One man's trash....

I know it's been a while since I posted to my blog. I also know that if you want to gain followers, and keep them, you have to post often. However, I don't see the point in posting when I have nothing new to say. I now have something to share!

Much to the embarrassment of my 15 year old daughter, I am not above picking something out of someone's garbage if I think I can make use of it. The window in the picture is an example. Behind each of the panes, I have created a collage of my own photography. Photos of vacations and items I find interesting. The shelf under the window my mom purchased for me. It makes a perfect window sill! I started this project some time ago and finally got around to finishing it and hanging it yesterday. I like the fact that the paint is chipped and pealing. It's exactly the way I found it, sitting out by the road in someone's trash.... only cleaner.

I once picked up an antique chair from the side of the road. I feel as though I rescued it. Much to the shock of my roommate at the time who only saw a filthy, worn, dust ridden old piece of junk in the middle of the kitchen. I was in the process of ripping the old tattered upholstery off when he came in. I was covered in dirt and sneezing from the dust. His exclamation was, "What the HELL is that??" It is definitely very old. I'll save the story for another post.

Recently I picked up two perfectly good wooden serving trays from someone's trash. They are the kind with folding legs, so that if you are fortunate, you might have someone bring you breakfast in bed. Apparently the person who threw them away didn't contemplate any breakfasts in bed any time soon. I plan to mosaic these trays and turn them into something beautiful.

So, my question is, why do people throw perfectly good items out in the trash?? Granted, I have been fortunate enough to come across some cool stuff and do something creative with it. However, I simply don't understand why people throw good things away. There is a Goodwill drop off right here in my town. There are churches and homeless shelters that take donations. Why throw it away when you can give it to someone?

Economics

I started class Tuesday night. It looks as though this will be a good class! What a relief! Economics is actually an interesting subject if you have a good instructor. My current instructor is funny, has good taste in books - even though he chose seven of them - and doesn't make math a part of his class. These are all important factors for me when I make a judgment on a faculty member.

Someone once told me that math and art are very similar. Since I hate math and love art - I disagree. That's an understatement. Since I am good at art, and break into a sweat, develop a rash, and hyperventilate when I have to do math, I disagree.

Economics is interesting because everyone wants money. How we go about getting it, losing it, and the fact that we dream about having it, runs our lives! I'm not saying that's a bad thing, it simply is. We share it, we steal it (that's bad), we spend it, we save it, we move it around. We think about it more than we think about sex. Think about it! It's true! When we don't have it we're ruined, when we get it, it ruins us.

Economics... good class.

The Top of the Box cont...

It's 11:30 pm again, and I've been working on this piece all day. I get an idea in my head and I can't let it go. I'm also under a time crunch because I start class on Tuesday and I have no idea how much homework I'll have. I won't be able to get this grouted before class starts, but grouting is the easy part. It's also a lot of fun!













Grouting is less thinking and more like playing in mud. It's like when you were a kid at the beach making sand castles. You get to mush your hands around in the grittiness and smear it all over working it down between the pieces of glass. It feels good, and it's also the moment of truth. It's when you know if your piece actually works or not.













The color you choose for the grout is extremely important! It can make or break your piece. You also have to make sure you mix enough grout if you mix a custom color. I use plain grout, un-tinted, and mix it with acrylic paint. I'm new at all of this, and what I know I've learned from my Californian friend - hopefully he won't be upset that I am giving away trade secrets...

Broken Compass

Now that I've started this new journey back into the world of making art, I find myself not knowing what project to begin next. I've always been a bit eclectic in my work - I like too many different kinds of art. Photography, drawing, painting, collage, now mosaic and jewelry making. I've done needle crafts such as quilting, cross stitching, needlepoint, and embroidery. You name it and I've probably tried it, and most likely mastered it to an acceptable skill level.

Acceptable. Yes, that's what I said. Acceptable. It has always seemed to me that I should probably pick something and stick to it in order to go beyond acceptable and possibly become an expert. The idea scares me. Maybe it's like the groom fretting over the idea of having to sleep with only one partner for the rest of his life. Do I have a problem with commitment?

I'm usually the one that jumps in with both feet. I'm the one that always says, "Let's make a decision and go with it." Why is it that I can't pick one medium, one art form, and stick with it until it's perfect?

I've always been jealous of artists who have a style. You look at their work and you know. You simply know whose work it is without seeing the signature. I've always wanted that...

Mini Art!

I've discovered something amazing! ATC - or Artist Trading Cards! Also called ACEO, or Art Cards, Editions, and Originals. I think they are the coolest thing since Panera Bread with free Wi Fi.

ATCs are 2.5" x 3.5" size pieces of original artwork for trading. Most of them are quite inexpensive, under $10, which means anyone can buy and collect pieces of fine art. That's right!! Even YOU can have a mini art gallery in your own home! Some of them are amazing! Truly.

As you know, I have just begun my journey back into making art. I've just finished my first three ATCs and they are okay... they don't live up to some of the others I've seen, but they are a start. I had a great time creating them, and since I believe with all of my heart that art is about the process, not the finished product, they are a success!

I've purchased my first two ATCs from other artists on Etsy, and I am anxiously awaiting their arrival! I can't wait to have my own little art gallery in my studio! Especially since I have, for the first time ever, a room in my house that is my own art studio (also a guestroom w/futon but what the heck).

Tick Tock

This is a pretty unusual piece. My 15-year-old daughter hates it. My 19-year-old daughter thinks it’s cool. It was fun to make! I took apart an old broken clock… well, I don’t think you can even call it a clock; it was the guts of a clock that was my uncle’s. He’s now in a nursing home and rambles about the Canadian Government (we live in the USA) and the nurses that work for the CIA. He seems happy in his world of secrecy and espionage… he gave me permission to take his clock before his stroke.

When I was pulling apart the old clock, trying to get all of the gears out, and looking for interesting parts I could use in my art, there was an old spring wound up tight. My mom was sitting there looking on. She said, “be careful that doesn’t spring and hit you.” It wasn’t two minutes later and that thing made a shrill “shriinggg” sound and sprung! It didn’t hit me, in fact it didn’t come all the way unsprung (if that’s a word), but it threw dust everywhere! The old clock was dusty, greasy, and covered with many year’s worth of time keeping collected in all its parts. A good soaking in WD40 cleaned everything up nicely.

I have two more clocks – one that was still ticking when my cousins brought it down from my uncle’s room even after he’s been in the nursing home for over a year – and another that is broken. I plan to use the parts for more jewelry, mosaics, and other artwork. I don’t know why my uncle had all of those clocks. My mom says my grandfather would be happy I’m using them. He used to repair clocks. I never met my grandfather, but I’ve always had a fascination for clocks and clock parts… I wonder if it’s genetic?

My Little Bumpy Journey

Okay, final exam aside (literally), I finished my problem piece (pictured above). It may be a little weird to critique my own artwork… which I am selling… which I have a link to this blog on my store site… but maybe not. I mean, that’s actually the point of this blog – to map out my journey into the art world, or back into the art world. I used to be an art student. First all kinds of art in high school, then interior design and architectural drawing in college until I gave up on that idea because those people are too cutthroat for me. I then moved on to the idea of becoming a high school art teacher, but met my ex-husband and got married and had kids instead. Notice the “ex” in front of the word husband. He wasn’t into art at all… or anything I was into for that matter. After the divorce, I went back to school and ended up with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management, and now I am half way to my Masters in Public Administration… if I finish my final exam that is.

I digress. The question at hand is, how weird is the band of cobalt blue mirror and grout at the bottom of this jar? I thought I liked it until I grouted it. I thought it was the grout color I didn’t like, but I’ve decided the color is fine. The lid of the jar is quite nice actually. I’m rather proud of the beadwork. It’s that darn band around the bottom that has me troubled. However, I have posted it “For Sale” on Etsy. Someone might just find it quite interesting and pluck it off my site.

Here We Go Again...

Well, I made it through the project with the falling pieces, and now I have a project I simply am not sure I like. I started out liking it. I started out quite impressed with myself and my wonderful gift for design, eye for color, and good fortune at being born with both. Until I grouted with a gawd awful color and the design idea I had may have turned out to be a huge mistake. Ugh. And to make things worse, while I was mixing the grout, that little voice in my head - you know the one - was whispering, "this is a bad color." But, the other voice in my head, my mom's voice, was whispering, "you've started mixing it, you can't waste it, you have to use it now." Sigh.

Honestly. It was about two tablespoons of grout. I could have thrown it out and no trees would have died, no animals would have suffered, no children would have starved, and I would have bought myself some time to rethink things. Now I have to work with what I have and try to salvage the situation. ...I know, I know... I said it myself, this could turn out to be a great piece because of my mistake! Right.