I took a 24-hour trip out of town this week – purely for
pleasure. This trip involved a historic
hotel, complete with quilts on the bed, and then some hiking. (Look up both the Saint James hotel and Barn
Bluff in Red Wing, MN if you are so inclined.)
It was a wonderful trip in many ways.
However, the purpose of recounting it here in my art blog is to try and
illustrate to you what the copious amounts of images, textures, sounds, and
even feelings of an almost 150 year old hotel with period decorations to a hike
on the first real spring day in Minnesota did to my creative urges.
(Here is proof of spring finally arriving!)
Quilting
As the trip closed
behind us and we were driving back to the city, each mile passing increased my
desire to just go home and play with fabric.
It had to be quilting, because there was a gorgeous quilt on
the bed in our room.
Here is a picture of the room…
It had to be different colors than what was in the room; I
was not copying, but paying homage.
I had to start on it tonight because, well, because – It is
a need!
I wanted to use a lot of fabrics. I had a project in mind, so I already had a
color palette semi formed in my mind and I knew that I wanted a “scrappy” look
(scrappy = many different fabrics, same blocks, but no two of the same colors
in the same places).
Therefore, off to the basement – the dungeon of fabric
storage – I went.
I culled and sorted, and hauled a full armload of fabrics up
to the living room.
Then I:
Re-sorted the fabrics and culled them again…..
…..Fanned them out a
bit and decided what really worked for my vision.
This is to be a paper pieced quilt. This means that I need to pre-cut the fabrics
into pieces roughly the size of the pattern pieces, plus a seam allowance.
Hubby and I tuned into Netflix and I started chopping away
at fabric.
Each block is actually eight units that need to be paper
pieced. There will be two separate block
patterns in this quilt. Tonight, I cut
out only the “main” color pieces for the blocks; I will cut the other pieces,
the background neutral pieces, tomorrow or some other time. One block has five pieces, and the other has
four - which gave me nine different pieces to cut out.
I have an idea how big I want this quilt to be, but, since I
have not made a block yet, I do not know how big it is going to turn out.
(I will confess here… I drew the blocks out in a program but
I must have been tired… when I printed them, they were NOT the same size I
intended. I can tell that from the edge
seam allowance only showing as 1/8 inch when it should be ¼ inch. It is now a mystery as to what size they will
be!)
In turn, I also do not know how many blocks I will
need. I figure that I cut a whole bunch
out, start making and then the plan will come together.
Do not worry; I do this sort of thing often.
The vast majority of the time, it works out……
Really!
So, tonight was just “free cutting.” I took strips off each one of the fabrics
that I chose, and then sub cut them into the right size. I will definitely be cutting more from the
fabrics, so I was not neat about either folding them or putting them away.
Apparently that means they are free to utilize for other
purposes…..
And while they were inspecting my fabrics, I cut away……
To the right is stacks of the pieces, the scrap pile is to
the middle left, and you see my cutting setup.
Ok, that is not my always cutting setup….
I do actually have a large cutting board, setup at a table,
yadda, yadda….
However, cutting a lot of pieces is boring, and I am old,
and lazy, and easily bored.
So, to ease all those factors…. I set up in front of the
computer monitor (no TV), watch, and cut….
This is what the coffee table looks like after two episodes
of “Burn Notice.”
Note: the cats also tried to help me with thread......
Beads
Current Production
I started doing torchwork (lampwork) a couple years ago.
(Definition of lampworking:
Lampworking is a type of glasswork where a torch or lamp is primarily
used to melt the glass. Once in a molten
state, the glass is formed by blowing and shaping with tools and hand
movements.)
I took a couple of classes and had a lot of fun….
But not a lot of success….
I have mentioned before in here about problems with buying
cheap glass, my inability to do a lot of “organic” shapes in art, etc…. I will
not repeat, but suffice to say, I have had my challenges in creating what I
felt was “good” in bead making.
A few months back, I started making huge strides, and actually
liking the beads I was making. I got a
little puffed up, thinking that I could make things that were on a par with
those selling them at venues.
Then I went to another of those venues….
And once again got depressed about my abilities.
I guess it’s good to be humble and get knocked down….
*Sigh*
One of those vendors was Julie Nordine, a local glass artist. Take a look at her work: http://www.creditriverartglass.com/GALLERIES.html
I know that I will never be of the same caliber as her, and
other glass artists, however, I love making the beads, I love making things out
of the beads I make (I’m way behind on that though) and isn’t that all it’s
really about?
At this point in time, I feel I have gotten very good at
making round, even beads with “inney” ends.
I can decorate them well with dots – even multilayered dots – and I can
make two or more the same size, shape, coloring.
In the style of things that I see at shows and online, I
decided to try my hand at making some other styles, larger and different
shapes.
Shapes: I am trying
to make versions of round, where I flatten the sides and also cylindrical
shaped. I am also starting to get better
with the cylinders. I’ve determined a
technique of my own (probably used by others), where I make two round beads,
spaced a little bit apart, and fill in the middle, rather than trying to roll
it out to a cylinder completely.
Last time on the torch, I spent about an hour concentrating
on making bi-cone shaped beads, starting with a cylinder. I’m pleased with some of the results I’m
getting… a couple I gave up on… but overall, I’m excited to see them after they
come from the kiln. The next open torch is
not for more than two weeks; I may actually head over there and pick up the
beads in between rather than waiting!
Size: two times ago
on the torch, I made a particularly large bead. Its about 1 1/2 inches.
I am quite happy with it.
I am going to use it for a focal bead on something special for
myself.
(It does have purple on it…..!)
Therefore, the last torch session, I decided to try and see
what I could do with really BIG beads. I
used a lot of glass, and a lot of colors…. Again, I have to wait and see!
Removing From Mandrels
Torchwork beads are made on metal (Stainless Steel) mandrels and must be removed from them. Bead release (a water soluble, clay based product is applied to them). Due to some missing arm strength, I have some troubles sometimes. My hubby installed a vice grip in the kitchen to aid my efforts.
If that fails to give me the edge I need, I then need to soak the mandrels for a while and try again. There's usually always a scene like this in my kitchen:
But, the end result is worth it!
Support
Art is a profession for some, a hobby for others, and
everything in between. Some people like
one style, and others cannot stand it.
People create it, collect it, buy it, trash it, and – again – everything
in between. There is no definition of
what art is, and no definition of who an artist is, that fits every situation
and person.
I “do” art, because it makes me happy, because I crave the
ability to create, because I love color, and shape, and even the process of
getting to the end product. This is also
intensely private to me. I often feel
that people see things I make as “cheesy,” “homemade,” and other such terms.
This attitude is backed by a certain amount of anecdotal
evidence:
One: Several years
ago, I made a formal, two-piece, gown for a black tie event. The inspiration for the gown was a piece of
beaded trim/lace from the 1920s. It
really was a lovely outfit. Unfortunately,
due to weight LOSS, it no longer fits. At
the event, I got huge compliments.
I wore the top with black velvet pants later to an event at
my hubby’s office. The wife of one of
the top brokers there asked me what boutique I got it from.
I should have said: “I
don’t remember”
What I said was: “I
made it, it’s my own design”
Here response, in that attitude that only a rich, spoiled,
woman who’s never worked a day in her life or created anything, can affect, was
to call out to her husband “Oh, look, isn’t she so CRAFTY (ugg, hate that
word), she makes her own clothes”.
I went from feeling successful and arty, to imagining
hayseeds in my hair and seeing myself stitching together clothes from cleaned
out feed sacks.
Two: There is a whole
LONG thread on a forum I read, devoted to horror stories people have about
art/hobbies/crafts they do and how people do not appreciate the handmade
things. There are stories about people
wanting them to make things for free because “It’s not like it’s work, you love
to do it”, to wanting to spend $2 on yarn for the maker and get a high quality
silk scarf, and even stories of quilts being given to the dog.
Three: When I used to
bring things to craft sales, I got at least one person a day who would argue/complain
about my prices. I once quoted a very
low price on a quilt to someone – I think about 250 for a king size – only to
have her say: “that’s so expensive, I
can get a full bedding set at Wal-Mart for less than $100.” I forget the exact amount she quoted – that actually
might be high – but the sentiment remains…
So, anyway, the point I’m trying to make with this diatribe,
is that – as a result of all this discouragement and devaluation of my art – I’ve retreated to being quite
private about it, and have a lot of trouble including anyone except fellow
artisans and close family into my “art world”.
In a way, I feel embarrassed about showing anything I make.
I have a wonderful person in my life who – for everything
bit of evidence I have – truly appreciates art. We have gotten into the habit of going out on Wednesdays. Last Wednesday was an Open Torch (where I
play with fire and make beads) session. I rarely miss those.
I swallowed the bit of self-conscious embarrassment that I
have about my “homemade” bead making, and invited him to stop by the session
for the last part and observe.
As the time approached for his arrival, I got nervous… Should I call and say to meet me somewhere
else when I was done? What if he is
bored? Finds it all so cheesy and
homemade? What if I burn myself badly
while he is there and he thinks I am incompetent (or break something, or make
an ugly bead, etc.).
Ok, Mary, get out of your own head….. !
Then the studio phone rang and Annie (the “teacher”)
escorted him up to the studio…
Yeah, my heart took a little dive….
But….!
He professed to be fascinated with the creative process of torchwork,
showed admiration for my beads, and really made me feel like an ARTIST.
With that, I sign off …..
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