More Little Houses

I think it would be fun to have a whole village of these little houses. Maybe I should keep a few for myself. Hmmm . . .

Here are the backs. Additional views may be seen at my Flickr page.

Coming soon: The Goblin King

Oops! I Forgot . . .

. . . to schedule this post! This was supposed to go up yesterday for Bead Table Wednesday. :(

Our family has been on trips for a couple weeks, and then I started training on Monday for a new job. Whew! What a busy two weeks. Whenever I travel I always take some sort of art supplies with me. I don't always use them, but I can't stand to not have them. I have figured out that as sure as I as don't bring them, that's when I'll want them. I debated taking along my "clay stuff" this time and ultimately decided not to, thinking I wouldn't have time anyway/ or want to. Of course I was sorry in the end. Oh well. I did take some of my finished pieces with me since they were listed on my Etsy site and I didn't want to shut down while I was gone figuring they wouldn't take much room, I could ship from anywhere, and I could show them to friends and family. As a result I came home with fewer pieces than I left with!

Once we were home from our trip I really wanted to get to work on more pieces. As a result I finished the hollow beads I had started and made smaller beads to go with them.

And the other side.

Tomorrow I'll post other new stuff (hopefully my brain is working right now!).

Yet Another Bead Table Wednesday

This past week I actually did get around to making some beads. Yay! Claire Maunsell posted a great tutorial over on her blog, the next bend, on making her hollow strata beads. I have had fun trying her technique the past few days. Here's the first one I made. Top view:

Here's a side view showing the layers:

I used phthalo blue to stain/highlight the bead, but don't think I'm too crazy about how it turned out. Way too intense. I had to sand quite a bit to remove as much colour as I wanted with the result that my bead became more smooth and shiny than I planned, especially after polishing. You may need to click on the pictures to see the shininess. Here's the other side:

I have others that aren't quite camera ready yet. I'll post those here or on my Flickr account as soon as I'm able. Bye for now.

Holding On to Inspiration

I find that I'm still thinking about the subject of inspiration. But this time it's not finding it, rather, it's about keeping it. As I said in an earlier post, it's relatively easy for me to find inspiration. My problem seems to be sorting through it and holding on to it. Sometimes I have so very many ideas that I can't possibly use them all. Sometimes I have great ideas and then . . . I forget them. So, a little (big?) confession here. I have ADHD and short-tern memory issues. I've had to find ways to cope. My way of doing this when it comes to ideas and inspiration is to write it down. But I can't just write it down on any old sheet of paper or in a plain notebook, oh no, I'd lose those. My solution is an art ideas journal.

I love to do art journalling, but I'm not very dedicated and I often seem to lose focus at some point. But if I give myself permission to just do a journal and let it be "whatever", I can do it. It's not an art journal, it's not a writing journal, it's an Art Ideas Journal. In this (these) journal(s), I write down ideas for projects, I write poems, my own and others that have inspired me, song lyrics, my musings, my to-do lists, etc. I do some art journalling, practice techniques, and so on.

I used to buy small sketchbooks or blank journals to use, but now I make my own. I use recycled cardboard from food or other boxes, watercolour paper, and cardstock weight paper. I bind them with a Zutter so they lay flat while I work in them and they will also have room to expand (since they always seem to get fatter).

I find that writing down my ideas helps refine the good ones and weed out the bad ones. Sketches of varying quality may or may not accompany the notes. I also keep a separate, larger sketchbook that is just for sketches and drawings.

 

I also have a couple of back-up plans when I don't have a journal with me, my iPhone and my iPad. I can just type a note into either, snap a picture, make a voice recording, or make a digital drawing (iPad). Then I try to remember later make a journal entry from that, but if I don't, I still have my ideas :)

 

If you're interested in seeing more of this particular journal, click here to go to my Flickr page. There are more pages as well as more construction notes.

If it's Wednesday . . .

. . . then it must be time to show what's on my bead table. I'm afraid the pickings are rather slim today. I've been trying obtain a certain elusive shade of turquoise/aqua. And I have to say that I'm ever so grateful that Cynthia Tinapple tweeted this colour mixing chart for Kato clay back in May. I printed it out on glossy paper and it's been very helpful. Thanks Cynthia : ) However, I didn't get the turquoise beads finished.

Here are a couple of funky long beads that I'm making into earrings. They're actually made from scrap.

Then I got tired of working on beads and worked on these instead. Fred and Ethel Mae. There's one more, Lola, but she's not done yet. Fred's not quite 2 1/2" tall, Ethel Mae about 2". Hopefully Lola will be done tomorrow.

Toodles.

What Inspires You?

Where do you find your inspiration? Have you ever thought about the different types of inspiration? What about that sometimes elusive muse? I find that for myself, there are two main types of inspiration. There are the kinds that come from things seen or heard or even just glimpsed from the corner of the eye. Then there are people that inspire you.

The first kind, seen or heard, is usually pretty easy for me to come by. Maybe it comes from a song that evokes an emotional response or a conjures up a particularly strong visual image in my mind, or both. For instance, I once made a book based on the song Ruby Tuesday, but in that case it wasn't inspired by the Rolling Stones version, although that is one my favourite songs. No, what inspired me in that instance was the actress Katey Sagal's version on the TV show Sons of Anarchy.

There was such raw, powerful emotion in her voice that went along with what had happened to her character. Sometimes though, it can be as simple as something like the shape and colours of these oxygen tanks all filled up and ready to go.

I saw these at the dive center where my daughter and husband were taking scuba lessons and thought they had their own unique beauty. And sometimes I feel inspired by the written word, poetry or books. Robert Frost, Neil Gaiman, and T. S. Eliot come immediately to mind. I am often inspired by the work of other artists, too numerous to mention here, and it makes me want to work harder and raise the calibre of my own work.

There is another way, however, that people sometimes inspire me, and that is by their actions. For instance, back in 2004 I had nearly given up on polymer clay altogether. I would see the work of polymer clay artists and really love the things that could be done with the medium. I would see artists on TV demonstrating various projects and techniques. One such artist was Donna Kato, I saw her on The Carol Duvall Show. She made it look so easy that I had to try it. Well, it wasn't hard for me to make things, but my things kept breaking or getting air bubbles in them or otherwise going wrong! All that work just for nothing it seemed! Then in October of 2004 my daughter and I were at the St. James Court Art Show in Louisville; Leslie Blackford was one of the exhibitors.

We got to talking and when she found out that I liked to work in polymer clay, but was was feeling discouraged, she suggested that I come to the first ever Clay Carnival in Las Vegas. She told me about the instructors and classes that would be taught. She was one of the instructors, as was Donna Kato. Leslie was so encouraging and so generous with her time and advice ("I think you should try a different brand of clay.", "Come to Clay Carnival, you'll learn so much and have so much fun!" "You should join our guild.") that she inspired me to not give up. Of course Leslie isn't the only person who has inspired me, but I mention her here because I feel that sort of inspiration is important. I mention Donna also because she inspired me to to try polymer clay in the first place, even though it was via TV. So what inspires you?

Note: The lovely bird sculpture above is one of Leslie's works that I purchased from her at that initial meeting at St.James Court. I have affectionately dubbed him "The Jackdaw."

Bead Table Wednesday, for the First Time

Inspired by Claire Maunsell's "Bead Table Wednesday" post last week, I decided to check further into what Bead Table Wednesday was all about. I had seen it referenced before, but without really looking into it. I like the idea of showing what's on your table beadwise. I never feel like I have enough beads on hand when I need them. The result is that I'm slowed down when I need a bead or beads and have to stop and make some, or worse yet, go buy some. So I decided to join the group. Maybe this will encourage me to make beads more often or buy them when I'm buying other supplies.


These are some beads I made awhile back. I made a prototype of the big focal bead first, then refined it with this version. Then I thought if I made it into a pendant, I should have some beads for earrings. Then I just made a few more, But now I can't decide exactly how I want to use them. In a configuration like this, with some of the small red and black beads between?


Or do I want to drill them vertically and dangle them? Or use the the focal bead by itself with some of the smaller beads on a bracelet?

Oh, decisions, decisions!