Wire Wrapping

I get lots of stones and shells, from various places. When my friends go on vacation I ask them to bring me back an interesting stone or sea shell (I don't need expensive souvenirs and I feel like I'm traveling vicariously). I didn't want to just keep them in a bowl - some of them are very pretty. So, I learned how to do wire wrapping. Now I can wear them as jewelry or hang them on my rear view mirror (or any other place I want). They don't just sit in a bowl in my home.

It's fun. Each piece is different, each has it's own personality so no two are alike. It has been quite useful for making gifts for friends also. They usually enjoy something that is made by hand and has some thought behind it, not something that is plucked out of a dozen lookalikes on a shelf in a store.

Ginger

"We're all a little mad here"

                                     - Lewis Carroll

Bowl of Rocks, a Fork and a Bracelet

I haven't got a clue. Choose your own metaphor. This idea came to me while I was driving home tonight so I thought I'd see what it looked like.

Will They Ever Learn?

A shooting took place in Arizona last Sunday. Some people lost their lives and the ones who remain will be forever changed.


I thought I had a lot to say about it, but what DO you say about something like that? I honor the ones who sacrificed themselves to save those they care about. I feel sorrow for the lives lost and irreparably damaged. I'm disgusted by all the talking heads (on both sides) who are finger pointing and rushing around trying to ban things. We already have plenty of "gun control" laws - it hasn't stopped the killing. And banning "hate speech" - are you kidding? Let 'em talk - at least that way we know who and where the crazy, hateful people are!

As far as the shooter goes, he should just be put in a cell somewhere and forgotten - completely. But, unfortunately his name will go down in history books somewhere along with all the other crazies who shoot public people.

It seems to me that more and more the solution to problems kids have is to remove/banish the problem - suspend the bully, segregate boys and girls so there's no harassment, ban unacceptable words or speech. Maybe we should start teaching kids at an early age how to deal with "crap" (stress, anger, bullying, depression, isolation, etc.) in more acceptable ways rather than bottling it up or acting out. Teach them effective coping skills to deal with the crap in life instead of trying to shield them from it. Maybe that would go further toward reducing both hate speech and shootings like this.

(and yes, I did shoot that photo)

A Dragon is Born

I believe in dragons (and fairies, elves, hobbits, magic swords and all kinds of other things).
I believe there is magic in the things I create - that I don't actually create them, I just help them into being (or being visible in this world). Or it's the process of creation that is the magic.

When I was working in my ceramics class my mind would go somewhere else for 3 hours and my hands would make these things and when I finished my mind would come back and I would look at them and think "wow, I did this???" and the voice in my head would smile and say "yes, I did this"!!!

Over the years I have learned how to do many things - sewing and knitting (mom taught me that when I was a kid- thanks mom), crochet, painting, wood carving, lampworking (some people call it glass blowing, but that's a misnomer), stained glass work, furniture refinishing, paper making, ceramics, polymer clay "stuff", photography, pine needle basket weaving, wheat weaving and probably a whole list of other things I've forgotten I once learned how to do.

I'm curious about how things are made and so like to learn for myself. I would much prefer making a cup or teapot to buying one; making a piece of furniture; making jewelry - well, you get the idea. Making something is to KNOW something about it, to bring it into being, not just buying something that a machine made. It has a history, a spirit, a belonging.

Some of what I make isn't very good, and that's OK because sometimes it's the learning of the thing, not the finished product that is important. But some of them, a special few, are quite spectacular and I look at them and think "I did that?" Artists rarely think that their own work is good enough. I give a lot of it away. I hope that the people to whom I give them like hand made things (some people don't and that's OK) but I think most of them do. I can usually tell who understands that hand made things are "more than" and who would prefer something new and shiny and store bought.

I'm happiest when I'm making something - baking, sewing, making "stuff". I learned a long time ago to let the thing be what it wants to be rather than what I want it to be. Take that dragon, for instance. What ended up being the egg started out being the neck of a dragon. That's all there was going to be was a neck and a head. Obviously IT had other ideas. But I'm just as happy with how it finished up.

Now, if I could just be that accepting of other aspects of my life I would be SO much happier.

Cool Photo

First, let me say that this is not my photo. I happened across this photo on Google Images while I was looking for something at work for an ad the other day (I can't remember what I was looking for now). This is a wonderful photo taken by Michele Clement according to this website  http://www.coolpicturegallery.net/2008/12/most-beautiful-black-and-white.ht= (hope the link works).


I wish I had a home studio or a place where I can set up shots like this (I have a really small, crowded apartment). Michele Clement has a great eye! This is very inspiring.

What I Learned From Clay

This was my final piece in my ceramics class this past semester (just checked my grades tonight, I got an A in the class - woo hoooo!). I think it turned out pretty good. I had some trouble with it - It was supposed to be 6 sided and ended up 5 sided, the base cracked off in the kiln but it was an afterthought in the design anyway so the piece is fine without it. I didn't have the time I wanted in finishing it, but I some of that was a good thing because if I had done what I had originally planned to do with this it wouldn't have the rustic, used, old look that it finished up with.

The cups on the other hand...

 

Were most definitely not my best work. I had to rush to get these done. That was pretty much all my fault. I had to skip class one night to renew my CPR certificate (which I don't regret at all) and I missed another class because I simply forgot I was supposed to go to school on a Saturday. Hand building cups was more difficult than the other things I made. But, as with anything else I'm sure it will get better with practice. The first cup I made (first two pictures in the 2nd row) I thought was too thin and so I abandoned it - I didn't finish it off with a handle. It turned out to be one of the better ones and not too thin at all. The "attitude" cup (1st two pictures on top row) got that way because of the texture I put on the cup and the shape of it. It looked like overalls to me so I thought the handles would be little arms with the "hands on hip" stance. It turned out cute.

Along with the ceramics class this past semester I took the last of my Illustration classes. I really struggled in that class, whereas in the ceramics class the time just flew by and I came out with some really great work. I think I've always know this about myself but doing the two classes at the same time and having such different amounts of success just reinforced the fact that I work much better in 3 dimensions than in 2 and I work better making things with my hands than I do trying to draw things. I know I learn how to do something my faster, easier and with better retention when someone shows me than I do reading instructions from a book.

Another lesson I learned this semester was why I was having such a difficult time with my classes. I started going back to school (at night) about 2 years ago to get an AA in Graphic Design. I already have a BA in Art but thought maybe I should have a piece of paper saying I'm a Graphic Designer too, even though I've been working as a Graphic Designer for 8 years now.

So going through these Illustration and Design classes have been a big struggle for me 1) because I wasn't learning the things I need to learn (technical things like package layout, color separations, adding specs to artwork for the printer, etc.) and 2) I realized I was doing it just to get the paper at the end of it all. The ceramics class I took was something I wanted to take because I like doing ceramics, although I've only worked on the wheel before and haven't done hand building so this was something new. 

This coming semester I'm taking a web class because I need to brush up on my web skills. Most companies these days want designers who can do it all - print, web and mobile devices. And I'm going to continue with the ceramics class.

So, what I learned so far is that I have a difficult time drawing stuff and that I'm much better at making stuff. I also learned that going through the classes and turning in the assignments just to get through the semester isn't very satisfying, nor does it bring me much useful knowledge.

If I had known all this stuff about how I learn and how I'm motivated in Jr. High and High School, things would have been SO different! Hopefully I can use this new found (or rediscovered) information to make my remaining time at school more productive and more satisfying.

Bubbles

I love taking photos of bubbles. If you look at them you can see colors sliding and swirling on the surface. They are so fragile and short lived - much like a rainbow. I think for most people bubbles are very happy, uplifting things. If you check out my very first blog entry on July 8, 2009 you can see the very first photo I took with a 35mm (film) camera (back in the mid 80s, I think). It was a soap bubble too - a very big one and one of the best photos I've ever taken.

Spiral Stairway

This is a spiral stairway inside the Hollywood Tower of Terror at California Adventure. We had some time to kill while waiting to get on the ride so I took a few photos.