The Ship Captain's Wife

I met her many years ago - a young woman grieving over the loss of her husband.  A large wave had caused the cargo ship he was in to flip over and bodies of his shipmates had been recovered already.  We were called to help her find out if he had passed on or if he was lost somewhere, adrift at sea, stranded, waiting for rescue.

I remember the little crib that sat in her living room, her 3-month old son sleeping quietly in it, unaware that his mother was slowly shattering to pieces as each day without news went by.  Her daughter played with her dolls under the stairs, directing a make-believe play where the prince returns to his princess after having been given up for dead.

She had looked at us with such hope, and we had searched our souls for words to tell her that it was going to be alright.  The others who were with me said things that made her smile. I merely sipped my coffee and watched the baby sleep.

I could not feel him. Well, I did actually but only because he seemed to want to say something but I knew he was no longer here. I sipped my coffee slowly, I tried to find the words. They did not come.

Years later I received a text message from her. That she was still waiting, that she had not lost hope.  She told me about her daughter and her son and how they were growing up without their father.  She told me she still cries now and then but the moments between the crying fits have become longer and she feared that she was beginning to forget.  She said she could not stand seeing the ocean, but that she had taken many trips to its shores, listening to the waves for news.

That was many years ago.

She was who I had in mind when I finally finished this piece.

I had been working on it for some months now and for some strange reason I could never quite finish it.  I would start, then stop and start and stop and stash it away someplace and forget.  Then I would come across it and start working on it again.  But each time I would tear it up and put it away -- somehow it felt that it wasn't saying what I wanted to say.

And then the memory of her sitting across me from that dining room table, the glow of a small lamp hanging from overhead casting a shadow on her young, pained face, her voice eagerly asking us of news, returned.  I suddenly realized why I was making this piece and who it was for.

I wonder if she still sits and waits and hopes. And if she has found peace with the ocean and its turquoise and blue depths.   I ask myself if she still cries, her tears falling down her cheeks like pearls.  I also wonder if she will, forever, shroud herself in grief or if she has finally, after so long, learned to live again and be happy.

Try Something New: Making Faces

A few months ago, I purchased a roll of plaster tape from an art supply store.  I had been wanting to make plaster casts for the longest time and I had been wanting to try out a technique I found in Kelly Rae Roberts book, Taking Flight,  where she makes a plaster cast heart pendant and embellishes it with paint and glitter. Of course, I came up with so many reasons not to go out and find that store that carries it (and later on, when I did go get it, I got surprising answers and solutions to my silly fears)  – I don’t know where it is (Google maps and my uncanny ability to find my way in a maze helped me out), it might be too expensive (the whole roll cost me less than USD2.00!),  they probably won’t have it in stock when I get there so why even bother (the lady told me they never run out of it), I don’t think I can find the space to work on something involving this material (I used the kitchen sink for like 10 minutes – and no one even noticed!).

The roll is about 6 inches wide and (at least that’s what the lady at the counter said) about 10 yards long.  You cut it up in strips, get it wet (but not too wet) and lay it on the item you want to use as a mold.  I salvaged two headless Barbie dolls and two forlorn looking doll heads (that unfortunately did not match the headless bodies) from my 7-year old niece's stash and used these.  An ample amount of petroleum jelly helped keep the plaster tape from sticking to the mold (for this one I used  a blonde Princess Barbie head) and a small shot glass provided me with just enough water to get the plaster wet.  

Three minutes and a short  “conversation” with one of the shih tzu twins later, I peeled the damp plaster off the Princess Barbie head and this is what I got: 

That did it – I was addicted.  I scrounged around my supply shelves and found a silicone mold for art doll faces.  I had tried using this before with  air dry clay (see previous post) and ended up with just a weird looking lump of clay with a protrusion in the middle that I suspect is a nose.  I figured I would try this one more time and used the silicone molds.  Well, as you can see, the nose is definitely not the only prominent feature: 

Of course I can’t stop at just popping out boring white faces from molds so I thought I’d give Princess Barbie a new persona.  I don't think Ken will recognize her now.  And the art doll faces did look a little better after a few swipes of acrylic paint and some soft pastels.

I'm thinking of doing something with these over the week-end.  Maybe incorporate them into a mixed media piece. 

And in case you’re wondering why I tried this out months AFTER I finally got the plaster tape, well, as you may have guessed, there were a million (imagined) obstacles that kept me from trying this – all of which evaporated once I set my mind to doing it.  

I think Nike's really got something there. 

My Own Space

I do not have a dedicated space for making my jewelry. I either work on the dining table -- and it's a pain to have to pack up and keep my stuff when mealtime's a-coming -- or on my bed (which is a pain to my back!).  I keep fantasizing about what my studio (I love saying this word -- it makes me feel like some bigtime, fabulously famous artist LOL) would look like.

Perched atop my house, it has to have a lot of natural light -

From Genuine Style

And an awesome view  --

From Travel Blog

 It has to be roomy enough for all my stuff (beads, wire, paint, canvass, doodads and cookies!) but not too big -- I stand 5 feet flat and I want you to find me amongst my cookie tins (getting me to share is  another matter)

From LoftLife

Furnishings will be rustic and old and will have tons of stories to tell -

 

Image from the book Vintage French Interiors

Photo by Tang Chan

There will be a corner for creating

From HGTV.com

      And a quiet corner for me to rest









It will be my safe place, where I go to weave dreams and make them come true.

Of course you are welcome to visit.  Look, I've already picked out a special chair for you

Try Something New: Wire Crochet

Last week, I faced the monster.  

I went head to head with one of my worst foes, the one responsible for nights of endless crying over a school project in home education that I could not untangle, the one who threw me in a panic each time the teacher drew out her shiny, steel crochet hook – I stood up and faced this bewildering craft called crochet.

I have been a longtime fan of wire crochet but had been hesitant to try it because – well, let’s just say single crochet and I aren’t really soul sisters.  But I did want to have a go at it.  I did want to find out if I could finish something – anything! – that involved a crochet hook and thread.  But, my vanity prevented me from trying it out sooner than I did – I was afraid that I’d end up with a crocheted wire piece so ugly that people would laugh at me.  

Then I figured that since my projects using cotton thread looked a lot like those using wire and that the tangled, almost irregular and textured look of wire crochet is what charms me most about it, I got up one Saturday morning and said: “Hell, yeah. Let’s do this.”

So here is my very first wire crochet necklace.  

My fingers hurt a lot after and it took me a loooong time to finish since I went slow and worked without a pattern to follow so I got lost a lot (LOL).  I also chose to use a soft, thin gauge wire as I thought it would be easier to handle and therefore less frustrating for me.   After an hour, it didn’t seem like such a monster anymore.  

I am, shall we say, quite HOOKED.

It Just Keeps Getting Better

First came the Collections page, then an updated Gift page.

And now, comes a huge, huge promo - The Artfire Group Deal!

Sign up on the group deal page and be one of the lucky ones to get a studio on Artfire for only $5.95 a month -- FOR LIFE!

What? Say that again please.

Sign up on the group deal page and be one of the lucky ones to get a studio on Artfire for only $5.95 a month -- FOR LIFE!

You read it right. Artfire just refuses to stop giving its members the best deals.  If you already are on Artfire, with a Basic Studio, this is a great opportunity for you to upgrade to Pro - and pay even less than the Charter Member monthly fee of $7.00.  If you have a Pro shop, and are paying either the Charter Member fee of $7.00, the discounted quarterly fee of $36.00 or the $15.95 per month regular fee, this is a great chance for you to get that Pro Shop and pay waaaay less than what you are paying monthly.  

With a Pro shop, you get tons of great widgets and whatnots to customize your studio and the Artfire team are topknotch when it comes to being of assistance to their members and your studio will have the advantage of being seen by over 40 million online shoppers. Now, that is soooo much more than $5.95 don't you think?

And, if you are still not on Artfire, this is the best time to join us!  Sign up and be a member and get your own studio for the rate of $5.95 for life.  Unbelievable?  I thought so too when I first read it -- but Artfire has been known to give out the most awesome deals to its members.  So I believe it!

Hop on over to the Artfire Group Deal page and read all about it. It gets so much better!

Artfire burning bright! 

Write It Down

Not too long ago, back in the days when no one had thought of putting the words "inter" and "net" together and the letter "e" was not yet affixed to the word "mail", people wrote each other notes and sent each other letters.  Now in those days, owning a fine writing instrument was the equivalent of having an iPad.  A well-made pen, whose ink flowed smooth and was not given to blotting was much coveted and anyone who was anyone carried the finest.

It is, therefore, a wonderful discovery to learn that the art of making handturned pens has not disappeared altogether.  Scott Zrubek, owner of the shop with the quirky name of Mad Moravian on Artfire, has not let this craft die. 

A visit to his Artfire shop will show you the array of pens he has made from different kinds of wood.  All of these are well-crafted and Scott makes sure that the personality of the raw materials shine through. 

He was introduced to the lathe while taking some woodworking classes with his wife and has been woodturning for about six years now.  Scott also makes bottle stoppers and wands aside from the pens and has moved on to more complex designs after taking a few short classes to add to his knowledge.

The idea of selling his pieces came to him while he was running an art show at a science fiction convention.  Seeing all the artists' work -- images and form that were products of their hands and minds -- he had asked himself which one of his talents could he make use of so that he could create items of beauty and function so that other people would benefit from them.  His quick answer -- his skill and talent at woodworking.  At the next art show he ran, he put in some of his pieces and and was happy to note that that response to them was quite good.  He started selling online in December 2009 and although his day job (which he enjoys and has not considered giving up) is in the line of computer programming, he says that his foray into online selling has proven to be quite interesting and educational.

It is the discovery of the hidden shapes and patterns that lie within the wood and its grain that delights Scott and it is what keeps him creating.  His color palette is mostly in the blue range but he is gradually moving toward colors that are not in his current "crayon box" (like orange - a much disliked color in the past that he is slowly getting to know).

"Each piece of wood has a different story to tell.  Some tell their story pleasantly.  Some tell theirs explosively, refusing to be captured in a pen or bottle stopper", he says.

I am certain that he tells their stories well -- looking at the pens and bottle stoppers he has made, one cannot but notice the care and attention to detail he put in every piece.  Even the metal pieces used to accessorize each pen or stopper are chosen carefully and used to compliment, never overwhelm, the graceful lines of each piece.

As for where his muse resides, he has this to say:  "The wood often determines what happens".

If you are interested to see Scott's work, just visit his studio on Artfire.  You can also find him at the science fiction convention (Armadillocon, in Austin) and at his first craft fair on the 4th of July week-end in Friendswood, Texas.

Now, write that down so you don't forget.

This Made Me Smile

I had a rather ordinary day, complete with the usual rants about how stressed out I am at work and how my tired body aches for rest.  But the Universe has a wonderful way of reminding us that we are watched over and that it magickally brings forth pleasant surprises to let us know that our dreams are on their way to manifesting. 

Just as I was about to call it a day, I received an email from Andrea, a lady who is known to "adopt" unheard of shops and promote them.  She told me that my shop on Artfire had just been featured on her blog.  What a wonderful way to end the day!

Pencil Pushing

When I am not stringing or wire wrapping gemstones and beads together, I draw.  Faces mostly, sometimes a lone flower

Or little pieces that show signs of life in an otherwise empty space

Faces number the most though.  Some of them are faces of real people I have seen and they stare back at me as if to remind me that they live.

In some, one face stands for many people, the eyes of that one face reflecting all at once their collective pain, the unsure smile telling me that they all hope for something better.

Some of these faces come from dreams and, as with such images, these are quite surreal and have a rather strange edge to them.  Usually imprecise, their features a little tentative, sometimes mixed up and exaggerated.  Snippets of form snatched from deep sleep just before full wakefulness takes over.

Others are drawn from something I've felt - a picture that tells a story of me, as the face will tell you, if you will listen closely,  what went on inside as I put pencil to paper.

I do not know yet what it is that makes drawing faces so satisfying for me.  I can lose myself for hours trying to capture just that one expression, that tiny tilt of the head, the fold of a brow.  It may be that I am unconsciously looking for my own and that in drawing them over and over again, I will come to see who it is that really stares out from the other side of the mirror when I look at it in the morning.

You Call this Retiring?

I have always wondered what I would do when I retire.  After working at a corporate job for many years, the idea of not having my life ruled by the clock and deadlines just seems so appealing -- and so unattainable! LOL.  But Jan and Don, a husband and wife team from Ontario, California, showed me that it is possible to retire from the rat race and live the kind of life I dream of.

Jan and Don are behind the Artfire shop On Pens and Needles.  Their shop carries beautiful handmade pens, wooden jewelry and embroidered and sewn items - Don is the artisan behind the pens and wooden jewelry while Jan puts her sewing and embroidery talents to good use by whipping out lovely items from colorful fabric. 

Upon his retirement from the navy, Don took up working with a scroll saw and during one of the regular meetings held by the local scroll saw club of which he is a member, he saw a demo on pen making and tried his hand at it.  Four years later, Don is still making pens and he has never enjoyed himself more.  His skill in woodworking has earned him a few prizes and awards, among them a 1st Place Blue Ribbon and Judges Award of Merit during the Los Angeles Country Fair for his piece "Rose Window of the Notre Dame Cathedral", a beautiful piece showing intricate and precise woodcuts that are so detailed they look like lace.

Jan, the other half of the team, retired from her nursing career a few years ago and as she was no stranger to the needle and thread (she had made her own clothes when she was younger as well as clothes for their two daughters when they were little), purchasing an embroidery machine and the software to digitize and edit designs seemed like a logical step to take.

These two are obviously not the kind to just sit and let their retirement years pass by.  Jan and Don thought it would be a good idea to turn their little hobbies into a small venture that not only allowed them to indulge their creative streak but earn them a little money.  After getting their feet wet selling at small local craft shows and doing the Christmas craft fair round in their area, they ventured into online selling to reach a wider market -- On Pens and Needles was born.

Browsing through their shop you will find well made items that reflect the meticulous attention to fine detail that Don likes to put in his work (his pens are something to see!) and you will be cheered by the colorful (and practical!) creations that Jan designs and makes. Don's wooden pendants reflect the same kind of quality work and skill seen on the workmanship of his pens. Oh - did I forget to mention that he makes these great wooden toys too?

Jan's baby items are adorable -- her flannel washcloths are a riot of pattern and color.

Jan does custom orders for baby blankets as well and says that she enjoys the process of matching up color and pattern to come up with a one-of-a-kind design for that one-of-a-kind angel.

 Always the brave one to try new media, Jan has also ventured into the world of scrapbooking and their shop features some of the scrapbook embellishments she has made by hand.

The shop has been running for over a year now but Don and Jan say that they are enjoying the experience and have never felt younger!  They hope to expand their presence online in the next few years and to participate in larger craft shows in their area.  If you want to see Jan and Don and their great handmade pieces in person, they will be at the Changing Seasons Craft Show, the Crafts Unlimited Craft Show, the Orange Grove Festival and the Ontario Marketplace in June. 

Hmmmm - if my retirement years will be anything like what these two have, I think I'll go check out our company's early retirement package! LOL

Got Quilts?????

I check Twitter and there she is again - VaBeachQuilter (also known as Kim) tweeting a new item, retweeting someone's item, introducing a new shop or artisan.  Her tweets come several times a day and I wonder how she manages to do this on top of her running a guild on Artfire (Shops with Less Than 10 Sales), managing two blogs, running two online shops and couple of business pages on Facebook.

I wonder if she saw this coming when she started quilting?

A little over ten years ago, Kim never thought she would be immersed in the world of machine quilting let alone marketing and promoting a business on the world wide web.  She had been happily cross-stitching when she succumbed to her aunt's proddings to try quilting.  Since then, things were never quite the way they used to be.

Her initial foray into this craft was via a beginner's paper-piecing class. Kim marvels at how she was able to make quilted pieces without even knowing what a quarter inch seam was done.  She paper-pieced for about three years and then took another class that taught her more techniques, along the way magically learning how do a quarter inch seam.  Learning  new techniques was like switching a bike with training wheels for a big, bad bike -- Kim just vroomed away.

A three year stint (haven't you noticed that her significant number for quilting is 3?) in a quilt shop helped her hone her skills further and soon, the quaint little hobby managed to invade her bedroom closet, the hallway closet, sewing room and even spaces in her house that she never knew existed.  It was then that Kim realized she had to do something.

It was at that point that she started selling her creations at craft shows, her quilts attracting buyers of every age. In January of 2009, Kim thought of trying the world of online selling and she set up her first shop on Etsy. This was followed by another shop on Artfire which she set up in April of the same year.  Other online shops were set up in quick succession on Made It Myself, eCrater, Zibbet and Funky Finds but her Artfire shop is by far the most popular and most successful among them.

Her talent and skill as a quilter plus her insistence on only producing the finest handmade work,  have attracted the attention of celebrities such as MLB players BJ and Austin Upton of the Tampa Bay Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks, respectively.  The brothers commissioned Kim to make a quilt for their parents and grandmother. Michael Cuddyer of the Minnesota Twins so loved the quilt Kim made for his baby that he asked her to make one for his parents too. A duo quilt she made for Yvonne Upton (BJ and Austin's mom) which showcased the teams her two sons played in earned a mention in an article by Seth Livingstone of the USA Today Sports Edition.

Over the years, her palette has changed from the country/primitive colors she so loves to include vibrant, bright colors and patterns.  She has also expanded her product line to include novelties and other items that she would never have thought of making before.  Her Artfire studio is chock-full of a variety of items from wallets, to notekeepers, cozys, quilted napkins and placemats, pieces for babies and toddlers, pillowcases, aprons and even bagel and bread warmers!  She has also started a new line of applique cats and farm animals and fruit applique table runners and placemats (applique is a new addiction for Kim!) There is a section that showcases items with an NFL theme and you can browse this section to see if she has anything that has your favourite team on it.  If she doesn't, you can always have it custom ordered - yes, she accepts custom orders!

While not a full time job, Kim says her earnings from selling online have enabled her to take her family on short trips and allowed her to give them a special Christmas last year.  On most days, she spends 8-10 hours sewing - and that is on top of the 2 -3 hours she spends marketing and promoting and doing other online work. Evenings find her busy doing the detailed and precise handwork necessary to finish her pieces.  She's enjoying herself so much that she says she doesn't see this as a job but more of a fun way to let her creative side out.

For those of you who would like to see Kim's pieces, she will be participating at the Virginia Beach Christmas Market during the 2010 Thanksgiving week-end.  It's a pretty big event and over a thousand shoppers are expected over the three-day period it runs.  If you can't make it there, or are eager to see her work, head on over to Kim's Artfire studio, VaBeachQuilter.

Ooops - there goes another tweet from Kim. I am amazed.  Where does she get the energy?????