June

Yep, it's June. My birthday month and I got nothing. Last month was a good month for working on creative things but nothing was finished. I guess that's good. It started out slow, then I got more hours at the job, took a live online workshop, got ready for a yard sale, was MC for a relative's funeral, had the yard sale and I was exhausted. So my big bang for the end of May fizzled out.

Plan for this month is to finish pieces for the Black Theater Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Get back to some sort of schedule, which I was really doing well at at the beginning of May. I'm getting back to being consistent in what I want to do. First, the exercising and then my hand stitching. I've been doing little sketches on the Dry Erase calendar on the refrigerator just about everyday and I'm claiming that as being creative. But I do need to get back to regular sketching and drawing. Still downsizing and tossing out things.

This morning I sauteed some veggies, made up some brown rice, and will bake some chicken when I get back from work. This should last a couple of days. I'm looking at cooking as creative too.

I also made up a front page for June in my Bullet Journal. I haven't done one in months. I made myself just stop and sit in one place and draw. There is no theme, just things I like and like to do. Sewing, art, Halloween, travel, lighthouses... It is making me want to draw more because if you don't use it, you lose it.

I don't know what I'll do for my birthday. Not really feeling anything right now about it. Just another I guess. Gotta go to the job. See ya.

Transition

That word can mean many things to different people. For me it's crossing a river from comfortable place to a very strange and unusual land. A nice, creative one with lots of bright colors. I love color. I love all types of art. Getting a little ahead of myself.

I am transitioning from being one type of artist to another. For the past 30 or so years (jeepers, I'm divulging how many trips I've been around the sun) I've been a traditional cloth doll artist. I'd design a doll, make the pattern, find fabric, cut out the doll, sew it, stuff it, paint the face, and then dress it. I've done everything from cottage industry type things, to limited editions, to one-of-a-kinds. I've made play dolls for both boys and girls and dolls you just put on a shelf and look at how pretty and cool they are. That was way back when fabric was good. Now it's hard to find a fabric that will hold up to what I did to it. Fabric that's the right color for brown dolls, fabric that doesn't feel slippery. Because when I found something that worked, they'd go and change it. And the search would be on again. Then the fabric stores started closing or moving further away.

Now don't get me wrong. I love cloth dolls. I've won ribbons, had one woman art shows; been in galleries and cool little shops; taught classes; been in local newspapers; photos of my dolls have shown up in doll magazines; made dolls, that were a huge part of the story in an independent movie (still on the shelf), the main character was a doll maker; had my dolls in an exhibit in a museum (The Delta Fine Arts Museum); and had an interview on the local public radio station because of that exhibit; have a doll on permanent display in a children's museum; and had my dolls decorate the set of a stage production along with making a doll used in the play. I have done a lot with cloth and I am proud of what I have accomplished with them but now I want to move on.

I couldn't understand how I could still design, sew, and stuff the doll but after that, I lost interest. I wouldn't finish the doll. Why? Well, it's the stuffing part. I've stuffed a lot and oh... the right stuffing I like to use is getting more difficult to find. Why do they have to change formulas? Stuffing takes a lot of time. I love painting the faces and dressing the dolls; putting on the final touches of beads, buttons, or feathers. But once I was done with the stuffing, the dolls just sat. And it was a chore getting back to them. Plus my hands are having a hard time doing that part nowadays. I longed to do dolls or figures that I could pose, put on a stand, in a vignette. Tell a story. I tried porcelain (finicky), needle felting (a lot like stuffing), polymer or oven bake clay (no place to do that now), and air dry clay.

For right now, I've settled on the air dry clay. It's not as portable as cloth but easy to clean up. I can sand the dried piece, drill it, paint it, stain it, whatever. And I have started a couple of pieces. I'm terrified that they won't come out. That no one will like them. So I've decided to just make them for me. Just do it. Learn the new medium. There will be a learning curve and it will take a lot longer if I don't open up the bag of clay. I have so many ideas sketched out. On paper, in sketchbooks, on napkins. It's something SOOOOOO totally different.

But I've given myself permission to 'Make It Suck' and then I'll let others decide if they like it or not. That's what a friend of mine told me to do. Make it Suck. I will wrap up the few cloth dolls that I have waiting to be finished. Then step on the next stone leading to the other side of the river. It's scary but I'm getting excited. Until then, here are some bloomers.

Found a Treasure

I'm still working on clearing out my stuff from my mother's place. While doing so this past weekend, I found this doll. At first I thought about selling her but then I realized her provenance. I'd made her over 10 years ago during a workshop at Arrowmont School for Arts & Crafts. The teacher was renown doll artist Akira Blount. Akira passed away several years ago. It was a week long workshop and I learned a lot from her. And I had been making dolls for about 15 years then. The one important thing is how to give a doll a layered look in clothing without actually making each individual piece. I've carried that with me from then on.  Looking at the doll, you can see layers of clothing but she doesn't have them. Her shirt is her body.  I couldn't afford one of her pieces but I could afford that class. She was such a kind and giving person.

She had us come up with our own profile pattern, even though we followed her design. She wanted to make sure we got the full affect of creating our own doll from start to finish.  Her face is needle sculpted and then painted. So I will keep this doll because of her connection to Akira Blount.

Thank you Akira for your time, experience, and laughter. I will miss you always.

Applique Workshop

I took an applique workshop from Ann Holmes yesterday. I'm always on the look out for new ways to applique. Something that will do what I want and be a little easier. I'm still working on my pieces but here is the first part.

Made It

I survived another month. March is now in the record books. It wasn't a great month. Fell off the turnip truck yet again but I've picked myself up, dusted myself off, and I'm looking for another truck to hop on. So here's what happened:

• 2 books read
• 12 days of writing
• 4 business quilts
• 2 preemie quilt tops together, 1 longarmed
• 12 World of Wendy Lu blog posts 
• 6 Wendy B Quilts blog posts
• worked on 3 Halloween projects
• worked on 2 regular dolls
• a lot of bear sketches
• 4 alcohol ink paintings
• 2 art workshops attended
• 1 writing workshop attended

Now that I look at the list, it wasn't a bad month. I will focus on what I did do and not the things I didn't do. I'm okay with that.

Keeping up with Faces

Okay, I did two faces today in order to keep up. Something weird happened to me and I decided that I was better than the incident and that I was going to get busy. So here are my faces.

The blue one is for how I was feeling yesterday. It was a sucky day. But... I shall persevere and keep on keeping on. The green one is one continuous line and both are done with color pencil.

I made progress on my Bargello quilt. I'm doing the wall hanging just to see how the thing is done. But I can continue on to make it a bit longer so it will turn into a throw. The backing is flannel. I'm finally excited about this project.

And here is a job on the longarm frame. So far so good for the end of the week. Time to continue to find my happy and create like nobody's business.

Happenings

I'm still in quilt mode which is a good thing but I took a break and attended a workshop called the Necessary Clutch Wallet. It was quite intense but everyone finished their piece. I now have my first Christmas gift done and will start two more. Those I won't be able to show because those people are on my social media.

It has pockets for credit cards, a slot for receipts and dollar bills, a zippered pouch for coins, and a spot for a cell phone.

I also put the hardware on, there are rivets, a strap, and the piece to keep the wallet closed.

I also finally got around to sewing the rest of my Bargello strips together. They are two large pieces that will be cut up hopefully this week. I've got to get this one done by Christmas too. Or at least New Year's.

Trying to keep up with posting on the blogs and get to my Halloween dolls. They're still a bit under dressed. And a few more are waiting to be born. I'm glad I have a couple of more days left in this month.

Hostas

Hostas. Late summer flowers in my friend's yard. I think they're pretty. Unusual, but pretty. And soon they will go away until the same time next year.

Boy how time flies. Whether you're having fun or not. I keep saying that, only because you have to decide if you want to have fun or not. I've decided to keep working on having fun. Yes, crappy things will always happen. Bills will always be due. Life is too short and you only get one shot. You can be hateful, spiteful, and miserable or you can find your happy. Help someone if you can, be a part of the wonderful solution instead of the problem. And if that's too daunting, work on you. I'm working on me. There are things I can't change. I can't make it rain out west where all the fires are happening. I wish I could, but I can't. And that's okay. I can send prayers and blessing to those wonderful men and women out there working hard to contain those fires.

One more week of this month. A few days ago, I wrote two letters to two different friends. Yep, I still hand write letters. I love it. I makes my friends happy when they get a handwritten letter from me in the mail instead of bills or junk mail. And it's a wonderful feeling to get mail from them. Especially after a rough day. News from someone who cares and thinks about me is great.

I did manage to straighten up my computer area and some of my sewing room. Already it's back to being messy again. That's okay. Shows that I'm working on things. I'm still working on my Bargello quilt and I've signed up for a workshop that will take place this Friday. I have lots of prep work to do.
The week is still young.

Be cool peeps!

And She's Off and Running

I'm not even going to apologize for being late.  It is what it is.  I'm here now and healthy.  So let's get it on!  Day one of the new month, I went to my painting session and did two small paintings and was invited to a BBQ evening dinner.  Saturday I helped friends with their BBQ business at the Persimmon Festival.  Sunday, I had the second sewing session with a young lady.  I'm teaching her how to sew.  She was so excited afterwards that she started making doll clothes with scraps I had left for her.  I believe we have a new sewer in the house.

First cut.

Second cut.
We had to go to the fabric store because mom forgot to get a pattern.  No biggie, we all went and I showed them both how to go through the pattern books, find a pattern in the drawers, and the basic fabric layout of the store.  We got back and I showed her again, where to find measurements for her size and which size to cut out.  We went over the info on the pattern instructions and read them.  I showed her how to lay out pattern pieces and she pinned.  We talked about straight of grain and bias.  We did the first step to making the pajama bottoms and then I cut out a square for her to make her very first pincushion. You can never have enough.  She sewed that and turned it right side out.  She was so tickled that she had made something. That was what I wanted to see.  A smile of satisfaction and joy.  I really do think she's hooked.

Here's how crazy I am.  I booked another craft fair at the end of the month.  So along with NANO, I will be making lots of Halloween holiday things, painting, and who knows what else.  I guess you'll have to keep checking in to see what antics I get myself into.

Cheers!

Wrap up of October 2013

I say it every month.  Can't believe this one is over.  I was able to decorate a small section of my apartment this year.  Now that I've gotten started, next year will be better.  It's taken me seven years to get to this point.  I can start planning for 2014, tomorrow.

It wasn't a bad month.  Still working on not being too hard on myself.  Along with getting two part-time local gigs I accomplished:

• read one out of three books
• 14 out of 31 Days of Halloween
• Got 13 ornaments done
• Painted two complete pics and worked on five
• Cut out my pirate vest (almost done)
• 3637 words on Map Hunter 3- rough draft
• 6750+ more general writing (a total of 10,387 words for the month)
• Participated in online doll group swap
• Began to teach a young lady how to sew

I know I am way hard on myself and my accomplishments but this blog is for my creative journey.  I'm just now getting started and this year isn't over yet.  I will be starting NANOWRIMO tonight at midnight.

Write a novel in a month, 50 thousand words from November 1 to November 30.  I will be working on at least three short stories but may add another one.  I know I'll hit my mark this year.  I have started a list for November and may have to take it down a notch because of NANO.  I also have a craft fair this month too.

I thought fall was here but today it's going to be in the 70s.  Enough already.  May everyone have a wonderful Halloween.  Stay safe.

More Soft Sculpture Pics

Here are a few more pics I took of Lisa's work. The pics are mine, the work is hers, so please respect that and no copying without permission. Thank you.

This is Lisa's very first soft sculpture. Her art teacher at the time told her during an entire art session how bad it was and how she would never be an artist.

This is one of her latest pieces. Angel of Destruction. And those are real turkey feathers. She even made the sword out of paper clay.

Soft Sculpture Workshop Pics

I was going to do this post yesterday but friends invited me over for a bonfire and snacks.  So I went.  It was wonderful being with friends, making new friends, and hanging out with my soon-to-be eight month old niece.  She's a stitch.  It was a little warm for October in North Carolina but the evening sky was clear and the stars were amazing.

Lisa allowed us to take pics of her work.  The pics are mine, the figures are hers.  She does fantabulous work and is continuing her soft sculpture classes the rest of the year and scheduling for next year.

A close up of a head Lisa was working on to show the stitches of the eyebrows.

Jump.  She's so cute and playful.

The hands have plastic mittens on them because Lisa said the finger tips get dirty fast and the dirt shows up when covered with the panty hose.  A good tip to know.

You can just make out the stitches in the torso and thighs.

Some of Lisa's earlier characters.

This old gents eyes are painted to have cataracts.

Love this biker dude.  The hair on his chest is thread.

A cute little baby.  I'm going to have to learn how to make an open mouth.  We did get a quick tutorial.

Soft Sculpture Workshop 3

Day one of the workshop produced a nice face padded with foam and a layer of batting.  Day two was spent covering the face with panty hose and tacking it in place.  That was a long day and by the time it was over, my eyeballs were protesting.  A lot.  I think that was the toughest day.  Day three we worked with eyelashes, learning to mix paint for the lips, mixing pastels for the finishing.  Lisa likes to paint very light because she wants the modeling of the foam and batting to show through the hose.  I painted my miss (no longer a guy) and got her lashes on.  I will probably trim her lashes again and add a bit more pastel to her face.

Don't you just love those alien eyes?

The marble eyes have been turned around so as not to get glue or scratch the painted eyes.

The eyebrows are stitched on in layers and several different colors.  I want to add a bit more color to her face.

Me and her.  No name just yet.  I will add the back of her head and a very large body.  She'll be the only one.  I don't have much room in my apartment but she is bugging me to be finished.

Me and Lisa and our faces.  It was good to see Lisa make one along side of us so we knew what was going on.  Lisa also gave us a DVD of all the steps of what we did that weekend because we didn't have time to take notes.  Is that cool or what?

Marcia and her work.  Sorry about the pics because this one was a cutie.

Dawn and her piece.  Also wonderful.  She had wanted to make a male and hers did a change too.  Actually, her face still can go either way.

Patty and her cutie.  Patty was the one who asked some good questions that Lisa will add to her next class.

The gang.