Fun with Making Molds and Casting

Since taking some workshops To Bead True Blue in Tucson with Linda Lenart McNulty, see her website here, I have been continuing to explore making molds with silicone clay (jeweler's putty) and casting with ICE resin.  On my drive back to Phoenix after the workshop, I stopped at Trader Joe's to get a salad for lunch.  The salad had some cute little grape tomatoes, so I saved three of them to make molds! 

Today I found a nice 3D citrus leaf and made a mold of it, as well as from a seedpod I found on a bush by the mall.

 



I have previously made self - hardening clay sculptures of prehistoric female spirit figures, and made molds of them.  I tried making 2 part molds, something Linda described in the class but we didn't have time to do.  You first make a partial mold with the jewelers putty, let it harden, then I sprayed it with Pam and made the second piece that fit over the first and made a tight seal, leaving a space to pour in resin.



To add local color to my work, I tried mixing some finely ground Arizona dirt into the ICE resin before I poured it. I was really pleased with how well it remained suspended in the resin mixture.

I didn't have oil paints to use for coloring the resin, so used some watercolor blocks.  Interestingly, the watercolor droplets floated in the ICE resin, which is some kind of oil substance, I believe.  The suspension of green and orange created a pale colored resin, as you can see.  I'm looking forward to seeing the effect when the resin hardens.  Here are several filled molds.

 

 

I added words, "Grow" "seeds of" self love" to the seed pod mold after I filled it with resin, as you can see below, if you click on the image.

 

Last, I embellished two previously cast resin pieces with ICE enamels.  I used ModPodge to adhere the enamel grains to the cast piece, then heated them with a small heat gun.  It worked, and the enamels melted onto the surface.  The resin pieces became soft and pliable when heated, but got hard again when they cooled.  I also bought some Swellegant metal coatings for polymer clay that I want to try on my ICE resin pieces, so stay tuned!

 

 

The Lion Man / or Is It the Lion Woman?  Time Will Tell!

The oldest piece of figurative sculpture in the world is making news again with the opening of a new exhibit at the British Museum, entitled 'Ice Age Art: Arrival of the Modern Mind'.  The 'Lion Man' is a carved piece of mammoth ivory found in the Stadel Cave in the Swabian Alps, in southwest Germany.

The modern story of this ancient sculpture is thrilling.  'Lion Man' was discovered in 1939 just before the outbreak of World War II, indeed, discovered on the day that the archeological dig was to be closed due to the impending war.  You can read more about it here and here.  Part of the figure was damaged in the archaeologist's haste to recover the artifact before the dig closed. 

The 12 inch high sculpture was assembled in 1970, with 30% or so of the pieces missing.  More pieces were found and added in 1989.  Recently 1000 or so more pieces were excavated in the Stadel Cave, which help complete the piece's right arm and neck.  It has actually grown a few centimeters taller.  A replica of the 'Lion Man' is being shown in the British exhibit because staff at the Ulm Museum, the lion's home, are reconstructing the figure using computer modeling to place the fragments.  They hope to exhibit the original this November.

Originally dated at 32,000 years old, carbon dating of bones at the site has revised its age to around 40,000 years old.  The piece was originally thought to be a male figure, but some of the markings raise speculation that it is a female.  As the 1,000 new fragments are put into place, there may be an answer to this riddle.

The 'Lion Man' represents the carver's ability to mentally conceive the combination of a human and animal in one figure, a surprising achievement for early humankind.  As Martin Bailey has written in The Art Newspaper:

"What was striking about the sculptor of the Lion Man sculptor is that he or she had a mind capable of imagination rather than simply representing real forms. As Cook says, it is “not necessary to have a brain with a complex pre-frontal cortex to form the mental image of a human or a lion—but it is to make the figure of a lion-man”. The Ulm sculpture therefore sheds further light on the evolution of homo sapiens."

I just love the friendly face and jaunty stance of the 'Lion Man'.  It is fun to speculate about the life of its creator, and how it might have been received and revered by the other members of the tribe.  I am looking forward to updates on the re-assembly of Lion Man / Woman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MARDIS GRAS!

Mardis Gras is my favorite holiday because BEADS are given away!  Among my favorite Mardis Gras beads are some of the antique Czech glass beads that were thrown in the early 1920's, when the Rex Krew first introduced them.  I bought them several years ago in New Orleans.  Not high quality but colorful and fun!   Here's a picture of them:

If you love beads like I do, check out the fun and gorgeous beads that Happy Mango Beads is giving away for Mardis Gras. Click here.  Leave a comment and you'll be entered in the contest for their beads!  Good luck!

A New Approach

I'm trying a different tactic with my art. I always have multiple things I want to do, and have tried having a journal or sketchbook where I keep all my ideas. This helps for some of the overflow, but often I have two main things I am torn between doing.

Right now, one of the things I want to do is to work with fabrics, dyes, paints, layering, printing and stitching.

The other thing I want to do is to create mixed media assemblages with fantasy beings and various collected stuff.

My dear hubby has suggested many times that I pick one thing and do it for a month.

I've tried. And tried. Every time I start one thing, I long for the other. Worse, I don't start either one because I can't decide which one to start with. I'm at a stalemate.

So here's my plan! Take it day by day. Work on mixed media for a day. Work on textiles for a day. Mixed media. Textiles.

Then I don't have to decide! No trying to pick the 'right' one. No pining away for the one not chosen.

Has anyone else had this problem? What works for you?

I will let you know how this works out. Wish me luck!!

Heart Guidance

I have been relying more and more on my heart lately as my source of calm and comfort. A couple of weeks ago an awareness came to me that helped me find a deeper connection to my heart's healing powers.

I have been feeling a bit down and confused, missing friends, kindred spirits, and uncertain of a meaningful direction in my life. I read about Lao Tzu, Chinese poet and philosopher, who, discouraged with the state of humankind, rode off alone into the mountains, never to be seen again. I thought, I know just how he felt. I said to myself, "My heart is heavy."

Gradually the thought arose that my heart is not what is heavy and sad. Rather my mind, where my emotions are registered, is feeling down. I find that envisioning the heaviness in my mind allows me to feel the peace and spaciousness in my heart. I know from my HeartMath studies that the heart has more influence upon the brain than vice versa. I also know that patterns of feelings are registered in a part of the brain called the amygdala. So feeling the peace in my heart, savoring its quiet expansiveness, has a tremendous calming effect on my brain.

I have found that making the significant switch to focusing on the quietness and openness that reside in my heart instead of attributing my sadness to my heart, allows those heavy feelings to slowly evaporate like mist in the morning sun.

May all beings find peace.

Fun Fabrics Found with a new Friend

It's always fun to go to a _____ store (you can fill in the blank - bead, fabric, art supply, etc.) and its even more fun with a like-minded soul who loves to add to her or his stash as much as you do! With our husbands occupied with their own pursuits today, we were able to dive into girl time and look freely without worrying whether our sig other was getting bored, knowing we'd hear about that for the next several years!

What a delicious event! So here are some shots of my most favorite fabrics that I found today.

I loved the human faces on the turtle and fish! They feed my ideas for some mixed media creatures with interchanged human / animal parts!

And how to resist these colorful Day of the Dead skulls? I've not seen them in a fabric before. Don't know how I'll use these fabrics, I think I often buy fabric just because it inspires me and makes me smile

or swoon!

I also recently took a collage workshop with Joyce McAdams which was fabulous. A wonderful tip I learned from her is to get color copies of my fabric or scan them into the computer (these are photos), so that I can save the original. The copies can be printed on either paper or fabric for use in collages, and they can then be altered with paint!!! How cool is that? Best, you still have the original fabric. Truly a hoarder's delight!

Enjoy your colorful world!

Be YOU!

Accept all of who you are, embrace your existence as THIS amazing being!



"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
Steve Jobs

With gratitude for the facebook posting from Gregg Braden

Would Love Kick Your Butt?

It's nice to think that when you've lost your way in your excuses and avoidance, that Something will come and smack you up the side of the head and set you straight! Thanks to Message from the Muse, here, for posting this poem.

All right Love, gimme some tough love!!

Tired of Speaking Sweetly
©Hafiz, via Daniel Ladinsky

Love wants to reach out and manhandle us,
break all our teacup talk of God.
If you had the courage and
could give the Beloved His choice, some nights,
he would just drag you around the room
by your hair,
ripping from your grip all those toys in the world
that bring you no joy.
Love sometimes gets tired of speaking sweetly
and wants to rip to shreds
all your erroneous notions of truth
that make you fight within yourself, dear one,
and with others,
causing the world to weep
on too many fine days.
God wants to manhandle us,
lock us inside of a tiny room with Himself
and practice His dropkick.
The Beloved sometimes wants
to do us a great favor:
hold us upside down
and shake all the nonsense out.
But when we hear
He is in such a “playful drunken mood”
most everyone I know
quickly packs their bags and hightails it
out of town.

Great Giveaway from Lovely Colorado Artist!

You'll want to check out these 2 uplifting retreats super collage artist KC Willis is offering at her Longmont, Colorado, studio next year! One is called Colorado Collage and features guest instructors as well as the inspirational KC! The other is called Imagination Congregation and is focused on making Christian art that will stand up and shout your faith!



Read all about these exciting opportunities to be inspired and find your inner artist on KC Willis' blog!



If you love vintage, you love paper, you love collage and western themes, and you love the cameraderie and inspiration of being with spirited women for an artmaking, soul-feeding, fabulous five days, hurry on over here and find out more from the links to these two great retreats (and guess what! Both are offered twice next year - so you'll have more opportunity to attend!)



Plus, KC and the visiting artists are offering an amazing goodie box for helping to spread the word! So check out KC's blog and the retreats and the fun and amazing art of KC Willis! (And learn how you, too, could be eligible for this great giveaway goodie box!

What I Learned from Seeing Artists at Work

Do you want to make more art?

What I've learned from visiting artists' studios this past weekend is that it really helps to see and hear the artist's process.

I've taken loads of classes and workshops, most of which are designed to give you a controlled art making experience. You're guided in a step by step process to success, with all the kinks ironed out.

Then you start out on your own, and WHOOOAAH! things don't run that smoothly. You may start to doubt yourself. And if you want to try something different, your self doubt can keep you in 'known' territory.

But visit some artists in their studios and you'll see just how gnarly the creative process can be. You'll see that it's messy (no, you're not the only one); it's filled with experimentation; flops; trial and error and, if you're persistant, success.

Look around a studio and you'll see beginnings of all kinds of projects. Talk with an artist in their working space and you'll hear about how many times they had to rework something to get it to turn out the way they wanted.

Yes, being an artist is about having ideas and making connections. It's about playing with materials and having fun. It's also about sticking with an idea through all of it's phases, including finding out what you tried just won't work, trying something else, learning a new technique, and voila! often many steps and missteps later, a finished show-ready piece emerges!

So go to your studio and make stuff and stick with it!

Learning to Play

Last spring I wrote about perfectionism here. My Little Miss Perfect was in full swing when I came home from Texas and amassed lots of supplies and books to help me learn about and improve in working with pastels. Trouble was, I hated making drawings of outdoor scenes and still lifes. I am able to make things look 'real' but I don't like the process. I get all tight and anxious about the finished piece. It's not much fun for me. But I tell myself that's what I'm 'sposed' to do.

So here I was, with all these new supplies, and I wasn't using them. As you might imagine, the guilt set in. I longed to loosen up with the pastels, but whenever I stared at that big sheet of paper, I felt like I had to make some 'real' art. Then a couple of experiences allowed me to find a new way. I hope my learning might help you, too, if you're faced with perfectionism.

Recently, I spent a fun and inspirational afternoon taking an Artist Journal workshop with Fran Meneley in Longmont. Although I'd done some collage, written a journal off and on for years, and done some sketching of ideas in my journals, this was my first attempt at the 'artist' journal.

It was intriguing and puzzling. Was it 'supposed to' be pretty, personal, artsy or raw? What's my style? Well, as I relaxed into making pages over the next few weeks, I realized it was all those things. Although I tend to value the raw over the pretty. Pretty gets my perfectionist thang going.

Last weekend I attended Boulder's Open Studios tour. One of my favorites was Caroline Douglas, a clay artist with a wonderful imagination. She had several small watercolor and pastel working sketches in her studio that reflected the way I long to play with pastels. I want to make imaginary pictures. Caroline's work showed me the way.

So last night I brought a box of pastels up to my art journaling area in an annex of our kitchen, and I restored my relationship with my pastels! How great to use them in my art journal, where pages are smaller and less 'special' than my pastel paper, so I feel free to experiment!

It can be really tough to let ourselves play. Lots of expectations can trap us. I'm grateful for playful artists like Caroline and Fran, who have shown me the way and helped me give myself permission to have fun. If you're stuck in the perfectionism rut, find a mentor of play, a queen or king of fun, and learn how you can let yourself go. You'll be glad you did!

Photos of the Day

Taken in Rocky Mountain National Park, Wild Basin area, along the St. Vrain River, on Saturday, September 11, 2010.

A Part of Me Is...

Often I have the experience of feeling painfully awash with fear or worry or procrastination, so that I can't really 'see' anything else in life. I am finding that there IS a way to take tiny steps toward freedom and spaciousness, even in the midst of overwhelming emotions.

In my last post, I wrote about Ann Weisser Cornell's teaching on Focusing. A major learning I'm implementing from Cornell's book The Power of Focusing, is a phrase that helps me remember that not ALL of me is involved in whatever emotion may be distressing me at the moment.

One of the things that often happens to me is that I plan the night before to spend time making art the next day. However, next day, I may procrastinate and start criticizing myself for not working on any art projects.

When I remember to say, "'A part of me' does not want to make art today," it does two things for me. First, I can acknowledge that some energy, maybe resistance, or another commitment, is pulling me away from my artmaking. When I recognize the resistance, it can relax - it is being heard. It's still there, but the pull is not so strong.

Second, it is very important for me to recognize that this feeling is a 'part' of me, not all encompassing. Whew! This leaves room for so much possibility! Particularly:

• It frees me to become aware of my Higher Self - that spacious place of inner peace that is connected to the All
• There is room for other points of view, within me or outside of me, that have a different perspective on my dilemma, and
• It frees me to live in the moment, to enjoy the sunlight on my worktable, to appreciate my dog's easy presence, without being immersed in my overwhelming angst

Helene Brenner, in I Know I'm in There Somewhere, writes:

"Your Larger Self is bigger than all of your thoughts, feelings and life problems. Whenever you forget this and make something or someone else bigger than You are, you are out of touch with your Larger Self."

This Larger Self is is so much more than your thoughts and feelings. It is not necessarily God or a Higher Power, but is the wise inner knowing that whispers truth and freedom and compassion. How easily I can drown that voice, lose touch with it, by listening only to my problem.

My journey is, each time I find myself immersed in the experience of berating myself for not making art and buying yet more supplies, to repeat the mantra - "A Part of Me is feeling ashamed now." "A Part of Me is scared." "A Part of Me is upset."

Ahhh, then I have some room to breathe. Wishing you the same.

A Fresh New Start

As of this week, I am officially re-focusing on my life as an artist! Making art and 'things' is my first and deepest love, and I'm excited to be moving in this direction!

I'm reading a book called I Know I'm in There Somewhere: A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner Voice and Living a Life of Authenticity by Helene G. Brenner, Ph. D. Brenner speaks to me so deeply. I've felt for most of my life, since jr. high, that I lost my voice. Reassuringly, it isn't lost, I just haven't attended to it. Brenner has many exercises in the book to recover one's capacity to 'hear' your voice.

Additionally, as a coach, I trained with Marlena Fields, who teaches bodymindspirit awareness, based on Hakomi psychotherapy, a body based therapy. In Marlena's class, I met a friend who has shared some focusing techniques with me, this based on the work of Eugene Gendlin and Ann Weiser Cornell, and teaches one to learn to read felt body sensations.

I mention all this as it is a significant part of my journey, and is helping me to let go of feeling that making art is just a self-serving activity, something not as important as coaching or working as an occupational therapist.

I am embracing the joy I feel when I play around with fabric, thread, stitiching, paints and natural dyes!

I've written a vision statement, and here it is:

My vision is to bring more creativity, joy, imagination and wonder into the world through the making and sharing of my art.

I'll be using my blog to give a running commentary on my process, learnings, experiments and healing. Indeed, it has been very healing already to make this commitment to the one thing in life that makes me so happy.

The Snarl of Perfectionism

Does perfectionism ever scare you away from enjoying making art? It sure has for me. As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm taking a pastel drawing/painting class. I really love pastels, and want to learn to work loosely with them.

I find myself often caught in the bind of not wanting to try anything different on a piece I'm working on because I don't want to 'ruin' it. I want it to turn out looking perfect, and so I don't take chances on making different markings, or experiment with other colors.

I am trying to drop this perfectionist tendency. It stops me from experimenting and learning more about the medium. I lose my opportunity to see what's in front of me. And I'm more likely to continue my obsession with tiny details which feels stifling. Perfectionism also stops me from having fun and finding the joy in making art.

So this little guy inspires me in a couple of ways - first, to consider that my perfectionism is not all that fierce.

Second, next time it kicks in I'll just snarl back at it and keep on going my merry way!

Have fun creating this week!



Image from flikr, used with creative commons license.

What is art?

A friend sent me a reference to Karen's Whimsy website today. On it, I found Karen's tribute to her mother, who died of Alzheimer's Disease. Karen's mom made artful arrangements of seeds, flowers and stems in the garden as her disease progressed. Karen photographed these and made a video. You can read about her project here and see the video here (you may need a browser such as Firefox to view the video).

This is such a loving and poignant memoir of a creative woman. When we find ourselves struggling in our creativity, it is a powerful reminder of what art is.

Expectations

I'm living in Port Aransas, Texas, for the next few weeks. There's a great little art center here called 'Art Center of the Islands' that has weekly drop-in art classes. I started attending a pastel class last week.

I almost didn't go to my first class, even though I've wanted to use pastels for about 20 years! Fortunately, my husband helped me get through that barrier. He asked me what would be the worst that would happen. I said that I wanted to create a masterpiece. I wanted to make a picture that would knock everyone's socks off. The worst thing would be that I would make something reallyugly and disappointing.

Talk about crazy expectations. We all have them. Different flavors, such as 'I'll never be any good at that', or 'I have to be the best in the class' or 'I don't have any original ideas'. Whatever they are, they can stop us from ever starting. And they prevent us from learning and enjoying ourselves.

I was able to giggle a little bit about my big ole expectation, and decided to go into the class with the following guidelines:

• I want to have fun
• Let's just see what happens

Well, I got MY socks knocked off! I learned that like watercolors and oils, pastels are used in layers. You can even change the way something looks by coloring over it completely. So they have qualities of paints, without the water; and qualities of drawing, but with a looser approach. Is that why I have wanted to use them for years? Because they are just about the perfect medium for me?

I love drawing, but not in the painstakingly accurate way that pencils lend themseves to. I like painting but get frustrated with mixing color, only to have it run out. Pastels proved to be the best of both worlds - a medium for creating images, and COLOR!!!

If I had been stopped by my expectation that I had to create perfection from the get-go, I would never have discovered a medium that delights me, and, as long as I keep my pesky expectations in line, promises to be a fascinating teacher for me.

What might happen if you substituted an attitude of curiosity and a desire to have fun for your expectations? [Hint: Surprise!! Delight!!]

Retreat?

Ahhhhhh!

When everything gets crazy, you feel completely overwhelmed and like you don't have a minute to spare, that's when it's most important to carve out some time for yourself.

Jennifer Louden is running a contest on her ComfortQueen blog in which she's giving away a free pass to her February 2010 Virtual Retreat. You can get some bubble bath and retreat without ever having to leave home! Check out the information and entry requirements on the ComfortQueen blog

When I read about it, I thought, Oh no, I'm already overloaded with people wanting to tell me how to be happy, creative, successful. How can I possibly listen to 11 more lectures about it, in between everything else I've got scheduled? Then I listened to a short video from Jennifer and realized, (DUH!) it's a retreat! That's all you're supposed to do ALL DAY - is RETREAT!

Now I get it!

Enjoy the SLIDESHOW.

Bowl of the Year

I've been reading Sue Bender's Everyday Sacred. The cover image is a simple bowl and since Bender is a potter, the bowl is a central theme in her book. Bender thoughtfully reflects on the monk's beggar bowl, with which he asks for his daily nourishment.

It occured to me that a year is like a bowl - circular, complete, repeating from one year to the next, with an arbitrary beginning / ending point. And yet each year, unique.

What has filled your 2009 bowl? What did you ask for? What came to your bowl unbidden? Perhaps your bowl was filled with ease, perhaps challenge or hardship, certainly it was filled with change.

No matter what your year bowl contains, I imagine it is rich and savory. Yet you may want to spice it up a bit, or perhaps add an accompaniment to cool it down.

Bring your year bowl into your heart space and feel deep appreciation for a year of nourishment, for the gift and blessings of the year. Feel gratitude as well for the challenges, which may take some time to reveal their lessons or blessings.

Lastly, carefully cleanse your bowl and prepare it for a new year of offerings.

May your new year bring you peace.

The Importance of Appreciation

"If there is a sin against life, it consists not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life." Albert Camus

How often do you find yourself wishing 'if only...' If only I could sing. If only I had more imagination. If only I were taller, shorter, smarter, funnier. Oh, the list goes on.

How much of our life we waste by failing to acknowledge and appreciate our own gifts. As we pine away for a different talent or gift, the world suffers the loss of our own 'grandeur'.

As we approach a new year, I ask you to take a hard look at yourself. Do you minimize your creativity, humor, writing ability, or perhaps capacity to care for others? The world is not served by your denial of your gifts and strengths.

I would like to challenge you to embrace your strengths and talents and find a way to share them. Not only will other beings on the planet benefit, YOU will also find greater inner peace and joy in your life.

Happy Holidays to all.

photograph by Danilo Rizzuti on FreeDigitalPhotos.net