Filed under: Fleeting thoughts..., painting, printmaking, Sewing | Tags: Cy Twombly, fabric, painting, pouch, sewing, watercolor
Yay! Spring is here! Get out the lightweight mittens! Get out the waterproof, yet non-bulky, knee-high boots! Get out the gauzy, cotton scarves!
Just kidding…
It’s in the mid 20’s and I’m bundled up like an Eskimo. Right now, I’m wearing a down coat in the house. My feet feel cold.
Beyond the perpetual climate woes in the Northeast (did I mention that Boston broke its snowfall record this year? Yay/Boo!), I sprained my knee recently, which is beyond annoying. I’m not a good patient, as I avoid seeing the doctor, do internet research, and hope for the best. I have a perfect excuse for laying on the couch all day eating bon-bons with my leg elevated, and yet that seems like a tedious way to spend the day. Instead, I hobble around trying to do stuff, wondering WHY my leg doesn’t feel any better. It’s kind of sad that I’m not even 50, and I’ve already started moaning about my aches and pains. Would you like to discuss the pros/cons between three different types of knee brace? No? Do you think that if I wore all three at once, it would heal faster?
In spite of my aching leg, I’ve managed to play around a bit with sewing, printmaking, and painting. I made a little pouch for my SIL:
It’s cute, right?
Here is one of the annoying things about photography that I struggle with…COLOR CORRECTION. Here is the same pouch in direct sunlight:
Looks pretty different, right? AAAARGH. I hate dealing with trying to reproduce accurate colors. It wouldn’t matter if I wasn’t listing things on Etsy. But because I am, I’m constantly struggling to get accurate color. It’s truly maddening. Well, it’s not as bad as cooking and grocery shopping, but a close second.
I took a 6 hr printmaking class on reduction printing. It was fun, even though I made some serious disaster prints. We just used those cheap styrofoam plates to print with. Here is a tutorial on this kind of printing. I was sort of content with this print:
You can do this kind of printing at home without a press, so give it a try! Do not accidentally lean your elbow on your styrofoam plate because you will:
a. get ink on your elbow
b. make an indentation in your plate which will affect your print.
Unless, of course, you’re into elbow prints. Who am I to judge?
I was also mucking around with watercolors too. In grad school, I took a VERY ANAL RETENTIVE watercolor course. We were doing Beaux Arts watercolors like this:
I know. WHY was I learning this in architecture school, as it’s soooo stodgy and traditional? I wanted to learn how to do this as it was an actual SKILL. Have I used that skill since then? No, but whatever. ANYWAY…I brought this up because this is my only experience with watercolor. Very rigid. So, this week, I started to just play with watercolors…generally making a mess.
I kind of liked doing these! Just blobs of color. Look at the cool effects you get with watercolor:
Neat, right?
I have basically spent the majority of my life trying to be precise and perfect in what I do (except for cooking and cleaning). Now, I’ve realized that this is total B.S., and it’s better to be messy. Notice that my fish print is completely anal retentive, YET AGAIN. Okay, so I fell of the wagon a bit. Clearly, I am still struggling to stop being that way, but I am working on it.
There is a reason that I love Cy Twombly’s work:
THE MAN
I love his work because it is SO free. That may not be the academic interpretation of what he does, but it’s mine. I love how visceral and messy his work is. LOVE IT. As a recovering perfectionist, I yearn for this…
Sigh! (Cy!)
Filed under: Fleeting thoughts..., Sewing | Tags: cards, fabric, parenting, play dates, scraps, snow, winter
I don’t know about you, but I’m trying to maintain sanity during this absurd winter.
That’s our walk to school. This image was taken several weeks ago. It’s worse now, but I have given up taking pictures. I need my arms now to keep balance when traversing the treacherous wasteland, formerly known as “the sidewalk.” What’s even more ridiculous, is that Boston hasn’t broken the record yet for snowfall. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? I don’t remember signing on for the Antarctic here…or was that in the fine print somewhere? Where’s my lawyer? Am I not entitled to a team of sled dogs by now?
This is a snow pile near our house. The town has started dumping snow in this lot at the nearby reservoir. Notice the house that is barely visible in the background. Yes, that mound of snow is probably 25′ tall. And yes, I am letting my child climb on it as I repeatedly yell, “BE CAREFUL!!!“. This is my way of trying to avoid being both a helicopter parent and a negligent moron. It turns out that I am both.
My son recently had a play date that, in typical fashion, spiraled into mayhem. The mayhem is my fault, which is also typical. Instead of refusing to allow my child and his friend to play with his chemistry set, I actually said “okay.” I tried, in vain, to contain the insanity:
This is my son and I admiring his handiwork. I managed to have the wherewithal to deny them more food coloring. Next time, I’m just going to let them watch TV.
I realize that I made a similar error in judgment a few weeks ago when I agreed to buy my son a “fossil excavation” kit. You may recall (if you have no life and have read this blog for way too long…) that in an earlier post I vowed NEVER to purchase one of these kits again. And yet, I somehow thought that this time it would be okay/less messy/better. Well…surprise! I was wrong…yet again:
Yes…this is our dining room table. Yes…there are chunks of rocky plaster being smashed on the table by my son with his hammer and chisel. Yet again, I vow NEVER to buy one of these things EVER EVER EVER AGAIN. I think that when my son develops severe asthma as a result of this “educational toy”, I am to blame. TV is starting to sound like a “no brainer” to me, both literally and figuratively.
So, I haven’t seen any art lately, as I would imagine that most museums and galleries have given up due to this ridiculous winter. I know that’s not true, but I also know that I do not have an AWD car, so I am not attempting to haul myself anywhere. In spite of my general malaise and apathy, I made some cards that I listed on Etsy:
They’re cute, right? I’ve sewn tiny scraps of fabric onto them. This is about all that I have the energy to do at the moment. When the snow melts, sometime in June, I may venture further afield and bring you back images of real art to look at. Until then, I’m just sewing tiny scraps of fabric onto cardboard. (small hands)
Filed under: textile forms | Tags: art, decordova, fabric, laura sapelly, sculpture, textile
Hello all! I’m just including some photos of my creations from my class, Textile Forms, at the Decordova. The teacher was Laura Sapelly. SUCH AN AMAZING CLASS! My classmates were an INCREDIBLE group of women…I hope that I can keep in touch with them somehow…they were all so inspiring.
I was the only one in the class that wasn’t an official “artist”. Everyone was so kind and supportive. SO different than architecture school…a place where they want to break you in, break you down, break your work. You can’t get too attached to your work in architecture school. Critics see no problem in scribbling on your drawings, ripping pieces off of models, and tearing your design to shreds, if they so desire. I kind of got used to that hyper-critical world. I found that in my first job, I sort of came on a bit too strong with my opinions. This is a result of being under attack for the past 7 years in school, and needing to constantly stand my ground. I know…it isn’t fair to compare architecture grad/undergrad to an art class. I’m sure that fine arts programs can be just as grueling. I just mean that it was SO wonderful to be in a supportive environment where experimentation was the goal…not perfection. It was amazing to just to let go and see where the material took me. No, I’m not necessarily thrilled with my work. However, I did learn a tremendous amount, just from the few classes that we had.
I’m kind of in recovery mode, from so many years as an architect. Every day was a battle of sorts…a struggle to make it all happen, make it all work, and make it all wonderful. I’m exhausted just thinking about it. Don’t get me wrong…I still love architecture. I just have to take a break from it for awhile…breathe a little…relax…make something messy and spontaneous…and try not to immediately criticize/hate everything that I do.
Hmmm…time for some tea and something sugary! I have such a sweet tooth…
slightly wonky 