Artist's Statement

I have been giving some thought to my own artist’s statement. Is it a form of self-advertisement? Is it a description of my own artistic journey? Is it a way of filling the back of a swing tag? 

Perhaps it is something I write and then print out and put on my studio wall to keep me focussed and inspired when I just want to re-read a novel for the tenth time instead of getting on with a piece of work.

Artist Rebekah Joy Platt description of herself is “I float happily about with my fingers in the water. I draw all day and write all night”. Rebekah is the author of the wonderful “Invest in Artists” print that is available from her website. For the full quote you need to go here but I’ve pulled out a few lines for you.

“When you buy from an independent artist you are buying more than just a painting or a novel or a song…….. You aren’t just buying a thing, you are buying a piece of heart, part of a soul, a private moment in someone’s life…… something that put’s the life in living”.

Darn, I wish I’d written that.

I’ve been working on improving my own writing. I read a lot. I completed a professional writing course that left me depressed and wondering if I have any talent for writing at  all. I am filled with self doubt and nothing kills off creativity like a bad case of self doubt.

Vincent Van Gogh said "If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."  

That, of course, applies to anything but sometimes that voice is really loud. 

So I shall write my artist’s statement. 

Something a bit more than “I like to make stuff and if I sell it, Yay for me!”

Actually that does sum up my creative journey. I just need to make it a bit more highbrow, then again maybe not.

It is a good starting point isn’t it.

Felt and silk jacket Buttons

Buttons make or break a project. I need some sort of closure on the jacket. Previously I had big handcrafted wooden ones on it. I took those off some time ago and put them somewhere safe. Needless to say now that I need to see if I will use just one I can't find them. Plus I think it needs a bit more ornamentation. I am considering adding some crochet on a couple of edges, a few smaller bits of crochet and a crocheted button. So off to the net I went.

I love these vintage crocheted buttons

by Nancy Nehring and couldn't resist buying her book on my kindle

http://www.freepatterns.com/detail.html?code=FC00638&cat_id=333 


and these  from Mademoiselle Chaos.

Then there are these really easy ones from Craft Stylish

Or I could make some Dorset buttons  or some like these  from Burda Style 

 and there is a brief history of them on P8 Buttons and Fabrics  Craftstylish has a dorset button tutorial
For the crocheted ornamentation I thought of doing some crocheted ric-rac like this from Foxs Lane

I've just spent an hour shuffling round the net so I should go and do some of this. I'll show you tomorrow what I've done.

"Do or do not -There is no try"

It was with some trepidation that, today, I finally cut into my felted jacket. 

 

I have lost a lot of weight since I made it 4 years ago and it didn’t sit right on me anymore. I love the colours of the felt so I didn’t want to ruin it. As a result I have spent some months looking at it and thinking about what I could try to do with it.

I need a major piece for an exhibition in October and I've already promised to do something with this jacket so it had to be done. 

The new pattern was drawn on interfacing, fiddled with and pinned together to make sure it fit. Next step, feeling slightly nauseous, was to cut into over 30 hours of felting meters of silk and wool together.

The result is good.

I took off the white silk ribbon embellishments. Adjusted the neck and armholes and cut quite a bit off the hem and sides. I may play with those off cuts and make a matching bag so as not to waste them. The seams have been tacked together and I will machine over those tomorrow. Then decide on a fastening for the front. There is still quite a bit of the skein of silk ribbon left so I may or may not include some of that. At least I have made a start and I am fighting my way out of the funk I have been in. 

The starting instead of looking at it and thinking of what I could try has been inspirational and I am fairly sure of what I am going to do.

As Yoda would say “Do or do not – there is no try”

Bits and Pieces

Bits and pieces to use in my art are found every where. My wonderful friend Emanda brings me treasures from her Antique shop. These are from a dead cuckoo clock. I am not sure what I'll include these in but they'll go into something. Any suggestions?

Sari Silk stuff

More on the sari silk - I am still using the first of 6 hanks of sari silk ribbon I bought from the Thread Studio.
My goal is to see how many items I can make from one hank.
I am now making book covers from it. Here are 3 that are still Works in progress.

This is a section of the first piece (I need a better scanner).

For this one the ribbon was ironed flat then woven on my ironing board. Next a piece of vliesofix was ironed on. That's as far as this I have gone on this one.

This is a smaller piece - I wove the ironed ribbon, vliesofixed a piece of thin cotton onto the back and then went crazy with my flower stitcher (from The Thread Studio). I hand embroidered the section on the right with button hole circles, cast on roses, fly stitch leaves, french knots and stem stitch

 

This piece has the woven ironed ribbon. I backed it with aquabond and then tacked a piece of solvy on  top with the pattern for the paisley drawn on top. I then freehand machine embroidered on to it with a variegated purple thread. 

I didn't need to use the aquabond I should have just attached a piece of thin cotton with vliesofix. As I couldn't see what was happening between the layer of solvy and aquabond I ende up with some holes I now need to cover and I have to attach something onto the back to stabilise it. I am going to add some more embellishment to this before it is made into a book.

More to come and there is still quite a lot of the hank left.

Sari Silk and Alpaca

I am inspired by my decision to see how far a skein of sari silk ribbon will go. I have finished the beret and scarf that I started a few months ago.
I bought the alpaca in Victoria when we were there last year. It is from a black alpaca and was already spun when I got it. I crocheted the beret and scarf without a pattern so I can't share those. Ravelry has a lot of patterns both free and available to purchase.
For the beret I crocheted a circle starting with a ring and working out in double crochet and then 5 rows of treble chain mesh. When it looked big enough I reduced down to a hole that fit easily over my head then without reducing crocheted a band. Next I threaded the sari silk through the mesh. For the scarf I crocheted a chain about 1 meter long. Then some rows of double crochet. Then the 1 treble 1 chain mesh for 5 rows, repeated some more rows of double crochet reducing over the length then some more rows of double crochet until the yarn ran out. More sari silk ribbon threaded through.
This is in no way meant to be a pattern.

A Sari Silk Challenge

Firstly apologies for my lengthy absence. Work, study – I have been doing a professional writing course on line, my daughter’s wedding and a variety of other stuff have been in my way, including my own mood swings.

On to important things. Back in April I promised a draw for these. 

Gina and Jules if you send me your addresses I shall mail them to you. I will be handing one to Bronwyn (She is my daughter and lives up the street from me). They are scarf clips and I suppose you could use them in your hair too.

I am involved in an exhibition at T’Arts in October. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it T’Arts is a gallery in Adelaide that specialises in handcrafted art. Originally textile art but it has now diverged into other beautiful OOAK works.

For the pieces I am displaying, which will all be for sale, I am keen to use what I already have. To that end I am diving into the stash. Practically nothing will be overlooked. I make no promises as to what else I will buy but I’ll try to be strong. 

Here is my challenge to myself.

What and how much can you do with 1 skein of sari silk ribbon and stuff I already have. OK mostly stuff I already have.
This skein came from The Thread Studio, to be truthful I bought 6.

Stay tuned for what I make with this first skein.

If you'd like to join me in this challenge please do so. There shall be no prizes given but there will be a great sense of acheivement in actually using stuff from our stashes. Leave me a comment and we will take it from there.