Wrapped Button Choker

Meant to get this posted some time ago but still haven't gotten the home computer stuff taken care of, so had to offload this photo at work when no one was looking (stealth blogging).

I was stuck at home for about a week in early October, first with car issues, then with stupid after-seizure recovery, then 3 days sick . . . toward the end of the week I was feeling okay enough to stay awake and work a couple of hours on a button choker--something I'd seen in one of my jewelry books and happened to have the stuff on-hand to try out.  Turned out nothing like what was in the book, but then again I stopped following the directions at step 2.

Never had any classes in wire wrapping (though it's on my to-do list), but I was pleased with how it turned out.  Funky silver buttons, some shell buttons, throw in a few old jet beads and some sterling silver chain and wire, et viola! 

Got 3 rave reviews inside of a week and plan to make many more for the etsy site.

Because they rock.  And roll.  All day long.  Sweet Suzie.

The Sketchbook Project

What i'tis: http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject/about

I am so doing this! I wonder what theme they'll give me . . . so much better than getting a "blank slate" in my opinion. I have blank sketchbooks all over the place, but give me something to redesign, reimagine, rethink and I'll blitz through a notebook in a heartbeat!

You sign up, too!


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Update 9/28/09: I've officially signed up (and just in time!--deadline is Oct. 1) and stuff is on the way. My theme is "And Suddenly . . . " Hahaha--I have some great ideas already!

Crafters Anonymous?? Anyone, Anyone??

From IM messaging after lunch-break this afternoon . . . during which I was running "errands":

Beth says:
*omg--i need to stop going to crafting stores
*i'm supposed to be spending what money i have on plaster-repair supplies and getting myroom finished . . .
*but no--I have to get the urge to paint something

Lauren says:
*hahah

Beth says:
*which leads to papier mache boxes and scrapbooking paper . . .
*which leads to discontent with my paint color choice, so I have to go to Joann's to see what they have . . .
*which leads me to buy MORE scrapbooking paper, and then, of course, I have to go see what they have in the calico section because I really want pink rosebuds, but they don't have it in paper . . .
*so that leads me to buy fabric for my papier mache boxes, which have now morphed into crewel-work embroidered cushion top boxes with fabric sides
*i started out wanting to make, like, FOUR boxes, quick, cheap and done . . .
*now I've got stuff for like 80
*lol

Lauren says:
*whatre these boxes for?

Beth says:
*to sell
*it all started because I organized my bead stuff this weekend
*and took the loveseat down to storage
*a) now I have room in my living room to move the kitchen table in there and set up a sewing spot to hem some curtains
*and make some totebags
*and b) I needed more orginizer bin things, but I realized I also needed to pick up some baggies
*so: there I was at Michael's
*and the rest is all downhill from there
*i'm a crafting junkie
*i can't finish one project without starting at least 4 new ones

Lauren says:
*i dont have the time or patience to do crafts

Beth says:
*my brain is on crafting crack

3 Skeins Forward, 4 Skeins Back

I am so done with knitting for a while--I've ground out 2 scarves in the last week (4 in the last month) to:

a) use up some of the single-skeins loitering in my studio bookcases, and
b) sell on etsy


The underlying problem that you, dear reader, may not be aware of is:

a) at the start of the current knitting jag, I took advantage of store sales and bought 7 new skeins of yarn to knit up, but
b) I only used 3 of the existing single-skeins loitering in my studio bookcases (thereby adding 4 skeins to the pile I'm trying to get rid of), and
c) haven't opened the etsy site just yet, and
d) I bought a new book on making pearl jewelry, so naturally . . .
e) I NEEEEED to make a couple of necklaces.

I am a slave to my creative whims.

Painted Ceramic Bowls

I feel like I should post something, but I don't have anything to say, really. Halfway through my xmas gifts (WOO!--Might actually get them all out BEFORE xmas, which is completely unheard of!! Xmas miracles DO happen!!), waiting on a phone call from the doctor's (bleh, HATE waiting), and generally just plugging through a normal work day. I want to post some photos, but I keep forgetting to bring them in from home . . .

I totally want to post a photo of the two bowls I painted up for Kaitlyn and Johnny's xmas gifts but I CAN'T because then they'd see and then the surprise would be . . . less awesome. Hmph.

Update 01/26/09: Here're some quick snaps of those bowls!



Okay, okay--I have to get back to work and quit blogging to myself--I told myself I have to get through this one thing (comprised of about 10 things) and then it's off to the laundromat and some while-I-wait-gift-knitting. I wish jewelry/beading was more portable because I've been jones'in to practice some wire working but I don't have any family/friends that wear jewelry, really. Maybe I'll do some xmas theme stuff on here for kicks . . .

Anything except remind myself I'm waaaaaiiiiiiitiiiiiinnnnng for that phone call . . . bleh.

Art Class, Schmart Class (what you don't know until you try)

I always knew I had some natural talent with drawing and color work, and although I always felt it was just okay, I'd also never really had a class or teacher that taught me anything I didn't already know or ask me to produce something more. There didn't seem to be any challenge.

This post is dedicated to an art teacher I had for one quarter (9 weeks) of college who took everything we all thought we knew how to do at whatever drawing level we were at and shook it up, made us relearn and reassess and work to improve our skills: Maruta Kajaks-Grots. I still remember her telling me at the end of the class, "I really want to see you push the envelope just a little more."

I think of her words every time I'm working on a project. Still pushing, Maruta!

The overall theme of the class and the sketches that follow (now that I think back to it all) could be summed up as "learning to draw without lines" . . . I think by not using outlines you're forcing your brain to create an image without falling back on some established idea of "object" you've drawn a million times. THIS eye is not AN eye; THIS eye is THIS shadow, THIS arch, THIS negative space. This weekend I rediscovered my sketches from that class (I think most of these are in order), and I thought I would share while the new projects are being finished:

Lesson 1: Pre-class assignment. Draw anything, bring it in.


Lesson 2: Learning to draw form, cutting back on the "sketched lines" look. Sorry, this is a terrible photo--had the flash on. These are a grouping of shoes.


Lesson 3: Simple line drawing, still cutting back on all those sketched lines.


Lesson 4: Black and white rendition of mixed-paper crumples (I focused on the brown bag, can you tell?), aka drawing with shadows and highlights, practicing contrast values with messy/smearable media (conte).


Lesson 5: Pulling images out of charcoal using an eraser, aka creating an image by making highlights in shadow, more contrast values with messy media (vine charcoal). This Amorphous Blob is a napping black kitty on a black background. No, really--you can see the feet. LOL. The actual assignment used a photo of my sister, but it didn't hold up well during 'storage'. Oops.


Lesson 6: Getting into pencil, learning to draw without outlines. These were white styrofoam pieces with just a dark room and a spotlight. I still do the contrast and hardness practice on every pencil-work I do today, particularly with colored projects--if you got a framed piece from me, chances are there'll be a remnant of this shading practice on an edge somewhere under the mat.


Lesson 7: Egg on a white (curved-paper) background--hardest freaking thing I have ever done. Again, no outlines allowed, image was created using only pencil criss-crossing to define 'edges'. Phew!


Lesson 8: More white-on-white composition. And again, no outlines to define edges. (Look, Marsha, can you find the dental floss?)


Lesson 9: Final "exam" project: still-life composition of any variety using only pencil.


I was really proud of the final assignment when I did it, but I look at it now and I see how I should have 'pushed the envelope' a little more, spent more time refining the image, correcting flaws in uneven edges. I still keep it with the thought that someday I'll hang this up either in the studio or in the bathroom; not only is it a great reminder to myself that even natural talent needs to be honed with practice and perseverance, but that was also my favorite perfume from VS--smelled just like peaches--and I loved the frosted glass bottle with the bronze and vine detail! LOL!

Untitled Mixed Media (a wedding gift)

One of the few pieces of artwork I've made and given away as a gift . . . and still had access to to grab a photo on my last visit! The photo is a bit yellow, so the colors are off in the pix. I've since learned to have the paper projects professionally scanned/saved to digital media, so future images on this blog will be more true in color.

I love this--it turned out far better than I had hoped since I hadn't worked in pencil for several years and felt a little out of practice. It was a wedding gift for some friends I'd just recently met . . . and hoped the entire time that I wasn't too off in left field for choosing an Asian theme. I was aiming for an old woodblock print style, thus the hard lines in some places and a quick color transition without lines in others. And, as I've already stated elsewhere, I am my own worst critic, so everytime I look at this I just want to grab a couple of blue pencils and fill in that little edge on the bottom of the moon! lol

Stats for those who know/care: image is appx 5x8" on 65 lb sketch paper, done freehand (after a practice run) in india ink pen and colored pencil. Spray fixative was applied to the image to protect the colors against aging, and the gift personalized with some embossing on the lower mat corner. Yes, those are real yen (for luck, prosperity, and friendship).

But What I'd Really Love To Do . . .

Plan B. It's what you would do with your life if you weren't doing what you're doing right now or had to do to pay the bills. Some of us are already on Plan B, some of us don't think about it until Plan A has suddenly vanished into thin air . . . but I'm pretty sure most of us dream about Plan B and do what we can to get there.

I haven't gotten to my Plan B yet, but soon I hope to. My Plan B, what I'd really love to do, is to be able to support myself with my artwork, including a local artists web gallery.

I've got "irons in the fire" so to speak, lining things up that will enable me to one day push off the 9 to 5 (or at least just go part time so I have a reason to get out of the house regularly!). In the meantime, I'm getting back into the swing of working on craft and art projects as I can to build up a base to start with.

In the past my projects have always been gifts and I'd never thought to start keeping records of my work (a portfolio) until recently; in fact it's only been the last few years that I've felt I'd developed enough skill to create something worth selling. Along the way I've realized that supporting myself on artwork is not about what I think is good enough to sell, but rather what someone else enjoys enough to buy it. I will always be my worst critic, but as long as I use that attitude to keep pushing myself to do better (but not stand in my own way), then I'll always believe what I make will be appreciated by someone.

While this blog is up and running you'll see the occasional post about something I've finished along with a photo or slideshow of some type--I have friends/family ask all the time about my projects and would like to see photos. At the moment I'm finishing up a few items that have been 'on the books' for a while or shelved mid-process while I've been working on the apartment, so posts about new artwork/projects may be few and far between for a little bit--keep checking, though! I look forward to your comments--good and bad--and hope that you may also be inspired to work on your own Plan B, whatever it is.

"Lava," He Said (painting a wall mural for my nephew's bedroom)

A few years ago my sister and her husband built a new house and gave their son the option of choosing a theme for his new bedroom; he was about 5. "Lava!" he said. Not exploding volcanoes or fire, just lava. AND, it must flow from the wall and over his bed.

Now, I am not one to turn away a challenge, in fact I really enjoy the opportunity to 'find a way' to get what I want (or, in this case, what he wanted). I did some digging and found about 10 photos of 'just' lava on the internet that I thought would work, and had even found a great example of comic book illustration that cartooned lava flowing over a dying planet a la the old Sherwin Williams paint logo ("Cover the Earth!"). He loved the comic example and ultimately we ended up with a plan for a spacey exploding planet with lots of lava. My sister's caveat: have more (existing) yellow walls than mural, please.

My sister and I started this in the fall, for 5 weekends we'd work 1 day on a new layer or part, and we finished up just in time for Thanksgiving. In retrospect, I would have liked to make the planet much larger since it's practically hidden behind the bed, but what we ended up with was still very cool. Unfortunately, we were so excited to finish up (and also very tired!) that we went and moved the bunk bed in place before I remembered to take a photo of the finished planet. If you go to the actual photo, you should be able to zoom in enough to see some of the detail . . . I'll try to remember to take a few new shots next I'm visiting.

**Update 07/16/08: more detailed shots added to the slideshow!**

Take a peek at the slideshow!