Yes, yes, yes...thank you Lord (stomping feet, head bowed, right hand held high, left hand over heart)...yesterday I was feeling the power, (I GOT THE POWER...hearing the voice in that song that I can't name...anybody???). I held up to a long day at the Chitlin' Circuit, my studio, and made what felt like progress.
Untitled at this time but finished.
added the color...since this is of an boarded up storefront church, I'm thinking hand quilting, but I might succumb to machine quilting.
another toilet paper insert fabric...my intent was to go with subdued colours...then i changed my mind.
One last thing and then I gotta go...but Enchanted Arts Studio has this hanging outside their door...it is a work in progress. It took me by surprise when I saw it.
Looking forward to seeing what comes next...paper maiche, clay, fabric...all of the above
Not much went as expected this weekend...University of Louisville lost to University of Kentucky. I didn't make it to Trolley Hop or to the studio yesterday and today.
The upside of what wasn't expected was meeting my great-nephew, the newest edition to our family, yesterday and my sisters and great-niece converging at my mother's for the basketball game. None of who live in Louisville.
Today I've been lazy, napping and snacking, reading and computering most of the day. As part of finding gratitude everyday through the lense of my camera and using aperture setting, this is today's offerings:
dandelion from Carter
Sucession: September & October 2003, Juanita Yeager that hangs above the couch.
Its obvious I have a lot to learn about aperture...but I have a whole month.
Update
How good it feels to write a new blog post!!!! How good it feels that Spring is here!!!!
Louisville is #3 in the nation for the worse pollen count. It wrecked a little bit of havoc on my lungs in spite of the emotional uplift the warmer temps gave me. I just kept yo-yoing with chest crud until I had a brief 4 day stay in the hospital. In between feeling good/feeling bad I kept plugging along on the boats...
Happy to report the hand embroidery is done and it is ready for quilting...but here is my plan...to continue on to the next quilt(s) and then sometime in mid summer go hog wild, (bat crazy, mad cow) with quilting all the tops. This year's goal is all about production (don't get too excited...I work slow even when I'm fast). My goal was to have the "boats" completed by the end of Feb. and it didn't happen until mid-March.
You may recall me mentioning that my sewing construction studio is in storage due to my mother moving into senior housing. For months I considered renting a 2nd Mellwood studio to set it up once the storage contract ends. I turned over the idea of sharing a 2nd space, subleasing, etc. It was my anxiety talking over not having my design board, fabrics, sewing desk that holds my main machine, etc. accessible. I spent the first part of this week clearing the studio to make room for at least my sewing desk and to begin the next quilt with the attitude of "making do equals can do". Peter and Ade will haul through the storage unit and pull it out and deliver it this weekend.
Yesterday I actually sat down to begin the preliminary studies for the next piece. Two of the three studies I finished...one is a thread sketch, this one using tsukineko inks.
The next one will be raw edge applique. While doing them, the question in the back of my mind is "how can I make the imagery more abstract and still capture the event?". It will be a Kentucky Derby quilt.
Blog Love
I don't remember how I stumbled into Karen Walrond's blog and website, Chookooloonks. I think maybe her book, The Beauty of Different, kept coming up on Amazon's recommendations. She offers an on-line magazine workshop that offers gratitude prompts with photography prompts called Gratitude 2012. Karen is an award winning, jet setting photography whose blog exudes kindness, humor, and beauty. I enrolled in the workshop yesterday. It is 5 dollars a month and 40% of the fee she donates to Kiva.
Also, yesterday I discovered the website (thanks to Pinterest) and blog of fiber artist Diane Melms. I've always wanted to improve my photo-documentation by showing the process involved in completing a piece from start to finish. I think I'm too wordy to be as succinct as Diane or as succinct and poignant as blogger Judy Martin, another blogger I enjoy reading.
Wrap-up
Time for a change. I've been with Typepad now since I first began blogging back in '04. This is a fee based blog and I'm at the lowest level. In order for me to customize I would have to jump up to the next fee level and that ain't happening. Blogspot offers customization and it is free. My hold-up is anticipating the learning curve (the headache) of moving content. This will be a goal for April.
Tonight is F.A.T. Trolley Hop. I will not be having Open Studios but will be around with Carter, my 3 y.o. grandson and Anaya my 2 y.o. granddaughter for a few hours (at least this is the plan) visiting the other studios and galleries at Mellwood.
Joyful Celebration (top) and A New World (bottom) Artist holds image copyright on all images in this post.
What I do: I work primarily with polymer clay. I’ve dabbled in other mediums such as photography and acrylics, but when I was introduced to polymer clay, I fell in love with it. I’ve always been fascinated by marbled colors and how colors stimulate the senses and take you on a mental journey to anywhere you want to go. I love working with my hands and manipulating color swirls and patterns. It is a passion of mine to explore the limitless and innovative ways to express myself through this type of abstract art. I currently create 2 and 3 dimensional pieces, as well as original designs for necklaces and earrings. Since discovering polymer clay, I have used glass, ceramics and wood as my “canvas” and let the viewer’s mind wander wherever the swirls of color take them. However, I have recently developed an interest in working more recognizable figures and objects into my designs with the purpose of expressing my personal views on issues such as freely expressing joy and hope for racial harmony through my newest works “Joyful Celebration” and “A New World”.
Artistic Expressions, Deborah's Mellwood Gallery
Why I do it: Like most artists, I have a need to find ways to express myself. I have found that making extra money with my art is great, but pales in comparison with the satisfaction and “therapy” that I receive from the creative process itself. My art has been a great refuge for me when my mind seems overwhelmed with stresses that I have no control over. You can’t put a value on a means of expression and healing that art provides to me.
What upcoming changes do you anticipate for Artistic Expressions?
Artistic Expressions (A-173) is moving into The Kore Gallery (A-117), which is a more visible and accessible location, as part of a joint venture with three other artists. (both are located at Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center)
Deborah w/ her work inside The Kore Gallery
How do you define success for yourself as an artist?
By continually growing and finding new and more innovative ways to express myself through art. Basically, if I continue to grow and am happy with my art, then that is success to me.
What suggestions do you offer for making Mellwood an even more attractive place for artists to work?
Create better signs to direct patrons to the studios. Many artists feel hidden, especially on Trolley Hops and during big events. Promote the diversity and number of artists that are at Mellwood.
polymer clay necklace
Artistic Expressions at Shutterfly
click image to go to website
By the start of fall...I'll have all 500 pencils! I read about the 500 pencils some years ago on the QuiltArt email list. It took me months of hemming and hawning but I broke down and ordered the 25 pencil/month plan. By the start of autumn I should have all 500! It was the collection of 500 colours which is alluring. I would love to collect 500 solid colour fat quarters of fabric the same way!
My lungs have been junky, necessitating the need for a course of steroids and anti-biotics...with the dropped in temps, I haven't been to The Chitlin' Circuit in over a week...with only 1 trek out to test improvement in my lung capacity. Surprisingly, I've kept the anxiety in check over losing time but have kept myself close to the hearth and entertained with pinterests, facebooking, blog and e-book reading. Since getting the Kindle Fire, my book reading is back on! I've read more books in a month then I did all of last year that were non-art making related! And now that my library offers e-books, there is less threat to my budget. My current author crush is Tayari Jones and it is my book review blog thats getting most of my action now.
My two favorite boards on pininterest are DIY crafts and Food. I've spent the last couple of weeks cooking dishes I found there...I tried recipes for thai noodles, brussel sprouts, zuchini boats, chicken salad, quinoa patties. This cake is cooling now...but it is from Allrecipes.com, my go to food site.
apple cake
One of my studio neighbors has hosted Pinterest workshops which is "lets get together and make something we find on pinterest". I haven't attended any but how clever an idea!
It takes me on average about 45 minutes to do one boat. I have around 125 remaining. I've lost 2 days from the studio due to soar throat and irritated sinuses and upper chest. The temps have dropped back down highs in the low 40s. My great grandmother called this pnuemonia weather...when its unseasonably warm with sudden drops in temps. She believed in dressing for the season with a hat or scarf always covering the head in winter when out and about.
This Saturday is Demo Day at Mellwood...I'll be in my studio hand embroidering on the boats from 10-noon.
Fred is another Mellwoodian artist. He is located in Bldg. B #302.
Karen Davis: Tell us what you do and why?
Fred Miller: What? My art is metal sculptures. I primarily use aluminum. I buy the aluminum in sheets, cut the needed pieces, bend and fit them, weld them together using a TIG process, and then finish them with a wire wheel to give a rough texture or with a sanding disc to give a smoother texture with movement.
Why? Numerous types of relationships between both natural and manmade objects may encourage introspection. By their very nature, these relationships have some impermanence about them. While a sense of impermanence is minimal in very stable relationships such as that between a house and its foundation, others show a very pronounced uncertainty, kindle a meditative spirit, or induce an emotional reaction. Contemplating the many possibilities of emotion or change, especially present in tenuous or precarious relationships, gives me a strong sense and appreciation of the present. It is this feeling that I instill in my sculptures. It makes life interesting, gives life value and induces in me a kind of meditative appreciation for the intrinsic worth of relationships, now, at this moment in time.
On the flip side, I also enjoy happy pieces that simply make me smile or feel joyous when I see them. Doesn't everyone like to feel happy?
KD: What other mediums have you worked in besides the aluminum? And if so, was the answer to "why" the same for those mediums? What I'm curious about is whether there is something inherent about aluminum and your processes that induce the meditative/emotional reactions around impermanence and feelings of joy that you mentioned.
FM: I have worked in other mediums. I very much enjoy balancing rocks on top of each other so that they look like they will fall (have attached a picture of a few of them). However it is not something that I want to do as a continuing art focus. I have also worked in wood but for some reason I enjoy metal the most. Welding is a very meditative process requiring constant and extreme focus. When welding a long "bead" I can easily get lost in time. It is only precarious in that it is easy to make a mistake and aluminum is regarded as far more difficult to weld than mild steel or stainless steel. I think I enjoy aluminum because it has a natural bright shine to it that finishes well without painting, it is light weight so large pieces can still be easily moved around, it is strong, and it is challenging to weld. It in itself doesn't necessarily lend itself to happiness, precariousness or impermanence; the pieces have to speak to that. It is just something I enjoy doing.
KD: Tell us about the "well" you draw from for inspiration and design ideas; and along those same lines, share how ideas go from inside your mind to a finished piece.
FM: You are making this "little interview" very deep but I will give it a try. Inspirations come from my life, past and present. I think about things that give or gave me joy and why that was. Often it was a precarious circumstance or it might have been reflective. For instance, as a child I loved to run down hills and I think that love reflected the feeling of tremendous speed I felt while at the same time tetering on a disastrous fall. I have a few pieces that follow that theme (on the stage at Mellwood). I have always loved to cross a stream by running across rocks that would make for a dry crossing, jumping from one to the next without a planned route. That is also a precarious feeling that when successful, makes you happy to be alive. I have a piece that portrays this; it is a child in the act of landing on a rock after jumping. I tend to notice balances in nature (stable mountains vs rock slides; still ponds vs roaring streams, yoga poses that seem to defy nature or body flexibility, interactions among people that may be conflicts or very harmonious) and I try to put these thoughts into an art piece. I love to laugh and to make people happy and a few of my "happy man face" pieces as well as my whimsical pieces reflect that feeling. Sometimes the idea spontaneously lends itself to an art work, sometimes I have to think about how to portray that idea. I don't know what else to say; life just happens.
ELEMENTS: An exhibit from Mellwood Arts Center Tenants, Pigment Gallery@Mellwood, Louisville, Kentucky, January 9, 2012-March 10, 2012
I currently have 8 pieces in this exhibit.
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