Arting Away

This is a sneak peak of the work I'm doing for the show with the November 1 deadline.  I set out to do a mixed media piece using materials/techniques including crochet, shrinky dink, water colors, and maybe embroidery.  I've been working on the crochet elements for the last two weeks because it just takes forever when you use the thin thread instead of yarn.  The picture shows how I incorporated shrinky dink into the chrochet.

So far my unemployment has been peppered with holidays so I haven't really had much time to fill.  This is my first full week without a holiday coming up, and it's pretty busy.  Tomorrow I start back up at the pottery studio finally, and I am working on these shows as well as revamping my portfolio and website.  Those projects combined with general erranding and the inexplicable time warping that happens when you're home all day makes for a full-feeling day.  Why is it that time goes by faster when you're at home all day?

Making Deadlines

When my time at my organization ended, I was really concerned about what I would do without somewhere to go every day.  I am very productive at work, but sometimes it's hard to be productive for my own projects.  I'm still in the early part of adjusting to being on my own most of the day most of the week, and with the holidays this month I haven't really been faced with a full week alone yet.  But to make sure I keep myself busy and working, I made a "menu" of things I could be doing. 

But that's not really enough, I think, because part of what makes me so productive at work is the deadlines.  So I am going to try to focus on my artist identity a lot during this time of complete "employment rest" and sign up for some shows.  I've got three shows with upcoming deadlines in my sights, one of which is coming up in only a few weeks but I am so excited and inspired by the project constraints.

AND, once the holidays have ended and I get to have full weeks again, I want to begin a regular schedule at the pottery studio again.  I was able to sell my work at the craft fair last summer and I really think that I have some good ideas that I want to see to fruition.

Everything is exciting and I only hope that I keep myself motivated.  I think this will be a major test in finishing what I start and finding internal motivation.  I also plan to use my blog as a way to keep myself motivated, with way more frequent posts and project updates.  We'll see, we'll see what 5772 will bring!

Day Book, D.A.I.Y.E. Day.

Today I made an organizer, because when I am feeling disorganized I make systems for organizing (and then maybe I don't use them).  I decided the first thing I would do after my time at my current position ended would be to do something that felt productive and grounding... so... and organizer it was.

I took three sides of an old box (plucked out of the paper recycling bin in our apartment, somewhat to JewishGuy's dismay).  I collaged on the outside, covered it with mod podge, and used brads to hold the "general to-do list" paper on one side.  Then I did something way too complicated to bind the other side together into a book and then sew it onto the cover very slowly.  I also put a brad on each side of the covers to be used as closure devices (a red string wraps around them to keep the book closed).

I might still sew a pocket into the large empty flap so that I have somewhere to keep business cards or whatever that I pick up.

Basically, I felt like I needed something to keep me motivated, because now that I have nowhere to go during the day I have become very anxious.  Okay, today was Day 1 of not having anywhere to go... and I already contacted a temp agency to help make some moneys while I continue the job search.

My position ended because the department closed, effective Erev Rosh Hashana, last Wednesday.  Last week was such a stressful week, and even though Rosh Hashana was good it was not due to our planning!  We were both so stressed we barely got what we needed to get done, done, and one of the meals we hosted was woefully short on food (I mean, for my standards - I want people to be stuffed with food of all sorts before dessert, and that just wasn't the case).

A piece of good news - I sent in my ATR application as soon as I got home from work on Wednesday!  All of my hours are finished, the application went in the mail, and this week (or next) I will follow-up to see if they got it.  Hooray!  I also put in for a hold on my LCAT permit, hopefully that will come through soon.

And finally, one of my goals for the month of October is to create a consistent online presence, which will mean a major overhaul of my website and blog.  I will keep updating (such that I have been) in the meantime, but look forward to some big changes soon :)

The Four Pound Terror (Part 5)

The Four Pound Terror (Part 4)

The Four Pound Terror (Part 3)

The Four Pound Terror (Part 2)

The Four Pound Terror (Part 1)

I've been doing this as a series on facebook, I suppose it's time they found their way to the blog!  I will post them one by one so each gets its own post.

Book making

Today I started assembling the books that I meant to assemble back in February when I initiated a mail-in collaborative artist book project.  Fifteen people signed up, fourteen people actually sent in pages, which is pretty good.  This morning I put holes in the pages and covers and bound six complete books in a few hours.  I'm hoping to finish them tonight and mail everything tomorrow or Thursday, but we'll see.

I really meant to have this finished back in February.  But that was when I started volunteering almost full time, along with a lot of other things, and it fell very far down the priority list.  Since the end of May I cut back my hours and a few other things, and have been spending time winding down.  I finally felt like I could begin to tackle this enormous undertaking.  I can't wait until it's finished.

Will I do something like this again..?  Maybe, but not a book project, not something that requires so much work on my end!  I have coordinated printmaking exchanges and that was much more fun because all it required (after coordinating sign-up, etc) was assembling collections of images and mailing them back.  It's the binding that has been the daunting part of the process.

Anyway... back to work!

Playing with buttons

Working on a mixed media project, doing some demos for clients, and this is what happened today.  Buttons, beads, embroidery, and some cool b&w fabric.

Our 2011 Patio Plans

Well, I was home today taking a bit of a vacation after coming back from Passover with family, and I decided to work on the plans for our patio that I mentioned.  The winter was really hard, especially with our heat going in and out every few days, and our apartment isn't very big.  We took this place because of its sweet patio space, so we are going to make it amazing for this summer.

So this is my vision!  I decided to make a collage because it helps me get a feel for the colors I want, and it also explains it to JewishGuy who luckily trusts my tastes enough to say "I can't picture it, but I'm sure it will look good."  So there you have it, the foundations of a good marriage, right? :)

Read the full description after the jump!

Plans and Plants

From here you can see (clockwise from left) the basil, spinach, tomatoes, chives, and then in the front right one little bell pepper starting to peek up!  The bell pepper seeds came from a pepper I got at the grocery store that I wasn't sure would sprout, but here we are!  And because the planters are clear, I can see that there are at least four other sprouts coming up.  Yay peppers!

I know there's not a lot of art making going on around here, but actually there's quite a bit of art making going on!   I just can't share it!  My groups at work are making many long-term projects so I don't have little directives to share, and I haven't been able to make my own versions of these projects so I can't even show the ones I'm working on.

However, the planting is part of a larger therapeutic process for me.  We are planning a big decorating project for the patio.  It's very exciting!  It is also helping me through these cold, wet days that are just dragging on.

I even made a sketch, although I don't think the lamps will be the same.  We'll have a vertical garden on the fence that gets the most sun, which is where these sprouts will go assuming they survive us being out of town for Passover (I'm going to ask the pet sitter to water them every day but I am nervous).  We're also planning to have solar lights placed around the fence and even make a solar light chandelier type thing so we can do seudah shlishit out there - the solar lights will turn on automatically when it gets dark so we don't have to do anything.  They aren't very bright but most of the meal would happen before it gets too dark anyway.  Also we are hoping to somehow cover the gigantic air conditioning units just to make it not seem so ugly and maybe buffer some of the noise.  When the units are both on it's pretty loud out there.  AND we're going to try to figure out something to do with the space right next to our apartment, under our upstairs neighbors' overhang, because it's kind of just empty space right now.

All that and more ... to be unveiled in June.  A big project!  A spring project to keep us focused on the summer and warm weather!  Keeping spirits high during the last days of winter and the first days of spring...

Happy Anniversary :)

Today is our second wedding anniversary.  It's funny that it's our "second" anniversary because we've been together for eight years!  But two years ago today we got married.  It was 75 and sunny (maybe a little misting of rain in the afternoon).  It was such an amazing day and an amazing weekend.  :) :)

This past weekend we sponsored kiddush and scotch club at shul and I made this surprise centerpiece while JewishGuy was at work.  He didn't know about it until it was on the table at shul.

I tried to recreate our wedding invitations in a found object sculpture.  Ha!

We decided not to do anything for our anniversary except go on a date and get a big cake with two candles in it.  It's too hectic to plan something crazy and really we don't need to do anything but spend time together.  AW.  MUSH.  Also, last year, our anniversary was the first seder, so we spent our anniversary at a stranger's house with lots of people we didn't know (and a few people we did) getting drunk and eating matzah.  Actually it was a TON of fun!  But having a big piece of cake on our anniversary is definitely an improvement over matzah.

(Anyway, we still haven't been on a honeymoon.  Whatever...)

Happy 2 years!  Looking forward to many, many more.

Mixed Media Inspiration Book

For a group that I am running I am working on a mixed media inspiration book.  I can't wait to write more about this project but it isn't finished being outlined quite yet.  It's very exciting, though!  Click the link below to see the whole book (the images were too large to post on the main blog page).

"Radvent Journal" December 2010

I'm participating in Princess Lasertron's December 2010 Radvent Journal project!  I started making a visual diary last night but I'm not sure I will have time for that every day with all of my crazy projects!  So how about one visual diary entry a week, and I will try to keep a text version up here every day.

Since they will be long entries, click the link below the image to read my response!

Make your own "Wristies"

(Image AND idea credit: mayamade.blogspot.com)

Ah ha!

I saw someone wearing these recently and she said she bought them at a store in the Village.  I said, wait, aren't those just sleeves from an old sweater with a thumb hole cut in them?  She said, ummmmmm maybe.  Debunking a purchase like that to a fellow art therapist probably wasn't the nicest thing I could have done (since now she knows how she could have made her own for free), but maybe now she'll make her own in many different colors and styles!

The ones on Maya Made are pleated, but you definitely don't have to do that to enjoy the wristies.

This reminds me a lot of the legwarmers my friend from grad school wore one day.  She said she just wanted to keep her legs warm in the Chicago winter but be able to slip them off once she got inside, but then left them on because they were cute.  So there you have it.  Legwarmers and wrist warmers.  Warmth never really goes out of style I guess!

So I decided to make my own!

Okay, they are knee-high socks instead of an old sweater because before moving to New York I donated all my old things and had nothing to recycle for this project.  Instead I went to H&M and bought some cheap, warm socks and cut them the same way.  I didn't pleat them because the top of the socks was stretchy enough.

At some point I may hem them because I don't trust the jagged edges not to unravel when I decide to wash them.  But they are warm and nice!  (Especially since our apartment still doesn't have heat!)

(PS: That awesome bowl on my desk is by Laura Zindel, and was a wedding present - along with three other Laura Zindel beauties :) )

Defining Home continued

Posting twice today to show an update of the defining home project (the last update was posted on my birthday).

I really like how it's coming along.  I like this project because I feel like I am really working alongside the people in my group.  Sometimes, especially when I get out the magazines, I am tempted to cut out pictures of flowers and pretty things, but I don't.  I'm trying to model the level of complexity and intention I am hoping they will achieve through this project.

I'm also trying to include other found objects, not just collaging and painting on the cardboard (although it's very tempting!)

In this end this project will have 8 pages (four physical pieces of cardboard).  We will be working on them for another 3 weeks, finishing on the last Monday of November and creating small write-ups about them for our gallery.

Happy birthday to me!!

Today is my birthday :) Hooray!

I am very excited to show you the progress on the "Defining Home" directive. I started this in one of my groups last week and now I love how it's going. The beans will be painted blue so they match the nest.

Maybe this is a boring post to you, but I am writing it the night before my birthday, and I have no idea what my birthday will bring (probably working in the ceramics studio and then going out to dinner). I also just got back from the American Art Therapy Association Conference in Sacramento, which I will tell you about a full month late in December - after Found Object Art Month is over.

So, enjoy the progress... I know I am!

Beads!

I promised to lead a bead workshop at work so I had better get practicing! I haven't made those sculpey beads in a long time, so today I experimented. I made lots and lots of beads, and even a pair of earrings.




They're all right, not amazing. I used leftover sculpey from the art room that was going to be thrown out, so I was limited on colors, but that doesn't really excuse the lack of design. I'll keep working on it.

However, I'm not sure how this bead workshop thing is going to work out. I think I will postpone it for after Found Object Art Month. It took three hours to make all of the beads, bake them, and string them. Granted, I made a lot of beads, but still, it will be more than a 45min project.

The reason I've decided to do a bead making workshop is because a lot of people make bracelets and necklaces but I wonder if they could invest more in their jewelry making. Some people have pioneered making beads or clay rings on their own, but when I mentioned the possibility of teaching people how to make their own custom matching beads people were excited about it. Maybe that's a December project, which could be made into gifts to give for Christmas (or "winter holiday season" gifts).

Vote for me in "Your Art Here"!!!

H&M is having a mural contest and I just couldn't resist! I've entered to make a mural on their display wall at their store at 42nd x 5th!

VOTE FOR ME!

I know it's pretty late in the game, I have no chance of catching up (especially since this ends on Friday), but why not?