tsk, tsk...heavy sigh...day two of doing nothing...things will get better eventually!
Friday, November 30, 2012
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
2012/365 - Day 333
LIFT has Adventure Time stuff!
I got these great Adventure Time toys today when I changed the art in the Art-o-mat machine at LIFT Designer Toys and Gallery in Royal Oak.
The Ice King and Lady Raincorn -- LIFT has some really cool Adventure Time stuff -- go get some NOW before it's all gone!
I got these great Adventure Time toys today when I changed the art in the Art-o-mat machine at LIFT Designer Toys and Gallery in Royal Oak.
The Ice King and Lady Raincorn -- LIFT has some really cool Adventure Time stuff -- go get some NOW before it's all gone!
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
2012/365 - Day 332
Northville Art House stuff, plus sewing the pieced-together-thing
Today I needed to stop at the Northville Art House (thank goodness Joan was working on a non-open day) and restock the Art-o-mat so that I can take some of that art to the LIFT machine in Royal Oak tomorrow.
I actually need to stop back by the Art House tomorrow because I (just now as I am blogging this) found the "missing" art packs I was looking for -- a middle edition of "Penciled In" ... so there will be that one with Juana and me and then the newer one with William Hessian and me.
I will update what is in this machine tomorrow in the blog post.
While I was there I took a quick look in the upper gallery at the Small Works exhibition (cash-and-carry all media juried exhibition...all work is 12"x12" or smaller).
LOOK -- a number of pieces have been sold -- you better get in and grab the art you had your eye on or you may lose out!
And here is an example of one of the many gift baskets -- these are very popular and are FULL of valuable items from Northville merchants.
This one is called Tis the Season.
Each basket has a list of what is inside of it.
Here is what you get in the Tis the Season basket -- yes, a chance at ALL of this stuff -- for a $1 raffle ticket!
The bags are starting to fill up -- better get some tickets!!!
Here is the quick explanation about the Holiday Basket Raffle -- buy your tickets in the Art House Store.
$1 each or 11 for $10.
This raffle is for the benefit of The Northville Art House.
There are also beautiful wreaths and holiday arrangements available.
The Northville Art House is open Wednesday - Saturday from 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Call (248) 344-0497 for information.
Tonight I gathered up all of the parts I have been seaming together for my "sewn-together-piece-of-fabric" experiment...
...and finished sewing them together!
This turned out pretty well so I think I will try one for real. My sister Sue gave me several more shirts (that change color when they get warm) and I want to make the strips a little wider -- well, at least the seam allowances parts.
This one is kind of cool, but it isn't very straight or evenly spaced. I will keep it for me and keep the experiment going to make a creature with it but I will make other that I pay more attention to detail on.
Now -- back to my book so I can finish reading it tonight and let Sue borrow it tomorrow. We are going to see Life of Pi for sure early next week...hopefully my niece Devon will be able to join us, too. Sue wants to read the book before we see the film.
Today I needed to stop at the Northville Art House (thank goodness Joan was working on a non-open day) and restock the Art-o-mat so that I can take some of that art to the LIFT machine in Royal Oak tomorrow.
I will update what is in this machine tomorrow in the blog post.
While I was there I took a quick look in the upper gallery at the Small Works exhibition (cash-and-carry all media juried exhibition...all work is 12"x12" or smaller).
LOOK -- a number of pieces have been sold -- you better get in and grab the art you had your eye on or you may lose out!
And here is an example of one of the many gift baskets -- these are very popular and are FULL of valuable items from Northville merchants.
This one is called Tis the Season.
Each basket has a list of what is inside of it.
Here is what you get in the Tis the Season basket -- yes, a chance at ALL of this stuff -- for a $1 raffle ticket!
The bags are starting to fill up -- better get some tickets!!!
Here is the quick explanation about the Holiday Basket Raffle -- buy your tickets in the Art House Store.
$1 each or 11 for $10.
This raffle is for the benefit of The Northville Art House.
There are also beautiful wreaths and holiday arrangements available.
The Northville Art House is open Wednesday - Saturday from 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Call (248) 344-0497 for information.
Tonight I gathered up all of the parts I have been seaming together for my "sewn-together-piece-of-fabric" experiment...
...and finished sewing them together!
This turned out pretty well so I think I will try one for real. My sister Sue gave me several more shirts (that change color when they get warm) and I want to make the strips a little wider -- well, at least the seam allowances parts.
This one is kind of cool, but it isn't very straight or evenly spaced. I will keep it for me and keep the experiment going to make a creature with it but I will make other that I pay more attention to detail on.
Now -- back to my book so I can finish reading it tonight and let Sue borrow it tomorrow. We are going to see Life of Pi for sure early next week...hopefully my niece Devon will be able to join us, too. Sue wants to read the book before we see the film.
Monday, November 26, 2012
2012/365 - Day 331
not much to see...
The only creative thing I did today was sew seams on four more strips for my sewn-together-piece-of-fabric idea.
The only creative thing I did today was sew seams on four more strips for my sewn-together-piece-of-fabric idea.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
2012/365 - Day 330
cats get their room back (and) making a hand, take one
I had let the cat room become a sort of storage/dumping room since about August. Twink looks longingly into the room several times a day and really misses the catwalks, so today I buckled down and cleared the room out. It took all day because there were several trips to the basement involved and I can't do that as quickly as I used to be able to. But it is done now and Twink is very happy!
before
after
Twink checks out one of the black chairs (that need to be taken downstairs but I can't do it myself).
It's funny to me that Twink can tell the difference between the cat room door and the studio door -- just the sound of my hand on the door knob(s)...exactly the same doors and knobs, only about 7 feet apart.
Twink was like liquid black lightning -- he was right up the stairs to the loft in the blink of an eye! I barely saw him do it or I would have believed he had teleported there.
I predict the return of the ninja cat.
Twink really enjoys the catwalks.
Bootsy wandered in and Twink was down the stairs in another flash to show Bootsy how to get upstairs.
Bootsy is still learning about the stairs and he goes up rather slowly. He is also not as sure-footed and graceful as Twink.
Bootsy is not a year old yet and is a heavier body type than Twink...I think that makes a little bit of a difference, too. Bootsy isn't exactly clumsy, it's more like he is reckless when he jumps and lands on things -- he doesn't judge distances too well yet.
That's Bootsy in the distance and Twink going to the catwalk.
Today I am also experimenting with making hands that I will eventually cover with plaster cloth. My goal with this little project is to find and use materials that I already have (some in abundance) around the house and studio.
I want the glove/hand to be a lightweight base to build on because the plaster cloth tends to make stuff get heavy quickly.
My first idea is to use fiberfill and masking tape...I have loads of both of these materials.
I tried inserting the "finger" into the glove, but it was too unstable. I tried the glove on and also blew it up to try to stretch the fingers out a little.
That didn't seem to have much effect. I ended up using a blunt pencil to work the fiberfill/tape finger into position.
Not too bad, but pretty crinkly.
For the next finger I tried using more fiberfill and wadding it a little tighter. That seemed to help, but not enough.
By the fourth finger (I already did the thumb) I was getting much better (and quicker) at wrapping the tape onto the fiberfill.
I was also using about twice the amount of fiberfill as I did with the first finger.
Well -- not too bad for "take one". The hand part is pretty squishy because it is just the un-taped ends of the fiberfill fingers.
I want the fingers to be more exaggerated, elongated. I'm thinking it may turn out that I will have to make them odd after first making a nearly normal looking hand...but I'd like to avoid that.
I think I will go back to my book and keep thinking...
I had let the cat room become a sort of storage/dumping room since about August. Twink looks longingly into the room several times a day and really misses the catwalks, so today I buckled down and cleared the room out. It took all day because there were several trips to the basement involved and I can't do that as quickly as I used to be able to. But it is done now and Twink is very happy!
before
after
Twink checks out one of the black chairs (that need to be taken downstairs but I can't do it myself).
It's funny to me that Twink can tell the difference between the cat room door and the studio door -- just the sound of my hand on the door knob(s)...exactly the same doors and knobs, only about 7 feet apart.
Twink was like liquid black lightning -- he was right up the stairs to the loft in the blink of an eye! I barely saw him do it or I would have believed he had teleported there.
I predict the return of the ninja cat.
Twink really enjoys the catwalks.
Bootsy wandered in and Twink was down the stairs in another flash to show Bootsy how to get upstairs.
Bootsy is still learning about the stairs and he goes up rather slowly. He is also not as sure-footed and graceful as Twink.
Bootsy is not a year old yet and is a heavier body type than Twink...I think that makes a little bit of a difference, too. Bootsy isn't exactly clumsy, it's more like he is reckless when he jumps and lands on things -- he doesn't judge distances too well yet.
That's Bootsy in the distance and Twink going to the catwalk.
I want the glove/hand to be a lightweight base to build on because the plaster cloth tends to make stuff get heavy quickly.
My first idea is to use fiberfill and masking tape...I have loads of both of these materials.
I tried inserting the "finger" into the glove, but it was too unstable. I tried the glove on and also blew it up to try to stretch the fingers out a little.
That didn't seem to have much effect. I ended up using a blunt pencil to work the fiberfill/tape finger into position.
Not too bad, but pretty crinkly.
For the next finger I tried using more fiberfill and wadding it a little tighter. That seemed to help, but not enough.
By the fourth finger (I already did the thumb) I was getting much better (and quicker) at wrapping the tape onto the fiberfill.
I was also using about twice the amount of fiberfill as I did with the first finger.
Well -- not too bad for "take one". The hand part is pretty squishy because it is just the un-taped ends of the fiberfill fingers.
I want the fingers to be more exaggerated, elongated. I'm thinking it may turn out that I will have to make them odd after first making a nearly normal looking hand...but I'd like to avoid that.
I think I will go back to my book and keep thinking...
Saturday, November 24, 2012
2012/365 - Day 329
reading and playing that game
I know, I know...I have not been productive at all today. I have been reading my book and playing the shiny distraction (Glitch). Glitch is closing down in early December, and I really don't know why I have been playing it so much today in particular...but I have been and that (plus reading my book) are what have taken up my day and night today.
I know it is hard to see, but those are little "heli cats" that fly around with their tails acting like helicopter blades. They purr and make the sweetest sounds. That is me in my tiara and lab coat and sparkly shoes. Ridiculous but compelling. It is kind of a good thing (for me) that the game is going away...it is really hard to not play it. It really is/was wonderful and indescribable.
I am going to try to add a couple of videos from YouTube to show you what the game was like -- but the videos just scratch the surface of how it was...and I've only been playing for a few months...I can imagine how tough it is for the people who have played it from the beginning to have to let it go now.
I know, I know...I have not been productive at all today. I have been reading my book and playing the shiny distraction (Glitch). Glitch is closing down in early December, and I really don't know why I have been playing it so much today in particular...but I have been and that (plus reading my book) are what have taken up my day and night today.
I am going to try to add a couple of videos from YouTube to show you what the game was like -- but the videos just scratch the surface of how it was...and I've only been playing for a few months...I can imagine how tough it is for the people who have played it from the beginning to have to let it go now.
Friday, November 23, 2012
2012/365 - Day 328
flurries and rushes of ideas
It has been a little hard to deal with the bombardment of ideas today. I have tried (at times) to stop for a second to take notes or sketch the idea -- but you know I am not much of a sketchbook keeper. I have lots of empty sketchbooks, I am just not all that able to get what I see in my head at the moment onto the paper in such a way that it will make sense to me later.
But today I gave it a shot a few times -- and who knows, maybe a phrase or goofy drawing will trigger something when I come back to it at another time?
First, as I was walking by this large repurposed canvas (canvas #6) I saw a whole grouping of creatures in the half-light of the room. I had to outline them lightly with a pencil right then because I knew I wouldn't see them again if I looked for them.
the canvas as I walked by it in the dim lighting
(right now as I make this blog entry, I see an owl in the general area)
the grouping up close (and blurry)
a panda-like creature
a cat-chipmunk guy
a fennec
okay -- this is where the editing problems start and I am not going to fight with the editor any more tonight...everything from this point will be centered with no captions. (okay, and now the photos won't center, either.) ANYway...the real life creature below is a fennec. The last canvas photo shows how I penciled in the outlines so I could find the creatures when I come back to this again.
I saw this in my head as some sort of fishy guy (or narwhal or whale or something)
(okay...so now the editor is cooperating again? Gah -- I don't get it!)
another page of trying to get stuff onto paper quickly
two details
more of the cut-then-sewn-together-strips-of-fabric idea
I am sure this was inspired by the quilting book Leann brought for us to look at during the last Wednesday at Joan's we had.
I decided to give the cut/sewn again strips a shot.
Aha! "Inspector 12" is revealed! It is Bootsy!
I smoothed out two pieces of fabric over each other and drew lines for the cutting.
I went back and marked them with numbers just in case.
dammit -- there goes the editor again! I wasn't sure if the seams would match up -- that is the reason for the numbers.
(and now it is working again? -- ai-eeeeeee!)
All of the strips cut up and the leftovers are folded together. And yes, I did allow myself to throw away some small pieces.
Seams sewn for two strips...now to put them together.
Maybe this will work!
Yep -- it looks like it is working!
I called Sue real quick and she said she'd gather up some more of the color-changing shirts that are defective or just not selling. Yay!
LOL -- this fabric cracks me up when I am using it...it takes on my hand print so easily!
Okay -- that's enough wrestling with the blog entry editor for one night!
It has been a little hard to deal with the bombardment of ideas today. I have tried (at times) to stop for a second to take notes or sketch the idea -- but you know I am not much of a sketchbook keeper. I have lots of empty sketchbooks, I am just not all that able to get what I see in my head at the moment onto the paper in such a way that it will make sense to me later.
But today I gave it a shot a few times -- and who knows, maybe a phrase or goofy drawing will trigger something when I come back to it at another time?
First, as I was walking by this large repurposed canvas (canvas #6) I saw a whole grouping of creatures in the half-light of the room. I had to outline them lightly with a pencil right then because I knew I wouldn't see them again if I looked for them.
the canvas as I walked by it in the dim lighting
(right now as I make this blog entry, I see an owl in the general area)
the grouping up close (and blurry)
a panda-like creature
a cat-chipmunk guy
a fennec
okay -- this is where the editing problems start and I am not going to fight with the editor any more tonight...everything from this point will be centered with no captions. (okay, and now the photos won't center, either.) ANYway...the real life creature below is a fennec. The last canvas photo shows how I penciled in the outlines so I could find the creatures when I come back to this again.
Later in the day I saw this photo by Woodie Anderson on Facebook and I was instantly inspired. I wrote to her to ask her if she had used gloves. She wrote back: "Not gloves, but close. I drew a pattern with my hand and sewed them .. Glove like, I guess ...."
Which is cool because now -- when I finally get my project worked out all the way -- it will be obviously inspired by Woodie's work, but I will be using vinyl gloves and plaster cloth...so not a direct copy.
Later still, I was reading my book again and drifting in and out of drowsing, and I startled awake with the flurry of ideas and these are a few that I managed to get on paper:
I saw this in my head as some sort of fishy guy (or narwhal or whale or something)
(okay...so now the editor is cooperating again? Gah -- I don't get it!)
another page of trying to get stuff onto paper quickly
two details
more of the cut-then-sewn-together-strips-of-fabric idea
I am sure this was inspired by the quilting book Leann brought for us to look at during the last Wednesday at Joan's we had.
I decided to give the cut/sewn again strips a shot.
Aha! "Inspector 12" is revealed! It is Bootsy!
I smoothed out two pieces of fabric over each other and drew lines for the cutting.
I went back and marked them with numbers just in case.
dammit -- there goes the editor again! I wasn't sure if the seams would match up -- that is the reason for the numbers.
(and now it is working again? -- ai-eeeeeee!)
All of the strips cut up and the leftovers are folded together. And yes, I did allow myself to throw away some small pieces.
Seams sewn for two strips...now to put them together.
Maybe this will work!
Yep -- it looks like it is working!
I called Sue real quick and she said she'd gather up some more of the color-changing shirts that are defective or just not selling. Yay!
LOL -- this fabric cracks me up when I am using it...it takes on my hand print so easily!
Okay -- that's enough wrestling with the blog entry editor for one night!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
