Everyday Art Practice

 Hello there!

As usual, the months have started to zoom by, and here we are in April. Daylight Savings ended last weekend, which signals cooler evenings, earlier dinners and more time for creative pursuits, since I'm not outside until all hours, pottering in the garden.

January/February passed by in a blur.

The youngest child turned 21 at the end of January, so now I feel old. Both of my babies are officially adults now.😭 We had a lovely, low key barbeque lunch with close friends and family.

I managed a trip up to Tolmie mid-February. My remaining pine trees needed to be planted as we had a run of hot weather that really dried out the pots. Unbeknownst to me, some of the pots had blown over in a storm and were laying on their sides, not getting any rain. I got most of them in the ground and fenced them off using mesh panels that we had acquired at an auction. It was a very labour intensive 4 days, but I'm so pleased that I got them in the ground. I haven't had a chance to check on them since, but hope to get up there over the Easter break.

In my previous post, I mentioned that I was revisiting an embroidered panel that I had started quite a few years ago.  Unfortunately, I lost interest in that when I had an idea to add some black lace details to it, but couldn't find the materials to continue. I did buy a black lace dress at the Op-Shop and began to pull it apart, but the desire to continue had already left me. It's back on the WIP board until I get the urge to pick it up again. I played around with a few beaded pieces that I'd started, but nothing was holding my interest for very long. It may have been a combination of warm weather and an arm injury that was holding me back.

I'd often thought about buying one of those books that gives you an idea to create every day, such as this book by Lorna Scobie. I held off buying it whenever I saw it in the bookshop, because I knew my past record with finishing projects wasn't great and figured I'd do one or two pages then add it to the pile of neglected creative projects. Then one day, whilst mindlessly scrolling on Twitter or Facebook, I saw that someone had bought a Day to a Page diary and was drawing in it everyday. I decided that this was something that I could definitely handle.  When I was next at the shops, I purchased an A5 spiral bound diary with as little text on the pages as possible. I started on January 27th. I originally had the intention of going back and completing the January days that I had missed, but realised later on that this was probably not going to happen.

The goal was not to overthink things, but to just get something onto the page, using the tools and materials I have around me. (As an art supply addict, I have quite a few different mediums to choose from.) I would use images from books and magazines, online inspiration and my own photographs as a jumping off point. Quite often I would see a painting that I loved, or a great print on some fabric and think to myself, "I need to create something in that colour scheme or with that modern feel." Now was my chance to give it a go.

I discovered artists such as Sarah Schroeder , Julie Hamilton, Rachel Urquahart & Alisa Burke, and wanted to capture the loose, colourful style like theirs. I'd played around with collage here and there and really enjoyed it. It is a medium best suited to a large workspace where you can spread out all of the little bits and pieces of paper so that you can see the possibilities of the shapes and colours. My desk isn't that big and it's currently sharing space with beading supplies, books and various pens, glues and scissors. I have a drawer under my desk stuffed to the brim with scrapbook paper, old album covers, paper bags and various bits of wrapping paper. Collage is the perfect way to get ideas down fast, and it has become my go to when I've left my art practice until late in the day.

Some materials are not great on the thin paper that the diary pages are made from. Connector marker pens (left over from when my kids were at school) seep through the paper.

I had to create a cut out on the back of this page in order to cover up the colour seepage.

I bought some new Crayola markers and although I don't have a large colour selection to choose from, they work much better on this paper. They don't blend well and can have a tendency to look a bit messy, but I'm trying to lean into that.

My favourite medium would have to be paint sticks. Originally made for children, these non-toxic, waterbased sticks are like soft, fat crayons that glide on smoothly and can be blended like paint. I have a set of Little Brian and Boyle Chubbies. They're not suitable for fine, detailed colouring, but great for slapping down colour and then adding detail with pens and markers.

The only downside to these are the fact that they are a plastic barrel like a glue stick, so once the stick of paint is used, the barrel will end up in landfill (I can't see a recycling symbol anywhere.) It would be great if the barrels were either made from recycled plastic content, were recyclable or refillable, or the barrel was made of cardboard. It would also be great if you could buy the tubes individually, as there will definitely be colours that run out quicker than the others.

I'm learning so much about my own creative process. I've always liked drawing and sketching to get ideas down, but I've never been able to sit for hours and work on a realistic drawing. I can do an abstract that's full of lots of different textures and patterns, but they always look very 2 dimensional.

I just can't seem to draw what's in my head or what's right in front of me. It's like the hand-eye-brain signal gets crossed along the way. Or I start to draw and then a different style of drawing pops in to my head and I change my idea half way through. Here are some examples of drawing from my mind or using props. You can see how badly they turned out.

I want to practice doing more 3 dimensional drawing as well as learning about perspective, shading etc.

I found a cool picture of a a sculpture on Pinterest (sculpted by Paulie van der Heijden, I believe) and decided to have a go at drawing it. I was quite pleased with the results. I'd also like to draw something similar but instead of copying an object that has been created, try to draw something that I'd like to create myself.

I find that if I use a picture as a jumping off point, it's a great way of learning new techniques. When I saw this vintage fabric print by John Piper,

I knew I wanted to find a way to create the dry brush stroke look, without using a brush. I ended up cutting up some cardboard, painting them and then printing onto the paper.

They will become great colour references later on when I want to make a textile piece and need a starting point. Even though a lot of my stitched and beaded pieces evolve quite organically, it's always good to have an idea to start with, as it makes choosing fabrics so much easier.

I'm hoping to see patterns and a style develop, but all I'm seeing so far is that I really like bright colours and that I'm hesitant to have overlapping or intersecting lines in my drawings, because I'm worried that I'll stuff it up and ruin the picture. I'm only 2 months in, so there is still many pages ahead of me that are open to experimentation.

Anyway, here's a few of my favourites so far.

If you want to follow my progress, you can check out my Instagram stories @joystuffmakes . They're in the highlights section under March art, April art etc.

Welcome to the New Year!

 We have just ticked over to a New Year.  2022 is done and dusted and 2023 has just begun. (Well, it's actually mid afternoon now, but you get what I mean.)

I get excited during the Christmas/New Year period as it's a time to relax from the stresses of work and focus on what projects I'd like to tackle over the coming year.  As this time of year is usually hot and humid, it's a great time to sit inside with a fan running, doing some freehand stitching, or perusing books, websites and magazines and absorbing lots of creative inspiration.

This time last year, my focus was on jewellery making. I'd decided to tidy my workspace and sort the large quantity of beads and jewellery making supplies into a more organised system.

I sourced many images from my library of vintage textile books and started to form some ideas about the direction I wanted to take. I definitely wanted to combine embroidery and beading and use some of the many materials I had been acquiring over the years.

Ideas began to form. I wanted to try to have a better idea of how to make things with the materials that I already had on hand. Previously, I would get a vague idea of what I wanted to create, then become frustrated because I didn't have the right colour thread or the perfect bead. I had to focus on using what was on hand, not buying more.

I often think that I prefer the development and research stage more than the actual creating (which I have talked about previously). I can spend hours doing little scribbles on a page or flicking through books but more often than not, those ideas never become reality. I used to be annoyed at myself for this, but now, I realise that it's just who I am and I'm okay with that.

Carrying on from the "I have more materials than I could possible use in one lifetime", I changed tack Mid-January and acquired a whole bunch of necklaces from the Op-Shop. Vinnies and Salvos knew that they could appeal to my magpie tendencies, by bagging up broken and unloved old jewellery and selling it as a bulk lot.  I LOVE sorting through bags of broken and tangled beads! I think it goes back to when Mum would get boxes of old stuff from Uncle Frank (see previous post for more on him.)

I set myself a challenge to find an ugly old necklace and turn it into something completely different. It wasn't fully planned out- I just grabbed different bits of fabric and thread and started from there.

What was supposed to be a quick little project, ended up taking me about 5 months. I'd work on it for a bit, get frustrated at myself or the lack of findings and other components available in Australia and it would sit on my work table, taking up space.  I did make a few beading boards and that was helpful to be able to pick up the whole project and shift it out of the way. 

In June, I declared that the piece was finished and after photographing it on the mannequin, it now hangs in my hallway.  I'm not completely happy with the composition, but I'm pleased that I made it.

I have a recurring disc injury that made sitting at my desk quite painful, which explains the length of time it took to complete one thing. I'd get pins and needles in my arm if I sat for too long. I tried to complete some quick projects after that, but I could already see that my attention was shifting away from beads and back to textiles. I made few fun necklaces from old beads (some are for sale over at my website, if you're interested in purchasing.)

July saw me start on another piece using a dismantled necklace. I also started up a new sketchbook for jewellery making, to try to keep my ideas in one place. I needed to be better at recording techniques I wanted to try, as well as annotating my sketches with stitch and material ideas.

This piece, and the wall hanging behind it, both remain unfinished.

Another idea formed in August.  I discovered new materials that made working with beads so much easier, (I'm looking at you, bead backing and Fireline thread) and wished I had made this discovery so much earlier.  I had also recently acquired a lot of bugle beads in various colours (thankyou Op-Shop gods) and was kind of obsessed with them. So I started making gem pendants.

These are also currently unfinished and have been pinned to my WIP board for when I feel the urge to pick them up again.

I moved onto another beaded pendant, this time using some crystal chips from an old necklace.

I had an idea to create something weathered and worn, like a brutalist copper wall plaque, with mushrooms and moss growing on it. 

I've finished the stitching, but can't decide on how to mount it, so it's sitting on a bead board waiting for inspiration.

The latter half of the year seemed to be all about recovering from various bouts of Covid-19, respiratory infections or muscle tears.  We had floods and unusual weather for many months, so when the sun was shining, I tried to get out into the garden to make the most of it, and to get the jungle of weeds under control. I did spend a lot of time procrastinating this year. I think when you're not feeling 100% well, you self-soothe with the things that are the least taxing. I've spent way too many hours browsing on Pinterest and Instagram, or reading interior design books.  I've tried to be constant with getting some ideas into my sketchbook and I like going back to it for inspiration.

When I turned 50 at the end of 2020, I realised that I'm not going to make money from being creative like I did in my 20's and 30's. I needed to stop trying to create the Next Big Thing and just enjoy the act of crafting. Since having that revelation, I've enjoyed the creative process much more and I'm enjoying learning new things at my own pace. I read many stories of people that have had full careers, before deciding to live a creative life and having all of this success, seemingly overnight from it. The reality says otherwise. Many stitchers that I've spoken to have all said that they do it for the sheer enjoyment, or for the community that they found. Unless you are relentless with self promotion (which is harder now thanks to the changes to Facebook & Instagram), or market your products via sites like Etsy (which I refuse to because of their stance on CSA materials being sold on the site) or physical markets, how do you get seen?  There are various awards and art prizes that I could try for but truth be known, I don't seek external praise like I used to. I think I've finally realised that the only person that I need to create for, is me.

So in 2023, I've decided to revisit (and hopefully complete) old projects.  I'll fill blank spaces on my wall. I'll make random accessories when the mood strikes. I'll start a project halfway through something else I'm working on and then put the in a box with all of the rest, whether finished or not. 

Here's a few things started back in 2017, 2019 and later. 

I've got the red and green floral piece on an embroidery frame as I write this, and hope for some more hot and humid days over this Summer break, so that I can work on it.

So fingers crossed for a year of good health, free time and untangled threads. 

xx Joy