Friday, February 29, 2008

Existential Crisis

So, I haven't created anything new since my last posting. I've been looking at lots of books on felting as well as some books on fashion design and drawing. It's all very overwhelming; I feel that I will never be as good an artist as I want to be and that I'm just spinning my wheels. I want to have a cohesive style, and I'm not sure that I have that yet, despite having been drawing and painting my entire life. I look at other people's work and am stunned by the innovation and ingenuity involved. I want to create BRILLIANCE! I feel as though I am always reaching upward to some hidden goal that I just can't seem to find. Feeling this way has been quite discouraging, which is why I've not even attempted to pick up a pencil or get out the glue or paper. I think I'm going through a phase where I see failure everywhere and feel that there's no point in making something else mediocre.

I will probably end up deleting this post at some point in the near future, but I felt like writing it all out anyway. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Hand-Felted Beads


Last year I bought some lovely wool roving and needle felting tools, intending on embarking on a new craft. I ended up putting all of the felting tools up in my closet, but recently they have been calling to me. Over the past week, I made a few embarrassing attempts at needle-felted brooches and so forth, when I decided to try hand-felting some beads since it looked like a lot of fun. Last night, I made my very first batch, which you can see above. I'm quite proud of them!

Basically, you take some wool roving, wrap it up into a ball, very carefully pour hot and soapy water onto the wool, roll it about in your hands for several minutes (add more water and soap), add pressure more and more as you go, until you are happy with the shape. Once you are, rinse the ball in hot water, and then rinse it in cold. Let dry overnight and you have your beads! I plan on doing more experiments with this new medium because I find it so very fascinating and so much fun.

I love new crafts!

Saturday, February 16, 2008

The Yellow Bird


I'm always inspired by nature and particularly by graceful, sinuous birds like the Snowy Egret. I decided to draw upon this bird for my latest collage, which I call The Yellow Bird. I like the curving shapes and how they are contrasted by the squares of blue sunlight in the background.

This image is now available in the shop.

Materials: Mat board (11x14), card stock, handmade papers, glue stick.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Three Birds In a Row


I was positively desperate to do something artistic last night, since I have been lazy in that regard for a few days. I looked through my "Bird" book for something to paint when I came across these three little gems: Southern Carmine Bee-Eaters. They are too cute for words and I love how they are all looking in the same direction for something. I'm quite satisfied with the result and it's always a good sign when I can feel good about something the next day!

UPDATE, March 2008: This item has been SOLD!

Materials: 8x10 gessoed artist panel, acrylic paint

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Bathing Beauty


While trolling through the clearance rack at Michael's the other day, I came across several pads of "Windpower Vellum Bristol" by Strathmore. Since I love the smooth texture of bristol board, I decided to grab a few pads, especially since they were on sale for the unbelievable price of $4.00 each. The above drawing was composed on this paper, and I think I have a new love. Not only is it just as nice and forgiving as regular bristol board, but it's environmentally friendly, too!

If you are interested in the image above, I have it for sale in my shop.

Materials: Strathmore Windpower Vellum Bristol board (11x14), Prismacolor colored pencils.