Is Limited Thinking Holding You Back?

I love serendipity. I have begun making some of my fiber masks into clay when Tom asked if I wanted to join him in the Clay Space gallery in September. Tom is a photographer who specializes in photographs of Civil War reenactments. His thinking was he would share his pottery and photographs and I could share my quilts and pottery. Perfect! Plus I had time to create pieces that I would be proud to display.

One of my frustrations with clay has been the unpredictable and somewhat limiting nature of the glazes. I went looking for other things that I could use and came across Baroque Art's Gilders Paste which reminds me of shoe polish. (It says it can be used on fabric too!) I had not finished the female Buddha mask when I went to class (ran out of time) so I brought her along and the three paste colors I had purchased. I was surprised that the veteran hand builder did not know about the paste. I was not surprised that none of the students in my class had any interest. So yesterday when I was working on the mask and still feeling that she needed something, I realized that my limited thinking was holding me back. I do not need to stick with glazes and I can certainly use my arsenal of supplies to alter my pieces anyway that I can! I glued the bead and fiber jewel to her forehead and used dimensional paint below her eyes. I was so much happier. I am not going to let my limited thinking ever happen again. I want to explore and push the limits. I want to be fearless!

Details: This is my interpretation of the female Buddha which I learned about while in Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan use to be a predominately Buddhist country before the Soviets took over. Now it is predominately Muslim, but the woman who taught me was an atheist. Isn't life interesting? Anyway, the fiber mask is 8" w x 12" h and the clay mask is 7.5" w x 11.5" h.

When have you overcome limited thinking?

I have decided to make this my Off the Wall Fridays post. Thanks Nina-Marie for the option to choose any of our posts for the week!

What Is Art? Why Do We Create?

All art is quite useless. - Oscar Wilde

I have been trying to think of ways to combine my love affairs with clay, fiber and paper.  This is my first attempt at combining clay and paper. It's not quite finished. I want to do come more work on the book and the bird needs to be reglazed because there are places where the glaze did not adhere which happens.

It's always interesting when people who create ask me, "What are you going to do with it?"  Tom who makes these incredible organic forms out of clay could not wrap his head around this book which was such a surprise to me. 

I do want people to get what I make especially in a place where people are being creative. It doesn't mean you have to like it.

Why do we create? And more importantly why should we make art? Is it "art for art's sake" or should it perform a specific function? I'm definitely more in the first camp but also believe art can perform a specific function like reflect a truth, work to unify us or in the very least decorate a room. I don't believe that having to make money from art devalues it either as I have heard so often expressed in galleries at openings. 


Is it important for people to understand or at least appreciate what we do? I have lived my entire life with people who don't get, understand what I do or even like what I do. It use to be painful. It is far less so now.  I think, in part, it is finding people who love what I do and I have grown old enough not to internalize the negative opinions anymore. I cannot stop what I am doing. I cannot go long without creating something or I feel a strong disconnect.

Where do you stand?


Sidebar: Having some writing in the book was something I wanted. Although none of the writing is easily readable by design.  In looking for quotes, I came across a great one by Willie Nelson, " The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese." Love it! Hope it makes you chuckle like it did me and, of course, it's in the book!

To Risk and "Be"

The realization today was the downward pull of winter. While I did not mind shoveling the wet and heavy two-inches of snow that fell last night, it did not help my mood. I really had intended to clean the paper work area of my office, but the small containers of bits started calling to me. At first, it was dosed with a large amount of guilt. Am I becoming the person with bits too small to use? To brighten my mood, I decided to make a small collage ( 6 x 4.5 inches) only using things I had in one of my containers of small bits. The background is from a card made by Marianne Hammett of Chicago. The silk piece was applied to the card so crooked that it made me crazy and I could never mail it to anyone. I think I did a good job of camouflaging the crookedness by adding the wave trim and cutting the card.   I don't know what she uses but I also discovered almost nothing sticks to the silk! So efforts to change it failed although if you look closely you can see some stamping that I attempted. I do like the way I was able to change the white around the silk. The image of the woman is from a card my friend Marie Z. Johansen created and has sent me several times. Love it! I added the cherry blossom to her forehead and her "halo." I will gladly gift "BE" to Marie if she would like to have it. The words are reminders to myself and were left over from test prints for my 12-12-12 quilt.

This does show me, once again, that sometimes a limited palette works and what is needed to create. Too many choices can be just as bad as too few. Of course, it did not make much of a dent in my small bits, but it did brighten my mood.

While working on this piece, my mind went back to several conversations I have had this week on risk. I listened to one friend give a list of endless excuses of why she cannot be creative and so much of it was fear-based. Does trying new things take courage?  Is trying and failing such a bad thing? I frequently ask people who are afraid of risk, "What is the biggest chance you have ever taken?" I realize that getting on a plane and traveling to an unknown place a third of the world away is foreign to most people. But something is lost in our obsessive concern for safety and security--the spirit of adventure. Life is a gamble in which we don't get to deal the cards, but we are obligated to play them to the best of our ability. None of us gets out alive. I would much rather take a risk and fail then to simply be safe.  On the flip side, I have reconnected with former student and friend Diane Fisher. She has asked me to help her guild be more creative/adventuresome. I am so honored and excited! So what is the biggest chance you have ever taken?

And I'm making this my Off the Wall Fridays post. We all have to support each other!

Lovin' Every Inch!

I realize that I am probably the last person in the world to make inchies (1-inch x 1-inch pieces of art). All I can say is, "What took me so long!" Inchies are fun. I have the heARTist Trading Cards group to thank. We will be trading them. This time there is no theme which in some ways made it easier and in other ways more difficult. However, once I got going, it was nearly impossible to stop. Something like the potato chips I ate last night. I can once again share that trading art is a great way to explore and have fun. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to creating more. Have you made inchies? What do you like about them--making? trading?

Things We Do For Love and Balance In Our Lives

How do you say "thank you" for sunshine or health...for clear days or gentle rains...for happiness, joy or love? You say it by sharing what you have. You say it by making the world a better place in which to live. 
-Thomas D. Willhite

I decided to make my friend Carolyn who is going through some tough times a lap quilt for her birthday. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and loves patriotic things. I found a panel with images and decided to build a scrap quilt (why have just a little when you can have lots!) around them. Of course, I also decided not to have the blocks be in a straight row. I thought it might be more interesting. I am not sure I will have it done in time (February 27), but I am going to try. The good thing about adults is they don't mind celebrating more than once (having late gifts). For me, it is also important to find that balance between creating something for someone that is certainly not me and something that I can do with love and not feel burdened.

I have also started watching my grandson Tyler on Wednesday afternoons so his mom have a nap/relax. My son is gone from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Wednesdays for law school so she needs a break. I want Tyler and me to be close so I cherish the time I have with him. Friends are worried I'll become a full-time babysitter when Sang returns to work, but I have promised myself that this will not happen. I have waited most of my life to have time to play, explore, push myself artistically and create.  If I do not do it now, it may not ever happen. Balance. Something I have worked on attaining my whole life and I really think I am making progress!

I was feeling a little down over the weekend with lots of thoughts of "why bother" until I read my Sunday horoscope.  It said, "Remember your dreams and go for them. Break through those self-imposed limitations on what you think you're capable of. Increasing your work skills helps. Play full out but within budget." While I don't put much stock in Chicago Tribune's horoscopes, it was a message I needed to hear. Okay, I didn't like the budget part but that's true too! The universe has spoken and I am going to try my best to listen. What is the universe telling you?

Look to the Sky and Blossom

 My new Artist Trading  Card group, heARTist Trading Cards, with my talented friend Marie Z. Johansen, is up and running. I am thrilled! Linda Edkins Wyatt and Patty Van-Huis Cox are wonderful artists whom I have traded with in the past. Penny Stuart has also joined us, I love her enthusiasm and look forward to getting to know her.  Our first trade is the theme "Sky." I decided to try my hand at creating something that had movement and if you have followed my blog for any length of time, you know I love crows and quotes. I thought the Bob Dylan quote, "No one is free, even birds are chained to the sky," worked well. I can't wait to see what everyone else creates.

There is one opening in the group. We plan to keep the group at a maximum of 6 so that we can make great cards and not feel like we are having to mass produce. Let me know if you are interested.

Creating artist trading cards are a great way to explore and try new things. I also love being in communities that are supportive. You learn a lot about yourself. Marie likes to tease me that I am only feel good when I am ahead of the game which I have come to realize is true. And yet, I still consider myself a procrastinator. I view life as a continuous learning experience.

What calls us to create? Each calling is unique. No one responds to life the way you do. Emerson wrote, "To believe your own thoughts, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men--that is genius." Did you know "genius" come for the Latin meaning "in the spirit of a place"?  And as Ian Roberts said, "We give voice to how our spirit blossoms in the face of something that moves us." Here is to your spirit blossoming today.

Jeu de lettres or Playing with Letters

In an effort to get control of all these little bits of paper in my life, I came across this wonderful quote by Gerard Charriere, a Swiss-Trained Typographer and Book Artist.

If you choose a delicate typeface, don't put something with it that will overwhelm; it is a marriage. You can play with letters until they become part of the design. I like them to be very clear, with lots of space, each letter to make a statement. Sometimes I call my work 'Je de lettres" or playing with letters. I arrange them so that each one stands on its own, like in a bunch of flowers, yet never overcrowding. It is a balance. I see it when it works.

On the same piece of paper, I wrote "Pick a letter, set the timer, cut out letters from magazines, quickly arrange." I picked the letter "T," but started seeing some interesting "J's" so they got included too. The entire exercise took an hour. You can find it on the second to last page of one of my art journals. I am sure I will play with it some more because that is what I do.  It was a fun way to jump start my creativity today. What do you do to jump start your creativity?