Start and Stop Art

When I stop in the middle of handwriting a letter and start again, the handwriting never looks the same.  The pen may be different.  The slant of the letters may have varied.  The size of the letters is different.

My mood is different.  I may be more or less relaxed.  I may have a time restriction and hurry.  I may have lost the train of consciousness from the first part of the letter. 

It is different.

So, too, are the pieces I lose touch with and don't complete.  Picking up the feel, the touch, the emotion from the beginning of a creation is difficult with a pause in the work..  The idea is still there.  The materials are still there.  The intension is still there, but the I don't seem to be able to find the same flow.

I have just finished two pieces that were begun several months ago.  The work had passed through the mechanics into the final stages.  They were both disasters.  The colors were not right.  The pieces didn't seem to fit together. I struggled.  I had lost the flow of the piece.

Lesson learned.  Follow through, enjoy the process.

Rosalie Dace Workshop

What a marvelous, creative! I am so glad I had the chance to take a workshop with her.

Three days working with talented FRCQ artists, creating, learning, listening.

"Trees" was the exercise.  Talk about unlimited options.  I have always been fascinated with trees.  I suppose most artists have been at some time in their career.  Not that I have a career----.  I learned about trees from my Godmother, Helen Turner and from May Watts of the Morton Arboretum outside of Chicago. At age 6, Mom and I took a class together learning the names of trees, the shapes of their leaves, special things about them.  There seem to be more species in the east than here in the Colorado plains and foothills, even the mountain forests and waterways. Illinois, where I grew up, is at the edge of the of the native forest and the prairie.  It is a place of mixed ecology and there are changing plants and trees and landscapes that continued to evolve as the cities replaced the open space, as cultivated fields replaced prairies, as suburbs replaced farms.

There is just too much to think about in the wide open subject matter of trees.  Symbolisim, genealogy, ecology, texture, color, shape, line, singles, bunches, forest edges, aspen glades, were all options.  Simplify - start with one tree, start with the trunk, show it in its place. A TREE IN SITU.

I have a great stash of commercial fabric and I chose pieces that would work for me, close up grass, tree line farther back and a fall foliage as a canopy.  I usually work in smaller pieces with more organic shapes.  This piece is larger and the fabrics became a horizontal stack creating depth with a lot of interest. The tree was a hoot, stripping warp and weft to create texture.

Here is a picture if the top in its unfinished state. Maybe I will be able to post future updates.

 

Multi-media = Multi-mess

My space!  Oh, my!    Working in multi-media, I collect all kinds of "stuff" that I might use one day.

Many of my pieces have been enhanced by just the right piece of something that I have had for years.  I am so used to moving things of ancient age from one place to another that they have become friends.  I don't discard friends!

If I have saved  special beads since I was a teenager, they must have value, at least merit.  What ever happened to the " If you haven't used it in six months- pitch it."?  It takes more than six months to mull over an idea, much less execute it.  And- if the stash of stuff doesn't work for today's piece, it may work for one next month, or next year.

My mother's organ finally could not be repaired anymore. She didn't play it because some of the notes were so out of tune.  There were no buyers.  It had no purpose.

My grandson and I took it apart.  We saved all the screws, wires, pedals, keys, circuit boards and the carved wood music rest.  We loaded several plastic bins with parts and the pieces too large for a bin were hung on the wall in the garage.

I passed on the larger pieces, took the circuit boards to the studio and my husband made a board to hang keys from the music rest. He, at least was productive.  But -

A Call For Entry

A recycle challenge - there it was!-----  I used the circuit boards for my entry and the piece hung in a show last fall. Here are pictures to prove that some hoarded objects can be "just the right thing".  Just where do I store them?

This piece is called Beaded Circuit. Subtitled: Organ Donor 1.  I hope there will be more.

40 West Arts - a creative district

I have become a member of 40 West Arts.  This is a creative district along Colfax in the Denver metro area.

Last fall I had a piece juried into "Farm to Table", Things that Grow on Vines.

This was a piece originally inspired by a challenge to depict what you saw when you opened your refrigerator.

I used painted fabric background, thread painting, applique and twine and organza..

Here is the piece:  Fresh Vegetables

New Opportunities - New Workspace

New opportunities are waiting for me.  I have a new space in which to work!  Situations change.   I have more time and have switched the guest bedroom and the sewing room.    Sorry -- quests will have to do with the smaller room.

Here are a few pictures of my new space.

Roadblocks

Life is full on roadblocks.  There is a relationship between the size of the roadblock and the strength one has to overcome it.  Sometimes hitting the wall means you can't bounce up - or, at least, not easily or quickly.  What defeats one person on a given day is what it is.  There are no excuses. There are circumstances.  There are rationalizations.  But it is what it is.

One can say, "I am better than this."  But----- if this is where you are.  At this moment, this is as good as it gets. That is not to say - I quit, give up, I'm not good enough!  I have more tolerance and acceptance of what is, how strong I am, where I have struggles. I try not to let difficult times dictate what choices I can make and where I go from here. There currently is a tomorrow.

I am not excusing or apologizing.  Sometimes " I CAN'T".  But I will.  I have friends and family and God.

This blog is spotty.  There are many empty months.  I started this form of communication for my family and friends who are not geographically close.  I wanted to share my explorations.  I still do and hopefully this blog  will be full of the wonder I have for life, what I see and make and want to share.

Right now I am hopeful.  I have made two new vessels and I am happy with them.

A am going to a three day workshop later this week and I am looking forward to something new - inspiration and companionship.

I have seen the glass empty.  Today it is more than half full.  I will forge on.

All flat surfaces should come to a point

Since my mom passed the end of September, I have been trying to incorporate useful household items, sentimental things, and arts and crafts supplies into my home.  It is not an impossible task but it has been a challenge.  In order to complete the process, making good decisions, items must be unboxed, evaluated, considered and acted upon.  This is a weighty process.  All the easy decisions have already been made.  I am dealing with the 20% that requires courage.  Options include throw away, find a good home, keep ----including find a place in my house --- or put aside for further consideration.

This process requires space, and since I seem to be unable to get past the last two options on the above list, I am running out of flat surfaces. Lack of work spaces is not a good thing. It limits the ability to do daily work, like art.  I am loath to re-box.  That is a step backwards, but may allow me to follow through on daily activities at little more easily.  Until everything has been processed, I am afraid my flat surfaces may have to wait for an archaeological dig.

One of my daughter's friends had made a comment when helping box Mom's things, "all flat surfaces should come to a point".  The saying is now common in our family, since our flat surfaces seem to all be stacked, and may remain that way for quite a while.

Of course, I have been called upon to eliminate some of our "stuff" to make room for Mom's "stuff". My sewing room/studio/junk room has been accused of being over filled.  The accusation is appropriate.  I will not deny I have saved and purchased and saved some more.  You just never know in mixed media when some obscure item may be exactly what you need.  I don't know where I am going in my art today much less 18 months in the future.  However, the evaluation process is now flowing into my "stuff", too.

We are considering installing some new storage into my studio, maybe floor to ceiling cabinets.  Of source, there will be no counters. And if there were, they would all come to a point.