My last week of my Diploma...

Textiles: Tapestry weaving/Community Project

I have been working on the tapestry when I get the opportunity at work (custom slows down over the winter months) I have found it challenging at times but growing through the experience in ways I didn't anticipate when I first proposed my concept. I guess that's the main difference between a commission and a community project which involves lots of people with different ways of seeing/doing things!

I have just received an email from the Whangarei District Council Community Funding Officer
asking for a report of our project for the funding we received. It is due by end of June 2018 so will work that into my Weekly Planning for next week.

Paper-making/labeling soap:

On Tuesday afternoon I made up a batch of paper as I'd run out again. It's been a really rainy May so dried it indoors with the dehumidifier running. Works a treat! I had an order for more soap at Puti puti Ra and The Bach Gallery so spent Wednesday evening labelling soap. 

Planning: Printmaking 

I needed to get some more clay and also been thinking about returning to the  Te Kowhai Printmaking Studio to do printmaking on a Wednesday morning at The Quarry Arts Centre. I had a catch up with Jasmine who runs the Inky Fingers Workshop and she is thrilled I am planning to factor that in my weekly schedule from next week. I plan on printmaking on my handmade paper.

I went to the library and got out a number of books. As well as some print-making ones, I picked up some paper crafts, scrap-booking and journaling books. I also grabbed a couple of self-help/self-awareness books and had a giggle at the one entitled "Constructive Wallowing" - sounds like a good read to me!

Pottery: 

After my boot disaster I've been finding it hard to feel confident in my exploration with pottery. I have still been going to the Thursday evening group but haven't made anything worth reporting.

We have a "Teapot" challenge for the month of June so have been exploring that and started with a slab-worked concept. Most of the time though by the end of the night the clay has ended up balled up back in the bag!

 After getting the basic shape for the body done to a satisfactory point and after much pondering I decided to make the spout using a leaf imprint for the shape. Unfortunately it cracked in half as I tried to roll it so had to do it again. This time I left the leaf on the clay which seemed to work better.

 Next, was to "fit" the spout. I made a tear-drop shape cut in the body, scored the surrounding clay along with the edges of the leaf that would have contact and glued the spout on with vinegar. I set this aside to firm up a little while I worked on the lid. I decided to make the lid using a flower cutter. My first two attempts were disastrous! I persevered though and used a hairdryer to firm up the clay a little and found it came away from the plastic mold more cleanly this time. I felt really happy that I hadn't given up! I cut out some leaves (for decorating the teapot) a circle for the under-side of the lid and a little heart for the lid handle. Finally, I rolled out three pieces of clay lengthwise into long thin sausages, plaiting them together for the handle. Next week I will assemble the whole thing together.

 

More soap dishes - they are selling well at the gallery!

Art Journalling:

I also made a futile attempt to do some art journalling during the week. Dane has been regularly contacting me to assist with planning and program support (for which I am eternally grateful for!) She often has to remind me my inner critic is "driving my bus" and we got talking about our inner child. I realise I would never speak to someone else they way I speak to myself and need to be compassionate to myself and the inner child within.

I applied the black paint with a credit card using swiping strokes and it was in one of my daughter's childhood books that I found this image. The story was about Skipper, Barbie's younger sister feeling like she wasn't good enough as a dancer as she only had a supporting role and not the lead. Barbie was comforting and encouraging her to have faith in herself as every role is important in some way. The image made me think of an older version of me being compassionate to a younger version and I knew immediately what I needed to say to my inner child. The stamped lettering isn't perfect but I kind of don't mind as I'm sure it'll be some time before I'm flawlessly being gentle and kind to myself!
***
So, where to from here?

Continue being creative, of course! Continue to make/sell soaps etc. Include printmaking weekly on a Wednesday morning, Hydrotherapy on Wednesday evening and spend time encouraging others
(Ricky/Mel, his twin sister) creativity. I will continue to do pottery on Thursday evening along with art journalling, book-making, writing and scrap-booking. I still hope to do the Advance programme but having enrolled in a psychology course with Open Polytechnic so will see if I get excepted. My time with The Learning Connexion has been invaluable! I am not the same person I was when I first started this journey with TLC and I have learned so so much.

 I am forever grateful I discovered its existence.
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Art Inspiration - Klimt

 I continued to work on my art-inspired painting from Gustav Klimt. I was discouraged that the black marker pen showed through the white but knew I need to push through and not let that inhibit me. While working on the second piece a "light went on" and I opted to stencil over red (using an underturned McD's plastic drink container lid) and the hole was almost the perfect size. I choose to allow slight imperfection in my work and feel really proud of that fact!

I was sure I'd taken photos of my processes for this but unfortunately I didn't (I must have been too caught up in "the doing" of it!) I cut up pieces of sponge to create the desired shapes and randomly stamped them to create the patterns. I had planned to outline in black but was really worried I'd wreck it and be disappointed. This in itself annoys me that I am STILL caught up in fear of exploratory creativity.

 I was invited to go to the members-only opening of the Whangarei Quilt Show. As always, there was an amazing display of quilts and I restrained myself in only buying a $2 bundle of craft magazines. Lots of ideas which I will probably never have time to do unless I live to 150!

 Ricky and I continued to work on the wooden assemblage (planter box) for his Mum. He has become so much more confident and skilled in wood-working since we began which is great to see. 

 A book that was recommended to me by Catherine at TLC. I was talking with her (actually crying!) at my sadness to be finishing up my Diploma, Honours programme when I was down at the encaustic art workshop in April and she said this book was really helpful to her. I jumped on Fishpond and ordered it but yet to read it.

 My cat is so funny. She likes to sleep on things. I had covered Ricky's planter box with a tarp. Silly cat jumped up thinking she could curl up and sleep on top not realising it was an empty box frame! I couldn't help but grab my camera and take photos as she slowly descended like an elevator going down!

I love taking photos - it makes me happy :o)

Firing discovery

Some time ago my neighbour gave me one of those charcoal kettle BBQ's. I had the idea at the time of using it for paper making but then I got a gas burner BBQ and the kettle sat in the garage lean to collecting dust and spider webs. A few months ago i asked Ricky's Mum if she could make use of it and she said. Yes as they didn't have one. Fast forward to two weeks ago at pottery - I’d gone over to the studio after work on the Thursday evening but was not feeling the best. I'd even considered going straight home, but I'm glad I didn't. While having a coffee and a chat with Wendy and Rod, who are key members of the group, we somehow got on to the subject of pit firing and ways to it in your backyard. That's when I learned about using a kettle BBQ. Wendy suggested I have a look on YouTube so I watched a videos  and got very enthused in giving it a go myself. Needless to say, the next day I phoned Ricky's Mum and asked if I could be an Indian-giver and have the BBQ back. When I explained why, she more than happy to return it as Ricky enjoy doing pottery and it'll be something different for him to learn about.

I even had the bags of charcoal returned to me.

My idea was to create a pottery boot that could be used as a kitchen herb planter. I found a boot pattern online and enlarged it 400% to to actual size of a boot.

 I talked to Wendy at the pottery group, who has years of experience working with clay. She was very excited for me when I said I'd acquired a kettle BBQ from my neighbour and didn't realise what I could do in it when I gave away but had it returned. She recommended I used red raku clay as it is a hardy, coarse clay ideally suited for the hand building of large work, slab building and sculpting. 

  It has "beautiful strength, plasticity, workability and is forgiving for all methods of hand building. plu really low shrinkage - a stunning handbuilding clay" 

 I found the easiest way to roll it out was "slapping it down" and "flipping it over" to stretch it.

  Then I cut out the shapes using the paper templates as my guide. When I tried to assemble it, it wasn't what I really had in mind -it was more like a converse sneaker.

  So I went and got my boots and tried to take a pattern off of them which was tricky to do.

 It took at few attempts to get the shapes right...

...and not have it too thick or too thin.

In the end I abandoned to whole idea as it turns out making a boot is much easier in my head than in reality! I think I'd better just stick to soap dishes.

 PAPER-MAKING/SOAP LABELLING

I needed to make up a batch of paper so I could label more soap.

SOAP-MAKING:

I spent an afternoon making soap as I've almost run out of stock.