Saturday Morning Tea

Mar15

I’m up before sunrise this morning getting ready for a weekend workshop by mixed media mosaic artist, Laurie Mika. I’ve been gathering bits of this and that all week for the theme of my piece, “The Way of Tea”. I’m thinking of a green, brown, red and silver color palette. I have a small envelope of Matcha tea that I’m going to attempt to make a glaze with.

I’m sipping a cup of an unusual Assam tea from the Sewpur estate. Unusual in the respect that it’s a green tea instead of the full-bodied, rich black teas I’m accustomed to from this district in India. It’s not like a China or Japanese green because you can still detect the malty thick quality. The aroma is slightly vegetal and the flavor is strong yet smooth.

I look forward to sharing my mixed media mosaic adventures!

My Freeform Beaded Amulet Bag

Mar5

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a freeform peyote bracelet I created and referenced an amulet bag I had created years ago that inspired the bracelet. Here is the amulet bag. I did some experimenting with hanging the bag within my light tent. My kit came with some hanging clips so I hung the bag from the clips so I could take a photo with the fringe hanging naturally and freely. The sea glass I encased on the front of the bag was found on a beachcombing expedition when I visited Maui a couple of years ago. I added that on after the bag was finished. The ceramic fish and seahorse beads were purchased during a trip to Nantucket.

The strap is done in a spiral stitch. It took many hours to finish the bag over the course of 4 years, working on and off during a challenging time in my life. So, the freeform peyote technique and its meditative qualities will always represent healing to me. Maybe that is why I’m drawn to it so much.

My Synergy Purchases

Mar3

I totally love these earrings! I purchased them at the Synergy Gallery where over 80 amazing polymer clay artists displayed and sold their creations. My gift to myself. They were created by Sarah Shriver with her fabulous kaleidoscope cane technique. The cane design is so organic, like ferny tendrils. As I was taking the photos of my Synergy purchases, I noticed an interesting color theme going on.

These Stewart Gill paints match the earrings. I purchased the earrings first so I must have had those great colors in my mind when I picked out these paints. And this Amaco Fun Wire.

I can’t wait to play!

The Synergy Panel Discussions

Feb29

I really enjoyed all of the panel discussions. Even though the topic of each discussion was different and pertained to the theme of the day, all seemed to lead to a core discussion of the artistic voice. This was the common thread woven through the fabric of the conference – the discovery, the expression and the cultivation of your unique voice in your art.

Day One brought “Hallmarks of Craftsmanship” with Jeff Dever, Rachel Carren, Sarah Shriver, Alison Lee and Donna Kato on the panel. What constitutes fine craftsmanship? Most agreed that besides being finished well, a piece needs to say something. I have been doing a lot of thinking about exactly what this means. I do agree that there needs to be a connection between the artist and the piece they create. That is what infuses a piece with spirit and interest. But does there necessarily need to be a connection between that piece and every viewer? Not necessarily so because everyone has different perceptions and tastes and a piece might not attract all viewers. I think that the most important part is what the artist thinks and how they feel about their piece. Then there was an interesting discussion about how making a living with your art can affect what you produce. The responsibilities of paying the bills might not afford an artist the time and energy to get deeper with their pieces. They also have to take into consideration what will sell in their designated market. I know that the responsibilities of my day job definitely affect the amount of time I can spend playing, exploring and experimenting.

Day Two’s discussion, “Inspiration, Originality, and Infringement” was again moderated by Jeff Dever. Joining him on the panel were Elise Winter, Thomas Mann and Dan Cormier. While Jeff’s work is clearly inspired by the beautiful forms in nature, the other 3 panel members talked about how their work has been inspired more by sitting down and working with the material. “Getting your butt in the chair” as Alison Lee says. There was also some discussion about teaching a technique you’ve developed and how once you teach it, you no longer own it. Some artists choose not to teach or stop using a certain technique once they have taught it in a class or workshop. Everyone agreed that carrying a sketchbook/journal was essential to the documenting and development of ideas as they come to you. I love journaling and sketching in my notebook and feel it really helps my creative flow.

Day Three brought Tim McCreight to present “Design Decisions: Good, Better, Best” What a lot of fun that was! We all got a little clear ziplock packet filled with geometric shapes of different colors. Tim had larger versions of these shapes and he carefully arranged a design on a magnetic board. He then invited Donna Kato and Seth Savarick up to change the design. What a great idea to jumpstart the design process and, more importantly to me, just play. I love to play.

Tomorrow is the return of my Saturday Morning Tea but I will continue my Synergy thoughts on Sunday…

More on my Synergy Experience

Feb28

I love photography and taking photos. I used to drive my kids crazy with having my camera at the ready for every little wonderful moment of their lives. Of course, now that they’re adults, they enjoy looking through the bulging photo albums at their younger selves. So, very surprisingly, I didn’t take any pictures at Synergy except for the photo of the sunrise on the first morning. That’s how very absorbed I was in the whole experience. My camera sat in my backpack the whole time.

I was delighted and honored today to see my blog mentioned on Cynthia Tinapple’s fabulous Polymer Clay Daily. Cynthia was the keynote speaker at the Gala banquet last Saturday night. I’m sorry to say that I was so tired that I missed the banquet. I heard it was a lot of fun. So, I was excited to see that Cynthia has generously provided her slide presentation here.

There were 3 guest lecturers, one for each day of the conference. Day One focused on Craftsmanship and Kathleen Dustin presented “The Early Development of Polymer Clay in Bead Making”. I believe that Kathleen mentioned giving this presentation in Istanbul, Turkey when she attended the International Bead and Beadwork Conference there. I first had the pleasure of meeting Kathleen at the Crafts at the Castle show in Boston last December. Her work blew me away and I was so excited to see it finally in person after drooling over photos in many polymer clay books over the years. What stayed with me after meeting her was how very down to earth she is and I just wanted to sit down with her, have a cup of tea and chat. One of the things I found most fascinating about Kathleen’s presentation of the early years in polymer clay was how artists in different states started creating canework jewelry almost simultaneously. I enjoyed listening to how it all started. It seemed the universe was ready for the springtime of our medium and it burst into bloom.

Day Two was about Business and the guest lecturer was none other than our craft tv hero, Carol Duvall. Carol is so sweet and humble that her presentation felt like you were sitting at her kitchen table with her chatting over a piece of coffecake. She shared with us her story of how many years ago on a whim, she went down to the local station for an audition and, as they say, the rest is history. From a 2 minute and 40 second spot talking about crafts before the local news to the host of her own show on HGTV, Carol has inspired us and introduced a lot of us to the medium of polymer clay. She is a lovely lady and I was honored to hear her speak in person.

Day Three was about Design and the guest speaker was Jo Lauria, one of the contributing writers of Craft in America, described as a journey to the artist, origins and techniques of American Craft. I ended up going to the ACC show instead of attending this talk. After sitting for 2 and a half days, I really needed to stretch my legs and move around.

The ACC show was downstairs at the Convention Center, with over 700 artists participating in the largest indoor juried craft show in the nation. I found it to be a sea of colors, textures and forms which left me breathless with wonder. We moved through the aisles, stopping at booths that caught our eye. I found myself attracted the most to whimsical sculpture and, for some unknown reason, lamps. I think I was being drawn to the light. We left the show with glazed eyes and great respect and awe for the amazing artists there.

More tomorrow on the panel discussions…