Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Artist - what a scary word!

"It took me a long time not to view myself through someone else's eyes."



My son-in-law recently asked me if I've always been artistic. My first thought was to look around and see who on earth he was talking to! I never thought of myself as artistic. In my family, art meant drawing or painting, talents that clearly skipped over me. I remember very clearly when I got the first notification that I was not an artist- in kindergarten, for crying out loud! It was Thanksgiving time, and we were to draw turkeys. I drew mine with great enthusiasm, only to have the teacher hold it up and announce that we were supposed to be drawing turkeys and mine did not look anything like one. Note to self - can't draw. Several years later I did actually draw a pretty decent representation of a woman that even impressed my drawing-capable sister. Parent-ish person announced that there was no way I could have drawn something so good - note to self- even when you can draw, you can't draw. End of art career.

Decades later, I started playing with a few rubber stamps and realized there was an end-run around not being able to draw - stamp what someone else drew! Then my good friend, SRC, started making wonderfully artistic cards and I decided to have a go at it. I read everything I could about stamping techniques and poured over stamping magazines. Now several years later, I'm pretty comfortable with what I do, have sold a few things, and wonder of wonders, have had someone ask me if I've always been "artistic"! Who knew?

I belong to several on-line paper art groups where there is a recurring discussing about our reluctance to call ourselves artists and what we do art. Why? For me, it somehow seems presumptuous, a term to be reserved for a very select few. But why? Why do we shy away from acknowledging our talent - maybe not as developed or well-known as others, but talent just the same.

I love the Van Gogh quote" If someone tells you you cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced." So, no more listening to that tape in my head that says I can't do it - maybe I can't draw, but I'm having a great time stamping, gluing, embellishing and learning how to do more. And yes, it's art.

I recently decided to try a big (for me) mixed media canvas as a gift for my Montana daughter. I've never done something on this scale (16x20) and found all that blank space intimidating. Out to various blogs to get some technique ideas and here's a peek at the preliminary stages. One thing I've learned - if it doesn't look right - a swipe of gesso and some paint and you can start over!

This is the first steps - painted gesso over the canvas, then some brown, green, yellow paint.
Then I used some gel medium to attach some papers, text and fibers.
And a wash of green, some orange and yellow glaze over everything. I freaked out about the wrinkles, thinking I'd have to cover them with something, but after 24 hours or so, everything dried out nice and flat - whew!





.



I attached a piece of mesh paper and a bird rescued from an old Cavellini catalog. The orange seemed a bit overpowering, so covered most of it with some more gesso and a wash of pale yellow glaze. I dribbled some wax all over the bird and over most of the fibers- a medium I need lots more practice to perfect! I like the texture of the wax, but need to smooth it out a bit. May try shooting it with the heat gun.


Stay tuned for the finished product - I've made some fabric flowers and text leaves for it and think some old metal hinges might find a spot, too.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Silver Lining

Look at the treasure I found at the thrift store today! I love the thrill of the hunt at thrift stores - you just never know what you'll find. Today I found this box of sterling silverware for $2.99. The pricing at our local Goodwill is a mystery - some tacky tchotchkes are way over priced (more than any sane person would pay for them brand new!), and then this great collection priced less than the cost of a latte. There are over fifty pieces in here, some I knew had spooned their last soup many years ago. Tarnish-ware more accurately describes what was in the box. I hoped to get a few good pieces out of the collection.

When I come across a find like this, I wonder about the previous owner. The silverware was in an old, fabric covered silverware box, held together with masking tape. Did someone have it packed away, waiting for a special occasion ? Did she have to leave her home and go to live where staff served the meals? I hope she didn't save this silverware for a special occasion and instead used some ugly, practical tableware while waiting for the right time to pull out the good stuff.

I have a collection of mismatched silver from various thrift stores that I use every day. I like that it's not, as my Boston daughter would say, "all matchy-matchy." I also like that it came to me well used, so I'm not worried about being extra careful with it and certainly don't save it for special occasions. I do, and I know this is heresy, put it in the dishwasher. Even Annie's Organic Mac and Cheese becomes an elegant meal when served with old silverware. It reminds me of the Thoreau quote: "To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts".

Wow - this cleaned up well! A couple of rounds with silver polish and I now have forty-seven pieces of fantastic silver !! Knives don't seem to hold up as well as other pieces- maybe they get used as kitchen tools (who me, use a knife as a screwdriver?) or the maybe the blade portion is made of an alloy, but only 2 of the knives made the cut. The butter knives are in much better shape - maybe because they were only slicing through soft butter, once or twice a decade!


This spoon is a beauty - lots of fancy scroll work on both the handle and the bowl. Got my toes in the picture - Jenny Doh of Crescendoh often says that red is a powerful color and you should use it sparingly, so I can pretend I was adding in the splash of red for this photo.

To the previous owner of these carefully saved pieces, I'll love using them every day.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Weekend Images

Love these lacy clouds hanging low over the beach. After a week of weather more like Florida than New England, these clouds brought some wonderful rain. No need to water gardens today! I do feel sorry for people who plan a big beach weekend and then have it rain on their maybe once-a-year trip to the beach. One of the many benefits to living near the beach is that we can enjoy the beach in all kinds of weather.
I live in a beach town - not one of those upscale, gentrified beach towns (not that I have anything against them- most places benefit from a bit of buffing up!), but one that celebrates the inner whack-a-doodle. I found this fantastic fortune teller's panel truck in town today. I love the window boxes hanging precariously off the back "deck".

Check out the mermaid's body - pretty creative use of dinnerware! Now, this is a mixed-media project.
I stopped for some road-side gardening to collect my favorite flower - Queen Anne's Lace. It's at least as pretty as many cultivated flowers, with those big, white, flat flower heads, lacy foliage, and droopy buds. I'm going to get some seed next spring (yes, they sell it!) and plant it on our front slope. I hope it takes off like it does on every neglected scrap of ground near the roads.

Normal Title Italic

Follow Me on Pinterest

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
 
SITE DESIGN BY DESIGNER BLOGS