Return to making.

Operating within my existing life has taken precedence over building my life.

I took a Printmaking on Clay class this summer at Lillstreet Art Center. For a portion of the time I was working in porcelain with a set of vintage stamps from the 1940's.  The whole goal of my project was to make some simple pendants for a show in August while embracing the wabi sabi of the process... letting things be imperfect.  As a metalsmith and a designer, much of what I do needs to be precise.  Clay does not have to speak this language. It is inherently malleable and is best when you let the material influence you. Give up the control.

I have spent stolen moments this fall at the studio experimenting with ways to finish the discs.  Wiped on glaze or stain?   Top coat of clear glaze or left raw?  There is an honest beauty to porcelain left unglazed. After the final firing in the kiln there is almost a translucence to the clay.  They started off white with black settled into the recessed areas of the piece.  Then the underglaze was cracked open... and the path was diverted.  I find that I really like the textured, murky, quality in some of these new pieces. 

I think it reflects where I am at in my life right now. Not in "a place for everything, everything in it's place" state of existence. Reflecting on how all of the pieces fit together and what experiences and events in my life have made me who I am today. Apparently, it is not all that crisp and clear.



Plums. Tiny, tiny, plums.

So a rarity happened to me recently.  I was away on a trip to Aspen in the "This Is What America Looks Like" state of Colorado and woke up without a predetermined schedule.  Option One:  Find my coworkers and socialize.  Option Two: Wander out by myself to see what the day would hold.  Love my people, but opted for number two.  After a big, strong Iced Americano at Ink! Coffee, I walked down the street to find a combo farmer's market/craft fair deal.  And looky who else was there. These tiny plums of all colors, each about the size of a golf ball.

I wanted the green ones to be tart, but they were red and sweet.  Not a problem.  Perfectly ripe.

So my farmer's market friend in Chicago could share, I packed them up and brought them home. When he saw them the next morning at 7am, two were promptly eaten.

Five winks of happy...nice blogs.

Today we kill two birds with one post.  It is the last official day of my Blogging Your Way class.  I was able to spend some time with a great group of creative writers and artists from all over the world.  Today I share with you five new blogs I learned about through this class.  Picking five out of two hundred is way hard.

Check out draw! pilgrim for inspiring custom graphic bits.  Makes me want to spend an entire day making little well designed pictures.

Sweet little pinwheel is a mom making things blog, which obviously makes me very simpatico.  Dreamy  header too.

Kidlings + vintage + great graphic design at  modern kiddo. 

Hoorahs to ZUHAUSE for nice, simple clean combos of images and text.

Number five is Once Upon a Parent for sharing the important moments in everyday life.  And these cheeks.

Five winks of happy...colorways.

One fabric from Designers Guild is great.  Five different colorways are eye popping.  When looking for fabric, always check out the varied color combinations that are available.  The blue on white might not work for your project, but the white on black might be just what you need to pull it all together. 

Designers Guild Boqueria Fabric

Tricia Guild is the woman behind this London design powerhouse.  She always presents a modern twist on home interiors.

Five winks of happy...patterns.

This is a new feature that will appear every Monday.  Five winks of happy.  Five bits of goodness.  Five small pieces of visual amusement.  Use this moment to look at the work you do in a different way.  Or take the opportunity to enjoy a few nice things.

http://www.dwellstudio.com/

 

http://www.orlakiely.com/usa/

http://www.frenchbull.com/

 

http://thomaspaul.com/

 

http://www.paulsmith.co.uk/

Now go check them out just for fun.

Someone else is busy drawing.

Drawing maps that is.  At 5, did you even know that Azerbaijan and Macedonia existed?  This is one of the reasons that I love Montessori.  These kids are wee birds and they are learning that there is a world outside of the United States and outside of themselves.  The other day I was talking to a friend about a designer in Sweden, and G informed us that he knows where that country is in Europe. I should probably study this my own bad self.

Blogging Your Way class.

Homework for week three in my blog class.  Create an inspiration board related to the content, feel, imagery that you want to project in your blog environment.  It is all about "making" for me.