A found old metal and wood springs from a toy doll bed is now a card display. I just need to get more tiny clothespins.
ps. I have some of those cards pictured above in my shop. I'm happy that you have been liking my new branch & bird and lion & lamb cards. :)
After a rather challenging morning, I was thankful to come home to a bowl of leftover potato spinach soup for lunch. Leftovers are the best! Then this afternoon as I was looking at the brand new, creative and heart-felt work by some friends, I felt cheered. If I were shopping for myself, these would be my picks.
Julia's hand-dyed napkins. Her rich colors are from plant-based dyes. The beautiful "logwood" blue really catches my eye. Check out her body care items too, she uses herbs and beeswax from her own garden and bees!
Amisha's hand-crafted, small batch soaps. Especially this one she calls "Summer in Japan". Lavender and rosemary are two fragrances that I really like. (And as someone who is prone to aroma triggered migraines, those two fragrances always agree with me.) I imagine her home smells amazing!
And Shanna's little bow cards speak to me. I was thinking about why I like them and it's beacause it makes me think of the feeling of expectation during this season of Advent. We wait with glad hearts.
And those challenging situations (when you've been wronged)? Sometimes you just gotta let it go.
The other day I thought of a particular piece I had made and wondering where it was I went on a wild search through stacks and stacks of drawings. That's kind of like looking through old photos. You know, you get drawn in, and forget what you were doing in the first place. Some of these I remember what I was thinking about or wanting to accomplish when I made them. Others seem new to me. Still others have elements in them that I like but there may be an area of the drawing that didn't quite get resolved. Some are completely unfinished.
What do I do with all these pieces I wonder to myself? Why do I keep some of them? Well, they are a record of process over time, for one thing I suppose. A process of sometimes wanting more, or wanting less in a drawing. Of trying out ideas. Sometimes the ideas work and sometimes not. These drawings are my sketchbook. I don't always keep a sketchbook, because I like working on different sizes of paper. And I like for the pieces to be their own entity.
Perhaps I should cover a wall with them. I did that once in grad school. For a studio visit I covered one large wall with drawings, of all sizes and media. They became a whole rather than little bits, but I think people still looked at them, or read them as if they were pages of a story. Hmmm, there might be something there...(Can you tell I thought of that as I typed?) Which causes me to think that maybe getting distracted can show you something new or something interesting to revisit.
So, what would you do with all these? Or what do you do with your saved work?
Early last week I got an idea for this new print. The idea for the imagery comes from Isaiah 11:6. But I almost didn't let myself make it. I almost listened to the excuses in my head that tried to stop me. Nothing big, just little things like, 'you don't normally draw animals', 'you haven't done any carving in a while', "what paper will you use?', etc. I almost didn't let myself sit down and do some sketches to get it started. But I did. I drew the animals first on the block without really knowing what else would happen around them, I just made those decisions as I carved. Then when it was finished I proofed the block and printed fifty cards on Saturday afternoon. And you know, despite the fact that it made my thumb really sore and my neck tired, I rather liked the carving. Maybe I'll do more. If you are interested, I plan to put these in my Blue Sparrow Press shop soon. And oh, after a long hiatus, I reopened my BSP satellite shop at Etsy for the season, for those of you who prefer Etsy.
