Artists Statement Part 3

This is it. I am not going to look at it again for a few days. I tend to fiddle with something so long that I end up wrecking it. 

Re-Use, Re-New, Re-Purpose.

Love of textile art is part of my life. My type of meditation is to create something and that feeds the creative yearnings of my heart.

My artistic journey has travelled through many genres including art and bookmaking but always leads back to textiles. My favorite pieces are thoses that combine the impractical into something practical. My latest pieces combine new work with Ephemera I have rescued, creating tangible works of very personal art. Those transformations are equal parts joy and frustration.

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Artists Statement Part 2
Artists Statement Part 1

Artists Statement Part 2

The photo above has nothing to do with this post but I love this piece of work I did in 2010 so I thought I'd show you again.

I am still pondering and procrastinating over my artists statement. I did find these websites Artists Statement'  and Molly Gordon's advice which I am intending to peruse in greater detail. This is what I have so far - a big improvement on 'I like to make stuff and if I sell it Yay for me.'

Re-Use, Re-New, Re-Purpose.

A love of textile art has always been part of my life - To pass time, to feed the creative yearnings of my heart and as my own personal type of meditation.

That journey has travelled through many genres including art and book making. 

I love creating pieces that combine new work with rescued Ephemera.

That's better isn't it.

Crocheted Edges

 I am adding some ornametation to the felt jacket. I've crocheted a braid and added to one of the collars.




I've also blanket stitched along the other edge to add a crocheted edge. It was taking so long to try and just crochet it.




I am still working out what type of button to use.

Finishing touches?

In my search for the right way to finish my jacket I have been looking at some amazing Irish crochet. I know I have a couple of books on it somewhere in my messy library.
My favorite sites so far are
Outstanding Crochet

The Sheelin Irish Lace Museum

There's lots of Pininterest

and on the Antique Pattern Library Priscilla section.

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”