what do you do?

(note: I stated writing this after one beer. It's hard to develop a cohesive thought sometimes. Writing is hard when I'm all confussed.)

As I sit and contemplate what I saw at the American Craft Council Show in Baltimore, I'm reminded of the ongoing projects I have in my studio at home: Ties and fabrics here, stained glass over there, a quilt hanging on the drawing table, and paintings sitting quietly in the corner, begging for another layer of paint. There are so many things that I love to do and so many mediums that I love to work with. That's why I always find it so hard to answer the question that is inevitably asked: What do you do? (add on one glass of wine)

That one little loaded question usually means that I end up explaining myself for the next five-to-ten minutes about how I love to dabble in a bittadiss and a bittadatt and how I do accounting work, but I'm not an accountant. Truth is, I try to do everything that I'm physically able to. Being "multi-unfocused-and-equally-curious" is wonderful when it comes to art. However, I might be running into a little bit of a bit of a problem. Bizznaz-wise, that is. To develop my crafts into a business, like the many hundreds I saw this weekend in Baltimore, I'll have to focus more on a unifying idea. I don't know what that idea is yet, but my guess is that it might have something to do with ties.  It'll have to tie it all together. HA...HA... hmmmm... sorry for the joke. I tried, it was the best I could do... it was lame at best. (another glass and half of wine) Which means that ties, fabric, stained glass, painting and quilting might not mesh all together like I want it to, unless I start pushing some boundaries and exploring new tactile ground. That last sentence took me awhile to write and sounded PRETTY PROFESSIONAL (another half glass...)

In the end, I think I'll have to focus a lot on this question. What do I want to do?  My first answer has always been to make others happy. But to make me happy, I'll have to find a way to create everything that I'd like to, regardless if it's sell-able or not. It's hard to find a picture to go along with my words, so I'll insert this one. This is how I feel when I think of art being my life. And for now, that makes me happy.

addicted to the sew.

As I sat down last night at my crafting table after my gym excursion and subsequent long shower, I began to think about the scrap fabric I had hidden in a shoe box in my closet. I literally have hundreds of six inch strips left over from my string quilt-top, and it seemed like such a shame to keep them cooped up in there. I pulled the box out, selected some random strips and began playing with different combinations, colors and patterns.

I don't know how it happened, or if I was even conscious while doing it... but one thing led to another, and I made four new wine bags. I just started sewing one little scrap to another little scrap, and before you know it, WHAM! I'm hot-gluing tiny ties onto the fronts of four new bags. I adore the way they turned out. It took me almost four hours to make them, which is about the time it takes me to make ten bags out of one solid piece of fabric. But the results speak for themselves: It looks like wine bags on LSD. Or the work of a crazy woman obsessed with her sewing machine. 

I think I may have a sewing problem. The first step to acceptance is admitting you have a problem, right?

abcdef fail.

ring-a-ding, ya crazy broad!

(attempt 1) Let me be Frank.
Yeowzaaas! One misplaced capital F and this ol' blogsville's in the bag, baby!

(attempt 2) Let me be frank: I had an amazingly productive weekend. But I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that my current art projects were not organized, finished or as they should be. This became apparent when I went over Lauren's house to craft and drink wine... you know, whichever comes first. I brought along a small acrylic painting, similar to my Time to Eat? painting/collage. The canvas was covered in dried paint, but I wanted to collage some letters on it. Through my wine induced, SVU haze, I decided on the alphabet. It sounded like a great idea, until I tried to find all the letters to the alphabet. Sounds easy, but when all you have is Martha Stewart and Glamour, it becomes increasingly difficult to find a font that's not MARTHA STEWART or GLAMOUR. I made it to the letter F, then gave up. Here's what I ended up with.

I kind of love it. It reminds me of all the times when I try really hard, then realize that it's just not worth it. Hell, I look at it and it makes me laugh. Art is so much fun! It's nice to remember that it doesn't have to be so serious all the time.

YES!!!

I listed my purses on Etsy this morning!  I had the drafts all ready to go for weeks, but finally finally finished taking pictures yesterday.  Check out some of the details!  For more pictures and the complete listing, check out my Etsy site!!! 

glasstacular!

Recently, a dear friend of mine asked me this: Would I be interested in making a stained glass window as a present for her sister's wedding? I promptly answered no. HAH! Fooled you. Of course I said yes, could you ever believe I turned that down? Silly goose.

My first task was to take measurements. There are four windows in their main living area, which let in a beautiful amount of light to the open space. After talking with the two nearly-weds, it was decided that two hanging panels would be created for the inner-most windows. I settled on the measurement of 11x20 per panel, and will eventually create a 1-1/2" frame, making the total dimension 14x23.

 When designing something that is obviously not for yourself, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. Firstly, like I already stated, you are not designing it for yourself: Your likes and dislikes may come into play and influence the final piece, but it should not dictate the design. It was really important for me to ask them what they would like... and of course what they would not like. You don't want to spend all your time and effort making a giant peacock out of glass and find out that they hate birds. Then your friend who asked you to do this is no longer your friend because you asked her to pay for the failure peacock glass and she said no. And the couple is obligated to hang the glass, which eventually causes them to fight to the point where they divorce.  The glass gets sold at an auction for $5.00, and you're living in van down by the river, warning others about peacocks and glass. FAILURE. After conferring with them, they did both point out something I found interesting: The painting hanging across the room that the both admired: It was a copy of Gustav Klimt's The Kiss. They also mentioned that besides neutral colors, they both liked pops of color, like blue and red.  It's an awesome coincidence that both colors appear in the painting, and I drew further ideas from that as well.

My next task was to design the actual window itself. Well... windows, since there are two panels. I decided to study the painting, just concentrating on the lines and shapes.  I came up with a geometric, mirror-image non-representational design that I hope they'll really like.  I will try to morphs the design a little along the way while I'm working on it. I'd like to see some more lines and circles appear so the two panels look slightly different.  (I'd share the design, but I want it to be a surprise!)

I also made a test selection of Spectrum glass colors for the panels, all inspired by The Kiss. Tomorrow I'll be prepared for my shopping adventure, since I'll be driving to Warner Stained Glass up in Allentown, PA to pick out the colors.  If you haven't been there, it's quite a sight to see, and they have a remarkably HUGE selection.  Here's to new projects, and I'll keep you updated along the journey!

make it look sorta professional, or something

The one thing that I've never really mastered is woodwork. As careful as I always am with measurements, I seem to lack a certain-something when it comes to finessing angles together into something that doesn't look like a woodworking acid trip.

That's where I enlist the boyfriend to help me. I needed to make a frame for the Time to Eat? painting I completed last weekend. The painting itself wouldn't hang over the phone jack, so I needed to make a frame that would give it extra length and depth. Since Lou has scrap wood, a better eye, and a compound miter saw, he was the natural choice to ask for help. He was willing and able, which made my pleas for help less pathetic.

We found a really old piece of wood, full of character, that was just big enough to cut four equal pieces to make up the frame. A couple 45 degree angles, wood glue and a band clamp set up the frame, and the piece was complete! Since the phone jack is finally covered, I don't have to constantly remind myself about how I can't use my phone purse.

be mine?

The one thing I do not like to do is to buy store-bought greeting cards. That sounds repetitive... buy store-bought? You know what I mean. Moving along!

Valentine's Day isn't a holiday that I readily celebrate. It seems awkwardly awkward to dedicate one day out of the year where you NEED to go above and beyond, and spend your hard-earned money on things that the television says your significant would LOVELOVELOVE.  I'd rather celebrate my love everyday. Well, everyday that he's nice to me, and/or makes me French toast. Are you reading this Lou?  FRENCH TOAST. I KNOW YOU ARE READING THIS. PS, HAPPY VALENTINES DAY. ... can I have some French Toast?

But alas, the holiday and my inability to successfully pick out a card from aisle 5 in CVS gives me a great excuse to craft a card for my Valentine. I made this one out of card stock, a color sampler that I saved from the Home Depot, and letters I cut out from a magazine. If you're going to make a card for your Valentine today (or for a birthday, wedding, Bar or Bat Mitzvah!) don't forget to personalize it! 

Nothing says I LOVE YOU like creepliy cut out letters from a magazine.

sew all.

On Saturday morning, I made a list of things I had hoped to accomplish over the weekend. As you can see, I crossed off only one item from the list. I didn't just sew more, though.

I SEWED ALL.

After a marathon sewing session, the entire quilt top is now sewed, pressed and complete! All 224 squares of glory. All 70"x80" of fabricky goodness.  Well over 50 hours of work went into just making this section of the quilt: Cleaning the fabric, pressing it, cutting it, arranging the strips on the muslin, sewing the squares, pressing them, cutting them to size, then sewing them into columns, and finally into a quilt. 

it's really hard to get a picture of how big it actually is!

It's not perfect. In fact, as quilt making goes, it is indeed far from perfect. My columns are straight, but the rows zigzag a little. Or, a lot. But it's mine, and I made it. I'm really proud of that! My next step is to choose a backing/binding fabric, which I will need 6 yards of.  I better be on the lookout for JoAnn Fabric coupons!

Zoe Strauss: Ten Years

Yesterday I was lucky enough to accompany my two great friends (who you may remember from earlier blog adventures ) to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to view "Zoe Strauss: Ten Years". After circling the museum for what seemed like forever trying to find a parking spot through the waves of visitors (good for the museum but unfortunate for my road rage) I finally headed in, skipping the admissions line because they were nice enough to grab a ticket for me. It was an amazing show, but left me feeling utterly… I dunno… uncomfortable.

New York Times reporter Karen Rosenberg shared her thoughts on exhibition: But where the article shines in its description of Strauss' past I-95 exhibitions and her ability to capture the essence and grittiness of the moment, it fails to convey the feeling that one gets viewing her photographs within the confines of the museum. Rosenberg notes that: "This [exhibition] feels a bit overloaded, if deliberately so, with 170 prints and 3 slide shows arrayed in a space much smaller than the football-field-size site under the highway." I do in fact believe that large number of prints was a deliberate move, forcing the viewer to acknowledge the daily blight that surrounds our so-called "comfort zones".

But what makes the room feel overcrowded is not the work itself, but the massive amounts of viewers that have paid admission to view these scenes of life captured in neighborhoods that lie far from the PMA. You wouldn’t be able to pay these people to take a tour of Camden, Biloxi, or Hunting Park, let alone meet the people that are the subjects of the photographs. Strauss has raised my consciousness through this juxtaposition, making the safe world of the PMA feel utterly uncomfortable, and making me yearn to view the photographs under I-95. I haven’t felt that moved by an exhibition in years, and for that she deserves a whole-hearted WELL DONE. 

Clearly, I need to plan an outing to view her Billboard Project around the city. I think seeing the photographs, larger than life in Philadelphia's neighborhoods, will have me appreciating her work more than I do now.

package details.

I was so excited yesterday! You probably already saw that I had my first sale over at Etsy. HOLLA! After my euphoria settled into amazement, and the amazement settled into wonder, I began to think: How should I package my item?  It's not everyday that I send someone a package in the mail, and I don't want to just throw the bag in another bag, slap a stamp on it and ship it off. I want my recipient to feel like they're opening up a gift! I want them to feel special! So what to do?

Unfortunately, there's not much I can do with the flat rate box, but once she opens up the box she'll be greeted with this:

A colorful printed envelope, a thank you note, a receipt, a business card and colorful tissue paper round out the package. If I'm going to be serious about selling my crafts online, then I need to let the purchaser know how much I care, and how I truly appreciate their purchase. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be doing this.

celebration!

My lovely friend Kara just became my first customer on Etsy!  I'm bursting at the seams with love. She purchased one of my favorite wine bags, and I'm so glad that I can send it to her, all the way over in Germany!

bag #1 out of 10... SOLD!!

time to eat, larry?

This past weekend, I finally finally FINALLY finished painting our kitchen. A small feat for some, but it took me awhile. 3 days to be exact. OK, not an entire three days. Just Friday night, plus Saturday and Sunday from about 10am-3pm. Alright. I watched a couple episodes of House Hunters on HGTV while I was painting. And Chopped. Busted. Now, everything is painted the same color! Even the phone jack. We don't have a land line, so this jack has been completely useless to us thus far. I can't hang my Droid up on it, as you see here. And we don't have an actual phone number, so even if I plug in my phone purse, I can't dial anyone to tell them I'm talking to them over a purse. Why else would I have a phone purse? Sheesh.
 Dilemma, dilemma, what to do. Finally, I thought of a solution. Cover it with a painting! But, I didn't have a painting. So, I made one! I had a tiny little canvas leftover from a project that never was, along with the brilliant idea to use some of my cheap-o acrylic paints. Squeeze, squeeze goes the paint, and voila! Instant phone jack hider-overer cover thing. After the globs of paint dried, I decided to give it a coat of  Mod Podge to seal it all up. I ran into a slight problem though. I was hungry. And my glob painting turned into this <--

It's all good though.  As soon as I make a frame for the hungry painting, it'll go right up on the wall over the phone jack.  I still wish I could call people from the phone purse, though. Our opossum Larry would be proud. He's always hungry, seeing as that he lives in our trashcan. Larry and I have a lot in common. I like to curl up in that position, too. Just not on rancid chicken bones. That's where we differ. 

UPDATE: Larry was set free this past Tuesday! After carefully dumping him pouring him from the trashcan into a have-a-heart trap, we loaded him up into Lou's truck bed for his little journey.  I tried giving him a carrot, but he was angry and peed all over the place.