Whale mobile

Here is my latest craft project…a humpback whale mobile complete with fish!  I saw a similar mobile on Etsy.comand thought it would be simple enough to make after finding the right fabric. I decided to change up the colors and the design of the whale and fish. (Without really realizing it, the fabric and ribbon colors I chose are a bit Murray State-ish which are consequently also like my Alma mater Buena Vista University).

I ran into a few issues that I didn’t anticipate such as the difficulty in sewing the fish, and getting the whale to hang evenly in the mobile. Overall, a fun project.

Currently, it is hanging in my craft room, but I think it would make a great addition to any children’s room.

Project: Banner

I have taken on the responsibility of making banners for my church, after they seemed to have liked the first one  I made.  This time  I am making a banner for a baby boy so I decided to change up a few colors and designs from the previous baptismal banner I made (see post). I first started with a digital sketch of sorts, purchased materials and then the banner making commenced! I changed quite a bit from my original design, but that happens when you can’t find a certain color of material or fringe. Below is a  photograph of the finished banner. Enjoy!

Finished banner

National Quilt Museum

Nature quilt from National Quilt Museum http://www.quiltmuseum.org/

What a whorl wind week this has been! I was hoping to get this post up a little sooner but alas sometimes you have to get done the things you need to do versus want to do. Anyway, this past weekend when my husband’s parents were in town  we decided to visit the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY. I have always enjoyed  the various patterns and material used to construct the quilts  that my Grandma has made along with my husband’s Nana. However personally, as an artist, I  never considered quilting a craft I would take on simply because I am not a confident sewer.

Yet, after visiting this museum I was inspired to (at some point) take on this craft, this art form, of material and thread.

There were various themed exhibits at the museum, the one I particularly feel in love with were the nature themed quilts. The characteristics of the quilts that I gravitated toward were the nontraditional, layered, highly textured and generally featured plants, fungi, lichens or birds.

Other non-nature quilts that I especially enjoyed seeing at the museum were the Beatles tribute quilt (the various squares featured their songs like Lucky in the Sky, Strawberry Fields, Octopus’s garden it had a nice bright pink background), another memorable quilt was the Lord of the Rings quilt (it had a black background and metallic thread was used to create the characters, very intricate), there were various reversible quilts that I also found appealing.

Quilt from National Quilt Museum http://www.quiltmuseum.org/

Overall, a fun trip I would definitely recommend this museum to any creative type who is in the Western Kentucky area! Feel free to visit the National Quilt Museum website at:  http://www.quiltmuseum.org/

An Artist Growing Up

This past weekend my parents made the trip down to Kentucky to see my husband and I (and our two critters). Along with them (per my request) they brought two portfolios full of my old artwork. The portfolios contained crayon drawings from when I was 4 years old to watercolor paintings when I was 16+ years old. I thought I would share with you some of my favorites!

Cow and Mouse on Yellow Legal Pad Paper

Me and Dr. Nickles

Giraffes in Colored Pencil

Ring-tailed lemur, Digital image made in Microsoft Paint

Landscape, Oil Pastel on Paper

Blue Flowers Watercolor

Lizard, Watercolor on Paper

Horse and Rider, Graphite on Paper

Horse, Gauche on Paper

Capturing Motherhood

As a tribute to all the mothers out there I wanted to post an image of one of the pastel works by Mary Cassatt, who is well-known for her mother & child pieces. Cassatt lived from May 22, 1844 – June 14, 1926, she lived most of her life in France and exhibited among the impressionists.

“Mary Cassatt: Mother Feeding Child (22.16.22)”. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/22.16.22 (October 2006)

To learn more about Mary Cassatt visit:

The Mary Cassatt Foundation

The National Gallery of Art Collection

Master of Glass

Seaforms, Dale Chihuly

In December as a gift from my husband for Christmas, he took me to see an exhibition of prolific glass artist’s work, Dale Chihuly. This five room exhibit in Nashville’s Frist Center housed Chihuly’s Jackson Pollock like paint sketches, a short film showcasing his glass blowing process and many of his brilliant, organic, glass forms.

One form that I particularly fell in love with was his seaform. These delicate glass pieces captured the essence of aquatic life. Their see-through quality, vibrant color, flawless striations, and wavy form created a movement, light and life to these sculptures.

The exhibit overall was professionally executed, each piece was perfectly lit and considerately arranged. My only complaint would be that I would have liked to have seen more of his work.

If you ever get the opportunity to see Chihuly’s work, I would highly recommend seeing it! His combinations of color and form are really quite spectacular.

To learn more about Dale Chihuly visit:

http://www.chihuly.com/

But is it art?

A few weeks ago I finished reading But Is It Art by Cynthia Freeland. It’s a rather short read but contains a provocative look at art. Freeland thematically approaches this subject by discussing such topics as blood, beauty, culture, gender and comprehension.

The author raises many questions as to the meaning, aesthetics and theories behind art. Through the discussion of beauty of works such as Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, and controversial pieces such as Andy Warhol’s Brillo Box Freeland demonstrates the breadth of art in its many forms.

Although the diversity of art is showcased and various theories proposed, no real definition of art arises. My disappointment in this read stems from a lack of resolution between what is and is not art. However, if you are looking for an in-depth view of art, theory and culture this is a must read.

My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok

image from: http://www.tcg.org/tools/newplays/images2008/asherVERT_resized.jpg

I am not necessarily a fiction reader but I think this one is a must read. Don’t get me wrong, there are wonderful fictional works out there, I just too often find myself engaging in many non-fictional resources that when I find time it is hard to sit still for a good read. However many fine works of words have engaged my attention.

My Name is Asher Lev is just one of those said works. The nature of the book is one that I could especially relate to with my undergraduate study in fine art (painting and art history). The book shows the development of Asher Lev, the Hasidic Jew, artist and painter.

If you are already a practitioner of the Hasidic Jewish faith or the elite world of art you may realize the antagonistic relationship that already exists between the belief and practice of young Asher. If not let me make you aware.

In the Hasidic Jewish community existence is about conforming and following the ways of God; it’s about obedience and through obedience, salvation and truth. In the realm of art, there are no conformists; whoever conforms is considered a whore. Art is about self and self-expression and through total expression there is truth. In art there is seemingly nothing sacred, in Hasidic Judaism so much is sacred.

This antagonistic relationship follows the entirety of the book, until at last Asher comes to rest with what he wants to be.

Potok’s griping tale demonstrates a strong story of his own faith. He writes of Jewish practice and art as someone who is well-learned in both. His in-depth understanding transcends to a deeper meaning not just to the artist or the Jew. It is the essential question of self introspection, “Who do I want to be, what do I want to become?”

Add a Splash of Color

Image from Wikipedia searched "mosaics"

Last weekend I had an opportunity to take a mosaic class. It was refreshing to get a way from my digital art for a while and go back to making something that has dimension rather than pixels. The class was put on by a stained glass store close to where I live. I was definitely amazed at the variety of glass we were able to choose from to make our mosaics; marbled, opaque, translucent. I enjoyed the simplicity of breaking the glass into various shapes (not necessarily square) and gluing them down to our plexi-glass backing.

There are so many surfaces and objects you can mosaic to add a splash of color. For this project we

were designing a 12” circle  that could potentially hang in a window, or use on top of a small, round, side table. While working on the mosaic the time passed quickly; with only a half-hour remaining I didn’t have but a ¼ of my design glued down (which the instructor said was normal). Fortunately I was  sent home with enough glass and grout to finish off my mosaic. In a couple of weeks I hope to share with you my finished work.

See more colorful mosaics at: Inspired Mosaics