I am an artist!

I just spent a week at a women's music festival enjoying friends, singing, drawing and of course great music. New friends would ask what I did and I always answered with my job. But that is not who I am. I am an artist. As I age I identify more and more as an artist.

Why is it so hard to say those words....even to a stranger? Art is what feeds me, keeps me happy, keeps me engaged. I love having a project to mull over in my head as I drive or fall asleep at night. I love the inspiration, the planning and the creation and of course the satisfaction of the finished item.

So what do I do? I am an artist. What do you do?

Small journal for small, quick thoughts

I wanted a small fun journal for our upcoming trip. Something that would fit in a backpack, be light, and be ready to jot down thoughts and small sketches. I love to start with some kind of background and used paperbag drop cloths are wonderfully painted on, stained and make perfect starting points.

I take a small set of colored pencils and a fine point black marker pen. I like the R@ Rollerball .07mm pens by INC? Hard to find. Might be a Pentel brand as well. I also made pages with pockets for stashing ephemera. It is about 5 1/4 x 3 3/4. Spine has bead, paper bead and floss embellishments. See the foil off of a wine bottle on the back?

Summer bench sitting

I just spent a week and a half on a jury doing my civic duty. Tough case, tough decisions. But the bright part of the day was lunch in beautiful summer weather downtown Hartford, CT. I live about 10-15 minutes from downtown Hartford and in 10 years in Connecticut have not spent much time getting to know the city. Now, a bench in a green space near several courthouses is maybe not a typical city setting, but the mix of people is interesting.
I joined a grandmother and her 4 year old grandson on a bench in the shade. We talked a bit with the little boy as a great conversation opener. He was very interested in my lunch especially the fruit cup of fresh melon. He started angling for some strawberries..there were none, but there was watermelon and that was just as good. I let him work his way around letting me know he would really love to share some of that watermelon. I finally relented, asked his grandmother if it was alright and he got his treat.
How wonderful to be able to talk a bit with strangers, exchange a bit of news, laugh at the antics of a child and then go our separate ways. I did leave an abandoned art piece behind! #abandonedartct or Twitter @abandonedartct
Thank you strangers on a bench for a pleasant lunch break.

Sunny day in Hartford, perfect for abandoned art

Dropped a few more in Hartford last week. I have a few more days of being downtown so I need to find some more drops. It's fun to wander around and scope out drops. It is easy to drop a bird here and there, but photographing them draws attention. Hope they found a good home, there were lots of children on the sidewalks. #abandonedartct. On Twitter @abandonedartct

Abandoned art, the right kind of littering

I involved myself in an abandoned art project. You make a piece of art then leave it for someone to find spreading joy along the way. It is a fun way to pay it forward and bring some fun into someone's life.

I decided on little fabric birds. Easy to make, all from my fabric and felt stash, and bright and colorful. I've made about 18 and abandoned 6 around Connecticut. Check out @abandondedartct, #abandonedartct.

Here are some recent abandonments.

Fabric Art Journal...a different medium

Fabric Art Journal pages are pages with a definite fabric origin. Starting with a fabric base, you can stitch, glue, embroider, decorate in any imaginable medium. Just like a paper page. I have seen prayer flag type pages, quilts, beaded creations, embroidery, added paper, ephemera, charms, natural objects, buttons and more.
It changes the creation process. Rather than starting with a doodle, a word, a stain and adding outlines, colored pencils, markers, paint and ephemera, I need more time to gather fabrics, plan, stitch, actually design the page. The final product changes and grows as the page develops, but it is not as fluid and spontaneous. On the other hand, I can rip out stitches and change easier than ink on paper.
Process decisions are more complicated, how to add words, machine stitch, hand written on fabric, embroidered? How do I attach something that has no loops like sticks and feathers? Will glue hold or ruin the piece?
But the result is amazing. A piece with a tactile presence that paper doesn't have. Give it a try.

• Start with a favorite piece of fabric or muslin. Don't forget old favorite shirts or dresses for backings.
• Gather buttons, ribbon, beads, ephemeral, lace, embellishments from old clothes, old jewelry, fabric scraps.
• Layout items, rearrange, add, subtract. When you are happy with the arrangement. Take a picture.
• Now remove the top layers. Hand or machine stitch the back objects. 
• Using the photo, add another layer and stitch or glue the items. Add another layer. By this stage, you are probably hand stitching. Tuck in ribbons, feathers, add beads to dangling items.
• Stand back. Add something else. Think about it, add more.
• Don't forget pockets (stitch 3 sides of a patch or scrap, leave the fourth open) to tuck in tickets or memorabilia. Buttons off those old clothes add depth. Pressed flowers can be secured under netting or a piece from an old sheer curtain. 
• Write a word with Sharpie on a scrap of fabric and secure. Or stitch a phrase with embroidery floss. 

And then again. Use the same techniques with paper. What have you got to lose? Let yourself go.

Everything becomes an art journal

"Air" - Spirit Doll

My children loved a book called "A House is a House For Me" by Mary Ann Hoberman. As the book goes, everything is a house for something. I feel that way about art journaling. Everything becomes a journal, a piece of me is in everything I write, I collect, I create. 

I never really liked dolls, yet I played with trolls, Baribie, various ceramic animal sets. My sister and I made houses, clothes and furniture for them, but did not really play with the dolls...the dolls were just an excuse to create. 

But now I find myself drawn to dolls, art dolls, rag dolls, monsters, animals, Junker Jane style dolls and spirit art dolls. As long as they do not look to lifelike, I am happy. A bit of me goes into each. A story is told for each doll. They take charge and become what they want to become. Many journal pages do the same thing...just take over and become. 

So I am opening up a gallery of art dolls here in this blog. Who knew this is where I would journey?