The paints I've been using for the abstract starts are craft paints. For the collage workshop - which starts today - I wanted better quality. I may have been able to buy them locally but it seemed like a great excuse for a road trip so yesterday a friend and I went to a larger center just over an hour away, had a fabulous day shopping, and I picked up some supplies - 12 paints, matte medium, Posca markers, micron pens, and an 8 x 10" gelli plate. Luckily...
... I already had both kinds of paper needed as well as common tools like scissors and pencils and didn't need to buy absolutely everything. The first lesson will be available today after I get back from journaling. I'm looking forward to getting started.
On Monday, I finished the other two necklaces using the one inch denim scraps. Both have my usual double hook clasp and are strung with metal, glass, cork, or crystal beads. I like how they turned out.
I also finished the denim skirt that I started at the retreat using the pants that became a coat that became a skirt. My favourite parts are the sides and the way the tucks give it more shape.
The front is far more flattering on my body than it is on the mannequin. Because the sides are overlapped and stitched to follow my body, it works with my deformed right hip and hangs better on me than my hip-less mannequin.
Typically when I've seen pants sewn into a skirt, the crotch overlaps are is at center. On mine, I made the side seams center front and center back and overlapped the crotch shapes at the sides and toward the back because I'm wider across the back and thought this might look better. Either way, it's fun.
I enjoyed making the piece but wasn't sure how much refashioning I wanted to do going forward. It didn't feel like something I wanted to dive into further only - since it's fun - I wasn't sure why. Which left me confused. And then I listened to Louise Fletcher interview Jane Davies and their conversation gave me a way to process that comfusion. They are both artists I think of as accomplished so it was interesting - and encouraging - to hear them talk about their own struggles just like I do.
At one point, Jane talks about how if she wants to try something new, doing it a hundred tries might get her somewhere but how after about a dozen or two she'll know if she even wants to go there. That thought resonated with the abstract starts I've been doing. After thirty five starts, I don't want to go there but I am enjoying paint and that is leading me to collage art... for now At the same time, I can see how collage could lead me back to painting. It may be a triangle with more than one way in.
Jane and Louise discuss different ways of working, about people who try many things and others who tend to go deep into one thing and get really good at it... like myself. I'm not an all over the place kind of person with creativity. I don't like to keep moving and changing even though it may look like that with all the things I've tried in the last few years. In reality, I'm looking for my next obsession and for the thing that I can really focus in on and get very good at. Listening to the interview...
... and thinking about refashioning clothing, I wondered if I'd done the dozen or two and was moving on or if I'd done the dozen or two and was hooked. If it was a yes or no question and I had to pick one, I'd probably say that I'm moving on but in reality, I am beginning to see more clearly where I want to add more detail to my clothing and where I want to maintain it's architectural simplicity with both being wearable. I can see adding more detail to outer garments like coats and cardigans and maintaining simplicity in the basics of pants, skirts, and tops. I think that's a yes and a no.
In one part of their conversation, Louise compares trying something new to going down a street, discovering it's really a cul-de-sac, and going back. As makers, I think it's important to accept without judgement or frustration that this is simply part of the process like sampling the food at a new restaurant and deciding if you like it or not. A taste test, a sip, an experiment, an evaluation, and possibly a new adventure.
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - a fun road trip and a new workshop
I enjoyed making the piece but wasn't sure how much refashioning I wanted to do going forward. It didn't feel like something I wanted to dive into further only - since it's fun - I wasn't sure why. Which left me confused. And then I listened to Louise Fletcher interview Jane Davies and their conversation gave me a way to process that comfusion. They are both artists I think of as accomplished so it was interesting - and encouraging - to hear them talk about their own struggles just like I do.
At one point, Jane talks about how if she wants to try something new, doing it a hundred tries might get her somewhere but how after about a dozen or two she'll know if she even wants to go there. That thought resonated with the abstract starts I've been doing. After thirty five starts, I don't want to go there but I am enjoying paint and that is leading me to collage art... for now At the same time, I can see how collage could lead me back to painting. It may be a triangle with more than one way in.
Jane and Louise discuss different ways of working, about people who try many things and others who tend to go deep into one thing and get really good at it... like myself. I'm not an all over the place kind of person with creativity. I don't like to keep moving and changing even though it may look like that with all the things I've tried in the last few years. In reality, I'm looking for my next obsession and for the thing that I can really focus in on and get very good at. Listening to the interview...
... and thinking about refashioning clothing, I wondered if I'd done the dozen or two and was moving on or if I'd done the dozen or two and was hooked. If it was a yes or no question and I had to pick one, I'd probably say that I'm moving on but in reality, I am beginning to see more clearly where I want to add more detail to my clothing and where I want to maintain it's architectural simplicity with both being wearable. I can see adding more detail to outer garments like coats and cardigans and maintaining simplicity in the basics of pants, skirts, and tops. I think that's a yes and a no.
In one part of their conversation, Louise compares trying something new to going down a street, discovering it's really a cul-de-sac, and going back. As makers, I think it's important to accept without judgement or frustration that this is simply part of the process like sampling the food at a new restaurant and deciding if you like it or not. A taste test, a sip, an experiment, an evaluation, and possibly a new adventure.
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - a fun road trip and a new workshop
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