...not a burrito...keep readin'!
I have been making my art, but truth be told...I have been making a GIGANTIC mess around here. Folks, I am moving, and it ain't pretty. Deep breaths, I can totally do this. Maintain some sense of decorum? Maybe not...but the move will happen, it has to...first things first. For starters, I just have to get this off my chest. Mackie and Scooter are no help. Now, my good friend Jen said that she thought if they had opposible thumbs they would be helping. Maybe. Yeah, okay I would like to believe this. However, they could at least help cheer me on, keep me motivated, focused on the overwhelming task at hand. What do they do, or what don't they do? Here, you be the judge... Okay...before I get to my art, I just want to write one more thing about moving, because this has kind of taken over my life for the past 48 hours. We don't do the 'big' move until closer to the end of the month, but we are going to try and start moving some small stuff starting next week, some of those areas that are a pain and take time to set up, like the kitchen and our closets...and I am teaching art camp next week so that is why I am torturing myself right now, since I won't have as much time to pack next week. (also...in some kind of weird twist, as stressed as I am and physically exhausted..I actually kind of love throwing stuff out...and all this sorting and labeling appeals to my OCD tendencies and love for organization. Weird.) Back to that last thing about moving. I don't know if it is anywhere else on the interwebs, or Pinterest specifically, but I have a way that I move my jewelry that I have used for years and it's cheap, simple and WORKS...and I want to share it. It's aluminum foil, that's all. I buy cheap aluminum foil and roll my jewelry in in in sections, laid out, pressing the foil down on each section to keep the pieces from moving, and tangling. The reason this is such a big deal to me is I love jewelry. I mean...LOVE. It's kind of my thing. Not fancy jewelry, no m'am (or sir) ...just affordable (even super cheap) costume jewelry. But I love each piece, I usually pick up different accessories when I travel, so there are lot's of memories in those baubles. I am obsessive about keeping my collection organized, it is all sectioned by color...necklaces hanging on the wall (with a mirror in the middle so I can see how it looks!) Bracelets sorted, earrings in small bags color coded...seriously, it's kind of my happy place. I think I started doing this when I was still in college, especially after being frustrated when my necklaces would be all tangled when I moved. (and I have moved many, many times) I would have to sit and try to untangle them, adding to the frustration of the moving process and slowing me down. So I started wrapping the necklaces in aluminum foil, rolled like a burrito, then labeled by color to make it easy to set up my new 'necklace wall' in the new destination. So anyway, it works. If you are moving try it! Ummm....so....yeah, besides PACKING...I did make some art, of course! I completed my daily pieces, still working with the turban/sunglasses/gypsy/bohemian idea...using pencil, Sharpie Marker, watercolor...I think I might play with patterns and textures in future pieces...
Wait...gotta keep it simple...(talking some sense into myself) Okay, so I might not venture into too many materials, I am trying to keep it manageable since there is so much going on the rest of this month. Besides the daily pieces I also worked on two bridal shower invitations for my sister-in-law. I combined a few ideas I saw on-line to create two watercolors that I painted in each of the shower's theme colors, then scanned the images (thanks, Jess!) and put them into Word to add the words. Boy, I can't wait to get that new Mac laptop for my new job...I have a feeling that me and Photoshop are going to be BFFs. For real. Besides the daily pieces and the invitation art, I did take some time on #textiletuesday to start another small piece, another hand-dyed, fused fabric heart with wings. I managed to get the heart completely covered in red beads, each one sewn by hand. I love beading. It is very calming. I am glad that I am taking a little bit of time each week for textiles. For the weekend...I need to make some more fashion illustrations! Oh my, it has been too long! And I want to make at least a few more 'Crazy Cat Ladies' so I can pick out my three pieces for the upcoming show at the Green Room. But now..back to packing up my jewelry. I finished the cool colors, black, gray and browns...gotta tackle my warm colors, white/clear and multi-colored pieces next...well, after a run.
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Much to write about...and...per usual...I wait too late to post...and then it is already time for me to go to sleep. Sigh. Well, my art is posted to my recent works...and to my FB page....and I did update Instagram all weekend. The main thing to mention is...it's awake. That crazy, fiber fever is alive and kickin'. Jessie brought out a bag of vintage embellishments, appliqués lace and trims...and...I think I might have lost consciousness for a few minutes. Once I regained my senses, all I could do is stare and touch these new treasures and dream of all the projects that I want to create. I have always loved sparkly things...I remember dabbling in textiles and not even knowing that was what I was really doing in high school. I had made this batik...it was a mess. So I ended up stretching the piece of fabric out with some yarn and then hand beading two zebras on the fabric. I know I have a picture...somewhere, will have to find it. That was my first time beading. I wish I had that piece now. In undergraduate I really got into textiles after my first survey course...I ended up taking five weaving studios and I think about the same number of surface design studios. I loved everything- the texture of the yarns I used for dressing my loom...using my screens to create surfaces...dye work. I would usually add some kind of embellishment to anything I did, from really fine glitter to beaded details...and for a while I was more into textiles than drawing...oh, that was until I took Mr. Elmore for painting one summer, then I remembered I loved to paint, too... Sigh. So much that I love, so much art to make! ...in graduate school I rediscovered my love for beadwork. I made many beaded pieces, from abstract works, to narrative pieces, beadwork on my own digital images...and finally my beadwork on the surface of fabrics I hand dyed and fused together in a mixed media collage that I combined with my paintings on paper...below are some examples...and yes, every single bead is hand stitched on the fabric. Every....single...one. I am crazy, yes, I know. I haven't done this type of work in a while...I think it is because in the back of my head I know I start to obsess over it... Okay...let me reel myself back in....back to the back of awesome fibers that Jessie shared Saturday....on Sunday, after my weekly trip to Barnes and Noble to work on some fashion illustrations, I headed to one of my 'bargain spots' and found a dress for $10. (I seriously love this store, always find a ton of stuff) I think I will wear it to a wedding that I am going to in April...but...it needed a little more sparkle. So I started stitching the large blue appliqué to the center of the dress just to get it in place...going to add more beadwork...maybe some more appliqués...that I want to make from scratch. I actually did this, made my own appliqué I mean, when I was in college. I serious loved it. It was tedious work...but I really enjoyed it. For that gown, I will try to find a picture, I bought a simple navy gown at goodwill and then created a very detailed beaded and jeweld appliqué piece that I attached to the center of the gown. It totally transformed my thrift shop find. So that was kind of my thought process with the blue dress I bought today. Then...I saw the red vintage lace, with small sequins on it and I remembered I had a red dress in my closet I bought a few years ago and decided to give that a new look...and there are so many other thoughts going on in my head for things I want to make...I took a trip to Joanne Fabrics today...I think I was in the store two hours. It is a slippery, sparkly slope folks. And...I worked on my daily pieces...finished up those two Gucci illustrations...and made a new drawing based on a photo by Nathaniel Goldberg in the April 2013 Harper's Bazaar. The pose....just so striking. I love the angle of the figure, and the contrast of the fabric against the background...that is what caught my eye...so I drew it.
Ummmm...wow, I need to go to bed, I have to get up in a little over four hours! Aughhhh! So last night I didn't want to waste the modeling paste/black paint concoction that I created..so I quickly painted on two scraps of bristol board. I wasn't sure what would happen to these...I just didn't want to waste materials. I did try to make the scribbles look like hair...then I went to bed. Today I pulled one of these pieces out of my sketchbook and...well, it became the beginnings of CED #107. I decided to go with my Micron pen for this piece, creating my shading with stippling. Then I came home from school, and after a nap it was time to come work on this piece. So I made a quick trip to Michael's, packed up a little zebra bag and headed out to the pool to take advantage of the later sunset and the amazing weather. I knew I needed to start beading, getting back to my textiles roots. So, needle threaded, felt cut into flowing tendrils...I started to bead. Stitch by stitch, bead by bead, enjoying the rhythm of my needle going through the felt and placing each bead individually. What have I gotten myself into?! It is very tedious work...but I really love it. So...after a break to run, eat dinner and work on the yearbook...I think that's all I have in me for this evening. Will finish this piece up tomorrow, and start #108...anyway, enjoy the slideshow! Please note: I really wanted to be super cheesy (typical me, right) and put the pics below to a slideshow with 'Beat It' in the background...but my 'DJ' ('Johnny Nice'...aka, 'the husband') is working on a paper to submit to a conference...so...no music. Sigh. Sunday...so much more enjoyable when you know you have another day off work the next day! So today...packed up some paints and msc. art materials and headed to Jessie's for an afternoon of art. We were both using watercolors to create our figurative works for the next ANE show...great minds think alike! I worked on my Creative Every Day piece for day #15, revisited an old sketch that I found, and finished the hair on the two ladies that I started to paint last night. ...but the most significant part of the day...for me...I picked up a needle and thread and did some beading. I tried to remember the last time I beaded...stitched...sadly, I think it was in May of 2009 for my graduate show. I love this type of work, beading, stitching, embellishing... I felt like I was kind of on to something when I was creating the work for my graduate show...but I just...stopped. Now, I could make up excuses. I was busy with graduation. I was busy packing for Japan. I was trying to search for jobs in Florida. I was busy with the move to Florida. I was busy starting over at a new school teaching a new age group. And all of that is true. I was busy. I have managed to reconnect with my art in terms of putting paint on canvas and marks on paper...but I didn't dare pick up a needle and thread. But today, I did. Thank you Jessie and Sofia. If you guys had not been working on Sofia's veil I would have never picked up that needle and thread. Jessie had gathered and attached the veil to the comb, and hand stitched all of the lace to the sheer fabric. My contribution? Completely covering the comb with small white pearl seed beads, sewn one at a time like I love...covering where the veil and comb are attached. A hour of beading those little pearls on the top of the veil...I am back. I remember. Looking forward to seeing where this leads... |
AuthorArtist and Art Teacher
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