I'm very pleased to pass on information relating to a new project beginning on February 1st involving some of the blog-world's most creative women sharing their talents with us through their blogs. Please check out Whip Up. i'm excited to see what they all have in store for us.
I still haven't fixed my usb port, but a new card is on its way. even though i don't have any photos to show you, i have been quite busy over the past week with new projects. I finished my first three dimensional softie this week, and was really happy with how it turned out. I first made a muslin version, then went on to use some of my prized vintage fabric to make a small deer. I've really been drawn to foresty-themed objects lately: deer and other woodland creatures, trees, gnomes, mushrooms, birds (of course), nuts, etc. I do realize i'm not the only person who has been into these things, but I find it's a nice diversion from a lot of the pink, red and generally "girlie" type things i tend to be drawn to. If I was a better blogger, I would provide you with links to some of the great things I'm seeing out there, but right now, my brain is not allowing me to recall any of the things I wanted to show you. Just trust me, these items are everywhere.
in addition to the deer, i also made my first art quilt this week. i'm not really sure if that's the proper nomenclature for what it is, and of course, if I had a photo, you could actually judge for yourself. Since I don't have a photo, you'll just have to go by my description for the time being. I used fabric to create a design on a solid light blue background and used embroidery to affix the decorative fabric to the background fabric and batting and to "draw" images on the fabric. It is an unapologetically summery image, which I think is clearly a bi-product of an image in my head of where I wish I could be right now. I know those of you in Australia have been frustrated by the heat down there, but I am so friggin sick of the darkness and rain around here. It would be so nice if we could just switch places for a couple of days. Seriously, that is all I would need to lift my spirits. Since that isn't possible, I'll continue to create bright, pretty things and fantasize about bright, sunny places.
This week I also received a Holga my sister. She bought it last year, and upgraded to a Holga with a Polaroid back last week and kindly passed her older Holga on to me. It even had film in it, so it was all ready to go. I still have a lot of research to do about using them, so if you know of any good resources, please let me know. Otherwise, I guess I'm going to use google and see what I can find online. Because it's been so dark here, I haven't really used it, but I'll keep you updated on my progress.
Some things that blair and claire wrote about recently about how to define an artist and how their work can be defined. Their thoughts are ones I have regularly, but I think it really boils down to this: for me, I create because i want to, i create because I HAVE to, and yes, it's nice to have others validate what you do, but ultimately, I find the act of creating enormously therapeutic and would continue to do it whether or not I ever received validation. I think once you start a blog, you put yourself out there a little, and you may become a little more concerned with receiving validation for your art. If you just create and keep it to yourself, it isn't as much of an issue. I have been very positively affected by the support I have received from the blogging community, and it has already helped to motivate me to keep creating and challenging myself. There is always going to be someone more creative, talented, or whatever than you, but it really should just be about what makes you happy. I think sometimes it gets difficult to keep that in perspective.
I'll leave it at that for today.
Just for fun, here's a picture of my dear kitty, Vedo:
Here he is breaking in Eric's new table before he applied any finishing.
