and being creative again! woo hoo!
I had a bit of a cancer scare. I went for an annual physical, and my doctor found that my thyroid was enlarged, and all the test results kept coming back indeterminate. Given that my mother died of cancer when she was five years older than I am now, there was a lot of anxiety, and a lot of emotion, and not much room for creativity. I realize now, I should have made room for it.
Along the way we also discovered I have an abnormal EKG, so that was a concern. More anxiety. It turns out that it is "abnormal" the way a head of red hair is "abnormal" - meaning just rare, not dangerous. My heart is good to go.
After six weeks of testing, I finally had the thyroid out. The surgery itself was quite easy, and I am now fully recovered. Well, almost fully, there are still some calcium issues, but we are hoping they will resolve on their own.
And the final word is - no cancer. There never was cancer! It was just lumpy and large, and the surgeon took it out simply because it was so lumpy, it would be difficult to track in the future.
No cancer, and significantly in debt due to medical expenses.
In the midst of all this, I also moved my studio, taking the smaller guest bedroom to sleep in, and moving all my creative stuff into the larger bedroom to work in. I had been thinking about moving for a while, but it seemed overwhelming and I wasn't sure I would like it. Someone came to help me, so the overwhelming part was diminished (thank you!), and I like this new art studio very much! There is so much space, and light. I now have different work surfaces available so I am not constantly moving one project aside and putting one set of tools away, in order to work on something else while waiting for the first thing to dry or cure or pickle.
However, I have spent several weeks not able to find anything! My methodology, I'm afraid, is a little bit cluttered. I think it requires clutter, to a certain extent. I'm a bit of a sifter when I am working. I need to see things, rearrange them - bead colors lined up next to each other for example. So I take out 30 tubes of beads and move them around. Then there are 27 tubes of beads lying around, after I have picked the 3 I need and start to work. At least now, I have the space to let them lie around for a while, I don't have to immediately put them away.
Because all the things were moved, I would be looking for one certain thing, and it was in a new place in a new room. It has taken several weeks for me to adjust my thought process about where that one tool that I KNOW IS AROUND HERE SOMEWHERE might be.
I work mostly in the center of the room, and have all my creative inspiration and tools and intriguing STUFF I have collected orbiting around me. I am the sun, and they are my satellites, and sometimes I finish something and it shoots out like a comet into the universe! The air conditioner is in, the cats come in and sit in this one area of sunshine, which luckily is out of my way when I'm working, so I'm not rolling over tails with the chair anymore. I should take a picture of the room, it's wonderful.
I finished my school project, a version of a prayer wheel based on the Tibetan tradition. I am very pleased with it, as a prototype. It will serve as inspiration for something else, eventually. But now I am back working on seeds. The prayer wheel incorporated seeds. Then with sterling silver becoming so ridiculously expensive, I started working in polymer clay. I had signed up to take an enameling class, and was looking forward to working with color this summer, but the teacher bailed and the class was cancelled. I am getting my color fix from the clay instead. Inspired by the watermelons of summer and their seeds, I have made a set of beads, and am working on ways to mount them for earrings. That is today's project, I hope to have them on etsy by this weekend. I need to start creating and selling, to help with these bills.
I want to get back to the wax carving again soon. I need to make a butterfly to commemorate the thyroid experience, and I have a feather idea....
It is SOOOOOOOOOOOO good to be creating again!
Showing posts with label sterling silver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sterling silver. Show all posts
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
A Ramble from White to Whitney
So, just when I write a post about fashion and white coming back as a trend, I see this column by Linda Yablonsky in the NY Times entitled "Damn White". This actually covers a topic I was thinking about at the time I was writing about fashion.
My art studio setup is atrocious. I have far too much clutter, and not enough room to function efficiently. Most artists have too much stuff. The real problem is the size of the room. It is the spare bedroom, and it is small. In order to switch from wax carving to metal finishing, for example, I have to put an entire set of tools away and pull another set of tools out. Sterling silver charms and wax carving do not mix - one is supposed to keep the work areas clean. It is very difficult to do in a small space.
I was at... class? practice? at the Tibetan meditation center last night, which is located at the Second Street Studios here in Santa Fe. My mind wandered - it counts as meditation if I see my mind wandering, right? I hope so - towards two topics while I was in their space. The first was the color of their walls. They moved in recently, perhaps a year ago, and the main space has altars and this wonderful Tibetan artwork, and the background color is a delicious saffron yellow. We were talking about dependent arising, and the teacher was using a flower on his desk as an example. A lovely little daisy, and it too was the same sort of saffron yellow, slightly paler, maybe less orange. I wondered in my mental wanderings if that yellow had any sort of symbolic significance, as it seemed to be present in the paintings and fabrics also.
Back to white... I also remembered that white has a spiritual significance, because that space is chilly. I have taken to wearing a scarf - but I almost, accidentally, pulled out a white scarf to wear last night. Then I remembered, a white scarf may not be appropriate, since this is a token? talisman? gift? that the Dalai Lama hands out.
Haha, this made me laugh - I went searching for a picture of the Dalai Lama with a white scarf, and the first one I see is with Arnold Schwarznegger. I wonder if there is a certain white for scarves the Dalai Lama prefers?
My mind also wanders to using that space as a studio. From what I have heard, quite a few artists and creative types live and work in the Second Street complex. It would make a wonderful studio, the windows and the rooms are large. There is lots of space for cabinets and tables and work areas. I imagined a wax carving station over there, and a polishing station over there, and rows and rows of cabinets to hide away the clutter. Or, at least to put the clutter away once in a while, I always seem to be working in clutter. And multiple simultaneous projects. There's a painting leaning up waiting to dry in one spot, piles of inspiration from magazines in another, the silver charm carving of the moment on the jewelers bench....
This column in the New York Times talks about what color white to view art in. It is also important to know what color white to create in. One of my first art teachers, Brett Barker, advised me to use a grayish white when I moved into this house. I look at it now, it is fairly neutral, but perhaps a bit yellow more than grey. I can't even remember if I painted it, or if it was this color. It hasn't distracted me or thrown off my color sense, though.
The column "Damn White" agrees - gray would be better. Some white is so blinding, and the light streaming in the studio, especially when combined with a snowfall, makes this room a little too bright sometimes. The Denver Art Museum has some of their art hanging in rooms that are painted in the rich jewel tones that I love. Ooooh, they have a bamboo exhibit - I might have to try to get to Denver.
That article covers an art exhibit I would like to see. That looks very interesting. I just finished a "treasury" at etsy.com about tiny things, and here is a selection of tiny things at the Whitney. Be sure to look at the Whitney site to get a sense of the size of Charles LeDray's work.
Well, this post is quite the ramble - I hope you enjoy it!
My art studio setup is atrocious. I have far too much clutter, and not enough room to function efficiently. Most artists have too much stuff. The real problem is the size of the room. It is the spare bedroom, and it is small. In order to switch from wax carving to metal finishing, for example, I have to put an entire set of tools away and pull another set of tools out. Sterling silver charms and wax carving do not mix - one is supposed to keep the work areas clean. It is very difficult to do in a small space.
I was at... class? practice? at the Tibetan meditation center last night, which is located at the Second Street Studios here in Santa Fe. My mind wandered - it counts as meditation if I see my mind wandering, right? I hope so - towards two topics while I was in their space. The first was the color of their walls. They moved in recently, perhaps a year ago, and the main space has altars and this wonderful Tibetan artwork, and the background color is a delicious saffron yellow. We were talking about dependent arising, and the teacher was using a flower on his desk as an example. A lovely little daisy, and it too was the same sort of saffron yellow, slightly paler, maybe less orange. I wondered in my mental wanderings if that yellow had any sort of symbolic significance, as it seemed to be present in the paintings and fabrics also.
Back to white... I also remembered that white has a spiritual significance, because that space is chilly. I have taken to wearing a scarf - but I almost, accidentally, pulled out a white scarf to wear last night. Then I remembered, a white scarf may not be appropriate, since this is a token? talisman? gift? that the Dalai Lama hands out.
Haha, this made me laugh - I went searching for a picture of the Dalai Lama with a white scarf, and the first one I see is with Arnold Schwarznegger. I wonder if there is a certain white for scarves the Dalai Lama prefers?
My mind also wanders to using that space as a studio. From what I have heard, quite a few artists and creative types live and work in the Second Street complex. It would make a wonderful studio, the windows and the rooms are large. There is lots of space for cabinets and tables and work areas. I imagined a wax carving station over there, and a polishing station over there, and rows and rows of cabinets to hide away the clutter. Or, at least to put the clutter away once in a while, I always seem to be working in clutter. And multiple simultaneous projects. There's a painting leaning up waiting to dry in one spot, piles of inspiration from magazines in another, the silver charm carving of the moment on the jewelers bench....
This column in the New York Times talks about what color white to view art in. It is also important to know what color white to create in. One of my first art teachers, Brett Barker, advised me to use a grayish white when I moved into this house. I look at it now, it is fairly neutral, but perhaps a bit yellow more than grey. I can't even remember if I painted it, or if it was this color. It hasn't distracted me or thrown off my color sense, though.
The column "Damn White" agrees - gray would be better. Some white is so blinding, and the light streaming in the studio, especially when combined with a snowfall, makes this room a little too bright sometimes. The Denver Art Museum has some of their art hanging in rooms that are painted in the rich jewel tones that I love. Ooooh, they have a bamboo exhibit - I might have to try to get to Denver.
That article covers an art exhibit I would like to see. That looks very interesting. I just finished a "treasury" at etsy.com about tiny things, and here is a selection of tiny things at the Whitney. Be sure to look at the Whitney site to get a sense of the size of Charles LeDray's work.
Well, this post is quite the ramble - I hope you enjoy it!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Failure is not an option!!
I am wax carving again!! I started yesterday, on one of the heart projects I have in mind. A broken heart.
I saw my Little (Little Sister, I am part of Big Brothers Big Sisters and highly recommend it). I hadn't seen her in a bit, and school is starting, so I called her on Friday and we drove up to the mountains and took some photographs. I told her my idea for this project - she's 15 and probably the right demographic to buy it - and she liked it. So I started on it yesterday.
In case you don't know what wax carving is... I post an old example from last year:
To make something that looks like that ^...
first you have to carve it out of wax, and it looks like this:
I carve things out of wax and then take them to the nice man and he casts them in silver for me. I also have a moon in this series... visit my shop on etsy to see what's available.
Just the act of hauling out the tools relieved some of the tension I was feeling. Pity parties suck. I feel bad, then I feel bad about feeling bad, then I feel guilty about feeling bad about feeling bad.... potential for endless suckage. I can only have U2
and Green Day
on repeat for so long before the neighbors start complaining...
My Little failed algebra, so I have decided to learn it and then tutor her. Failure is not an option!! I was terrible at math in school. However, after searching the library and the internet, I found a GREAT resource for anyone who wants to learn math - Danica McKellars' math books. The first one is Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail
which I do not have yet. I have the second one, the pre-algebra one - and it's fantastic! Especially for girls... I may go and purchase the first one this afternoon (I'm having the teensiest bit of trouble still with fractions and square roots.)
BUT!!!! I can't believe it! I actually am understanding math!!!
_______________________________________________________
I saw my Little (Little Sister, I am part of Big Brothers Big Sisters and highly recommend it). I hadn't seen her in a bit, and school is starting, so I called her on Friday and we drove up to the mountains and took some photographs. I told her my idea for this project - she's 15 and probably the right demographic to buy it - and she liked it. So I started on it yesterday.
In case you don't know what wax carving is... I post an old example from last year:
 |
| xmas star in sterling silver |
To make something that looks like that ^...
first you have to carve it out of wax, and it looks like this:
 | |
| wax carving of xmas star |
Just the act of hauling out the tools relieved some of the tension I was feeling. Pity parties suck. I feel bad, then I feel bad about feeling bad, then I feel guilty about feeling bad about feeling bad.... potential for endless suckage. I can only have U2
and Green Day on repeat for so long before the neighbors start complaining...My Little failed algebra, so I have decided to learn it and then tutor her. Failure is not an option!! I was terrible at math in school. However, after searching the library and the internet, I found a GREAT resource for anyone who wants to learn math - Danica McKellars' math books. The first one is Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail
which I do not have yet. I have the second one, the pre-algebra one - and it's fantastic! Especially for girls... I may go and purchase the first one this afternoon (I'm having the teensiest bit of trouble still with fractions and square roots.)BUT!!!! I can't believe it! I actually am understanding math!!!
_______________________________________________________
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