

after house paint

Some of my lettering had to be touched up after the latex paint was done, but it wasn't much work for that, and most of them didn't need any touching up at all.

Now I was ready to "age" them, using green and brown acrylic paint to give the look of moss and lichen growth. This was a pretty random process, and I tried not to overthink it, make it too uniform or symmetrical.

Success! Pleased with my aging process, I let them dry overnight, and then put the brackets on that would hold them to the posts in the ground.

brackets are made from steel hanger strap, cut with tin snips and bent by hand (using the post as a guide)

the post was used to help me align the brackets; everything was eyeballed, I didn't measure anything here

With my brackets in place, I was ready to turn my front yard into a cemetery!

before

after!

THINGS I LEARNED:

1. Never assume anything. I assumed the foam sheets were 16" wide, because the package said it covered an area 4x8 feet - the same as my plywood. Smaller print said that the pieces were actually 14.5" wide. This was annoying, but trimming the plywood fixed it.

2. Anything in an aerosol can is going to eat styrofoam. Even glue intended for that purpose. The Loctite glue (applied with a caulking gun) took longer to use, but didn't eat into my styrofoam.

3. Simpler may be better. I would have gotten really awesome lettering, with lots of different fonts, had the heat transfer technique worked. In the end, freehanding worked better for me, and I just used my printed sheets as a kind of guide for the lettering I drew on. Fancy lettering would have taken a lot longer to trace with the soldering iron, too, and longer to paint later.

4. DRAG the soldering iron, don't PULL it through the styrofoam. Pulling it was too fast, and it tended to snag in the little balls in the styrofoam, pulling my lines crooked. Dragging it was slower, and my lines were straighter. Also, make sure those lines are deep!

5. Spray paint simply did not do what I wanted it to do. I ended up repainting all the lettering anyway, so I could have skipped that entirely, or maybe do a LIGHT surface spray, just to roughen up the smooth flat front a little bit. (This is probably operator error as much as anything.)

6. It's going to take longer than you think. For some lunatic reason, I though I could get all 12 tombstones made in a week's time, max: the weekend to cut and glue, and maybe a couple days to paint and done. Maybe if I didn't also have a family to care for, I could have... but even if it was just me, and I didn't eat, I don't think I could have gotten this done in 5 days.

I hope this has been informative. There are so many tutorials online for these, so many really talented people... they inspired me to try this but put my own spin on it. I think my decision to marry plywood and styrofoam was a good one; I have some weight so they won't blow away or be easily damaged, and the soldering iron carved my letters into the foam beautifully. All in all, this was a great project. I learned a lot, and even with some bumps along the way, they turned out great. I'm really pleased with them.

Halloweenie

2011-10-01T17:26:00.000-05:00

This morning I put up the Halloween decorations that I have. Honestly, there weren't that many, because up until now, we haven't had the space to store a bunch of decorations and still don't have the money to splurge. But that's not all bad, because making them is fun, and I need something to keep my restless hands busy.

I've been toying with the idea of using vintage diecut jack o'lanterns as patterns for making with felt in layers, using three or four layers as needed for the different colors. That's a little ambitious, so I thought I'd start a little smaller, and use craft foam sheets and do a simplified version of that same idea. I even found a prepackaged bunch of yellow and orange pumpkin shapes (some with glitter!) that I'll layer, yellow behind the orange, creating a similar effect.

Top row, my "patterns" from vintage diecuts; bottom row, my two-layer creations with craft foam. (Yes the right one is backwards. It's still cute.)

This is the original, the inspiration for the left pumpkin above. I am still debating whether or not to add the little white teeth to the foam version.

At the same time I bought those, I also got some plain orange precut pumpkins, a yellow sheet, black and white, two shades of green, and a medium blue sheet. These are for my daughter, whom I am hoping to engage in some creativity and let her make the faces from shapes I'll cut out. [Note: My daughter is 14 and autistic, and lately if it's not a video on the PBS Kids website or Heidi Kenney's Yummy stuff, she can't be bothered. However, she enjoys Halloween, so I'm hoping to get her involved with me on this. Not holding my breath, mind you...]


Pumpkins with the stems added (by me) in the shades of green.

I also have leaves for them all, but haven't cut them out yet.

This time of year also allows me to drag out my guilty pleasure collection of Halloween Barbie dolls. I love them. Some are better than others, of course, but I love them all. Then I see some of the one of a kind originals some clever artist has made, and is selling for fabulous amounts, and I think I have a sewing machine, I can do repaints like those artists, and I could make my own visions... I know, I'm crazy. My sewing skills are rudimentary at best. But I can learn, right??

I enjoy making dolls. Weird dolls, dolls with strange materials, teeny dolls, mixed media dolls... and this time of year, I lean toward making witchy dolls. I'm dying to try an apple head doll. I wrote a children's alphabet book for the season, and I want to make all the dolls for illustrations. SO BAD! I think the worst part is having all the ideas, and no idea where to start.

Really long comments on someone else's blog post...

2011-09-09T09:56:00.000-05:00

This started out being comments on Comic Book Grrl's blog post "When it comes to art, is it possible to cheat?" But a) her post was way back in April, and b) I didn't want to hijack her blog with a really long comment (that may or may not ramble a bit).

As a writer, photographer and artist, married to an intellectual property attorney, I have pretty strong opinions on "cheating" in art. Whether you're working in visual media or written word, you've been influenced by others. Some other writer/photographer/etc. has appealed to you, made a difference to you, and even if you don't copy their work directly, their influence has stamped something on your own creativity.

But is there intent? Is the the person intending to pass off someone else's work as their? Are they consciously defrauding their audience? This doesn't take into account the thousands of people who ripped something off the internet, changed it slightly, believing the incorrect idea that if they change a 10% of a work it becomes theirs. That's not fair use, that's copyright infringement, period. A romance author, Cassie Edwards, was called out not too long ago for having ripped off someone's research in her novels (as well as other plagiarized sources). She claimed that she didn't know she was supposed to cite sources. I call bullshit on that. And even if she didn't know (yeah, right...), ignorance of the law is no excuse. When you take an entire paragraph from someone else and slap it into your book (or paper, you Wikipedia-plagiarizing delinquents), you're stealing. When you take someone's photograph, trace it, and pass off the new art as your own, you're stealing. (For instance, Fairey's iconic Obama "Hope" poster was lifted from an AP photo.)

Plato wrote things claiming they were Socrates' words. He may have been trying to legitimize his own ideas claiming they were his teacher's, since Socrates already had standing in the ancient World of Nerds. Similarly, writers who put Shakespeare's name on their plays might have been capitalizing on an established playwright's success. So are the suspected works plagiarized by the Bard, were other writers "borrowing" his name, or were they "ghostwritten"? Difficult to prove and know for certain, since all the actors in that particular play are long dead.

We are all influenced by the world around us, those of us who are artists (in whatever medium) probably more so because we're imaginative and we pay attention. There can be a pretty fine line between inspiration and theft, and intent doesn't even have to play a role. (Intent comes in at the "damages" part of the lawsuit, I believe, and can be hard to prove especially when you're dealing with someone who's already been dishonest about "their" work.) But here's some crazy thoughts: don't steal! don't pass off work someone else did as your own! if you're inspired by someone, claim it! For example:

"Clawing the Sky" ©2007 Wendy A. B. Whipple,
inspired by the works of Ansel Adams

There is some resemblance to "Dead Tree" by Adams, taken 60 years before I shot my own dead tree. However, I had not seen the Adams photograph at the time I took mine. Can I prove that I didn't see it before? No, you can't prove a negative (a little bit of a non sequitur, but it's funny). However, the works of Ansel Adams are in inspiration for me. I'm reasonably sure his estate is going to show up with their lawyers and beat me with sticks. Reasonably.

So to answer Comic Book Grrl's question "is it possible to 'cheat' [in art]"? Absolutely! It's cheating whenever you borrow someone else's creativity and claim it as your own. And using "inspired by" or "derivative" or "parody" is not always going to CYA (see this article about derivative works).

Go forth and exercise your own voice, express your own creativity, share your vision with the world. If you're inspired by those who have come before, recognize them in your artist's statement, in the acknowledgements in your book, in your official bio/liner notes/website. But don't cheat, don't steal -- you'd be mighty pissed if someone did it to you.

Janice

2011-09-08T21:32:00.000-05:00

My latest art doll, "Janice," was created with photo printed fabric (from my Golden Maple shattered photo), yarns, sequins and a recycled paper pulp face.

She's a bit different from "Cherish" (my first art doll) who's a bit more serene-looking, and not just in the face. Janice will make her public debut at the Salt Fork River Art Festival at Sleepy Creek Vineyards in Fairmount, Illinois, September 24-25th. I also hope to have with me a few more art quilts, in addition to the matted prints, pendants and the framed layered photos.

Netherwing Egg (World of Warcraft)

2011-09-01T14:14:00.000-05:00

I collect eggs. I inherited my grandmother's collection, and have been collecting myself for years, plus I also make them, not just for Easter. I also play World of Warcraft, and have collected Netherwing Eggs to gain rep, to get a Netherwing mount. Hours and hours of collecting eggs to increase my faction reputation... ANYWAY, I have been disappointed that Blizzard Entertainment has never offered a Netherwing Egg collectible. So disappointed, in fact, I decided to make my own.


Here is my inspiration

I found some glass chandelier-style crystal points (in the DIY wedding stuff at Hobby Lobby). Once I had the most important element, I was ready to start the rest. (I don't have photos of the whole process - sorry!)

I took a sheet of aluminum foil and crumpled it into a rough egg shape, about the size of a goose egg. It needed to be firm, but not compacted so tightly I couldn't get a pencil pushed into it. I used purple and brown polymer clay (needed more purple, in hindsight) to approximate the color of the eggs. I didn't worry about getting the color perfectly uniform, because the eggs are a bit mottled. I flattened my clay into a sheet (maybe 3/8" thick..?) and wrapped it around my foil egg, carefully smoothing the seams.

Once satisfied with the clay's irregular surface, I took a pencil and pushed it into the egg in six places, through the clay and into the foil, then tested each hole with a crystal to make sure it was in deeply enough, but not too deep. I flattened the bottom by pressing it firmly onto the parchment paper-lined glass pan and baked it for 275ºF for about 15 minutes.

Before baking

Once the egg was completely cool, I pressed the crystals back into the holes. They fit snugly enough, that no glue was needed.

Finished Netherwing Egg

I'm really happy with the way it turned out. The color's off a bit, and it could use more texture on the surface, but for a first attempt, it's awesome, and was instantly recognizable by my WoW friends.

Not bad, eh?

Cupcake Bouquet (Tutorial)

2011-08-17T13:53:00.001-05:00

My daughter's 14th birthday is this weekend. The theme has sort of evolved into Cupcakes. Giant Wilton cupcake pan, cupcake paper plates and wrapping paper, and one giant stuffed plush cupcake (from Gramma). I thought it would be cute to make a bouquet of flowers that looked like cupcakes. Here's how I did it.

The supplies: 6 silk carnations, 6 2.5 in. Styrofoam balls, cupcake liners, and glitter glue. The Mylar film, ribbon and cylinder box are for the vase.

Cut the ends off the balls so you get sort of a small cookie-shaped piece.

Foam "cookie"

Roll the edge of the "cookie" on a hard surface to flatten it, and to make sure it fits in the cupcake liner.

Remove the flower from the stem, poke the stem into the center of the Styrofoam. Try to keep the stem perpendicular.

Push it all the way through so you get a nice, clear hole.

Put hot glue in a circle in the bottom of the cupcake liner. DO NOT get it in the center - you need to poke the stem through that.

Using a knife, remove a cone-shaped piece from the center of the Styrofoam, around the hole. This will accommodate the bottom of the carnation, making it sit deeper in the cup. (If you're using flowers other than carnations, that have a flatter base, you might be able to skip this part.)

Poke the stem through the hole, top down, out the bottom of the cup. This will mark where you push the stem through the other way so you can reattach the flower.

Put the flower back on the stem, snugging it down into the Styrofoam cookie.

Run a little hot glue around the bottom, to hold the cup in place.

Cute, huh? You can stop here, or...

Put some glitter glue on a piece of waxed paper.

Dab your flower in the glitter glue, adding a little color and sparkle to the tips of the petals.

Like sprinkles on a cupcake!

I used a raised cake rack to put them in to try, to keep them from touching each other and transferring glue, and to keep all surfaces exposed to air for drying.

Here's the vase they'll sit it once the glitter glue has dried. The ribbon is held in place with double-stick tape. After the party this weekend, this can go in her room, and no glass to break!

Recycling, Revamping, Renewing

2011-07-10T07:37:00.001-05:00

I was clearing out my closet of old things I hadn't worn in a while, and looked at my broomstick skirts (which I love) with dismay. I hadn't worn them in ages either... by that reasoning, they should go too. But the main reason I hadn't worn them is because they're just too long for me. They don't drag the ground, I'm not that short, but they aren't flattering and I end up looking like I'm standing in a hole. So I thought I'd shorten them to knee length, the length of a skirt I have that I get compliments wearing.

Taking the oldest one first, a thrift store find so that if it didn't work out would not be a great tragedy, I put it on and stood with a yardstick at my side and noted the length determining that it needed to be 14 inches shorter (eep!). Then I ironed out the crinkle so I could get a reasonably flat surface to mark my cut line, marked from the hem up, and cut. Weeeeellll... 12 inches would have been better... not only did I have a seam allowance to adjust for, but most broomstick skirts are also circles, or nearly so, and a whole lot of weight sits at the hem. When all that comes off (over 5 yards in length), the fabric (in this case cotton voile) isn't pulled down so much. It's not a huge error, the skirt is still wearable, but when you're used to cargo shorts that reach your knees, having your knees exposed takes getting used to. The plus side to all that fabric coming off is that I have lots of scrap material to use to embellish a tank I dyed for something else, that turns out is a perfect match for one of the colors in the newly-shortened skirt. I already hemmed up a length of it for a scarf to tie my hair back, and I'm making little yo yo flowers to trim the neckline of the tank.

Flushed with my success, I went to my closet and took out 4 more skirts to shorten. Happily, 2 of them were tiered, so I just had to rip seams and re-hem. (Huzzah! not... it took me much longer to rip out all those stitches than it did to mark and cut. Ah well, at least I know the edges were reasonably straight.) I then did the other 2 voile skirts, trimming and hemming. Woo! 5 "new" skirts!

Top: the 3 voile skirts and their new elastic; Bottom: the 2 tiered skirts

One of the unfortunate realities of broomstick skirts is their tendency for the elastic to die, which means either replacing it, or relying on the drawstring to keep the thing up. The problem with the drawstring is that it never gathers the fabric evenly as elastic will do. So yesterday I decided I'd replace the elastic in the 3 voile skirts, and managed to do so without too much trouble, though the safety pin came undone a couple times, and I swore quite a bit, struggling with getting the elastic threaded into their casings. I finished 2 of them, started the 3rd, and discovered I'd lost all patience, setting it to the side to finish today.

I went online looking for tips for threading elastic, and most everyone mentioned the safety pins paper clips, which I'd used to varying degrees of success. I even tried using a diaper pin (won't come undone), but it was too big by just a fraction to fit nicely into the casing and I didn't want to tear the skirt up trying to force it through. What to do, what to do... I saw one suggestion for using a bodkin (which is designed for this), but that would have meant waiting for the store to open, and I wanted to finish now. Looking at a ball point pen on my desk, I thought if I could somehow attach the elastic to it, I could thread that through easily.

What I ended up doing (after removing the writing part of the pen) was to cut a slit with my X-Acto in the fat end (this particular pen is tapered a bit) about an inch long. Actually it was 2 slits, parallel (more or less), then the narrow ends cut, making a thin rectangular hole lengthwise at the base of the pen. I also "shaved" the edges of my hole with the X-Acto, removing any rough spots that could potentially snag on any threads in the casing. Then I used a small gold safety pin, attached my elastic, and hooked the "head" of the pin in the slit I'd made. That made the pin's closure sort of sink into the barrel of the pen, (hopefully) preventing it from opening up before I wanted it to.

It's not pretty, but it worked like a charm!

What a difference! The pen was lightweight, smooth plastic, easy to grasp, and zipped right through the casing, pulling the elastic behind it, and I was finished so quickly I was kicking myself for not coming up with the idea sooner.

Pulled right through, no snagging, very slick and smooth!

To Boldly Go...

2011-06-19T13:34:00.001-05:00

All my previous Word Pendants have had a short phrase either indirectly referring to the kaleidoscoped image (or the original photo) or inspired by it in some way. When I found the word "boldly" in one of the books I was recycling, the iconic phrase from Star Trek*, "to boldly go" popped into my head, and I decided to use it, and hunted up the other two words.

It's a good phrase anyway, so even if a Trek fan doesn't snatch it up, surely someone can appreciate the idea.

*The full phrase is (of course): "Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its 5-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before."

Layered Photos

2011-06-13T19:54:00.000-05:00

These are some of the layered photos I did Sunday. Had intended to frame them up today, but health prevented it. :P Some of the ones I did I'm not happy with, and will redo. But for now, here's a little eye candy:

Blackberry Lily

Sun in the Trees

Canvas Rose

Coleus

Monstera Leaf

Rose After the Rain (w/ Diamond Glaze droplets)

Snowy Branches

Tigerlily

Trumpet Vine (w/ Diamond Glaze droplets)

Waterfall

White Rose

"Word" Pendants

2011-06-10T13:46:00.000-05:00

My "word" pendants are made with small versions of the kaleidoscoped photos, plus an inch-square piece, made with a pieced background of pastel chalk and words clipped from recycled books. Each is unique.

These are part of what I've been up to for the "30 Days of Creativity" challenge.

Matted & Framed

2011-05-25T15:28:00.002-05:00

Paper tole: 3D Zinnia, matted and framed. No idea how to price it, but at least it's done.

Paper Tole

2011-05-23T12:08:00.000-05:00

Paper tole is not a new idea. I recall it had some popularity in the 1970s, and I remember having a Holly Hobbie plaque or two with this technique. Basically, take several copies of the same image, cut them so you have several pieces you can layer using foam tape or cardboard, etc., so your layers are raised up from one another.

I used what I hoped would be a simple enough image that it would be clear where my different layers were. Since I was just playing, to see if I could make it work, I printed my mandalas (4 of them) onto white cardstock.

I found some foam tape that I was able to cut into small pieces, and assemble, and I started with the smallest (highest when finished) piece first.

One of the mandalas yielded two different pieces: the hexagonal "ring" and the six-pointed central star.

I think it turned out well for something I more or less dashed together. Trying this with photo paper will be next.

Yesterday's Art

2011-05-22T17:18:00.000-05:00

As part of 30 Days of Creativity, I have been trying to make at least one thing every day. Here were yesterday's contributions:

Felted Egg with Tiny Birds

Wish Box

The Wish Box has been in progress for a while, I just needed to finish it. Finish it, and mail it to the person for which it was intended, in fact. Mulberry paper collages the top of a repurposed candy box, the sides and bottom were painted with random patterns, then covered with tissue paper. The whole exterior was then varnished. The sun is recycled paper, pulped and molded into a flat dome, and separate "arms." It was glued onto the inside of the lid and varnished. The words wonder, faith, love and hope were painted in the bottom and varnished.

Today I went to a local art fair, and hung out for a bit with arty friends who were exhibiting. I am counting it as part of the 30 Days (plus 2 weeks, since I started early), because being around creative people is good for me, and I don't do it often enough.

30 Days of Creativity

2011-05-20T16:16:00.002-05:00

So I decided to do this 30 Days of Creativity thing, which doesn't actually start until June 1st. But I was jazzed so I started early.

First thing was actually finish up something I'd started a few days ago. It was inspired by something I saw in a blog post and I decided it was finally what I was meant to do with the single vintage clip-on earring I've had for more than 20 years (found at an antique mall, maybe; it's been a long time).

Felted Egg

My egg is plastic (the blogger who inspired me used real eggs), wool roving felted to the outside, embellished with tulle, moss, ribbon roses, string pearls, and that marvelous vintage earring I had to have.

Then yesterday I was pretty laid up with a migraine. Then this morning I made this (still headachy, but the hell with it):

Dance of Creation

I'm pretty pleased with it. She's made with painted twigs, fibers (fancy yarns), a molded paper pulp face, and beads, pinned to glitter felt set into an oval frame (glass removed). She was really fun to make.

And since I was unable to do anything on Thursday because of the migraine, I made a second thing Friday to make up for it:


Copper Mesh Egg Cradle

The free-form mesh egg cradle was made by taking a rectangle of copper mesh, folding over the edges (in an attempt to protect my fingers from the pointy edges), pushing it down into a lid for a start, then gently folding, rolling, shaping the sides into graceful (hopefully) ruffles. I was trying to get the metal to look like fabric. The copper's a nice contrast with the green egg, I think. (The egg was given to me by a friend, who told me it was petrified dinopoop, AKA coprolite. Must've been a vegetarian... *ba-dum tschhh*)

Art & Fear, Thoughts

2011-05-18T10:05:00.000-05:00

Perhaps I did myself a bad turn by reading Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell (a fascinating book that is going to make me question pretty much everything, ever, from now on) and then reading Art & Fear, by David Bayles and Ted Orland. And also by being a rather avid fan of Regretsy...

You see, Blink reminded me how very manipulable the brain is, how we can be primed to accept something (or not). I'm also reminded of a piece I heard on NPR some years ago, about the riots that occurred when Stravinsky's Rite of Spring débuted. (There's a biological/psychological side to that: the brain needs to hear new music more than once before it can "accept" it as music and not noise. Most new things, truly new and innovative, are heard as dissonant until they've been heard more than once. The brain needs to learn the new patterns.) So the brain is both malleable through intentional leading through word choice (classic eyewitness study by Loftus and Palmer shows this so clearly, and ad execs know it all too well), and through repeated exposure. Which brings to mind what Bayles and Orland talk about in their book, that innovation is an essential part of artmaking, but that it will invariably be met with criticism (and derision) until people get used to the new pattern. First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. (Attributed to Mohandas Gandhi, regarding nonviolent protesting.)

Like Stravinsky, you must simply wait out the criticism, let everyone's brains get used to the new patterns you're providing, "and then you win," Though they don't really discuss it in those terms, Bayles and Orland talk about how just the wrong words from a teacher to a student can end an artistic career before it even begins -- priming the pump. Something else they don't mention, but I will because I am cynical and nasty: Telling people they are "special snowflakes, just like everyone else" does everyone a great disservice. If everyone is special, NO ONE is. (See Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron.) Not everyone can write an opera, not everyone can paint/sculpt/etc./ad nauseum. But we persist in telling people "you can do anything if you put your mind to it!" (demonstrably not true), and then praise their mediocre and misguided efforts when they've created a "masterwork" from chewed gum and bits of string.

While I praise the efforts of Bayles and Orland for helping assuage the terrors of being an artist by reiterating the idea that all artists feel that way, all the time, forever... sometimes the "artist" in question simply believes they're special, no one understands their art, or "you're just being mean!" Frankly, there are people on Etsy selling items they have no earthly reason to expect to be paid for - it's not that I don't get it, or that I'm mean, it's that the piece is poorly executed, badly rendered, childish (at best) and, frankly, crap (I love how she calls herself a "new artist" in reference to that piece, as if it excuses the smudges and awfulness of it). There are also people on Etsy who are undercharging for very skilled work. I don't agree with everything Regretsy posts as a Fail, and I don't agree with all of the critics there who gleefully snark away on those pieces. I don't have to. My opinion is mine alone, but sometimes it really is that bad.

But I'm probably overthinking it all...

The Two I've Finished

2011-05-09T18:08:00.000-05:00

So there they are, my first two mixed-media art quilts. I have plans for more, but I also want to try an art doll or two, using a print-to-fabric technique. I want to try it so much, in fact, it's sort of distracting me from other things. (Anyone else have this problem?)

Maybe I'll get to it later this week...

There is no right and wrong in art... is there?

2011-05-01T06:59:00.000-05:00

I've been reading a couple issues of Art Quilt Studio for inspiration, looking at some really amazing textile arts, looking at my little quilts (the second one is 99% complete) and wondering if I'm doing it "right." My husband, when I commented that mine didn't look like any of those I'd seen, asked if I was trying to copy someone else or make my own. (Bless him and his blunt impatience.) But I can't help but wonder - am I doing it right? I guess I sort of am, since I'm creating as close to what I see in my head as I can.

It's maddening and baffling, so unlike the photography I've done so far. There's a project for that I have in my head, not sure I'll make it work, make it happen ever, but with that, it's more than simply framing a shot - there's lighting and things to consider that I don't normally have to fuss with, since I usually choose flowers as my subject. (And one of the reasons I like to shoot nature is because it doesn't show up late, doesn't argue, and doesn't expect to be paid...) But with textile art, there's a sense of "is this right?" even when I know I'm not sewing a wedding gown that has to be just so. Recently I've been told over and over to be "kinder to myself." Perhaps that also includes giving myself permission to let go of some of these doubts and play.

My husband is nothing if not honest: When asked what he thinks of the little quilts, he tells me that they aren't really his thing, but that he's sure someone will like them. I guess it's really not even fair of me to ask him. God knows there's plenty of artists that I just don't get or appreciate - it may be genius, but I simply don't like it, so how to comment?

So many ideas... so many ways to play... I just need to let go of the idea of "right" and "wrong" and DO it.

Inspirations

2011-04-23T09:37:00.000-05:00

Sewing & Quilting
Mom gave me The Complete Photo Guide to Textile Art for Easter, and the same day I received in the mail 2 back issues of Art Quilting Studio. The ideas that are pictured in them are very inspiring. Some things I cannot wait to try. I think I've come up with how to make the art quilt for the Hawai'ian fabric I bought nearly 4 years ago, too. I believe I need to practice some more on smaller scales first, though, before I tackle something that large.

I love that I'm getting positive feedback on the first little quilt I did. I love that the new one I'm working on is coming together so well. I do wish I was a little more confident; I still mostly feel like I don't have a clue. It's good that I learn best by doing, and that I am doing, and not just thinking and daydreaming. I have enough ideas, and enough enthusiasm, to keep me busy for a while. And all that work will give me plenty of practice, and chances to become more proficient and confident...

Which will also help, I hope, with the art dolls I want to make so much. I think part of the issue with the first little pass I made was the use of too many dissimilar fabrics that don't want to piece together neatly. If I stick to a woven cotton (even a cotton blend) I think I'll be ok. I also think I need to do a main "sheet" of piecework to cut my doll body from, rather than trying to get pieces to conform to the pattern. Perhaps I'll make my daughter's doll using some of the textile altering techniques in my books and magazines as an experimental palette. Paint, dye, stamp, resist, marbling... *grin* I need more white fabric! (But I'm probably getting ahead of myself again.)

Gardening & Photography
A lot of my photos have come from my own or friends' gardens. Sadly, when we moved, I left behind an established (small) flower bed that I was quite fond of. The new house has weedy, sad, very neglected beds that I hope to turn into wonderful inspiring gardens soon. Getting perennials isn't cheap though, so this year I'll jumpstart the process using seed mixtures, containing both annual and perennial seeds. Hopefully those will be successful and I can get back to my camera later in the summer, but until then I need to see what the local area has to offer in terms of preserves, parks and trails. And I can always pester the neighbors for their flowers, or maybe drive out to the Chicago Botanic Garden (a mere 45 minutes away).

My passions have a way of feeding each other. One thing sparks another, which distracts my attention from a third thing, and pretty soon I've gotten so far afield, it's hard to know how I got to where I am. This sort of short-attention-span art tends to leave me with a lot of UFOs, but I also learn so much by experimenting with new things. It's hard to be upset with the destination, when the journey has been so entertaining.

Personal Struggle with Symmetry

2011-04-19T09:20:00.001-05:00

I have a confession: I love the messy asymmetry many artists achieve in their chosen media - and I cannot make myself do it. When I collaged a small piece of furniture, it's probably the closest I've come to "random" but it doesn't have the "messiness" I admire in others. And I struggled with it, and the mosaic top.

I'm not sure if it's an inability to quit while I'm ahead (adding one more element and ruining the thing) or if it's that too much randomness is disquieting. Symmetry, regularity, predictability... these things are soothing. Asymmetry, randomness, unpredictability... it's exciting, vibrant, fluid. Does that mean I am boring and stagnant??

I was never a good math student; numbers confound me even now. Geometry, however, that was pretty clear and easy. Long proofs (where I would prove every single thing in a diagram when I only needed to find the proof to solve the question) were actually kinda fun... and confounded my geometry teacher, who had to wade through all the information to see if I'd proven what I was supposed to. (An added bonus, that. Sorry, Mr. Shafer, I really couldn't help myself.) I remember him telling us through our algebra and geometry classes that math was essential to our lives. Well he was a math teacher, of course he believed that. But I'm finding that math is really a huge part of what I do with my art, even though I don't intend it to be.

The quilts I've been working on have a single large central focal piece, with four smaller things in the corners. But would the world end if I put that focal piece off-center, or *gasp* off-kilter? If the entire piece is dynamic and fluid and exciting, wouldn't that take the focus off the centerpiece, from which I've built the rest of it? Undoubtedly, I'm overthinking the whole thing, but I'm reasonably certain that this will be a learning experience, both in technique, and personally.

Edited: More photos of the sides.

The bits and pieces on the sides are torn scrapbook paper, postage stamps, mulberry paper, dictionary definitions, artificial greenery and flowers, molded resin pieces, recycled greeting cards, colored transparent plastic discs, adhesive rhinestones, etc.

Finished Art Quilt

2011-04-16T06:59:00.001-05:00

There. It's finished -- tagged, priced, and in the gallery. Hopefully someone will think it's awesome and buy it.

I had a great deal of fun with this, even as I sweated the details. I want to do more. But I also have this burning desire to make art dolls, using the same sort of elements, including my own Shattered Photos. The tiny little doll in the lower right corner of this one was so much fun. And she was so simple: I just freehanded the outline of the body (almost a peapod shape) and stuffed her. The face is recycled paper, pulped and molded, painted with nail polish, with burlap hair. Twig arms, and a tree painted on her torso with craft paints.

The dolls I want to make are inspired by one I bought in Canada. I don't want to replicate that artist's work, but jump off with my own ideas from hers. I don't want someone to look at my doll and see her work, I want them to see mine. More specifically, I want them to see the kaleidoscopic patterns of my altered photos and how they blend seamlessly into another medium. Or that's the plan anyway.

The art quilt was fun, and I already have ideas in my head for the next ones - and the base chosen with specific photos in mind. But it's a flat deal, really, 3-D elements notwithstanding. The dolls are going to have round bases so they'll stand on their own without support (thinking about weighting the bottoms with little sandbags), and round bases means that the front and back pieces must go all the way around -- less "play," more math. (C = π x d) So... on a 4-inch diameter base, the bottom edges of the front and back pieces need to be about 6.5 inches across (with the seam allowance) to make the needed circumference of 12.6 inches, and then however tall she will be. I've dug through my scrap stash for material I can use for my first experiment. I think I'll make the first one to give to my daughter, using images of her own face and hair in place of the molded paper. I think she'll get a kick out of that.

Art Quilting?

2011-04-10T19:24:00.005-05:00

I've got my photos in a gallery/gift shop, and I'm working on adding other, different things to my inventory. I'm making a small art quilt, using an iron-on transfer of one of the shattered photos, fat quarters, and some other stuff... some of that "stuff" yet to be determined, but one thing will be a nifty little art doll who will hold the haiku I wrote for the piece, stamped onto a copper tag. It's going to be awesome.
I hope.

Mostly, I'm looking at this new creative outlet combining my love of photos with mixed media. But there's also an element of exploration, expansion, experimentation, and excitement. I'm trying to get it done in time for the next "meet the artists" night - Friday, 5 days from now. I've several more planned (sorta) in my head, and I am hoping the process goes smoothly once I get the hang of what I'm doing. Trouble is, I don't know what I'm doing.

My sewing skills are pretty basic, and this is my second art quilt; the first I gave to a friend with love, and hope she enjoys it, simple as it is. I'm trying to let myself forget even spacing, parallel lines, and perfect symmetry, but it's not easy. I've been looking at what other artists are up to, but their vision isn't mine, so it's hard to find inspiration outside of the vague images in my head. I'll figure it out, or I'll get frustrated and quit. It's going pretty well so far, though, so I think I'm on the right track.

2011-01-13T13:02:00.003-06:00

I am a terrible diarist/blogger.

That said, the new house is awesome, I've been able to personalize most of it with paint and/or accessories, and I have more than adequate space to store my supplies. Life's pretty good, even if we're not 100% unpacked yet, but we're getting there.

Shattered Photos now lives at Wise Women Gallery & Gifts in Lake Zurich, IL, where I'm getting exposure I'd never have had otherwise, even if I'm not getting rich -- yet! The woman who owns and runs the place is experienced with both shop ownership and with artistry (she's one herself), and is a nice, creative, and business-minded woman. I respect her a lot.

So many things have been on hold for so long. Before, it was that I didn't have space to create much of anything, now I've been busy getting the house in order, unpacking, painting, decorating, enrolling the child in school, more unpacking/painting, then the holidays... We've been here 6 months now, and I hope this is the year I finally finish the Hallowe'en necklace I've been imagining since June 2008.

Belle Armoire Jewelry accepts submissions to their fall issue until April 15th. If I don't make that deadline, there's always next year. Thing is, I still don't know for sure what I want to do, so there it all sits, and I try to find the inspiration I need to make it happen.

A friend posted a Facebook invitation - 1 free handmade item to the first 5 commenters who also repost the invitation - I accepted the invitation. Yesterday I finished the first of my 5 handmade items: a needle felted pirate cat, complete with eyepatch, pegleg and sword. I mailed it today. I hope she loves it as much as I do. (And this is another bit of aggravation -- the inspiration for Calico Jack, pirate cat, came quickly and clearly. Why won't this necklace come to me?!) I'll post a photo or 2 after the recipient gets it. Three of the remaining 4 I have planned, and the last will require a bit more thought.

Home, Sweet Home

2010-08-30T07:02:00.003-05:00

New house, new neighborhood, new opportunities. But my art supplies are still in boxes, and I'm going a little crazy.

I've been able to feed the creative urge a little, by getting my daughter's room fixed up for her, getting a dining room arranged "just so," hanging family photos... but it's really not the same. And since getting a kitchen unpacked is a little more pressing than art supplies, my art stuff is still all packed up.

I've got 2 art shows coming up in September, and an opportunity to have my Shattered Photos stuff in a craft/art shop locally, for booth rental prices. Still debating that one...

Moving Onwards

2010-05-13T11:19:00.002-05:00

We're moving. A significant distance from where we are. And, I hope, an opportunity for me to continue more effectively in my creative pursuits. Dedicated space for art-making. New places to visit and photograph... and with a couple of upcoming art shows, opportunity for networking.

All I know is, I need to create. And I can't at the moment, because there's too much else to do, and many of my supplies are now in storage.

Onwards!

Success!

2009-10-02T22:00:00.004-05:00

I have to call the Salt Fork River Art Festival a success. I made my booth in the first 2 sales, and did fairly well for myself, especially for the first time out. I met some people who were quite enthusiastic about my art, and took a special/custom order. It was exhilarating and terrifying to present things that I'd made to strangers, face to face.

I learned that people are very easily distracted, focusing on the flags I made to draw people over, and missing the art altogether. (That was frustrating!) My displays need work, but considering how much time I had to get that together and the money I had to spend, I think I did OK.

How I Spent 2/3 of Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-06T20:59:00.004-05:00

Here are the dozen flags, all of them, on the bed. I finished those up Sunday morning.This is the logo flag - whatever other order I put them in, this one will be in the center of the string.
And here's how I finished up my Sunday, matting prints, 44 of them...
I'm not quite done. I still need to come up with something to put the cards in so they're neat and won't get banged up, and I still have the pendants to make... oh what a pain those will be! I could go to the festival right now, however, and still be fine. I have prints to sell, and that's the main thing. I have an eye-catching way to set off my booth (not finished, still working on the how if it) and I will have my books to sell as well. There's still plenty to accomplish before the end of the month, but I can relax a little bit now.

Procrastinating Creatively

2009-09-04T21:00:00.005-05:00

I do not enjoy assembling the matted prints. It has to be done, but I don't have to like doing it. Because I am me and put things off until they can no longer be avoided, I have come up with many creative ways of avoiding things I don't want to do. This may be my best yet.

You know that foggy waking dreamstate you have before the alarm goes off, when you're not quite asleep, but you couldn't be called awake, either? This morning I had one of those awesome ideas that come in that in-between time. I could take men's handkerchiefs, make iron-on transfers of the kaleidoscoped photos, and make a string of "prayer flags" to hang from the tent/booth for the art festival -- eye-catching advertising that is also inexpensive. I went today and got the hankies and the transfer paper, and got to work. There were 13 hankies in the package but only 12 transfers (of course!), so I got 2 packages -- which also gave me insurance in case of a goof-up.

Here's the first one I did:
The hankies are considerably wider than the 8-inch print size my printer will do. It's good, but it needs something... not sure what exactly. I ruminated on this while I printed out the others.

Later, I realized what was needed was a border. Fortunately for me, the hankies have a design woven into them, making a nice-sized border and guidelines for where to paint. Here's one half-done:
Finished:
And a close-up of one corner. I coordinated the paint to the red in the photo. These may need a second coat of paint; the cotton-poly was pretty thirsty.

As I mentioned, there are 13 of these, 2 of them have my logo for Shattered Photos on them, though one of those is crooked and I don't think I could stand to look at it knowing that it's off. Haven't decided yet how to make a string of them, though I'm considering several things, but when finished, it will be more than 12 feet long, and the tent I'm borrowing is 10 feet square -- making my length of flags just about perfect for hanging across the front of it.

Once I finish painting all these (each one will have a different color-coordinated border), I'll be out of excuses (theoretically) and will have to start assembling the prints. Unless I decide to go shopping for the boxes I need to display the cards... hmm...

Stressing About the To-Do List

2009-08-25T09:32:00.002-05:00

Holy crap. I have a lot to do for this thing. I want to do a slideshow of the images I used to make the kaleidoscopes... but that means I have to find them (I didn't flag them or anything, I just thought - hey, I bet that would work well!). I need to do some of the pendants. I need to assemble the cards and the prints once everything arrives. I need to calculate the cost of the bigger prints. I need to come up with an inventory system so I can track what sells so I know which prints to order. I need to have a mailing list (maybe?!) for customers. I need to make sure I have a pen and paper so I can note any comments people make - good and bad. I need to find the copies of my book so I can haul those too. Make business cards. Come up with some ways to attract people to my booth without being obnoxious about it (no giant inflatables, no blaring music).

But what I need to do more than anything is Chill. The. Hell. Out.

Breathe.

breathe

breeeaaathhhe

Why People Like Me Shouldn't Do Art Shows

2009-08-23T03:51:00.005-05:00

Last fall, I visited a winery very near where I grew up, Sleepy Creek Vineyards. They were having their 1st Annual Salt Fork River Art Festival, and Mom, Melinda and I wandered among the artists exhibiting, and I tasted some wine (delish!). We were kinda scouting for Melinda, a bead artist, but I saw one of the photographer's works and knew I was better than she... minor daydreaming occurred, thinking about having a booth in the nebulous future, showing my own works. I signed up to get the email newsletter from the winery, some of which I barely read, and months pass.

Thursday, I get their newsletter, and something in this one catches my attention: Now calling all artists for the 2nd annual Salt Fork Art Festival that will be held here on Sept 26 - 27. I email the contact listed, and receive an e-flyer with more info. Immediately I start thinking and my brain slips into hyperdrive...

Hey, only $40 if I can come up with a tent (I think a friend of mine has one I can borrow, maybe). Crap, it's juried. Hey, will be down there this weekend anyway, I can take some of my stuff. Quickly firing off an email. Crap, they're busy with the harvest, oh! but he'll accept a website or e-files for the jurying. Quickly firing off another email with the link to Shattered Photos. Waiting, waiting for the reply, I'm in! My work looks "interesting" he says and should be a nice addition to the show. Go to class, friends are ridiculously supportive of this whole idea, and offer a tent I can use before I can even ask. [Friday morning] Crap! how much am I going to need to take with me? Get on the phone to bug Mom for advice. She doesn't know either. Artists are required to be there the whole time both days (total of 13 hours), how much can I possibly sell? What if I sell everything on the first day, then have nothing to show on Sunday? What if I invest a bundle, and no one buys anything? How many cards? Cards are inexpensive, people will buy those (order 100 more, and the poly bags to put them in). How many 5x7s? Uhhhh... Should I order 8x10s? Yes, but only a few - those get expensive. Looking at photos, looking at prints, making some more of the kaleidoscopes, uploading, ordering... scouring online for a coupon code. w00t! here's one for 20% off the order! Still haven't ordered the show kits [mats, backer board, poly bags all included]. The investment for the show is already adding up. Crap! where are the pieces-parts to make more of the pendants? Digging, rummaging, aHA! I can make these while I wait for the other stuff to show up - those cards take forever to assemble, what a PITA that will be. Gotta order the mats. Gotta pay for the space. Can I get an electric hookup (how much)? Yes, dunno cost. Need my netbook, can use it to keep track of sales and get names/addresses. Hey! I can use it to play a slideshow of the photos I used to make the kaleidoscopes! [pre-dawn Saturday] Brain clicks on: I can use my netbook to play music for me... Crap! what kinda music should I play? Funky mix of stuff I like? Nah, might turn people away... Classical? Nah, my stuff doesn't look like classical music... I know: bond! Yeah, that's it! It's classical, it's funky, it's perfect! OK, that solved, I can go back to sleep. Crap. No I can't.

So here I am, sharing where my brain has been for the last 65 hours or so. Sun's not even up yet... *sigh* Yes, I know I overthink everything. Yes, I know this doesn't have to be stressful (too late!). Yes, I know (sorta) that everything will be fine. But, but, but... it could be a disaster, it could rain, people could hate them, people could say they wished I brought my "real" photos, people could say "I could do this" snarkily under their breath, I could invest all this time and money and not make a dime... and this is why people like me shouldn't do art shows.

Slugfest Continues

2009-08-01T15:26:00.005-05:00

Turns out Canada is too laid-back a place to get camera crazy. :) I did take pictures, of course, but my camera was not glued to my face. So I took some photos, laughed with excellent company, and was lazy for a week. It was fab.

One of the wineries visited, with truly amazing fruit wines.

Culture in Toronto (really sorry I was going to miss out on that, I left the weekend this was to take place).

Niagara Falls, Ontario

Part of the canal system, view off the bridge, near Welland.

Sunset in Port Dalhousie

Slug

2009-07-04T09:35:00.003-05:00

I've been a complete slug. Not feeling particularly creative lately, busy with a million other things, but most lately, planning a solo trip to Ontario. Cameras in tow, I will have another place to take a million photos of... Toronto, Niagara Falls, dozens of vineyards, Lake Ontario.... It's gonna be great!

Hallowe'en Necklace-to-Be

2009-05-03T19:08:00.005-05:00

A few years ago, my mom, a friend of ours, and I went to the Bead & Button show up in Milwaukee. As we wandered, I picked up some gorgeous raku ceramics, some dyed mother of pearl, and some Hallowe'en-themed lampwork. On the ride back home, I started describing an idea I had for a mixed media necklace for Hallowe'en. Wool beads, wooden beads, felt, fabric, Shrinky Dink, paper, polymer clay... I sketched quickly (and crudely - I'm useless with drawing) and Mom and Melinda added their 2¢ as well.

I have made a few pieces from that original idea (the mini needle-felted sculptures, an experiment with mokume gane, and some of my first felted beads), and Melinda had made some lampwork ghosts for me, plus the little ceramic hat-wearing ghostie from her as well. Most of this, like the idea that spawned it, moulders in a box, waiting for me to finish it. I want to work on it, I can't wait to see my creation completed, but... like many of my projects, it has stalled. Too many ideas! I stare at them when my eyes close and it's so overwhelming!

Maybe if I leave The Box out where I have to look at it all the time, perhaps then I will complete my masterpiece and have something to show off this Hallowe'en.

The Creative Process

2009-04-09T07:47:00.005-05:00

Got to working on my altered book, and needed space to spread out the materials. I pulled out the card table and gathered some of my stuff...

It didn't start out quite this disorderly, honestly. All I can say is, the creative process isn't neat. :D What's a little alarming is that this isn't everything -- I have more stuff in a box by my desk.

Great Possibilities, Templates

2009-03-31T11:09:00.003-05:00

Mirkwood Designs has a number of really wonderful templates that she offers for free. The designer recommends tracing the templates onto cardstock, but I thought I'd try something a little different. I printed the template on regular paper (20#), scuffed the glossy surface of a chipboard box I pulled out of recycling, and glued the template to that. Then I cut out the template, which gives me something much sturdier than cardstock, and includes the instructions and copyright information on the template.

I was trying to find some good templates for envelopes of various kinds, things that I could use with the papers I bought, intending to use in my altered book. However, the colors for that are much more muted than the colors I have been using... now I need to decide if I'm screwed with the colors my hands chose, or if I can Go With It, and just not continue with the really bright colors for the entire book.

If an altered book journal is a stream of consciousness sort of work, then I can't believe I screwed up. Color is immensely important to me, and the only colors that really don't resonate for me are pastels and navy blue. (Navy actually makes me feel kinda off. Seriously.) So even though I have a pile of paper in the mustard, olive and paprika sort of spectrum, maybe I can still make those work with the pages I have. That's what I wanted the envelopes for, especially since many of the papers are double-sided; fold open a "petal card" and reveal a whole new color inside, and enough space for a little journaling. Plus, that may work to calm down the brightness of the pages. Or maybe it will look completely weird. I think the only way I'll be able to tell is to actually cut one out, and try it.

Stalled... Again

2009-03-30T05:09:00.003-05:00

So I got the new pages for the altered book ready for adding embellishment, notes, tags, whatever. Now I am staring at those same pages and wondering "what next?" When faced with so many possibilities, I find I am paralyzed with indecision. I will consider my options while I work on chores today: laundry, grocery shopping, dishes... maybe all that busywork will allow me to plug away on the issue with the book in the background.

I figure the project will be done some time around my 50th birthday, at the rate I'm going. (11 years off, if you're curious.)

Altered Book, Continued

2009-03-07T22:48:00.005-06:00

I had a flash of inspiration and have been working on my altered book again, after having set it aside for months. Frankly, it's about all I have the energy for at the moment, with a nasty cold that is keeping me from sleeping well, or breathing.

The new pages will highlight the computer journal entries I made when I started taking my belly dance classes, o' so many years ago. I prepped the pages with gesso, cut the pages so they're notched for each week of the 8-week session. Some weeks have more than one entry, so some pages have more than one page notched for that week. I then painted each week its own color, added the printed journal entries, set eyelets into the notches and added fibers and a tag to each.

It looks good so far, but the pages are pretty bare, so my next thing will be to figure out how to decorate the pages.

Valentines (really long post)

2009-02-22T17:42:00.005-06:00

This year was the 20th anniversary of my 1st date with my husband. He's really difficult to buy for, and nothing really jumped out and shouted This is it! This is perfect for Valentine's Day! But then I got the utterly mad idea to make him 20 valentines. Why mad? Because I got the idea late Friday morning, February 6th. That left me with only part of Friday and Monday to work on them, because he'd be home on the weekend, and I wanted to mail them to his office as a surprise.

I called Mom in a bit of a panic, and asked if I couldn't get enough done on Friday, could I buzz down there for the weekend. Which is what I ended up doing. Turns out that when our daughter was getting off the bus at a quarter to 3, his truck was behind the bus! Meanwhile, I am wildly pitching random art supplies in a large box, flipping it closed when he walked in the door, then resuming when he vanished into his office. I told him that I was going to help Mom with some bookkeeping, as she'd gotten behind (that was true, she was behind), if that was OK. Predictably, he said that was no problem, making the lie even more uncomfortable.

A 2-hour drive, and many errands later (Mom doesn't like to have to run into town after dark by herself), I was unloading all my crap on the dining room table, my art studio for the next 36 hours (or so). Dad was Not Amused when he saw it all (and it wasn't even all out of the box!). but he didn't grumble too much, and I did clear everything away when we ate, of course. I was up until 11pm that night, up at 6ish, back at it by 8 and working until 1am Sunday, stopping only to eat. I finished up after 4 hours of sleep later Sunday morning. (Took me a week to recover from my sleep deprivation and stress to get them done.)

ANYWAY, here's the 21 valentines (the pack of cards had an extra, so I used it to symbolize the Valentine's Day yet to come).

aluminum AZ Ice Tea can

Shrinky Dink, colored pencil

paper lace, clear red plastic sheet

suncatcher paint on plastic

woven cardstock, foil paper

plastic mosaic cabochons, foil paper

toothpicks colorwashed with diluted acrylic paint, cardstock

pastel chalk

watercolor

origami

rubber stamped cardstock, colored pencil, glitter

acrylic paint, heavy gel medium, glitter

wire, cardstock, satin ribbon

feathers, metallic cardstock

polymer clay, resin face

duct tape, Dymo label

glossy cardstock, wallpaper sample, clear mosaic tiles, glitter

mulberry paper

stuffed fabric, lace

cast paper pulp, eyelet, pastel chalk

needle felting

Experiment Results

2009-02-04T22:22:00.005-06:00

I'm an impatient sort; a hair dryer sped things along between paint layers. But here it is, complete with the frame I picked out, ready to hang. The dark squares in the opposite corners are the mirror tiles. It's not exactly, precisely what I wanted/intended, but I'm pretty pleased with the results, just the same. Getting the texture I wanted out of the gel medium was really, really difficult. That will take some practice.

Getting Started

2009-02-04T13:20:00.002-06:00

I bought Altered Surfaces (below). I took it back. It's very colorful, lots of interesting ideas... and very superficial. I have been looking at The New Acrylics: Complete Guide to the New Generation of Acrylic Paints instead, and will probably pick that up with a 50% off coupon. Seems to me that AS is intended for crafters, and TNA is aimed at artists. I fall somewhere in between, but AS is $17 with 51 pages; TNA is $25 with 160 pages, and it has far more in-depth information about what you can do with acrylic paints, not so much project ideas.

SO! After talking to my mom, who used to paint, and picking her artist's brain, we agreed that the best way to approach my brain-on-fire for this idea of mixed media on canvas was to do it. I saw this great dragonfly pendant at Michael's and decided to use that as my jumping-off point.

I am working on an 8x10" canvas board, and I have my first paint colors on the board, along with a crackle finish coat. Once that's dry, I'll paint on my second pair of colors and wait for that to dry and crackle. The dragonfly is pewter in color and has some Deco styling. I used turquoise glass teardrops and hung them from the holes in the wings, and broke off the loops that were intended to suspend the pendant. I bought some dried reeds I may or may not use, and some mirror tiles. I thought about using vitreous mosaic tiles, but decided against it, because I want to use extra-heavy gel medium to create texture in what will be air and water, and didn't want to take away from the space I want to create movement. Mulberry paper may also appear in there somewhere, but I haven't decided.

I'll post pix when I have something to show for all this mania.

Canvas Craving

2009-02-02T18:10:00.002-06:00

I am mad to try some of the ideas I saw in this book:

It appears to be a fairly basic intro to messing with acrylics and the various Golden media that they can be added to. I've had an itch to try playing with canvas for a while. This book shoved me right over the edge.

Only a matter of time before I end up with the book and the supplies. If I can hold off til spring, maybe I can set up in the garage...

From the 7th

2009-01-24T08:42:00.003-06:00

Nothing edited but the crop. I played with levels and saturation, but decided I liked this better. Desaturation is kinda nice, too, though...

Friday Sunrise, 1/23/09

2009-01-23T11:23:00.003-06:00

Xmas Fabric

2009-01-08T06:00:00.000-06:00

Here are all the fabrics for the star-shaped vintage tree skirt I have planned:

I'm considering appliquéing the Santas onto the green - or it may be too much (trouble, time, pattern).

And this is the candle fabric I couldn't resist, but don't have plans for. It's the least red of all the red fabrics, having a pink cast to it.

The pattern calls for sewing gold rick rack onto the tree skirt, and I'm considering that, too. Vintage pattern, vintage-inspired fabrics, vintage-style embellishment... all to go under my vintage aluminum tree! Stockings will also be made from four of the five reds under the tree, accented with the solid green, with cuffs.

Currently, the only fly in my eggnog is the fact that the pinup skater material has a much larger pattern than the others. I think it will be fine, but I wish that design was a little more on scale with the others. Nothing's perfect, right?

Another Tree Skirt

2009-01-07T19:27:00.004-06:00

Decorating for the Yule holiday used to be something I relished. The last few years has brought out the Grinch in me, and I haven't done as much. That said, I have a small tree, actually purchased when I was in college (Mom didn't think my dorm room should be tree-free), and is only 3 feet tall. I've been using holiday napkins tucked around the base as a tree skirt, but they're a deep green and red plaid, and the tree is "Victorian" in theme with pink and mauve ribbons, pearl garland, maroon flowers, and ornaments I only use on this tree. So... because I'm insane (haven't I mentioned that??) I decided to crochet a tree skirt for it.

Here's the beginning of the round I'm making. It's just a shell stitch (the only one I've mastered, frankly), using, left to right, Moda-Dea Dream "Leaf," Patons Brilliant "Crystal Cream" and Dream "Raspberry."

The raspberry-colored yarn isn't nearly as red as it appears in these photos, raspberry is definitely the way I would describe the color, and the green is a soft sage. The cream yarn is sparkling with gold strands. I plan to weave a strand of tiny pearls (think bridal aisle) into the completed tree skirt, at the outside edge. I should be able to finish this WIP in a day or two. Don't you love quickies? :D

The lump in the top of the ring is a goof I had to fix. Somehow, my shells got twisted as I made my way around. Oops. Fortunately, it will be right at the base of the tree, and invisible. Also fortunate, the Dream yarn is pretty lightweight, so the bulk isn't anything like what it would have been if I was using worsted weight. I COULD have undone it and started over, but I didn't see the need, considering where the mistake is.

Hawaiian Quilt... Wallhanging...Something...

2009-01-07T13:32:00.006-06:00

Because Mom insists I never showed her these fabrics (1/3 yard each, I measured), here they are:

I also purchased the below material, with enough to make myself, husband and daughter all something matching. (Yes, I know, too cute for words... whatever.)

Update on the resolution thing: I have taken at least one photo a day... except yesterday (6th). I left the house for lunch and for a dental appointment, and there was nothing that I saw photo-worthy out, or in the house that I haven't already photographed. (sigh) Bad me. But I made up for it today. When I get them sorted through, I'll choose the best Daily and post them (backdating the posts).

I've made significant headway in keywording, at least superficially. There's still work to do, but it's nothing like what I had been avoiding facing... plus, now that I know how to catalog in Lightroom without duplication, I have lots more room on my harddrive.

Debating

2009-01-05T10:55:00.004-06:00

When my husband and I went to Maui on a windfall dream of a vacation 18 months ago (not like I'm counting or anything!), I had to bring home some Hawaiian print fabric. I got a small amount of 9 different prints and colors (red, orange, yellow, light green, green, aqua, blue, purple and pink)... with the vague idea of making a wall-hanging/quilt sort of thing. Needless to say, I have still not done anything with it, nor do I have a clear picture in mind for what I want from this fabric. (I believe I got a quarter yard of each of those 9.)

I want something that will highlight the pattern and the color of the material, not the pattern of the quilt. I also want to put the colors against solid black, to make the colors jump off the wall. Here's a couple ideas I'm currently playing with ("pieced" in Photoshop):

I'm not married to either one of these. :( I suppose I could go even simpler with this:

...or I could start from scratch, ditch the black and go with something utterly different, and cover artists canvases with the fabric and call it done. *sigh* I suppose now I should mention that I am also a novice sewer, and that some of the amazing art quilts I've seen are utterly beyond my skill level, part of the need for a simple and large-block quilt.

I Resolve...

2008-12-31T14:38:00.003-06:00

Don't you just hate new year's resolutions? They're broken within weeks (if not days) of January 1st, and often they are so unreasonable in their goal that they can't be kept by a sane person. That being said, I'm going to try a resolution or two, to give me a creative boost.

I RESOLVE

...to take at least one photograph everyday. Something in the house, outside, a portrait of my daughter or the dog, some new angle of an old thing. But SOMEthing, to play with the camera, get more comfortable with the settings, and learn to make them work for me.

I RESOLVE

...to create a piece of art (whatever that may become) for every day in April, with a focus on autism and/or my daughter (who is autistic). April is Autism Awareness Month; I meant to do something last year, but it never materialized.

I RESOLVE

...to finish keywording my photos in Lightroom, and learning to use that program effectively.

I RESOLVE

...to feed my soul with creative endeavors (instead of junk food).

What resolutions are you considering for 2009, year of the Ox (i.e.: prosperity through hard work)?

Revised Tree Skirt, Stockings

2008-12-28T20:05:00.006-06:00

A couple of things happened today to make me revise my plans for that star-shaped tree skirt: 1) eQuilter sold out of the green fabric (the one with the ornaments on it), and 2) I didn't want to chase all over hell trying to find it. Talking to Mom about it, I decided and she agreed that plain, solid green might serve me better than adding yet another pattern to a design that will already have 5 different patterns on red backgrounds. So I got some plain green cotton... and a vintage Santa on green, and some retro candles on red... It was 75% off! I couldn't resist! NO IDEA what will become of it, but it's definitely a retro thing going on, even if the years don't much match up. I may use the Santas as appliqués on the solid green. It looks like old 1940s wrapping paper - it's great! Same with the candles, only not as youthful. Don't know what I'll do, but I'll use it for something. Eventually.

For the stockings, I found a McCalls pattern (free!) that I liked, and a paw print stocking at FamilyFun that I thought was cute. Only problem was, they were two different sizes, and frankly I thought the paw was too big anyway. Through the miracle of Photoshop, I spliced the two together, creating this:

I resized the bottom of the paw until it met the sides of the regular stocking. Then I resized the paw pads to allow for a 1/4" seam allowance that the original did not have. Now the two patterns will be very similar in shape and size, since all I did was modify the foot of the stocking. I'll use the solid green for a cuff on both patterns, and for the paw pads on the dog's stocking. Since the first stockings I made in college for my sweetie and me were hand-sewn, doing these on a machine should be a snap.

I have hit another snag, however. The pattern piece for the tree skirt is about 26" long. The half-yard of the snowman fabric I ordered is too short, and the pattern of the material is not going to rotate 90 degrees and look right. So I either need to find another red background retro print to go with the others, or order another 3/4 yard of that snowman. *sigh*

Vintage Tree Skirt Pattern

2008-12-22T18:50:00.006-06:00

I won an auction for a vintage tree skirt pattern. I've scanned all the pieces and uploaded them to Flickr to share with anyone who's interested.

The scanned pattern pieces are printer-friendly. Everything I received is in that photo set, except for the pattern piece made from a 1968 newspaper page. (All it is is the full-size diamond piece, rather than half the piece that is supposed to go on a fold.)

This is the pattern that inspired me in my Dec. 16 posting.

Pre-Xmas Ice

2008-12-19T08:07:00.004-06:00

We got some ice and sleet and freezing rain early this morning. After I cut some branches that were threatening power lines to the house, I took my camera out.

The yew outside the front door is really heavy with ice. The temp is warming up a little, so I hope some of it melts off. It's not wanting to break off, and I'd hate for it to be damaged.

My flower garden is rather pretty, even though the blooms are gone. Here's the yarrow, ice-covered:

The hyssop really grew this year, and it looks lovely with an ice glaze:

Barberries are always dramatic, but the ice is especially nice. (So long as it doesn't get any thicker!)

I saw this maple leaf stuck in the branches of one of the shrubs, and upon looking closer, saw that the leaf was actually speared by one of the thorns:

This is Ivan, my Russian Elm. I used flash on this one, because the ice was hardly visible at the distance I was shooting. You can see how grey the sky is. Those clouds are supposed to start dropping around 8 inches of snow any time now.

I love the way the ice looks, and I am grateful none of my immediate family has to go anywhere today. My husband's work declared a "snow day." The school called off. And I work from home. *sigh* Safe and snug, all of us, out of the weather.

Wild Hares

2008-12-16T22:26:00.009-06:00

Herein lie my fevered imaginings for a new tree skirt... because I can't make new stockings without a new tree skirt!

The idea is to use this 5-point star, because it's unusual, and because I like it. I'll split each diamond in half, and alternate red and green pieces, because the reds won't match exactly. I considered white, but frankly, it would be filthy instantly. Green is the logical choice. I'll use the same green for each, but the reds will all be different.

Because the tree skirt is for the aluminum tree, I won't have a slit in it, just a hole for the "trunk."

for my daughter,

for me,
for my husband,

for the dog,
to round out the 5 red fabrics (when I received this fabric, the red isn't nearly as orange as this image suggests, thank goodness!),

and the green is self-explanatory.

I'll make stockings from the first 4 red patterns, and maybe accent the top with a cuff of green. I haven't decided yet. This will be for next year's tree, as there is no screamin' way I'll be able to get this done in a week, and that assumes that I'd even get everything before Xmas; I have to order all of them but the puppies (which I got today).

Found My Xmas Spirit!

2008-12-16T15:06:00.003-06:00

(It was hiding in a pile of laundry.)

Here's my aluminum tree. Actually, it's my second one, but this one's in better shape. It's a long and uninteresting story as to why I have one of these antiques in the first place, so I won't bore you with that.

The color wheel is different from most. Each quarter wedge has a stripe of all four colors (red, green, blue and amber), instead of the wedge being one solid color, which is the usual arrangement.

This photo is blurry, but you can see how the multicolor stripes illuminate the tree with more color than just one as it rotates.
That's my dog, Cody, unimpressed with the tree, and a bit of a sleepy old man at 14. (He's a Border Collie mix, if you're curious.)

Oh look! A couple of wiseguys! Er, wise men. Here's Balthazar and Caspar - but where's Melchior?

Ah, there he is! These guys look great on a silver tree don't they? The metallic plastic is just the thing to celebrate Mithras' birthday. Who? Oh him...

Even the rubber tree got a little bling. In the background you can see, a set of "marbleous" ornaments (acrylic paint poured into glass balls, and swirled) and my daughter's very first xmas portrait.

The first year I tried decorating one of these beauties, I quickly learned that they just won't hold the weight of modern resin/plastic ornaments, so most of my Hallmark ornaments stayed in boxes. I began collecting older ornaments, the tacky plastic ones made by Jewelbrite and others, because they're so much lighter, and really add to the je ne sais quoi of an aluminum tree. My real prizes are the pressed aluminum snowflakes - they're fragile and not in great shape, but I love them! In the 3rd pic (from the top) you can see the bright pink and the green one toward the bottom.

Currently, I have silver and red metallic netting under the tree serving as a tree skirt. I have Plans for a new one, but no time to get it sewed between now and the 25th.

Christmas Playlist

2008-12-10T12:57:00.005-06:00

Here's some of my favorite holiday music, to go along with the dusting of snow we got last night:

The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole & Natalie Cole
Christmas Time Is Here (Inst.) - Vince Guaraldi Trio
Ho Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rhum - Jimmy Buffett
I'll Be Home for Christmas - Frank Sinatra
(It Must've Been Ol') Santa Claus - Harry Connick, Jr.
It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas - Johnny Mathis
Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms
A Marshmallow World - Dean Martin
Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt
Sleigh Ride - Ella Fitzgerald
There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays - Leon Redbone
White Christmas - Bing Crosby
Winter Wonderland - Johnny Mathis
Wizards In Winter - Trans-Siberian Orchestra

And yes this is too "creative miscellany" - I put a lot of thought and creativity into my playlists. ;^)

More Snowy Images

2008-12-02T15:14:00.003-06:00

Cattails, as my camera (Canon Rebel XTi; UV, polarizing filters) saw them:

Desaturated 50%, sepia filter 25% in Photoshop (same photo):
Total desaturation (black and white):
Same black and white photo, but with the shadows/highlights adjusted in Photoshop:

Different photo, same pond. Similar to the shot in the previous post, but that one was taken further down the road by several yards.

Desaturated 75%, sepia 35%:

Different shot of the cattails.

Desaturated (100%), sepia filter at 25% run twice:

I think I like the partial desaturation of the pond the best. The colors are soft, but not completely gone.

Beginning to Freeze

2008-12-02T12:40:00.004-06:00

A nearby pond, just starting to freeze, the day after the first significant snowfall of the season.

First Snow of the Season

2008-12-01T16:08:00.005-06:00

DD before school this morning, trying to catch and eat snowflakes.

A not-great shot out the car window on the way home from yoga this afternoon. The snow has been of the wet-and-sticky variety, so the branches all look frosted. It's really beautiful.

I hope to get out tomorrow before the temp comes up and all the snow is gone again.

Xmas Ornaments

2008-11-23T18:34:00.006-06:00

A friend of mine recently got his own place. One of his housewarming gifts was a Christmas tree. I'd asked another friend earlier if he had one, and if he'd need ornaments - question answered! I wanted to make something untraditional and funky, and since we've often been covered in dye, I thought tie-dyed ornaments (sorta) would be just the thing.

I had initially thought to use that tie-dye-printed felt and sew something, but then (when I couldn't find any) I saw these wonderful laser-cut wooden ornaments, and thought they'd make nice frames for tie-dye patterned paper. Stupidly, I thought it would be easy enough to grab that with the scrapbook papers. Wrong! However, I did find some lovely origami paper that looks dyed.

Materials

Cutting the circles

I used my Fiskars cutting tool to make 2.5" circles of paper; the origami paper was thin enough I could do all 6 sheets at once. Then I made circles out of glitter cardstock (one at a time).

Gluing the paper circles to the cardstock
I color-coordinated the cardstock with the pieces of origami paper, and glued them together.

Gluing the glitter on the ornaments
I took the ornaments outside to spray with adhesive, then used fine glitter to cover them. I did not prime or paint the wood, so the color variations and the singed edges from the laser cutting shows through the glitter. By not painting the wood, I have a natural color, and the dark edges look great. (Plus I eliminated a step by choosing not to paint them.)

Gluing the paper circles to the ornaments
I used Tacky Glue and a foam brush to pounce on a little glue. As you can see, the 2.5" circles aren't quite the size of the ornaments. I considered tracing and cutting, and quickly decided that was way more work than I wanted to do.

Glitter glue edging to "seal" the paper

I glued around the edges of the paper with coordinating glitter glue, to help seal the paper to the wood.

DONE

I added a length of ribbon to hang it by, and the ornament is done! The origami paper has really subtle color variations, and I'm really pleased with how well this worked. I made a set for three of my friends and a set to keep.

If you're curious about where the ornaments and the origami paper came from, I got them both at Michael's - and the ornaments were on clearance for 79¢ each.

Anniversary Slips Past Unnoticed

2008-11-04T12:47:00.004-06:00

Ooops! October was my anniversary with art cards. I meant to do something, but with all the election nonsense, and things going on here, it completely slipped my mind. I meant at the very least to post something in the forums; I suppose I still can...

This is the very first ATC I made, using layers of paper cut with decorative-edged scissors, a silver opaque ink pad, and glitter paint. It was actually a series of 6, and three of them went into my first swap. I called it "La Lune et la Mer."

I've gotten quite a bit of pleasure from making and trading art cards. It's really fun to receive art from all over the world. Haven't tried it? Check it out at: ATCsForAll.com! We're a fun bunch of people!

Autumn Maple

2008-11-01T19:31:00.005-05:00

We went to Lake Katherine today. The leaves were spectacular in spite of the cloudiness of the day. I love fall!

This photo and others are available as prints from DeviantArt.

ZOMBIE!

2008-10-31T15:55:00.004-05:00

Happy Hallowe'en!

A little dark grey and indigo eyeshadow, blue-toned purple lipstick, and you look less-than-healthy. A Hallowe'en self-portrait.

Altered Book

2008-10-30T09:47:00.003-05:00

Whilst clearing out the things that ended up in front of the fireplace (so I could clean it out and replace the too-small grate), I unearthed my belly dance altered book. I knew where it was, I just hadn't bothered to dig it out, because I hadn't felt particularly creative lately - too busy feeling like a slug, I guess. Anyway, I do want to get back to that. I was so pleased with the way things were going, and then *SPLAT!* I hit a brick wall. I want to do so much with it, it's hard to overcome all that inertia.

It may end up veering in a direction I had not intended, in to Body Image territory. Like many women, I've struggled with self-esteem as related to physical appearance. It's hard to look in the mirror to see if you're doing it right when you can't bear to look at yourself! Added to that, some moves are obscured by fat, and you can't see what the muscle is doing. I'm trying to get started on a healthier lifestyle, and that will play into dance, which may well end up in the book. Fortunately, it's a fairly large book, and I have room for that...

I didn't really mean for the project to be art-as-autobiography. I meant all along to include the few pages I wrote when I started taking Magda's classes, but I never meant for it to be just about my experience with dancing. Sometimes when I'm writing, characters take on a life of their own, and go in directions I hadn't anticipated. I can't decide if that's magical or frustrating because I've lost control of my own creation. *shrug* It's not a question I intend to answer today. Instead, I think I'll try to go vote early and beat the crowds.

Photoethnography

2008-10-20T16:52:00.006-05:00

My husband referred to my need to document that which I am about to share as ethnography. Which I suppose is correct to a point, but I'm not planning on doing much writing, so it's more ethnophotography or photoethnography. (I think I prefer photoethnography.)

Without further ado, I present... The Lavender Suit.

I saw this mannequin in a shop window while we were on our way to dinner. When we left the restaurant, I grabbed my camera from the trunk and headed back to photograph it. At first glance, it appears to be a young man's suit, but a closer second look reveals it to be a man's suit rolled up to fit onto a child-size mannequin. The shoes, by the way, are either lilac ostrich leather, or embossed to look like ostrich.

Holiday Cards!

2008-10-12T09:55:00.005-05:00

Good grief, it's getting to be that time of year already... Because of a really good deal with a film-processing company, I made up some kaleidoscoped holiday cards.

I don't think I'm going to attempt to get these on the website - too much work. I think I'll probably just make them available where I take my belly dance classes. I'm pretty happy with the results. These (and the other 4 designs) will be affixed to the beautiful Strathmore Photo Mount cards. It's labor-intensive, but the results are really wonderful.

Paper (Art!) Dolls

2008-10-06T18:58:00.007-05:00

These are my Ode to Universal Monster paper dolls (art dolls!) winging their was to a Hallowe'en ATC swap. Making them is tremendously entertaining, even if the pieces get on the small-and-fiddly side.
But my paper doll pride and joy is this one:
She was made for a friend of mine who is a dancer, for her birthday. She has 15 points of articulation including positionable hair.

Another set done for a swap is these guys:

Made with homemade paper and found images, they are simplistic and strange. I love 'em!

Needle Felted Monsters

2008-09-28T21:18:00.008-05:00

Working on my Hallowe'en necklace project, I came up with these guys:

The jack o'lantern on the bottom is about the same size as the monsters above. In the top 3, Frankie needs some silver bead "bolts" and black bead pupils. The red/white is supposed to look bloodshot. I need to do something to the witch's hat because it's not substantial enough, I may just have to add more roving to it. Drac needs white fangs, even though they won't show up well against his pasty skin, and I need to add fangs to the bat as well.

The pumpkin is about 3/4" tall and wide. The bat is 2 1/2" wide and about 1 1/4" tall. The ghost is just shy of 2" tall. Drac and Frankie are about about 1/2" tall. The witch is about 1 3/4". I need to do a black cat (of course!) and maybe a skull. And I need better lighting to get a better picture of these guys...

I was going to post a link to an article I read in a magazine about a woman who has done some much larger needle felted monsters - really wonderful! Unfortunately, you can't see any of the article online, because Art Doll Quarterly only has a barely-visible image of the table of contents and nothing else. (Personally, I think the Stampington family of magazines have very sucky sites.) However, it's the fall 08 issue, "Judy Bielec's Needle Felted Halloween" if you want to see it. Her website is Moseynme.com, and the monsters are pictured here.

Limited Edition Prints at Etsy!

2008-09-23T16:38:00.004-05:00

I finally got them up: 8 limited edition prints, all of them #1 of 10, matted, signed and numbered. Shattered Photos at Etsy is LIVE! Huzzah!

Half the money I earn from the sale of those prints will go to Autism Speaks.

Bachelor button

Mom: Don't read until after your b'day!

2008-09-22T21:27:00.004-05:00

I'm serious, Mom.

Do Not Peek.

I will kick your butt if you read this before your birthday.

Seriously.

OK, then. If she peeks now and spoils the surprise it's her own fault.

I made Mom a really unique (REALLY unique) charm bracelet of sorts for her birthday... or I should say, I made the charms. The assembly will have to wait for this weekend, because I don't know how big she wants the bracelet, and I can't exactly ask, right? I tried Diamond Glaze for the first time, since the Glossy Accents clouded up when I handled it.

I printed, much reduced, some of my favorite (goofy) pictures of my daughter. Since Diamond Glaze is water-based, I first sprayed the photos with a matte sealant. I cut them into teeny rectangles to fit the frames, used a bit of Tacky Glue to hold them in place, and sealed them in with the Diamond Glaze. (Those bubbles are a pain! Neither a toothpick nor an old paintbrush were able to eliminate all of them. I think I'll store the bottle upside down from now on.) I'll connect it all together with clear elastic and bead spacers once I know what length Mom wants.

The picture is of the charms before the DG has completely set, hence the milkiness of the finish. The charms are from Darice, and have two holes for either vertical or horizontal orientation.

Toner Transfer Results

2008-09-20T08:37:00.007-05:00

There was pretty extensive plaquing in the translucent clay. I would have preferred a clearer result, but it's not unattractive. I was quite pleased with how well the transferring worked. The holes are to accommodate the transparencies I overlaid these with, attaching with brads, to finish the ATCs.

Clearly, I need to work on my faux stone technique. I added a little pumpkin pie spice to the terra cotta colored clay, and black pepper to the greens, just for a bit of speckling. I was really pleased with the way that looked, but I overmixed my colors (again!) and didn't get much banding.

Practice makes perfect!

Toner Transfer on PC

2008-09-17T21:06:00.003-05:00

To make some unique ATCs, I wanted to try a suggestion given to me by a lady at Stamp Thyme: toner transfer onto polymer clay. She said it was foolproof. I was skeptical (heavy-handed) but wanted to try it. With photocopies in hand, I conditioned some clay, burnished the images onto the clay, spritzed with water and rubbed off the soaked paper. And I'll be darned, it worked!

I have no idea how long they will need to bake... I'll have to play that by ear. Once they're done, I'll scan 'em and post 'em.

Mokume Gane: RESULTS

2008-09-15T22:17:00.004-05:00

First try, without a pasta roller - probably not technically mokume gane, as it's only 3 color layers:
The pressing of clay, one layer into another, worked fine, although my results remind me a lot of Tony the Tiger and Chicklets.

Second try, still without a pasta roller, I just messed with the clay from the above experiment:
I pressed more into the clay, got more mottled results, but now there's no defined pattern, it's just blotchy.

Colors used for these beads: black, white, sweet potato (Sculpey III).

Third try, with a pasta roller:
These are a mess. I ran it through the pasta roller too many times (I don't even remember how many), and muddied the colors too much. Totally unrecognizable as mokume gane (as I've seen it!), I am calling these my "mess beads" because they are.

Colors used: translucent (not sufficiently conditioned first), black, yellow, sweet potato (Sculpey III)

Things I have learned:

1. I have nothing particularly suitable for photographing beads that keep them from rolling and are a good neutral background (hence the bubblewrap).

2. The pins that come with Amaco's bead baking rack are too small to make a reasonable bead hole (IMO).

3. I make my base beads (the beads that all the above colored clay was appliquéd onto) way too big.

4. I have a heavy hand when it comes to slicing "thin layers."

5. Yellow and black really do make green if you mush it together enough times.

6. Careful attention should be paid to how many times things go through the pasta roller.

7. Translucent clay isn't nearly as easy to work with as the colored stuff.

8. I'd feel really wasteful from all of this learning, if I had paid for the clay I'd learned with. (I got it for nothing when a business closed.)

9. According to my new oven thermometer, my oven runs hot about 30 degrees.

I bought today Making Polymer Clay Beads, by Carol Blackburn, making use of the store coupon from Hobby Lobby. Of the books I looked at, I liked the breadth of techniques and the detail illustrated in photos for each one. I really love the look of mokume gane, and I will learn to do it properly!

Almost a Commercial Venture

2008-09-15T21:31:00.002-05:00

Well, I suppose it's a commercial venture already, because I have sold a few cards already. Now, however, I have the right size bags, and the nicer cards, and the matted prints. I will work on the pendants tomorrow and get them done. I have a website, I have inventory, and I have a primo opportunity this weekend in the form of a good friend who has offered to set up that inventory when she vends at a good-sized event this weekend, up in Wisconsin - the Northern Lights Bellydance Festival (wish I was going...).

So I'm getting Shattered Photos off the ground, and will soon have the things I ordered for the Etsy for Autism and get those listed. The response from friends has been enthusiastically positive. I'm guardedly optimistic. We will see. If things go well this weekend, I'll have a much better idea of the commercial viability of this whole thing.

Great Source for Mats, Supplies

2008-09-14T17:32:00.008-05:00

I'm trying to get Shattered Photos started, and I hunted around online for the best prices for mat boards and bags. I found Precutmats.com and their Showpaks - the showpaks include the mat, backing board and a poly bag (adhesive on the bag not the flap) - exactly what I was looking for! There was just no way I'd set up with matted photos in a display and not have them bagged.

The order was placed and I was surprised how quickly I received the order. They also discount the more you order, but I haven't been able to take advantage of that yet, since I'm just getting things off the ground. So far, I am more than pleased, and hope that I will be able to give them lots more business as I get things going with my photos. I'd love to be one of their best customers!

One thing I am just about to have ready to go are very limited editions, available only through Etsy, with part of the proceeds going to autism charities. With an autistic daughter, the idea of putting my work to use for charity is intriguing and definitely worth pursuing. I'm excited about this!

Transparency Swap

2008-09-14T15:56:00.004-05:00

I signed up for a transparency (think overhead projectors) swap ages ago, had an idea to use my kaleidoscoped photos, and just this morning got around to doing it. I like the results:

I used one background for all 4, as you can see. I backed the flowers with metallic silver cardstock, attaching them with brads to the background. Stems and leaves are drawn on with Sharpie marker. I used inkjet transparencies to print everything on.

I'll feel a little better about life, once I get them in the mail. I have one other outstanding swap I need to do before I think about taking on more. I've been feeling so blah lately that I don't want to overdo my commitments, but I really want to find a Halloween swap...

Mokume Gane with Polymer Clay

2008-09-13T07:54:00.003-05:00

I love polymer clay. I am terribly jealous of people who have sculpting skill, like my friend Melinda who works in ceramic. The wonderful thing about mokume gane is that I don't have to sculpt anything! It's a fabulous technique that involves color and texture (two of my favorite things), and it's amazingly beautiful and even a little goof-proof.

I was playing a bit with the technique last night. I really want a pasta roller so I can get more serious about poly clay, but I don't know that I need one more thing taking up space... Anyway, a pasta roller would have made my life a lot easier, but I managed without it, so I guess I don't need one. I only did 1 3-color layer, but the results are pretty cool. Since I feel so crummy, I'll probably do more today. (Need to get an oven thermometer!)

I'll post the results when I get them baked and finished.

Wonderful Etsy Find

2008-09-12T02:37:00.004-05:00

I was looking for beads for my still-in-my-head Hallowe'en necklace and searching Etsy when I ran across this seller: PoetSummer. (She's a busy gal; she also blogs, and maintains a website with her stuff beyond the stuff at Etsy.) She's either a Halloweenie* like me, or is just stocking her store for the season. Either way, I am in LOVE with her stuff! What a fantastic jumble of stuff crammed onto those charm bracelets! I probably don't need one, strictly speaking, but how can I resist? But decisions, decisions... I have my eye on a couple, and I fear I will need to act fast.

Seriously, check out her stuff - from cemetery angels to steam punk to Bettie Page!

*What my darling husband calls me. Isn't he sweet? *rolling eyes*

Busy, in Spite of a Cold

2008-09-11T15:20:00.003-05:00

Felt beads are easy to make, and rather entertaining. Here's the first round I've done and finished with the boiling water/ice water baths:

The three in the foreground are purple, green and yellow - Mardi Gras colors. Those I made for a friend. The ones behind are orange, green and yellow. I need some black roving!

These are the first paper beads. Orange cardstock, two with black Sharpie on the edges, and painted over with Halloween nail polish, with black and orange glitter.

The nail polish worked really well, even if a bit stinky. I rolled them on those rattan sticks from an empty oil diffuser, so maybe the residual scent from the sticks will permeate the beads, too.

And THIS is the first of my kaleidoscope pendants. Made with Memory Glass and the coordinating frame, it's one of my kaleidoscopic photos reduced to 1.5x1.5" - small! But the 2x2" frames seemed big to use as a pendant, so I went with these, and the 1x3" (microscope slide) size.
All in all, I am quite pleased with the results. If I wasn't feeling so crappy, I'd be running the bottom ones to a friend of mine who is vending this weekend; she said she'd take whatever I had and try to sell it for me. I have 5x7" prints to mat, and and waiting for the next batch of greeting cards to get here. The website's all set up, but still under construction.

Pendants Update

2008-09-08T16:29:00.003-05:00

As I was putting head pins in one of the wooden pendants I made, I learned something unfortunate: the pretty shiny gloss from the Glossy accents™ glaze got very cloudy from my handling it. Apparently, it's not going to be appropriate for jewelry if that's what a few minutes in my (clean!) hands does. I suppose the next experiment will be with brushing on resin and seeing if it will do the job without running off the sides. I'm so bummed. I'm glad it was one of my least favorite of the ones that turned out well. I may be able to "save" the others with a layer of resin on them. I've also been looking into using glass slides to make pendants, but I don't know how much of a pain the soldering will be. I have a few ideas that may or may not pan out, but I am having some trouble finding the supplies I need. It may come down to scrapping the whole thing, buying the silver bezels from Rio Grande and just doing that.

Stuff I Can't Make (Easily)

2008-09-08T00:54:00.001-05:00

Etsy's all about the handmade stuff. Cafépress can make stuff I can't, or at least not without a lot of trouble, so I set up Shattered Photos for that stuff. I may do a Premium Shop, it makes a certain amount of sense, but I want a little cash from the prints I have before I put more money into this venture.

To Etsy, or Not to Etsy

2008-09-01T16:52:00.004-05:00

According to a friend who sells there, Etsy is under new management, and undergoing some changes. She also added that jewelry is saturated (easy to see). While photographers do have a bit of a market share, it depends wildly on the photographer whether or not they have sales.

I have some professionally-printed kaleidoscope photos ordered, and mats with backing boards and bags. What I may do is try and sell them locally and see what happens. If those sell, I may then try Etsy and see if I can give them a go there. Christmas is coming!

Now I need to price them....

Kaleidoscopic Pendants

2008-08-28T07:12:00.004-05:00

I saw someone else's work on Etsy, and was inspired to try my hand and my kaleidoscoped images. I got a variety of materials to adhere the reduced kaleidoscopes to, and did the first batch last night:

The three large ones were hammered-look cheap metal pendants that cost 49¢ on clearance, the others are wooden beads, flattened ovals, about an inch long. Those were $2 for the strand. I used Inkssenstials Glossy Accents to seal the image on the bead after I glued them down. The images are printed on photo paper, then sealed with matte sealant (both sides) so the ink jet inks wouldn't run.

I am quite pleased with my first attempt. There are a few small air bubbles in the wooden pendants and some designs worked better than others, but they came out beautifully for never having done this before.

Trumpet Vine

2008-08-27T08:56:00.004-05:00

Good morning, Sunshine!

Still More Fun

2008-08-22T20:27:00.004-05:00

Front and back views (before the haircut) of another needle-felted ATC, this one embellished with Patons Cha-Cha yarn. This is "My Funny Valentine" because that's the song playing in my head. This is just ridiculously entertaining...

More Fun with Felt

2008-08-22T17:59:00.005-05:00

So far (knock wood), I have only jabbed myself the one time. Here's a needle felted ATC I'm calling "Pearls". I was amazed how much fuzz was on the back before I gave it a haircut. (The snipped pieces will go into the center of another bead, so nothing gets waisted.)

It's rather a mindless activity - well, except for concentrating on not skewering your fingers - and kinda relaxing. I will definitely be doing more of this. Who knew (other than the spinners) now much fun wool roving could be??

Making Felted Beads

2008-08-22T14:11:00.005-05:00

I have drawn first blood with the felting needles, trying to fuse a fold in one of my experimental beads. (Yep, they're sharp all right!) I'm finding the trickiest part is getting a uniform size, more than perfect smoothness, but the instructions couldn't be simpler.

(In case you're curious, I was thinking "pumpkin" when I made these, hence the colors.)

Eventually, this and mixed-media beads is going to become a wild Hallowe'en necklace. I have quite a collection built up of various components, and plan to make more. Right now, it's just a concept in my head, but it something I've had in there for a few years now, waiting to be born. Some of my favorite beads were actually made for me by a talented friend working with lampwork techniques. She's a genius with ceramics, and her glasswork is exciting.

I have made and plan to do more shrink plastic pumpkins inspired by 1950s graphics. I'd like to experiment with paper/paper maché and fabric, as well. What got me thinking about the idea was this necklace I made from one of Melinda's ghosts:

This choker is just okay... The little ghost is darling and the lampwork beads are nice, but it's boo-o-ring! Then we (Melinda, Mom and I) went to the big bead show up in Milwaukee and I found lots more Hallowe'en colored stuff. On the way back home, I sketched furiously in the back seat (dunno what I did with those...) and the necklace just kind of exploded in my brain. *snort* Likely, when it's finished, it will look like it exploded, as well!

Two Photos, Same Veil (Both Not Great)

2008-08-21T00:19:00.004-05:00

Here's the other veil I dyed. Colors are bronze, khaki, golden yellow, deep yellow and avocado. It's not a lousy photo, because it does show the brightness of the colors, but none of the detail in the spirals (of which there are many). Taken with flash:

Here's the exact same veil, in the same room, same camera, more or less same position on the same chair, but without flash, only natural morning sunshine from an east-facing window:

You can see more of the detail, but the colors are washed out. They will have to do until I can work out something better.

This one looked very much all brown when it was still wet from the vinegar steam bath. It wasn't until it was washed and dried that the detail appeared. This was done by taking a silk veil, folded into eighths, and twisting many spirals into the fabric (damp with a soda ash solution) and rubber banding it loosely for stability in getting it off the floor where I was working on the spirals.

I'll try to get a better photo...

Silk Dyeing

2008-08-18T08:00:00.004-05:00

I don't have a picture of the one I did for myself yet, but here's the one I did for Mom.

This is what the folded, rolled and tied silk looked like before it got dyed. And this is what it looked like once it came out of the vinegar sauna:

Because there was a fair amount of white still in it, this was then overdyed with a diluted pink. Washed and dried, the colors aren't so bright, but you can see the pattern clearly. The rose window center is very nicely defined.

I love dyeing silk. It's messy, yes, but very satisfying.

More Haiku

2008-08-16T10:45:00.002-05:00

lady luna

in a veil of trees

moonlight

Photo was taken a few years ago, but the haiku was inspired Thursday night, by another full moon, and another tree.

tattered lace

filmy mist shrouds

glowing moon

Don't have a photo of this; summer and fall nights sometimes produce very patchy low-lying fog. The moonlight and my headlights illuminate it, making driving tricky, but it's really lovely.

Dyeing Silk Veils

2008-08-15T17:13:00.005-05:00

A veil can be a bellydancer's best friend, but whether she dances with one or not, I don't think anyone could argue how much fun it is to dye the silk yourself. Tonight I'm dyeing two more silk veils, but only one of them's for me. Mom wants one; she plans to wear it as a scarf/shawl.

My dance teacher's having a dye party, and the dye and processing is all done there, so I get to have all the fun without all the mess. Whee! I'll post pics probably Monday or Tuesday.

Here's an older photo I took of my teacher performing at a restaurant, with a hand-dyed silk veil. Nothing beats silk!

Haiku - 1st (serious) Attempt

2008-08-12T13:41:00.005-05:00

turquoise sprays

on black porous stone

salted mist

The "rules" according to Jane Reichhold (Writing and Enjoying Haiku: A Hands-on Guide):

1. three lines, short-long-short, ignoring syllable count*

2. should contain a fragment and a phrase

3. contain some element of nature

4. verbs in present tense

5. don't use capitals or punctuation

6. avoid rhymes

* According to Reichhold, Japanese counts syllables differently than English does. The usual way of English haiku of 5-, 7- and 5-syllable lines doesn't translate properly within the spirit of haiku. Also, Japanese naturally has 5- and 7-on (how they count "syllables") phrases, as well as seasonal words (which English lacks).

After reading the first half of this book, I'm pretty convinced that haiku is either A) an art peculiar to the Japanese language, untranslatable to English, or B) heck with that! I'll do whatever I want! - and the latter seems to be more where Reichhold is heading, within the guidelines, of course. There are nuances in Japanese that is completely absent from English: seasonal words, punctuation words, phrases that just happen to have the right number of whatsits... So is it even appropriate to try to write haiku in a language that is so flat? Here's the same question in a different context: Is it appropriate to belly dance to music that is not Middle Eastern? Ask 10 people, get 12 answers.

Art is fluid, passing from culture to culture, picking up a little here, a little there, and leaving some behind. The Romany people are experts at this! Leaving pieces of their culture as they migrated (fled) India into the West, adopting things from their host countries in their attempts to survive. I'm not Japanese (not in this or any life, as far as I know), and I don't speak their language, but I don't think that should preclude me from using an art form that is "theirs." I do believe there are conventions that should be followed within any art form. Belly dancing to "Brick House" is just wrong, IMNSHO, and writing haiku about a football game would be, too - though I can imagine exceptions to both.

Are there Rights and Wrongs in art? Yes, I think there are, but I also know that nothing stays the same, and things that don't grow/evolve will stagnate and die. Vive l'évolution!

Photo is mine, taken at the Olivine Pools, Maui, HI; June 2007.

Thomas Hawk/SFMoMA Controversy

2008-08-12T10:13:00.004-05:00

Thomas Hawk is the pen name for a photographer/blogger who got tossed out of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, because he refused to stop taking pictures (allowed with certain restrictions - toward the bottom of the page) in the museum. The Director of Visitor Relations was apparently being confrontational and rude, and Hawk was right back. As my husband is so fond of saying, "I wasn't there, I didn't see what happened."

Seems to me that two confrontational men got into a pissing contest to see whose was bigger. Being confrontational is not something I will shy from if pushed far enough, but I have to be pushed pretty far. In his shoes, would I have gone off the way Hawk did? ("Don't know, wasn't there.") I'd like to think I would first ask (not shout down a level) what the problem was. I don't think I'd continue to take photos after being told not to (regardless of what the museum's website stated), and if I felt I'd been treated unreasonably, complain to management. But I wasn't there. Perhaps the DoVR really was that big a jerk that it pushed all Hawk's buttons to the point where he pushed back.

Yes, photography is allowed in the atrium of SFMoMA. But the DoVR was apparently concerned that there was an employee privacy/rights issue, that she was getting photos taken down her blouse. Hawk was using a wide angle lens, which I'm sure meant nothing to the DoVR. Whether he was asked nicely or ordered rudely, Hawk continued to take photos, even as the DoVR shouted up at him, and then splashed his side of the story and the DoVR's name and photo all over the Internet.

Who's in the right here? "I don't know, I wasn't there." But I do know this: by being this confrontational and obnoxious (calling the DoVR an asshole before editing the post after the damage was done), he's making it harder for photographers to function, and calling down suspicion and grief when paranoia is already through the roof. Refusing to listen to the photographer or look at the photos in question to see if they were "damaging" was pig-headed. Sounds to me like both men were in the wrong.

Standing up for your rights is one thing; as a paid member of the SFMoMA, Hawk could have gone over the DoVR's head and lodged a complaint rationally. Instead, he forced the hand of the person he argued with and was forcibly ejected. The manner in which he tried to state his case made it less likely to be heard, not more. So while most of the Internet is toasting Hawk for his valor in standing up for his "rights" and condemning the DoVR for being a jerk, I'll take the position of stating they are both wrong and suggest both men take a Valium and get over it.

Hamsa ATCs

2008-08-10T21:22:00.004-05:00

These 4 ATCs were done for a hand-themed swap at ATCsForAll.com. They are stylized hands of Fatima, or hamsas, with Indian mehndi patterns mounted on glitter cardstock. It's a symbol of good luck and protection in the Middle East. They're prettier in person, the color much more metallic than the scanner shows. Going out in tomorrow's mail (hopefully)!

Haiku

2008-08-05T20:40:00.003-05:00

Typically I don't bother overmuch with poetry. I went through that phase all adolescents seem to, writing bad, angsty poems about how no one understands me, blah, blah, blah... When I am inspired, I tend to concentrate on rhythm rather than rhyme, which my dear husband claims: Si metrum non habet, non est poema. Feh! Fac ut vivas!

ANYway, lately I've been drawn to the Haiku. Dunno why. I tried to find something about haiku at the used bookshop, but came up empty. I'll have to hit the library, and hope that I find what I need there.