Vacation Blogging

I thought that it would have been easier to create while I was away in LA but the weather was so beautiful that I just couldn't bear to waste the sunshine by being stuck indoors. This was my morning view when I did start off. I got three backgrounds one and will certainly finish the four remaining backgrounds before I return home.

I on't feel badly about not getting further especially since I  wanted a no stress type of vacation.

Art vs Craft

One of the concerns that I have struggled with is the concept of artist vs craftsman vs crafty. For me, an artist is someone who starts with nothing and creates something (as in the fine arts, sculpture, painting, etc). A craftsman/woman/person is someone who develops a single style of creating and perfects it (as in a woodworker, metalsmith, etc.). A crafty person is someone who delves in arts and crafts making something that isn't necessarily professional or meant for to be sold.

It seems to me that well meaning people will say--"Oh, you are so crafty." They mean it as a compliment but if you consider yourself an artist or craftsman then it isn't the compliment that it is meant to be. If seems that crafty people are considered hobbyists rather than professionals.

Because I work in paper, people tend to place me in the latter category. I smile and then inform them that I am a paper artist--I make things out of paper. For the longest time, I considered myself a craftsman working in paper. Once I started bookbinding and box making, I started calling myself a paper artist. When I was awarded my first solo show in Japan, I was still humbly calling myself a craftsman until a fellow paper artist told me that I was shortchanging myself by doing so. Her argument was that anyone can make things out of paper but what I was doing was creating art.

So now, I am on the quest to bridge the gap between being crafty and being an artist by taking every day crafting supplies and using them to make art. The example above is a page from a signature that I am binding into a book. The cutouts on the side of the page are made from a craft edge punch.

To get the cutouts to align, you must first trim the foredge of the signature, separate the signatures into leaves, then punch out the foredge. The leaves must then be reassembled in the order they were trimmed or the cutouts won't align.

Once the signatures are sewn, they will be bound in a traditional hard case. I have another punch that I am experimenting with which is a Celtic knot pattern. I will cover that case in Kelly Green leather.  The pages are 4" by 5.75".

Mets Opening Day

To celebrate my Egg-tastic week of decorating eggs, I have decided to take the day off from blogging and creating and to go to CitiField to watch the NY Mets on their opening day.

Have a great day and I will see you tomorrow.

Another Aspiration for 2013

Another ongoing project that I hope to continue this year is the Iron Craft 2013 Challenge. The Iron Craft Challenges are the brainchild of Kat and Susi over at Just Crafty Enough. This is a series of bi-weekly (twice a month) challenges that does actually that--challenges you to think creatively.

There are themes for every challenge which are based on color, craft, concept, or any other type of motivation. The group is a collective of people from all over the world who are a supportive group of fellow crafters and artisans.

The beauty of the program is that it lets you participate when you can, allows you to share projects and ideas, and generally support each other through sharing and positive reinforcement. I have delved into projects that I would never have done on my own and have taken risks (creatively) that I wouldn't have thought imaginable.  What I appreciate the most about the group is that it is so supportive of the individual effort. We share our projects--warts and all--and there isn't a shred of negativity from anyone.

On my own, I am the most self-damaging perfectionist. Because I am a retailer, I have to think about imperfections and how they might affect the costs of items being sold. At times, I have paralyzed myself and have kept items from sale that didn't fit my criteria. Friends would come over to my studio and buys things that I deemed "imperfect." They would be shocked by what I considered "imperfect" for sale.

In the Iron Craft Challenges, I have learned to share my projects and acknowledge openly what did and did not work and why. With the support system provided by fellow members, I didn't feel self-conscious if something wasn't perfect, didn't work, or was just plain ugly. In the process, I have grown creatively because I no longer feel as paralyzed by a failed project, or an unfinished project. There are two lessons that I have learned that I would love to share.

LESSON ONE: More importantly, one lesson that I learned that I really appreciated was this--you can stop at any point if you don't like the way the project is turning out. A half-finished project that was attempted in good faith that just doesn't work can be stopped or put aside. If it doesn't work--it doesn't work. Move on. Sometimes, there just isn't saving a project.

LESSON TWO: Sometimes life gets in the way. Sometimes you just have to take a break from the stuff you want to do and deal with the stuff that you HAVE to do. It doesn't mean that you aren't going to get back to the stuff you want to do. Most importantly, don't beat yourself up over the fact that Life.Got.In.The.Way. Take care of business and the other stuff will fall back into place. And when it does, you will enjoy it more.

LESSON THREE: (I know that I only promised two but I am on a roll). Enjoy creativity in all its forms. The love and support that I have received through the Iron Craft Challenges has lifted my spirits and renewed the love for all things crafty, artsy, and just fun, in general. The liberating nature of failing at projects have really loosened up the shackles that I have placed on myself to create. It has rejuvenated a childhood in the arts that I was never allowed or had access to.

And now, I am off to make a dinosaur, hooded towel--only because, Susi showed us how and because I CAN.

Some aspirations for 2013

Image from Yahoo Images

Today, I wanted to share with you some of the continual projects that I am working on. I have always crafted and created for myself, rather than for resale or for exhibition. Part of the problem is that I never really considered myself an artist--I always felt, at best, that I was a skilled crafter. After I started becoming proficient in some specific versions of craft types, I considered myself a craftsman within the realm that I had become proficient--and I was OK with that.

When other people started to desire my work, I had to reassess what I was doing. While I enjoyed the developing of the products--even creating multiple prototypes until I got it "just right," I never really enjoyed the assembly line process of making more of "them" to sell. For me, the reproduction part of the job is the tedious part of it. I have no problem in having a single one of "them" and putting it on the self to look at or give away. I keep meticulous notes on how to recreate the product should I want to do it again (and many times I do) but making a series of 10 of "them" for the sake of selling 8 of "them" just doesn't interest me as much, although I will do it.

Having said that, I came to creating later in life. I never really got to play--artistically. I don't remember being allowed to create as a child. I was a performer and got to create that way but I remember liking to color in coloring books and remember (quite vividly) being corrected for coloring grass blue rather than green. My OCD was in its nascent stages as I remember being paralyzed by the fear of coloring outside of the big, thick bold black lines. I remember being 90% completed with a coloring page and having to stop because I ruined it when a buddy bumped my hand and made me go outside the lines. I remember crying for hours over it. To this day, I still love coloring.

So one of my goals this year is to PLAY more creatively, with arts and crafts, with paper, with materials that I might never use again. One avenue that I have chosen to help me along the way is The Sketchbook Project. Click on the link to find out more about it but the project provides you with a moleskin type book (32 pages--8 leaves) that you fill up to your heart's content. You can follow a theme, or not. You can send your book on tour, or not. I have decided to send my book on tour following a general, all-purpose theme. Celebrating my 10th year anniversary in New York City, I have decided to call my book "My Love Affair with NYC."

I will share pages and explanations of the techniques as I go along and will share the actual pages with you as well. I am hoping that sharing this project with you that I can keep to task and complete it.

Projects-in-Progress

There are several projects that I continually work on--some with and some without a closure date. I have been commissioned by Penguin books to create 10 cutouts that will be used to illustrate a children's story of my choosing. The collection of stories will be illustrated by 10 different artists using 10 different media. My medium will be silhouette cutouts. I have until the end of next week to decide which fairy tale that I will choose. I am leaning towards Jack and the Beanstalk. After viewing this silhouette movie by Lotte Reiniger, I also am intrigued by doing Cinderella and The Three Little Pigs.

I am also working on designing a special Broadway box for Billie Joe Armstrong when he leaves the cast of American Idiot. I hope to cover the box in green leather and feature a logo from the show.

Another project that is in its design stages is a pentagon box with lid. I want to work out the angles and master the logistics of covering the box.

Finally, I need to finish my Iron Craft project this week. This week we are supposed to make a cozy/belly band for a cup of coffee. Of course, mine will be made out of paper but figuring it out will take a little bit more time.