Help Support a Texas Artist

Should be a fun time. Come on by if you are in Austin.

Only a Week to Go!

I'm so excited I even bought a New York guide book. Ok, so I'll have my own personal tour guide but still, I like researching and finding things my self. The show starts Friday at 6 and the second one starts Saturday at 1. That leaves 4 full days and most of Thursday to explore. As far as prep for the show goes, my pieces got shipped today by FedEx and hopefully nothing tragic or weird happens. I don't think I'll get to see as much as I want but the Met and Cooper-Hewitt are top on my list, along with plenty of bookstores, Chinatown and at least a couple of nice restaurants. How silly is it to already be dreading the return flight? I love that city and would live there in a heartbeat. Wish me luck at the show. It'll be worth the trip no matter what happens.

A Fellow Artist Needs Help

Please visit Scott Garrette's etsy shop or read about why he needs help here. Anything would be appreciated.

Aha!

I have genius friends. For some reason I thought I'd have to buy something expensive to fix my "bubble" problem. All I need is a giant bag, a box, some duct tape and a shop vac. I'm building a fabulously cheap vacuum chamber for my resin. No more bubbles and I get to feel like clever for a few minutes :) Now I just have to see if it will really work.

I Never Thought...

... bubbles would become my enemy. Usually I find them charming. Children blowing them into each others faces always puts a smile on my face. I had them at my wedding instead of rice because they are so so friendly. When I learned to scuba dive, my favorite part was the bubbles coming off of everyone. There was something magical about how the bubbles reflected the sunlight from the surface and sparkled when they gurgled up over our heads.

Then I discovered resin. I looked at websites and books before buying all the supplies. I remember the passages about bubbles showing up. Bubbles? No big deal. How hard could playing with resin be? I've been making belt buckles and having so much fun designing them. But... But I have to check on everything constantly. I have a straw I carry with me when I've been making things with resin so I can go blow on the bubbles every few minutes. I will pop them all and feel very self satisfied until I go to check on my pieces again. More bubbles. Where in the hell do they come from? Is it the chemical reaction causing them or do I keep battling unseen air pockets?

Can you be a bubble magnet? I have been dreaming of giant bubbles chasing me down the street and I dropped my magic straw down a manhole. I think maybe I should take a break and go back to something that needs less babysitting... Ha! I'm not sure anything like that exists. It took me 45 minutes to write this just because I kept getting up to blow on my belt buckles.

I'm just as obsessive about all the mediums I work with. I keep figuring a light bulb will go off and I will have a solution to the never ending bubbles. I'm pretty sure that I missed something in one of those books about battling bubbles. Something about swords and flamethrowers. Maybe a canon or two.

Only a Month to Go

Anyone who follows what is going on in the Etsy world has probably heard of the Last Friday Trunk Shows. Etsy Labs invites different street teams to have shows at their place in Brooklyn on the last Friday of the month. I've heard mixed things about it but then again that happens with anything that is new and working out the kinks. Anyway, the Texas street team is invited for the last Friday and Saturday in September and I decided to go in person. Can't really afford it but I love New York and have never tromped around Brooklyn so I'm excited. If I sell some stuff great, if not, well, I'm in New York :) I haven't traveled outside the state in awhile so I'm looking forward to it. I'm trying to compile a list of places to visit, both for myself and to see if I can get my stuff in some shops up there. I'm taking suggestions. I know I still have a few weeks but I'm getting excited. So take a look at the poster I designed. Hopefully you'll see it around :)

Belty Bling

So, I've been too busy to make my own stuff lately, but not too busy to browse around Etsy. I'm on a belt buckle kick so I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you.

We'll start with a fellow Austinite.
cougar.etsy.com

Glass belt buckle with woodgrain silkscreen.
Love it.
kikuhandmade.etsy.com

Steel buckles no one else will have on their belts.
20volthand.etsy.com

Yes, we've seen them before but this one is 18k gold!
Vanessarap.etsy.com

Amazing Dia Des Los Muertos Belt Buckle
at headzortailz.etsy.com

Ring a Ling!

Here are some of my first rings. Any suggestions on ways to keep the clay attached would be appreciated. I am using E6000 right now. Seems to work fine. I've been wearing some and bumping them around at work. Very sturdy.

Balance

I'm trying to master a new trick. I'm sure there are many of you out there that have to balance your art with family, work... well, life in general. I've never really tried to fit my art into everything else. I'm either all or none. Typically, I have worked full time or gone to school and let my personal work stay on the back burner; something to fiddle with on long holidays. That or I am out of school and letting the one who loves me pay the bills while I try to focus solely on my work. Neither of those choices is satisfactory to me really. I don't like letting someone else support me and I don't like ignoring that very important part of me.

I just took a full time job and decided this time to pay attention to all my needs. I need to feel independent financially but my creativity needs to be addressed. Most of you will know how hard it is to make time for yourself and your art when there is laundry piling up, dinner to be fixed and the exhaustion of just doing your job for eight hours a day to deal with.

My compromise is to work during the week and just focus on my home and my job. The weekends are for me. Seems obvious to me now but for some reason it was the hardest decision to come to. I still find myself catching up on housework on Saturday and eyeballing the clay on weeknights when I should be in bed, but it is getting better. Anticipating my time in my studio gives me something to look forward to and I am excited to be in there.

Maybe it seems silly to just be figuring this stuff out but you can only learn what you are ready to learn.

Rock n Roll

In honor of my shoulder feeling better then acquiring a fabulously crispy sun burn that makes wearing clothes feel like a million little needles, I am going to post a few of my favorite etsy artists. Actually, the real inspiration for the artists I chose are all the river rocks I collected after I burned myself floating down the river at a family reunion this weekend. After the bad choice in non-waterproof sunblock, I decided it was best to play babysitter and amused myself with finding interesting stones while the kids hunted for fish with these awesome $2 toy nets. I love it when kids find more amusement in the cheapy stuff. Anyway, here are some very talented people who work with stones and pebbles (or at least imitate it well.)

Ashleyjewelry's fabulous rock pieces


Beth Cyr Fine Art Jewelry


Ad libitum- as you like it


Created by Abbe Ciulla of The Offbeat Artisans


Hardflower Studios


Kim Westad Ceramics

Waiting

I seem to have hurt my shoulder in some mysterious way. Two weeks now and until a few days ago I was convinced it would just go away. I am currently on pain meds and waiting to see if I need an MRI. Not that you guys want to hear all this. I am just frustrated because I want to make all the things I've dreamed up in my convalescence. It seems small rounds of typing doesn't hurt so bad but conditioning clay is a nightmare. I could try painting with my left hand but, silly me, everything I am dying to make requires clay. Wish me luck and pray I suddenly find patience. Seriously, bored, impatient redheads... very bad thing to have floating around the house.

May PCAGOE Challenge

The theme for this month's PCAGOE challenge was Mixed Media so I used copper wire, string and paint to fulfill the requirement. Don't ask me where the idea came from; it just popped into my head. Ok, it was spurred on by this tutorial showing how to make little octopus charms. How I got from those to this would hurt your brain and mine if I tried to explain. That happens though. I get clay in my hands and what I want to make takes a backseat to what the clay wants to become. I hope you enjoy the sculpture. It was fun to make.

"The Masked Whale Boy Comes Ashore"

Rabbits Have Invaded

I have had rabbits on the brain for a long time. Go figure. I am pretty sure I will keep expanding this series. New ideas just seem to pop into my head in the middle of the night. They are small. I use various 2x3 inch frames to house the sculptures. I can just see dozens of them covering an entire gallery. It would be so hilarious.

Heaven Has Apples

Spring Time Is For Fish

Rabbits Can Swim

Show This Weekend

This is the festival I will have my work at this weekend. I'll be sharing a booth with Andrea of Powderpuff Creations.
I will have more polymer clay work than anything I think and some new weird rabbit pieces. I'll post some photos later in the week after I'm done with this little mini series.

So, if you are in the Austin area come on by and say hello. I'll have some fun promo stuff from other Etsy artists to hand out. There will be music, food and tons of artists to drool over.

See you there!

Fun Piece

This is a piece I did for the April Challenge for Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy (PCAGOE). I rarely work in 100% polymer clay but I thought it might be fun to try. I started with a mold I made of a carved walnut shell and then made flowers, snails, a beetle and some budding plants. I painted it with various metallic paints when it was baked and here you go...

Product Reviews: Amazing Mold Putty & Super Sculpey Firm

Let me begin by saying I love Amazing Mold Putty. I have more molds than a teenager out on their own for the first time. I have finally graduated from molding what is around me to creating molds from polymer clay so I can cast my own unique pieces. The molding putty is easy to mix, not too sticky and makes detailed impressions. It is an easy 1:1 ratio. I have tried about 3 other brands and I have to say they each had their own issues. One was so sticky it was hard to mix without getting everywhere and the other two made molds that weren't flexible enough. I started out by carrying it with me everywhere and molding anything that caught my eye; texture on furniture (don't use on fabrics, I was playing with wicker and bamboo pieces), floors, walls, friends' appendages, etc... It sets up fast and stays pliable. I've made impressions in polymer clay and now resin and the resulting pieces are just as interesting as the original. I found you have to watch for air bubbles but that seemed to be the case with all of the brands. Paying attention to how you are mixing the parts together helps cut down on the bubbles.


I have also been using Super Sculpey Firm as my sculpting medium. It is easy to condition, easy to blend and is very durable. I found that the lumps, bumps and fingerprints disappear with less effort. For my usual work I'll still stick to Premo but for pieces I'm going to cast in resin I will use SSF. I'm enjoying the smoother texture and have been impressed with how it holds onto details.


Hope this information helps with anyone who has been experimenting with mold making. I haven't graduated to the liquid silicone molding mediums yet but I probably will. I have been eyeballing some of my 3-D works for casting and need something else to make molds with. I'll keep you posted.

Birthday Weekend

I'll be gone for the weekend celebrating my birthday so I won't be doing anything crafty to post about. Just wait til next week though. I have plenty of things in the works...

Any Market for Weird Purses?

I've been encouraged to make more of my cigar box purses. I have a couple for sale and they get looked at a lot but no one picks them up. I try not to be too effected by this. I know that making things true to yourself is more important than trying to make things you think will sell.

So I traded some light poster work for a temporary salesman. He is willing to talk to some people about carrying some of my purses and hopefully he is better at it than I am. I am still too attached to my work and have a hard time watching the buyer's eyes judge everything. I think this is why I love the internet so much. You can still interact with your customers, you have a broader customer base (if you can reach them) and there is a barrier between the work and the fear of rejection.

I find my fear of rejection funny. I mean, I have confidence in my work and my attention to quality. I think my stuff is fairly unique and I enjoy making it. But put me in front of a person who isn't as enthusiastic about my work and suddenly I am full of doubt. I know it happens to everyone and plenty of people either get over it or ignore it enough to schlep their stuff around but I haven't figured that part out yet.

I think for the next few I'll base my purses off of these...


These are listed on Etsy so I can't send them around to shops.

I made the figures first then decided to put them on purses. So I think I'll work that way again; just start playing with the figures and see what happens then decide what to do with them. I made molds of some doll heads and various insects. Then I added skulls, flames and embellishments. I'm pretty sure that in the next few weeks I can have an extensive line of creepy purses and no two will be alike.

Hot Rods and Art

Ok, nothing too crafty today. I've been oversaturated with hot rods this weekend and I'm processing. I love that whole culture but I am more of a voyeur than a participant (aka, no hot rod of my own, soon though, I don't have a enough tattoos and don't hang out with that crowd on a regular basis.)

Lonestar Rod & Kustom Round Up

I do have a very well grounded appreciation for that scene though, as a lot of the artists I love seem be influenced by a combination of '50's hot rod art and the skater scene. Yes, they are different but to me and most other people who have been following the "low brow" art scene (which needs a new name BTW,) looking at it from an aesthetic point of view, there are some common threads.

I have also become convinced I need to learn to do pin striping...

First Post and Semi Repost

This is a repost of my newsletter. Moving all my stuff to the blog. Luckily, I only made one.

Just click on the images to be able to read them.