Fresh

So I have finally finished a second piece. I am liking it lot...but truth be told I still feel more attatched with the first work that I finished. I guess there is just something about putting that first big dose of creative energy into a project. It's an accumulation of all of the things that I have been stewing over and thinking about for months. I do however, appreciate the fact that this second project is a little less "full". It allows for the human eye to enjoy each section for what it is, as opposed the the first one, which has the viewer constantly searching for more. Well, as I continue on with my more conceptual, fiber art work I have been thinking a lot lately about my craft work. By craft, I mean work that has a specific function. For years it was jewelry (goodness how I miss those torches, flex shafts, saws, and hand-forging tools) but my lack of frequent access to a proper studio has left me with the welcomed challenge of opening myself up to other crafts. Lately, I have become very interested in paper craft (card-making, stationery, paper-making, etc.) I have decided that I want to learn letterpressing. I also want to learn silk-painting. I also want to learn linoleum block-printing. I want to learn pretty much any and every skill possible. I have been thinking a lot lately about how I "categorize" myself as a creative person. Am I an "artist"? Am I a "craftsperson"? Am I a "designer"? Can I be all of these things at once? And if not...then what separates these terms and the activity that each involves? Perhaps that question will go forever unanswered.

K.

Add 2 teaspoons of paint, and a pinch of crochet...

So, as you can probably tell, this is a peice called "Pocketful" that I posted a blog about a few weeks back. After taking some more time away from it, I decided that I wanted to make it more of a "mixed media" work, because of course I am always up for adding materials that will create even more texture and depth. I purchased some white and sienna acrylic paint, and slapped some of it around, here and there. I love the way that white paint is blank and essentially "colorless", but still has a slightly ethereal and romantic quality to it.

The addition of the crochet peice was very last minute, as I have been experimenting with creating these dangling, "melting" crocheted forms. I have been thinking a lot lately about different fabrics that I would like to work with, and I am leaning towards the idea of trying out some transparent silk-chiffon. I believe that the silky, sensual nature of the fabric will work nicely in contrast with opaque paints and darkly colored threads...not to mention the beautiful fraying that happens when the edge of silk fabric is left raw.

Maybe one day I will finally have another collection of work done. I still have yet to understand why it is that I feel the need to add more and more to one, single peice, yet find it incredibly difficult to move on to another work. Perhaps I just get too attatched, or maybe I am just indecisive. Hopefully by the time I post another blog, I will have something fresh for you.

Oh yeah...I took a workshop this summer.

After stepping out of the college bubble and into the real world, I have learned a few things, and one of the most important things that I have come to find out, is how critical it is for a person to try and take classes and learn new techniques whenever they have the time (or the funds). Although it is not a realistic idea to take long-term workshops if you must maintain a day job, or contribute a large sum of money, it is definitly a realistic goal to try and take as many one or two-day classes as you are able to. This past August (on my birthday actually) I treated myself to a several-hour long paper making class at the Banana Factory in Bethlehem, PA. The class was taught by a man named Richard Aldorasi, who runs the Philadelphia Handmade Paper Co. It was a great class where myself and about 4 other students were able to create many sheets of handmade paper, using materials such as cotton fiber, magazine pages, construction paper, and skeleton leaves, glitter, and copper shreds for decoration. For some time now, I have wanted to learn the craft of paper-making, and it was a great opportunity to be within that cozy, creative, studio atmosphere that I had taken for granted, and greatly miss.

*I would also like to thank those of you who are "following" my blog, it means a lot to me and I appreciate your support!*

Love that Crisp, Fall air.

So, I was surfing the Anthropologie website because they have amazing clothes and unfortunatly I can not buy any of them...but these are two lovely things (above) that I would splurge on if maybe, just maybe, I had a couple hundred dollars just laying around. A girl can dream....

So who else loves the Fall? I mean seriously, it is possibly the lovliest season in Nature. The leaves, the air, the scary movies, the cider and pies...oh October. Autumn just has such an "atmosphere" about it. Do you know what I mean? Speaking of October...what is everyone going to be for Halloween? Any unusual costume ideas? As of right now I have no set plans for the night, but if I do manage to get everything together, my costume is going to be fabulous.

One down...

So, over the past few weeks, I have been working on a peice of fiber art. This is meant to go on the wall, and it is the first time, in a long time, that I have created something that is not wearable. It is a feeling that is almost bittersweet. I guess in one sense,I feel that my work has had a tremendous sense of intimacy and a great precious quality, because of the fact that it can be worn on the body. When I finished my senior thesis last April, I felt like I was looking at a little, wearable family that I had stewed over and finally, created over a period of a school year.

As I have now come to the completion of a piece that is meant to be admired and touched, but not really worn, I can see that those same precious qualities still exist ,somewhere. I have also noticed that I seem to subconsciously lean towards a rather non-descript and almost unnatractive color-palette. For some reason, although I love color, I choose fabrics that are either flesh-toned or very muted and almost color-less. Why you ask...? I don't know. Perhaps I want the viewer to appreciate the forms that I make with the fabric, or maybe I am able to see that subtle beauty that comes from these ordinary fabrics, and the extraordinary possibilities that they have.

On to the work...I have made this wall-hanging, which I have named "Pocket-full". Some of the fabric had been soaked for about a week in a mixture of coffee and tea. I used this almost burlap-like fabric, as well as tan and dark purple colored thread. Hopefully, within the next couple of months I can continue to work from this idea and create several different peices which I would like to exhibit at some point.....

Let's try this again.

So, as some of you may know, I have tried the blog thing before, but, for whatever reason I was not able to commit to it enough and ended up putting it on hold. I am at a much more available and transitory state in my life right now, as I have finally finished up with college and have begun testing the murky depths of life in "the real world". I am working (and luckily enough...one of my jobs is directly art related) and when I am not on the clock, I am trying to gather my thoughts and create work that I hope to exhibit, and also creating stuff that I hope to sell. Once I have some things finished, I am hoping to begin an etsy page and get my wearable stuff out there to the public. I would like to keep this blog updated as often as I can, with photos, thoughts, and ideas. I believe that this is a great way for me to maintain connections with other artists and have a forum to express my ideas as they come to me. Thank you for reading, and please check back again soon!!

K.