woven jewelry

This past weekend, I took a workshop from Marilyn Moore (http://www.marilynmoore.net/) on twining with wire.  At the right is my first attempt.  It is like basket weaving, except it is done with copper wires as the spokes, and the twining wire is craft wire very thin (32 and 34 gauge).  Craft wire is copper wire with a coating of color.   While working with the wire, you wrap it on the plastic spools you can see next to the pin I'm making, which is supposed to become a gingko leaf.   This project is a "kit", and I'm using it to learn the techniques.  It is a slow process, to wind the wire, and push it down and compress it together.  Not sure if I've quite got the process down yet, will do some more experimenting.

Here's the beginning of Marilyn Moore's artist statement "I have been intrigued with baskets for many years. Thinking about what can be placed in the basket, what gives life to the inanimate object of the basket, informs the way that I look at my work. The basket is the container of things needed to maintain my life, utilitarian as well as beautiful. 
Memories, memento's of my own life process, are kept in the baskets that I make and also collect. As I look at each basket they bring back a place and time, a part of my progression as a person and as an artist. Putting ideas into the basket as I work on it has become as important as design and color to my aesthetic sense. Using color to express an idea or even just a mood is a means of expression that evolves like the slow processes that I use."

Walking in This World

Since the first of the year,  I've been working through the book "Walking in This World: the Practical Art of Creativity" by Julia Cameron.    It's a sequel the "The Artist's Way".   Tom, Lynn and I started it on  New Year's Day (2010),  and we aren't quite doing the recommended 1 chapter a week.  

Besides the daily writing morning pages, there is a weekly "artist date" and "Weekly Walk".   This week, I took my "weekly walk" partly via bicycle.  I cycled to the west side of the island,  walked down Hansen Road, down my driveway, and took this picture looking across the water (Port Orchard)  to Brownsville Marina, on the right there is a tug going by, and Olympics are in the distance.  in the foreground is a Madrona tree.  The morning was crisp and cool,  not much wind.    At the beach,  I am close to the rhythms of nature, with the tide going out.  Above, an eagle soared. 

Part of using this book as a guide is that I can read the same chapter on different days and make totally new discoveries.   Chapter 7,  "Discovering a Sense of Momentum",  dismantling procrastination.  I'm a master at procrastination.   I told myself I'd do two blogs this week, and at 11:35 pm on Friday night I'm working my way through the second one.  Oh well.

This week I also signed up for a photography class at the Pacific Northwest Art School  "Photographing 3D and Fabric Art", in April.  I hope to learn how to capture what I see in person in photos.

Knitting too

I spent more that a year making this sweater.  I was sad when I finished it, it was such an experience making it.  It kept my lap warm and it was soft and fuzzy, and the collection of colors and textures was a continuous sensual experience.  It is made in sections, back, fronts, sleeves, side panels,  so until the end, it was very portable.

The project started with a trip to Albuquerque, NM to take a class from Patricia Werner,  at Village Wools. It's done in a style called modular knitting.  It's like a puzzle, you make one triangle, then add another, then another until pretty soon you have a sweater. The outside is Zitron Ethno yarn, which is an 85% merino wool, 15% nylon.  The inside of each triangle is Classic EliteWool Bam Boo.  My sister Mary and I took the class together and she made a vest, I decided for Seattle weather it would be nice to make a sweater.  We bought the six colors of the bamboo yarn and split them, so her sweater is similar but very different.

It gives the impression of a patchwork quilt.  While making it, it was a random walk thru the knitting bag to decide what the next color would be.  I tried not to put two triangles with the same color center together.  

After this sweater, any other one looks plain.

Studio work

A demonstration piece that has words (Love, Fear, Never, Missed) which can be read in any order.  This piece has solder, rivets, stamps, texturing, and is made of silver, brass and copper.  It is about 1 1/2" by 1 1/3".    I like the layers, the contrast of the texture in the background, with the smoother brass.  On the backside is the word HOPE.

The good news of the week is that I got my acetylene tank functional again.  the valve at the top had a small leak,  I over tightened it and then couldn't get it open again, but ended up getting it open with a wrench.  The place where you put the wrench is a bit rounded out, but with some help from my studio-mate Chris and some moral support from Tom, was able to get it working.  And today successfully opened and closed it myself.   The issue is that the local gas delivery people won't deliver to a residential address, and you can't carry these tanks in a car, you need to carry them in open air.  So I'd need to borrow a truck to go to the welding shop, and they are only open Monday to Friday... while I'm at work.  So it was a big relief to be able to use what I have.

The studio is a bit of a a "work in progress" at this point, but at least the torches are working again, and there is some space to actually work.  I have both an oxygen propane torch for doing lampwork (making glass beads and more), and an acetylene torch for metal soldering.  There is a vent over the torch area.   Also have a pottery kiln that I have also done some fused glass and enameling in.  By the way if you click on the photos, you can see a bigger version. 

I also put together a pair of earrings, using glass beads I made, and slightly domed silver disks.   I'm experimenting with what shape ear wired to make, these are slightly hammered sterling wires.

Felting

Felting is a current fascination for me, particularly the three dimensional effect that you get with nuno felting.  I made a kimono jacket and some scarves a few years ago at a class at Oregon College of Art and Craft, and  I made some felt scarves at Christmas:  here is a picture of the scarves at the beginning of the felting process, just laying out the wool and getting it wet.
Nuno felting is where the wool is felted onto a piece of fabric, in this case a piece of silk.  The resulting fabric can be lighter, more flexible because it gets it's strength from the fabric as well as the wool.  The process involves laying out the fabric, laying the wool in small tufts on top of it adding water with a little soap, rolling it up (we used bubble wrap), and agitating it, rolling it over and over in a tube, then unrolling, adjusting, rerolling etc, then finally taking it off the bubble wrap, now the wool fibers are attached to the fabric, then adding hot water and throwing it down on the ground til it shrinks to the point you want it.



here are a couple pictures of the scarves finished. They are about 4 feet long, 8 inches wide...
I started with blue dyed silk organza and black and white wool.   When you lay out the wool, you really can't tell quite what it will turn out like, as it shrinks, puckers, moves a little... So there is a bit of magic and happy accident in it. 

I found this  video http://blog.cooperhewitt.org/2009/03/27/video-fashioning-felt-on-martha-stewart  that talks about an exhibit in 2009 at  the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York. It includes objects made from industrial felt at left and a yurt made by Janice Arnold, and some video of the construction of the felt.

Favorite images

I took this picture at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a while ago, but its still one of my favorite images.  So, it could be a source of inspiration...
What I like about it is the contrast of colors and the complexity of the tendrils, and the bit of movement as well.  

Life is Good

  The picture at the right was done by Tom, for fun, for communicating, for making another person happy.
amazing that you can do doodles on an iphone.

My goal for this week is to do a little bit of creativity every day.