Journals – Page 4 – Artquiltmaker Blog

Red Journal Finished!

Here is the finished (completed! done!) Red Journal that I started on Halloween at A Work of Heart. I went to the second (and last) class on Sunday and finished. I could have done a lot more embellishing on the pages, but my ephemera wasn’t that good and I wanted space to write. Yes, I want to use this as a journal and not just a scrapbook. If my ephemera was more personal, then it would have been a good scrapbook making project, but I like the idea of writing in something that I made.

Above is the first page. You can also see the Malka Dubrowski fabric that TFQ gave me as a gift. I like the idea of see it more often. I may not really like writing in the Red Journal, but it is only 40 pages, so I can blow through it fairly quickly. What pen to use will be an issue. I see a Sharpie in my future.

The pink page looks like it was made with a crayon. I don’t remember doing it, but it came out of a big box of paper I had saved. I like it. We’ll see if I can write on it.

I really can’t say what possessed me to make the pages the way I did. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

I had homework and kept putting it off. After class last time, I knew there was no way I could finish all the sewing if I waited until the next class (Sunday’s). I was finally able to get to my Red Journal project in a serious way on Friday afternoon and evening. Essentially, in between the Frosted Stars and Frosted Stars Leftovers I worked on the pages of the signature.

I was particularly happy with this page, which was made from just an image that I had been saving for awhile. I was happy because I finally got to use it.

Making the pages took a lot of sewing. There are 2 signatures of 10 pages each, folded in half to make a total of 40 pages.

I really want to make another one of these journals. I can think of two people who would really like them as gifts. It is a ton of work, so I would only be able to make them for people who would really appreciate the time and effort. We’ll see.

As I have probably said 42,000 times, the outside of this journal is made from fabric I made by sewing scraps of red fabric together a la Shannon Williams.

AWOH Journal Class

The A Work of Heart Spontaneous Scraps Journal class really caught me unawares. I feel like everything is sneaking up on me lately. My head is definitely not in its normal spot.

The idea of the class was the a few people were invited (or that was my impression) and would bring scraps to make a journal with a fabric cover. As I was thinking about getting ready for the class on Friday and Saturday, I decided to bring the red mosaic pieces to use to make the cover. I also brought the Malka Dubrawsky piece that TFQ gave me for my birthday and used that for the inside.

I used the mosaic quilting piece to make the journal cover. I had gotten away from it, but am now in love with that process again. I was feeling like I would never use that fabric, because it was too precious. I also couldn’t think of what project would be appropriate. Anything too fiddly wouldn’t work, because there are so many seam allowances right next to each other. The pressing was a bit of a challenge, but I think the journal cover came out very well.

The class called for a nice ribbon for a closure. I brought it, but I didn’t attach it yet. I am thinking that I want to put a button (or a Mah Jong tile with a hole drilled in it – something out of the ordinary/interesting) and some elastic to wrap around it. I need to get that settled before I do much else. I don’t have any of that thin elastic nor do I know how to attach it after the piece has been made.

That bit of mosaic quilting is a pocket on the inside. I guess I can use it for pens. Andrea suggested that putting a pocket in the piece was an option, so I did it. I am pleased with how it came out.

The red dotted page on the left is one of the journal pages. The embellishment (the paper with the white dots) is paper clipped to the page, because it has not been attached to the page yet. I did complete the sewing on some of the pages, but not all. I want to work on that before the concluding class.

I brought some strips that were piling up as well, so I was also able to add bits and pieces to make the piece big enough. Above is what I have left and I am back in the mindset of making this type of fabric. I used the bits and pieces as leaders and enders as I was sewing the journal cover together.

I am thinking that I would like to make at least one more as a gift. We will see how making the pages goes.

Book Review: Journal Bliss

Journal Bliss: Creative Prompts to Unleash Your Inner Eccentric by Violette

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Violette’s book has been in my to read stack for awhile. I was finally able to read this book when I took it with me on a trip. I found that it was a quick read. It might have been a quick read, but it was a powerful read as well. Violette, in this book, is a cheerleader, life coach, therapist and art teacher. She mixes in the right amount of words with pictures, the right amount of encouragement and support.

She dives in with a discussion about the reader’s inner critic. I was a little surprised that she would start out with this, but it was the right way to organize the book and she didn’t go on and on in that chapter.

She clearly describes a lot of techniques and a lot of different ways to do small but effective bits of embellishment. Her writing style makes the reader think that s/he can create borders, backgrounds and any of the techniques described. The one part that really intrigued me was the part about faces. Reading this section and looking at the pictures gave me confidence She makes drawing faces seem simple. I don’t mean simple as in stupid looking, but simple as in with a little practice everyone can do faces as well as she can.

Violette provides lots of examples of her artwork. The book is mostly drawings and examples of her written creativity. The majority of the book is not typeset, but embellished, drawn and colored. This style provides lots of examples of her. She shows it is simple. The drawings are not simple, but if the reader breaks them down and looks carefully at the lines, there is nothing tricky going on and the style is quite do-able.

One great suggestion Violette gives is to do a Gratitude journal page using a list rather than prose. I think that is a great idea for any kind of journal page, not only a gratitude page.

I really liked this book and think that it is one that will be a great reference book. I would like to try the various drawing techniques to spice up my journal pages, especially the border ideas. I also want to try making the faces.

View all my reviews, including my non-quilt reviews

Purpose Journal Progress

Don’t get too excited, I haven’t started writing. I had a big burst of writing inspiration back in April, but the journal wasn’t ready. After working on it recently, it is more ready. It is funny. I worked on it diligently and thought I was done with all of the backgrounds. As I looked through it after everything was dry, I saw other spots and pages that needed work.

If you haven’t been to work of heart, you need to put it on your list for your next vacation. After going to see the Rosacrucian Museum, you need to spend some time at A Work of Heart. As I have said before, it is an awesomely creative environment.

Some of the pages were too dark. In my previous post about this journal, I showed the Credit Card plaid. While the page above is not the credit card plaid page, it was just as dark. Andrea had some spray on Gesso, which makde short work of lightening the page. It is a spray paint type of application, which I didn’t much like (had on my cute clothes), but I did like the end result. I think it will be much easier to write on this page with it lighter.

While I don’t have a complete plan for how I am going to work with this journal, I do know that I wanted page numbers. The Child usually gets a slice of pizza at a place which requires we take a number. I realized that the numbers would make interesting, if a little large, page numbers.

The point of the journal is to explore the word “Purpose.” To that end, I wanted to, first, explore the shape of the letters of the word. I stamped and pasted letters on to almost every page. The letters on the page above are favorites.

One of the techniques Andrea showed us was the one above – creating a silhouette page out of pan pastel and a magazine photo. One of the other students did it and I borrowed her silhouette and added it to my journal.

The page number on this page is a little different. I got a pack of note cards at IKEA which depict address signs on one side. Each pack has a different group of numbers, but the back of each pack shows a tiny illustration of all of the notecards. I cut out each of the numbers and used it for the page numbers. There weren’t enough for every page, so there are a variety throughout the book.

There is another class in July. We’ll see if I can make it and actually finish my journal.

Various and Sundry Wednesday

Ready for another ride that weaves in and out of the Internet and my mind?

Books, etc

I ran across the notice for Jane Brocket’s quilt book. I stopped reading her blog awhile ago, but was pointed to a link about ribbon, which I have on the mind lately.

A quote from the book via Amazon.co.uk:

“One of the great pleasures of doing anything repetitive by hand, whether it’s knitting, making bread, chopping onions or sowing seeds, is that the rhythm of the action allows your mind to wander.”

I bought this book. The US edition has come out, but I decided to buy the UK edition. I don’t mind those extra ‘u’ added her and there. There is nothing wrong with the US edition. I was pleased to see that the US edition came out relatively quickly after the UK edition debuted.

I bought the UK edition of the Gentle Art of Domesticity and was pleased with the service I received from the Book Depository, so I made my purchase from them again. The cover of the UK edition looks so much better. One fascinating thing about the Book Depository (which LoveAnna turned me on to) is that they have something like a live webcam where you see what books people are buying and where those buyers are from. It is mesmerizing to see people ordering so many books so quickly. I actually saw someone’s purchase of Cello: Grades 1-3 from China!

Embellishments

Anyway, back to ribbon. Somewhere I saw a link to ribbon. I looked at it, which led me to Jane Brocket’s blog, the new book – see above. The ribbon, though was gorgeous. So wonderful for embellishing bags and making markers for journals. LFN Textiles is the purveyor and the website has gorgeous photos. And they have dotted ribbons. What’s not to like?

Pam Rubert of PamDora blog fame recently tweeted a link to Sharon B’s Dictionary of Stitches for Hand Embroidery and Needlework. She has an index on the first page. If you click on one of the links, you see a picture of the finished stitch and where this stitch can be found. She shows step outs of the stitch and gives the reader tips and tricks. If you are browsing, there is a previous/next link at the top of the stitch screen, so that you can just click to another stitch without returning to the index. There are lots of great features of this site and it is great inspiration if you are using handstitching to embellish a quilt.

Journals

If you remember my fit of excitement over the 1000 Journals Project, this information will come as no surprise to you. I found the Artbook Coop via Julie and they are doing a sketchbook project. You can order (and pay for) a sketchbook, which will then be housed in a museum. I am not sure I could finish something like this, but my mind is swirling around it.

Blocks

Brenda Papadakis of Dear Jane fame has a series of block of the month blocks posted on her website for free. It looks like there is an applique’/embroidery block and a pieced block every month.

Media

Last week I had a virus that hit me hard. One day while I was thinking about going back to bed, I stumbled on a blog called Waking Up in Bavaria. It has a really nice clean look and beautiful photography. One of her recent posts is a review of Kaffe Fassett’s Simple Shapes, Spectacular Quilts. It is hard to read a blog from the beginning when you are years behind. Still I read a bit of her posts from last year and my mind spun into imagination land. I spent a formidable time in my life in that area of the world, though in Austria, not Bavaria, so the landscape is familiar. I also like the clean, spare look of her blog. My mind started to wander around the question of what if I woke up in Bavaria tomorrow?

If you need to organize your studio/workroom, the Quilted Cupcake has a podcast and a long blog post with a lot of resources and pictures of her space. QNN TV also has a segment on organization. The January episodes, segments 1&2, 3&4 take on the topic of organizing your studio from different angles. You have to be a member to watch the videos.

I signed up for QNN TV last year and hadn’t really watched the videos. Last week, while I was sick, I was clearing out my email. Some of the messages in there were notices about new QNN TV episodes being posted. Being fit only to lay in bed, I started watching them. I thought they were very entertaining. They have some cooking segments, which I skipped over, but I enjoyed the episode on specialty threads (January episode, Segments 5&6). They have two kinds of links to the shows. Each episode is broken into about 6 segments and two segments are posted each week. This means that you can watch the different segments or watch the whole episode. I have been watching them in segments.

The January episode takes place in Winterset, Iowa, partially at the Fons & Porter store. They also show the Bridges of Madison County, the county in which Winterset is located. I didn’t know that Fons & Porter had a store, so this was interesting to me. I wish they would have done a tour of the store, but they didn’t.

I really enjoyed the November episode. Jodie Davis hosts with Patrick Lose and they report from Houston Quilt Market. They talk about new products and interview people at the show. I was entertained. I think this was shot while Mark was working out the details of his contract with QNN TV. I thought it would be weird, but Jodie Davis handled his not being there with grace. She made it seem like he would be back soon.

I also enjoyed the February Door Knock episode where Mark interviews Liz Porter. It is great to see that she is real and has a real life. I went away from that interview with a lot more respect for her and what she has achieved.

I wasn’t planning to renew my membership, but I may do it. I will definitely watch the episodes as they come out rather than waiting until my inbox is too full before I get to them.

The Alliance for American Quilts had a contest recently called New From Old. They have posted a series of YouTube videos documenting the quilt entries as they arrive. I thought that was very clever! One of them was by Marie Johansen who sometimes reads this blog. I was pleased to see that Yvonne Porcella entered a quilt, which must mean that she is feeling better. There were a number of Dresden Plate entries and two that could be considered Baltimore Album style. Sunbonnet Sue, Grandmother’s Flower Garden and Grandmother’s Fan also made debuts. Some people put a lot of work into their entries and it occurred to me that throwing something together just to enter wouldn’t work for this contest. Then again, it doesn’t usually work for any contest.

If you ever feel like the quilts or ATCs or blocks or paintings you are making are not fit for the fireplace, take a look at the Bad Postcards site. Looking at the works on this site should a) give you a laugh; b) make you feel better about your own work; and c) make you wonder who ever thought it was a good idea to make matching apron, tablecloth and curtains (you’ll have to scroll down the site to get that one). As a bonus for you fabric lovers, there are some interesting fabrics shown in various postcards. It makes me wonder whether people will be laughing about the photos on this blog in 50 years?

Do artists go under Media or Out and About? I don’t know, so here is Michael Cutlip. Mostly I love his website and the way the gallery is laid out. He is the artist who did the picture in the Decor House, which I wrote about in a post a few weeks ago. The picture I took is crappy, but his work is not, so don’t judge him on my photo.

Out and About

You might have heard (or maybe read it here) that the V&A in London has a quilt exhibit up. They have also just announced the release of a second set of patterns, V&A Pattern Series II. “Like the first box set—which included four books arranged by theme and titled William Morris, Indian Florals, Digital Pioneers, and The Fifties—the second series features four books available individually or as a group: Owen Jones, Novelty Patterns, Kimonos, and Garden Florals. In addition to page after page of color images of the textile designs, each hardcover book includes a CD of hi-res images of the featured patterns.”

Being here in the US, it is hard to get to the exhibit, though I am hoping for some kind of miracle (you know free first class tickets, or something), but until then I have been looking at the videos. My favorite so far is the one with Caren Garfen, which I looked at with TFQ. Her quilt is given a bit of short shrift int he book, but this video makes up for it. I wish it were downloadable to iTunes, so I could look at it again without being tethered to my computer.

My sister gets various creative “notions” in her head and her latest is organza flowers. She saw some she loved at Nordstrom. She said that you sew strips of fabric in a circle to a base down the middle of the strip. Have you ever done this? I may try it.

Kaffe Fassett and Liza Prior Lucy are having a blog tour. There are a lot of new and interesting blogs to look at.

My friend, Kathy, from Everyday Bliss, has a new blog called Everyday Mommy. It is new so I can’t tell you exactly how it turns out, but Kathy writes “Do you want to be a marvelous parent or just like watching others try? Join Everyday Mommy for a wacky and fun experiment! Each week we will delve into one of the parenting virtues, have some fun and hopefully become better parents in the process!” It is fun to watch my friend delve into cyberspace. I know that sounds strange since the web is not new. Before blogs I couldn’t tell how many emails people were sending or what websites they were going to. With all of the cross linking and comments, as well as FB, it is much easier.

Deirdre sent me a link to Woody Campbell’s Photo a Day blog. His photos are a bit large. Still, I like the photo of the refrigerator. I like the idea of documenting normal every day things. I don’t always do it, but I think about it. I read about a guy who took a photo of the same building across the street from his shop every day at the same time for something like 30 years. Do you ever do anything like that? I thought about it when I took a picture out the window of my workroom, but then I never followed up. I suppose it isn’t too late!

Book Review: Journal Spilling

Journal Spilling: Mixed-Media Techniques for Free Expression by Trout. Diana

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Art journaling is a technique (tool??) that I have struggled with for a while. Part of the problem for me is the mess. I thought I didn’t like to make messes. What I found was that I don’t like to make messes that I have to clean up! The Purpose Journal showed me that under the right circumstances, I can really use this technique in a creative and satisfying way.

Journal Spilling by Diana Trout is a really encouraging and pleasant book to read. I read it, and thought about what was in it, but didn’t try any of the projects that are integrated into the various chapters.

The first thing that I liked was in the Welcome message.”Welcome” is much friendlier than “preface” or “introduction.” In her Welcome, Diana states that you don’t need to be an artist to be an artmaker. I have long refused to label myself an artist – for better or for worse. Like Wayne Thiebaud, I have decided to let history decide my artistic fate and concentrate on making. If history ignores me, so be it. Thus, Trout’s comment really hit home and make me feel like my decision was fine.

The author also has a sense of humor, which is infused throughout the book. On page 9, she says “…I once did a ‘highly scientific’ experiment to check the lightfastness of Portfolios alongside Caran d’Ache. They both held up remarkably well when exposed to sunlight for six months!” I love the idea of this ‘experiment’. It really made me smile.

Ms. Trout writes about things I have never heard described this way and find very useful. In her section, Stretch & Spill, she discusses ‘micromovements.’ About them she says “micromovements refers to a system of breaking down a large job into tiny parts. This is a great concept that addresses the biggest obstacle between you and your journal: Fear. It also helped me greatly with time issues. If you break down a job (or hope or dream), step by step it seems less scary and overwhelming.” I didn’t realize until I read this that I had been doing this with the Purpose Journal. Since I been, yet, able to face making a mess, I have been breaking down the steps, before I have to make the mess, into manageable bites that fit into my schedule and my comfort zone.

The book’s title, Journal Spilling, seemed a little confusing to me until I read the section on the generosity and hospitality of pouring sake. By creating that analogy, Diana gave me a picture in my mind with which to understand as I read the book.

Throughout the book, the author talks about continuously moving. At one point she refers to it as aerobics for creativity. Isn’t that a great mind image? The idea is to not think too much and keep moving creatively; to keep your hand moving. Some examples Ms. Trout gives are to draw boxes (good for writing in later!), circles, little houses and flowers. She also gives some advice on what to say to your mind if it starts to interrupt (which mine does all the time!!) : “…quietly tell it you are busy right now.” (pg.76). This was another thing that really made me smile.

I think that most people who make interesting objects have an inner critic. A very revealing and interesting section was about her inner critic. She names him, tells us how he looks and sounds. I thought this was a great technique, because things that you name are much less scary than the things which are unknown. In this section, Diana reminds the reader “My art does not have to be BIG ART.” This is wonderful. In a way I feel like I have been doing this with all of the sewn accessories I have been making: journal covers, pencil rolls, tote bags. They are mind sorbet, in a way, but they are also, for ME, small art. For me, small art is valuable as well. She follows that up by saying “I pick up my brushes and pens in the odd spaces of time that occur in the life, gently coaxing the art out into the light.” I think this could be used as an excuse to move on to a different project, creating another UFO, but for me it means sometimes things have to simmer a bit and by working often, the simmering happens a bit faster.

Ms. Trout uses the various sections to convey techniques through her various projects. At the same time, she drops little pearls of wisdom in various text of each section. The Secrets & Wishes section is, somewhat, about getting things out without revealing too much. In the introduction, she writes “Respect the power of the words you write and believe that writing them will fix them into your mind and, maybe, with some attention, some of your dreams will become a reality.” This makes me think that I should write down some of the things that I dream about. Perhaps the power of the word, which is so important to me, can help me identify my goals and make them a reality.

Lately, in general, creativity books are more interesting to look at. The days of plain white pages with text and a few photos seem to be gone. I have seen a lot of well designed, well laid out and visually appealing books of late. This book is not an exception. Not only are the photos appealing, the step outs clear, but the page layouts fit the theme of the book. It looks like we are looking at Trouts journal. There are watercolor strokes, bits of masking tape, scribbles, and doodles interspersed with the regular book information.

As I said above, the messes stop me from working in this technique. When Diana says (pg. 55) “write into the wet gesso” I stop cold. I have to say that working at a Work of Heart helped with this feeling. I just have not, yet, been able to translate to working at home.

I found this work to be really inspirational. As I read, I found myself inspired to create a quilt design or add something to my Purpose Journal. In the Personal Landscape section, the author suggests the reader go for a walk and think about the area in which s/he lives. She follows this suggestion up with an exercise to create a collage about your thoughts and feelings. I read this section and immediately thought of the Women’s Work quilt. Reading the words made me imagine the next in the series, more of cityscape buildings, still using Gwen Marston‘s style.

In the same section, but also mentioned throughout the book, Trout talks about writing – spill writing – in her journal and then covering some of it up with her collage style. This appears to be something that she does frequently. I am not sure I want my words covered up. I may not want people to read them, but I feel like I might want to read them later. I can’t read them if I cover them up. This was also confusing, because of the power of words section she discusses in the Secrets & Wishes section.

The Drawing Games Section has perfect exercises for the CPP! She suggests exercise really clearly that would work for quick drawings of the words I suggest each week. For regular contributors, it might be a way to vary what you are doing or to break out of a rut. One exercise is to draw a “curved line from one of the paper to the other, three times. She, then, asks you to observe the shapes and take some further steps, which she outlines in the book.

Who Am I? Is the question that slammed into my head when I was partway through the Lifeline section. This section has discussions of writing your autobiography in a way that she found, she was able to handle. This feeling blew me away and I’ll have to consider a bit.

There are lots of things to try in this book: paper dolls, using book covers to make a journal, making glitter glue, using white out as an art supply, cutting rubber stamps, using regular household items to make marks, book making, and many other exercises and techniques. She also tells you how to make a traveling kit. In the end of the book are sections with various resources, such as quotes, supplies and materials inspiration and techniques.

I am planning on putting this book on my wish list.

View all my reviews, including my non quilt and creativity reviews

Purpose Journal

I went to A Work of Heart for a half an hour last week. I know it sounds crazy to drive an hour for a half and creativity session, but I had to go to the neighborhood anyway. Half an hour was about all I could spend, but it was enough. Andrea, the owner, was there by herself working, so she set me up and I embellished the front of the journal.

I worked on the journal that I originally made (and wrote about) at A Work of Heart with CQFA back in October. I never do this kind of work at home so it really felt like play time to me. I didn’t feel pressure and I worked as though I couldn’t screw up.

Many in the blogosphere have talked about their own personal Word of the Year projects. I think I first heard about it through the Creative Mom Podcast. I have watched these discussions for the past couple of years with interest.

I have seen mention that Christine Kane started it, but I am sure someone was picking a word of the year before she promoted it. I have friends who have been choosing a Word of the Year for the past few years. Julie puts all the words into a vessel and picks one.

Julie’s process didn’t seem right for me. I never picked a word until this year.

Then, recently, the word Purpose came to mind and that seemed right to me. All the pieces started to fall into place. Now I have a list of questions to explore and this journal in which to write.

In a way it is an exploration via non-quilt media as well as via writing. I don’t know yet what I want to accomplish, but I have a great journal in which to accomplish it!

A Work of Heart Part 2

Yesterday, I clipped some pictures from the A Work of Heart blog just to wet your whistle. I went to their studio on a CQFA outing Sunday. Because I got lost, I arrived there late, but was able to catch up quickly. I had a great time. Great doesn’t even being to describe it; I had such a fantastic time that I can’t wait to go back. In fact, I’d like to go today. 😉

This unassuming strip mall storefront does not even begin to give a hint as to the creativity oozing throughout the inside. The little touches (pink door, geraniums, glimpses of the magic inside) trying to escape underneath the doors to the outside.

The above picture represents the supplies from which I could choose. Andrea, the owner, teacher, and calm goddess of creativity was so generous about allows us to use anything we wanted. How many times have you heard “Use whatever you want” ? Not often enough. While I didn’t partake of her generosity to excess, I liked having the possibility. A lot of my creativity swirls around, and intersects with possibility.

As you may have read, I have been struggling with the concept of art journaling on and off for awhile. My past idesa surrounding art journaling/visual journaling was to explore a different technique that might bring new life and additional inspiration to my quiltmaking. No amount of self motivation could help me overcome the mess and move forward with my desire to make some art journals on my own. CQFA did one field trip and when Terri proposed this one, I thought it sounded great. The great thing about going somewhere to do something new is:

Someone else provides all the supplies
Someone else teaches you to use the supplies and helps you to be successful
You can leave when you are finished
You don’t have to learn the tips and tricks the hard way.

For me, this was a great opportunity. I decided to try to make some backgrounds in a journal (70lb+ watercolor paper or above, please) rather than making painted pieces of ‘art’. I also thought it would be a good opportunity to explore the layering that has been rumbling around in my head for awhile. There was a lot of paint involved in this activity as well as ink, water, glue, gesso and lots of other supplies that I don’t normally use.

I am not afraid to get messy in someone else’s space as my hands show. I still have some bits of purple paint in my cuticles. TMI??? 😉

One thing I learned is that there is a certain synergy between wet and dry with which I needed to experiment.

Not all of my pages came out well – or my definition of well prior to the class – however, I am trying to learn that there is a certain beauty in the imperfect. I like my points to match and my fabrics to go together, so there is a learning curve.

Andrea gave us about 5 or 6 techniques to try and those seemed like a good way to get my feet wet. I did them over and over, trying to learn the boundaries. It has been a long time since I painted, and paint has very different qualities than fabric!

The above page came out really well. I put drops of Golden (brand) paint on the page and then swiped a credit card over it. Not all of my credit card pages were that successful. This was a very wet technique and a number of them stuck together and were “ruined,” or need more layers added.

As the day wore on, I found my sea legs and began pushing the boundaries a little bit. The above photo shows a page I created using a stencil on a gessoed page. Later I put more paint (or ink, maybe) lightly over it. I didn’t realize that the stencil would make such a nice effect. the inks I used had a bit of sparkle to them, an effect I liked. It was a pleasant surprise.

The Os on this page are one of the stamps that I made with some foam that was part of our kit. Below is the cover I made for my journal, which I did by gessoing the cover, letting it dry and then rubbing my painted paper towel over a stencil.

There were so many possibilities that I didn’t try, which is why I need to go back. One of my thoughts now that the journal pages are dry and I can leaf through them is “what next?” for this journal. Do I write in it, using the decorated pages as wonderful backgrounds for my regular journal work? Should I designate it as a creativity journal where I just paste or draw my ideas in it? I don’t know yet. Whatever I decide to do, it will be a pleasant journal to use.

Process

Deirdre sent me the link to this entry in Susan Shie’s blog. The post is all about the process of making one of her pieces. I was riveted reading the detail which she includes in her post. Read the post!

Susan Shie's Savannah — Susan Shie’s Savannah

Process is something that has been on my mind as I have worked on the Tarts. I used to be only focused on the end product. I found it to be very unsatisfying, because the end product had a short-lived shelf life. What do you do with a finished product? Put in the bed, hang it on the wall and …. There is nothing after that. I would be finished with the piece. There isn’t much more interaction with a finished piece.

It occurred to me at some point that the process was what was important. I have, since then, tried to focus on the process. I wrote about it in blog post on March 14, 2009 and also mentioned process on January 1, 2009 in the 2008 UFO Report.

In focusing on the process, I try to work on what I am working on right at that moment fully and completely. I try not to think ahead to the next step or the next project. This was brought home to me in a big way as I worked on the Tarts. That project required my absolute full and undivided attention. Any time I thought “oh this will be fine” meant trouble and I would end up ripping something out. The lesson was, however, that Lorraine Torrence’s advice about making visual decisions visually was correct. I knew it was, but the Tarts hammered the mantra into my mind.

One of the other things I realized about process is that while I work on something, I am completely engaged with it. I feel the fabric in my hand. I feed the thread into the machine or hand sewing needle, feeling it with my fingers. I am close to the fabric and the project supplies.

Susan Shie’s post goes through her process in minute detail. It would bore me if I had heard it before, but I haven’t. I find everyone’s process to be different and, often, fascinating.

The other thing about process is that a process does not necessarily stay within the bounds of a specific project. A process can continue to another project once I have finished with a piece. Susan talks about making her Kitchen Tarot deck, which is a multi piece project. She is making a quilt for each of the many Tarot cards in a deck. I really admire someone who can commit to such a large project. Her pieces aren’t small either. She has committed to the process.

The Word of the Day for Labor Day, September 7, 2009 was Reverence. My immediate reaction was a sinking heart and steeling myself for a lecture. The reverence that the author talked about was multi-faceted and had nothing to do with a harangue about organized religion. The passage talked about reverence for a process and reverence for materials.

“Everything that we do should be imbued with reverence and so one would think that we should begin with this concept. But no. Reverence only comes with experience and care.”

and

“In our own small way, we must create and bring order to our lives each day. We must be responsible, and at the same time express the wonder of all we know as human.”

and

“The stately determination to make something worthy of the materials and the moment is reverence.”

I think that by engaging in a process, we gain experience. The more time I spend working on pieces the more experience I gain. I also think that being appreciative of the materials and what they are contributing to the process helps me work better.

It seems to me that reverence is part of a process.

In the process of writing this post, I became much more interested in Susan’s work, classes, blog etc. Perhaps there is a class with her in my future?

Essay on Notebooks, Creativity and Podcast Influences

Summary: essay on art vs. craft and my rambling journey to find out my truth on this subject.

I have a notebook in my car. It is a spiralbound Strathmore sketchbook. I bought it about six months ago when I ran out of gas receipts on which to write directions, radio ad URLs and to do lists.

It is a bit of a sad sketchbook. Its promise isn’t really realized because it stays in the car. I don’t usually bring it into the house. It is a little bit bent from being jammed in the pocket of the driver’s side door. I don’t use colorful pens, pastels or pencils on the pages. I usually don’t sketch in it. I haven’t decorated the cover. It is utilitarian and serves a function

This sketchbook, by some strange twists in my mind, reminded me of an unsolicited “pep talk” someone gave me about being an artist at a recent art quilt gathering. The well intentioned person had just seen the Eye Spy quilt.

: Finished top with borders

Somehow, this quilt was seminal for me. This very plain (as in non-artquilty) and ordinary quilt for The Child jolted me back into art quiltmaking.

I think I started writing this blog do just that – to record the process, to give myself some accountability and to inspire myself at a time when I was trying to build creativity into the few nooks and corners of a very full life and overstuffed schedule. I realized, that day, in showing the Eye Spy quilt that it worked!!! It took some time, but it worked!!!! In recording my process, I was ready to come back to working on some of my half finished art quilts.

At that gathering, I was trying to explain these feelings to the group and mentioned something I heard Wayne Thiebaud say when asked if he was an artist. His response was that he was a painter and that he would let history judge his work while he went on and painted every day. I love the fact that he has chosen to do his work and worry about what people think later.

Perhaps it isn’t humility; I don’t know the man personally, after all, but success that allows him to think that way?

In any case, my well meaning co-attendee said that I should say I am an artist and think of myself as an artist and then I would be an artist. She related her experience of doing the same thing and how it had changed her life.

I certainly want success with my quilts, but I don’t believe that by making stuff and saying *I* am an artist automatically makes *me* an artist. I don’t think that other people have to say that I am an artist to be an artist either. For me, it just doesn’t seem that easy.

Regardless of what I do I want to be happy. I am happy:

making my quilts
discussing and learning about art, design, creativity and quilts
making tote bags
layering paper and photos to make scrapbooks
responding to creative prompts
being inspired by other creative people
admiring the work of wonderful, creative podcasters and bloggers
etc.

Is this enough? For now, yes. Forever? Probably not. I am very cognizant of not wanting to ruin what I have by moving into being a professional artist. This is at the same time I am aware of the desire to expand what I do and publicizing it.

This whole discussion was brought to mind by a couple of episodes of the Creative Mom Podcast, to which I listened this morning. Amy has a very intellectual way of looking at her creativity, which I admire and think I share in some ways. I admire, as I have probably said many times, I am sure, her calm and even, yet enthusiastic tone.Her tone in itself is inspiring because of its poetry. Not literal poetry, but a poetic sound.

Art vs. Craft

In one of the podcasts, a mom Amy knows from schoolo asked her ( December 17, 2008 episode) after seeing her gauntlets, “are you one of those crafters?”

When I hear the word ‘crafter’ I think of plastic canvas and hot glue guns. Every tool and supply certainly has it’s place, but that is not me. I don’t think of myself as a crafter even though I live with the quintessential definition of craft: I want to surround myself and my daily life with practical, simple and beautifully useful items.

When I think of artist, I think of Wayne Thiebaud, Georgia O’Keefe, Michaelangelo, and Dorothea Lange. That is not me either.

I wonder where I fit into this creative landscape of color and creativity? I don’t know so I guess I will continue what I am doing and follow in Wayne Thiebaud’s foosteps by letting history decide.

PamDora’s Sketchbooks

I am in awe of the number of sketchbooks that Pam RuBert has. I think this is a great picture and it makes me wonder if I would have that many sketchbooks and journals if I dug out all of them. Take a look at her blog to see the entire post and her questions about organizing sketchbooks.

clipped from pamdora.com

March 20, 2009

Various and Sundry Monday

If you didn’t see the Cost Plus ad in the Sunday newspaper yesterday, go take a look. They are getting ready for spring and it is a very cheerful ad. They even have a grouping of Adirondack chairs that looks like my banner. Guess they’ve been trawling the web for ideas. 😉

Recently, I received an email from Annie Smith, yes, podcasting Annie Smith. In better times, I left a few comments on her website and also gave a donation. She contacted me, because she felt bad for not responding to my comments. I try to respond to comments on my blog, but it isn’t always possible and I certainly don’t expect any other blog authors to respond to my prattling. Still, she contacted me and wanted to send me something, because she hadn’t responded. I told her it wasn’t necessary, but she sent me the journal above anyway. As I have mentioned, I write in a journal nearly every day. While this is not the style of journal I normally use, it might be nice to try something different. Regardless it was very thoughtful.

I wanted a sturdier tote bag to carry around. I decided to try to make a bag out of the clear tablecloth covering type fabric (is it really fabric??). I thought it would also be cool to have a clear plastic bag even though I would have to be careful what I put in it! I felt justified on this thought during the past week when I was carrying about my soaked flower bag. As you can see from above, I haven’t, yet, been very successful completing the clear plastic tote. The problem is that I cannot sew this tablecloth fabric on my machine 🙁 . I tried it normally, but the feed dogs wouldn’t feed. I tried backing it with some slightly heavy tissue paper, figuring I could rip it off later and he machine still wouldn’t feed. I even asked at the store where I bought the fabric and they said it should be no problem. Above is a picture of me failing at sewing the clear plastic bag. Unless any of you have any brilliant ideas, I am going to buy some colorful staples and staple it together. Not sure how sturdy it will be, though, and I am concerned that the backs of staples catching on things.

I realized that I hadn’t posted or written about the Flower tote. At least I couldn’t find any reference to it.

I finished this tote at the beginning of January. It is the first tote that I have made using one different fabric for the side so the pocket fabric stands out. I am pleased with that way of highlighting the ‘main’ fabric. It is a pretty easy way to do so. Basically, I cut the same numbers of fabrics out of two different fabrics as normal. Then I used one side piece in the flower print for an inside piece and one blue side piece for the outside side piece that gets the pocket attached to it.

From the City Quilter Newsletter: “If you or any friends will be in New York City the weekend of March 21/22, I thought you’d like to know of a wonderful quilt show put on by the major Manhattan guild, Empire Quilters. It is entitled Urban Inspirations, and takes place at the the Fashion Institute of Technology, a major teaching institution, which is just around the corner from us.” If you would like to subscribe to the City Quilter newsletter, email them at: info@cityquilter.com I can’t attend this year, but would love to see photos you take from the show.

Journals for Today

I am now following an artist called Michael Nobbs on Twitter (he followed me first!). On his site, he has an ad for journals called Myndology. I liked hte colors so I clicked on the ad and then watched the video. These journals are so cool, because you can rearrange the pages and add pages from different sized journals. Not only that, but the colors are tempting I have the feeling that I have to try one! Just call me magpie!

clipped from www.myndology.com

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30