a little break

We took a few hours out of the day to travel south to Colden for Maple weekend. The maple syrup places all over the state have open houses this weekend and we always mean to go and always somehow forget. But today the air was soft and the sun was warm and it just seemed wrong to stay indoors. So off we went. Dog. Sandwiches. Tea. Vitamin water. Pears. Cameras. It was restorative and fun. I think they call the houses with the boiling equipment "sugar shacks". If they don't they should.






I took some pictures, a few of which seemed pretty good to me. I am definitely going to use some of my pictures on the books.



I've made up postcards to hand out at shows about this blog. It will be interesting to see what effect, if any, the blog has on the business. At least I'm having fun with it.

Well, break is over and the attic calls...

Can't wait til morning. Pancakes with brand new, pure maple syrup.

What diet?

a decision about Kenan

I was checking the website of one of my favorite shows, 100 American Craftsmen at the Kenan Center, and saw that they had the slide show up of this year's artists. Nice touch. If you click on the slide show, it opens up into a full screen and you can navigate through from there. I was interested to see which of my images they would choose and I was happy to see a book. Usually they use my cast paper bowls.

So, as I'm clicking on the pictures, I see the work of a paper artist I admire from Rochester, Raphaela McCormick. We met at the Clothesline Festival there a couple of years ago. She does amazing vessels and sculptures. You can see her work on line at:

www.raphaelamccormack.com

I enjoy making my cast paper bowls and vessels, but they are a small part of my booth. I noticed that my fellow book artist, Susan Soleil is not in the show this year (I think she has moved to the Carolinas). So, for Kenan I am leaving the bowls home and concentrating on the books.

It's good to be able to focus like this. It gives me a clearer picture on how I want to approach the Kenan show. Now all we need is the right weather. Last year was crazy hot for that time of year and it hurt us all in that cavernous arena with no A/C.

You can click on the link for Kenan to see the slide show. Some beautiful work there. I am always grateful to be included in this group.

miniature book how-to

My miniature book pins are very popular with librarians, teachers and book club members and also with those who just like unusual jewelry. They are actual books with 30 pages inside, a decorated cover and a pin on the back. I'm going to show you how I make them. There are those who would call me crazy, but I'm not going to share all the little tricks and details. In my mind, a greater appreciation can come from seeing what goes into that little 2 inch bauble. So here we go.

First you assemble all your materials:



Tiny book boards, handmade paper for the cover and spine, a stack of interior pages, glue, scissors, bone folder, advil.

The first step is to glue the covers to the paper, leaving room for the spine.



Then you glue the coordinating material that will be the spine over the boards



The book, at this point, looks like this:



Then you glue the edges of your pages



and wrap them in the paper that will be the inside of the covers. Now you have a cover and an insert:



You glue the insert into the cover



and there is your little book. At this point, I usually wrap each one tightly in waxed paper and put it in the book press. That helps it glue properly and the press makes them nice and flat and square.

Now you can embellish the book if you like. Sometimes, if the paper is special I leave it alone. You can do a tiny torn paper collage, glue on a charm, a picture. The word tag is very popular. This is a simple combo of torn papers, a word tag and raised paint dots..



There you have it. When I have a collection of them ready, I'll post a group photo.

smile

My perfect, beautiful, much missed man-child is visiting his Mom this week, so the studio door remains closed. Even if the most we do this week is watch old movies together and visit family, I am smiling.

So, here's a smile for the art fair artists who don't have son-shine on them this week. In one of the forums, the question was asked "do you call yourself an artist?"

Now the topic of what is art and what is craft and are you an artist or a craftsman or an artisan blahblahblah, often gets tossed around for those who need to ponder such things. The answer I loved was "I only call myself an artist at art shows. As in 'where is the artist parking'?"

Something beautiful about that.

Back to my boy.

we interrupt this blog....

...for a public service announcement.

Have you seen this woman? In concert?



We had the honor of seeing k d lang perform last night. I play with the word "art" in this blog a lot. Last night I saw, heard and felt it. Amazing. Never before has a singer been able to bring tears to my eyes with one note, sent over the auditorium, pure and strong and from the soul.

Art. Beauty. Poetry. Soul. Everyone has their own interpretation. But I know it when I see it.

assembly line

When I think of "production", this is the image that comes to mind:




But for a craftsperson, it's a different sort of thing, albeit just as tedious at times. For instance, I stockpile book covers




Just cutting the boards and gluing the papers is a yawner, for sure. Then they have to sit in the book press for a day so they stay nice and straight. The fun part is when I actually assemble the book and add the (hopefully) artistic elements, but that is still a few weeks away. So, I plug along.

The miniature books that I make into pins have a different set of tasks.They go into the book press, just like the big ones, but I assemble them first. The challenge there is to have everything organized so I can pull the colors and textures I need without a lot of searching. When your work is just an inch and a half, every element is important.If I have an interesting assortment at my fingertips, the designs just sort of leap out at me. This is what I came up with. It cracks me up that the whole operation fits into a 10 inch square basket.



Now, if I could organize my house this well. Or even half as well. Actually, if I could organize my house at all....

The Drudgery Report

Ah, yes, this is the time of year I wonder what the heck I'm doing in this business. The snow is piled up, it's cold in the studio, few shows have been confirmed yet, I can't even remember what it's like to be in my little canopy selling things and goofing around with my customers. I also have forgotten just how I did some of the things I loved last year. I stare at the paper, turn it over, put some other pieces on it, move things around like a puzzle and it is like looking at a foreign object.

I face this every year. The re-learning period. It's as if December is the end of the year, the season and my ability to create anything. Eventually, it comes back. The first few items are clumsy and forced. Then I remember one little thing, then another. A cartoon light bulb goes on over my head. I remember some more. When I'm lucky, in the process of trying to remember, I invent. That's the best part. Having to force your brain to see something, often helps you see something new. It's a rush.

But, for now, I am covering book boards. Choosing papers that will look right with a collage piece on them, others that will stand alone. Deciding whether to use a certain paper on a large journal or a small one or, maybe, a frame. Saving the best of the scraps for my miniature books. Tossing the tiniest pieces into a basket for my collage cards. I'm accumulating "canvases" that will later become, hopefully, artful work.

It is drudgery, surely, but I like watching the boxes fill up with these squares of promise. The festive basket of collage scraps pleases the eye. Sometimes, a new paper I am experimenting with works so well that it actually makes me laugh. The TV is on. I listen to the women on The View, The Food Network (cooking is my second passion), every so often a Lifetime movie.

And the hours pass, the room doesn't feel so cold, the book covers pile together in rainbow stacks, the collage scraps spill over the sides of the basket. I begin to remember. I begin to get excited about what I'm doing.

Spring is coming, then Summer. My first show is just 7 weeks from today. In Virginia. I can almost feel the sun on my face.

Lovely Kenan

Another "congratulations" letter today from one of my favorites. 100 American Craftsmen at the Kenan Center in Lockport. Love this show.

That helped assuage some of the frustration I'm feeling with my app for the Roycroft show. They want the images on the CD to be 4X6 AND 150ppi and I can't do 4X6 on some of my newer images. I'm guessing they put everything on a powerpoint and they want the images to have some commonality, but I've been banging my head on the desk for days. I really want to use pictures of some of my newer book designs, but they won't fit the criteria and I can't retake the picture because the books have been sold.

This is what happens to procrastinators.

I'm really going to have to deal with this tomorrow. The deadline is Friday.

resurfacing

I have not abandoned my blog. I was feeling poorly for a while. No idea what it was, but it's gone so who cares? And then we took a jaunt to NYC where I took in "Curtains" while my guy took in a workshop. David Hyde Pierce is so funny and I got to watch his comic tweaks and takes from the 5th row. It was wonderful.

But now it is back to work.

I am feeling timid for some reason, tentative about my work. That is sort of unusual for me. I tend to throw myself into a new project with abandon, not caring how it turns out because I know it is an experiment. It may be the beginning of a new "widget" that pleases me or it might be the death of a idea that seemed brilliant at one a.m. and now serves just to humble me. Either way, it has always been a "no pressure" situation. Not sure why I am so reluctant to go up and jump in. After all, my goal this year was to be ahead of schedule and have much done before the 1st show.

This weekend is my last chance to create something wonderful for the new round of jurying. I have to remember a line from the show I saw. They were singing about the realities of theater. "It's a business" they sang. Yep. It is.

And the boss is glaring at me and tapping her watch.

change of course/change, of course.

The quote I use in my header is not intended to compare me to Picasso. Obviously. But I love how it speaks to inspiration and how the creative mind works.

I was browsing the sites of some high end art and craft shows, the ones that show images of the artists' work. I am drawn to collage, assemblage and, of course, book arts. I saw some amazing work in all of those categories. Now, I do not place myself in the category of exhibitors at shows like the Smithsonian. But the artfulness of that level of craft is humbling and inspiring. I can absorb the vision even through my petty jealousy of the talent it took to realize it.

Anyway, I saw some wonderful books utilizing collage and assemblage and it brought me back to my first love..book arts. So, I am dumping the lamp idea and re-focusing. This is where my heart is, after all.

There is a tendency in this business to keep trying to add "stuff" to your booth. It's all about money, of course. It is not easy to earn a living this way. You have to make tough choices, balance your heart with your head with your checkbook. when you are sitting in your booth on a day when sales are slow and you see crowds around the jewelry booths, you want to make jewelry. If you are at a show with a lot of traditional craft and every 3rd person seems to be carrying a cute doodad on a stick, you want to make doodads on a stick. That's human nature, I guess. At some point, though, you need to take a step back and remember why you do this for a living instead of sitting at a desk and earning a steady paycheck.

So, I am going to stay with what is true for me. Books, frames, mirrors of cast paper. These things utilize what I understand and respond to. Paper. Pages. Bindings. Nature. "a scrap of paper..a spider's web" feels right.

And on we go.

inside the jury room

A friend worked for an arts organization that hosts a respected show every year. She got to sit in on the jurying so I asked her about it. I know they are all different, but this is how it goes in this one.

These jurors are artists from different fields...glass, pottery, fiber, etc. They come in early and have breakfast together. They bond. Then they go into.. (drum roll) ...The Room. The slides have been put into a powerpoint presentation and the artists are identified only by number and medium. All the images, including the booth, are shown at once. I've often heard that most jurors only get 10 seconds during this phase, but she said in this place, they tell the person running the presentation when to go on to the next. They score the artists on a scale of 1-10. This takes all morning. They turn their ballots into the promoter and they are done.

Some interesting things: Sometimes they discuss a person's work during or after the presentation. A glass artist might find a piece of pottery awful until the clay artist explains what it is they are looking at and this might change the score. Some juries silently mark their ballots while others enter into discussions about what they are seeing. Every year is different.

Now the organizers have the apps with scores on them and they have to make their choices. They start with the top scores in an amount that equals the number of spaces. Let's say 100. If the top 50 are all jewelers and pottery, they have to make choices. You want a show with nice diversity. So they start to make their show using the top scores, but sometimes a person could score 99 and not get in.

To me, it would make more sense to decide beforehand how many of certain over-represented media you will accept and if you decide to have 20 jewelers you take the top 20 scores and move on. This could be why I am not an organizer.

So, the lucky ones get letters that start "congratulations", the ones that came close get letters that start "there were sooo many wonderful artists applying this year..." and they get put on the dreaded waiting list. The unluckies get letters that start "thank you for applying...but"

Imagine trying to make a living this way. Makes me want to run screaming into the night sometimes.

No jury would convict me.

under the wire

Got the Allentown application out just in time. OK, I am going to be better about this. Starting now. OK. Yep.

I have a decision to make about July. We like the show in Syracuse and they changed the date this year which sort of screwed up my plans. So, now I have the first part of July to fill and I'm conflicted. Corn Hill, in Rochester, is a really lovely show but just mediocre for us in sales. I can pretty much be sure of getting in. The shows at the Chautauqua Institute are in July and August and I would love...love... to get into those, but I think my chances are slim. I have to choose because the notification dates will not allow me to cancel Corn HIll without financial cost if I get Chautauqua.

So, domestic discussion ensues and Russell convinces me to go for the gusto and if we don't get Chautauqua, we'll have some nice break time after a hectic June. And time to restock, too.Maybe even take a weekend away without dragging along a canopy and display racks.

Of course, all of this is based on assumption...the assumption that I will get into the shows I count on. The hardest part of this business is the uncertainty. It's like reapplying for your job every few months and not knowing if they are going to rehire you or not. Hard to get the creative vibe going with all this stuff weighing down on you. It gets lost in the paperwork and the little slide pockets and the self addressed envelopes.

Every year I try for a show that I had previously considered over my head. So far, I've been lucky. I like that analogy about reaching for the moon because at least you'll get some stars. Something like that. Of course, you reach too far and sometimes you come back with nothing more than a shoulder sprain. I'll reach for it, but I'm keeping the Advil handy.

the real attic

Well, here it is, the "real" attic. The pretty header picture is actually a building in Syracuse. We were set up in front of it for the art show there and I loved how the windows opened out like doors. This is how my space looks when it has been tidied,. You can't imagine what it was like when I started cleaning. Scary.



Then I went to make the CD for my Allentown app and, sure enough, they need slides. Had to do some serious begging to find a place that would make up a couple of slides for me overnight. He said there were a few of us needing them for A'town. I need to take control of this procrastination thing.

Maybe tomorrow.

good news/bad news

Well, the kind folks at Kenan Center sent an email saying that the images I sent were fine. Now if only the jury agrees!

Bad news is that my foray into luminaria/lamp making did not go well. At all. I need to work on the "skeleton" more, give the shape stability. The one on my work table this morning is staggering and listing as if it had been drinking. As carefully as I measured, the sides have adopted whatever size appeals to them. The sticks on the inside look bare and amateurish. Exposed. I hate to use the word "disaster" but I think it sorta fits here. I'm disappointed but I'll keep working at it. Nothing I do ever was right the first time. Except maybe motherhood.

I may want to construct a cage from wire and add the twigs and botanicals that I want to use after the basic shape is accomplished. We'll see.

I decided to make a cast paper mirror for the jury slides instead. Now THAT I know how to do. I just don't have a picture that is jury quality and I sold all the ones I had so I need a new one. I like this design, so that's what I'm working on this morning. Hopefully, I can get a jury shot that doesn't require that I "erase" the reflection.



Russell cuts wood for the mirror and I draw a design on it with hot wax. When it dries, handmade paper, usually mulberry, is applied to it, sealed, allowed to dry. Then I use paint and powders to create the finish. I like for them to resemble stone or old metal. I let the paper guide me, the colors are random and eventually work together. Or not.

Better get to it, Some deadlines are mere hours away.

My true art is procrastination.

uh oh

I got an e-mail from the folks at Kenan Center. They couldn't open the CD of images I sent for jurying. She wonders if it is a Mac/PC issue, but I always burn the CDs on my Mac with no problem. I have apparently screwed up. She asks if I want to e-mail the images or if I would like them to use my images from last year which she still has. I love this show and don't want to have a mark against me.

I e-mail the images and hope for the best.

This is not good news.

decisions

I make my decisions about my work at night, usually. In bed, with the flickering TV the only light. Just loud enough for sleep-inducing white noise. Russell and the dog both snoring gently, the cat curled in the crook of my arm. I close my eyes and begin to "make" something. I work out the process,imagine the finished product, revise and start again. In my daydream studio there are no spills or accidents, everything works out just right. Many of those night visions never last til dawn. But the ones that do are subjected to the cold white light in the real studio. That's where the fun begins. Or the frustration.

So, anyway, last night I ruminated...again...still... about what to add to this year's products. I have been intrigued by lamps for a long time and I am inspired by the work of some of the artists in my papermaking group. I finished reading a book about paper lamps last night and something in there triggered the decision to try luminaries first. Shades to go around a votive. Using paper with inclusions that will be highlighted by the light. I will make them as miniatures of the lamps I have been making on and off in my head for 2 years of nights now. This will teach me the constructions and also gauge if there is interest. I'm excited about it. Can't wait to try.

And I am going to do the photography thing. I will make cover embellishments for my books using my own photography and maybe even do something on the fly leaf.

So, there you have it. And none too soon. Serious production for the coming year starts in 2 weeks.

Of course, these decisions are based on the conceit that what I see in my head will appear on my work table in recognizable form.

Arts in the Park

Well, the folks in Richmond cashed my checks, so I guess show #1 is a go. That makes us happy, we like this one a lot and it's fun to start the season a little early in a place that is already warm.

This show is held in a lovely park in the city of Richmond, Va. (link to the right). There are lovely houses along the perimeter and one of them opens its terrace to us for breakfast in the morning. (If you want to witness a miracle, check out the middle-aged artists becoming sprinters when the coffee and doughnuts come out.) They have the best parking experts I've ever seen, a few guys who are really funny and good at what they do, get twice as many vans parked along the circle than you would think possible. They tell you "don't look, just do what I say" and it works. Everyone gets to unload near their spots.

The show meanders through the park, around the carillon tower and into the woods. Our first year there we were under the trees which I thought was cool and lovely, but turns out there is a layer of mulch on the ground that sends up a fine cloud of dust. It ruined my books and cards. We spent the whole night cleaning what we could with sticky tape an inch at a time. Nightmare. The next day we had everything in ziplock bags which gave them all the charm of meat loaf sandwiches and our sales were dismal. The next year I asked to be moved away from there and they graciously accommodated us.

There is a nice diversity of work here, a lot of fine craft and some traditional. Makes for a fun show to visit. And if a lot of people visit, that's good for the artists.

The downside? It is almost always held the same weekend as NASCAR which makes getting a hotel either impossible or so expensive it makes no sense to go. One year we backed out because we couldn't find a place to stay. This year I found a hotel first, then applied.

The people of Richmond are friendly and accommodating. We get a lot of teasing about snow and we meet a lot of expatriates from upstate NY. Our sales are usually pretty good. I'm happy.

the application dance

OK, so here's how it goes. You identify the shows that draw good crowds, buying crowds. You get an application and find out what they want from you. You will need images of your work. Some want slides, others CDs, some still use photos. You will have to describe the images with words that imply artistic gravitas, but without sounding too over-the-top because usually there are other artists judging you and you don't want snorting happening when your stuff is looked at. Sometimes they want an "artist statement" too. If most were honest, I bet they would read something like: "Look, I found out I can do this thing and I like it and it's better than a desk job and people actually buy it and I want to keep doing it so let me just set up at your show. OK?" What they write instead uses words like "inspired by" and "influenced by nature's ever evolving beauty" and "vision". Snorting happens, I'm sure.

Now, I love what I do. It makes me happy. I AM inspired by nature, aren't we all? Creating beautiful things makes me happy and it thrills me when people like it enough to buy it. It makes my soul sing when my work is praised by folks other than family. But I am just not into writing statements about it.

Anyway...you get these images. You can pay someone to do it or you can do what I do: take your own and photoshop the bahoosits out of it to correct your incompetence. You fill out the application, attach your descriptions and statements and checks and SASE and whatever else they want, send it off and wait. And wait. See, the June shows want your apps in by New Year's Eve but they don't even look at them until April. Meanwhile you are trying to set up your schedule for the year based on the weekends you may or may not have free. It is frustrating.

The apps I have out right now are for Arts in the Park in Richmond, Va and 100 American Craftsmen at the Kenan Center in Lockport, NY. You will be the first to know how I do. They are both lovely shows which I will tell you about if I get in. If I don't..well, Google is your friend. :)

More about this app thing to come. I have to go write a statement about how nature drives my creative soul.

Starting, stopping, starting again..

Procrastination. Motivation. Disorganization. It all gets in the way. I have 2 applications out, a good start. I have an important one due in a week or so and I want to create something extra nice for slides, but first I have to organize the studio because right now I would be hard pressed to find a pair of scissors in the chaos. So I go up to the attic (which developed some lovely musty smell during my hiatus thanks to a leaky roof and a rug that held the drips for weeks) and make piles and 'areas' and fill garbage bag after garbage bag. It will be better soon.

Meanwhile, I have to keep the creative spark going, and I've been playing with photography a bit. Just to see the world differently, to focus me, to absorb the light and color around me and keep it. I like this one a lot





I'm thinking I might like to use photography in my work. Make a collage for the cover of a book with my own image as the background. I could incorporate some of the actual elements captured in the photo...some beach grass, a branch. When I get a creative idea that I like I feel a scratching against the wall of my gut, a bubble in my throat. It makes me want to go up there and get lost in it. But there are still many bags to fill with art trash, surfaces from which to scrape months of glue overspray. Clumps of hot wax are frozen to the old plate the glue gun occupies. Brushes are dry and curved because after the last show I left them in a water glass and closed the door behind me with a click that sounded like I'd be gone a while and sure enough, I was. I have to throw out the bottles of dried up paint, the thickened glue, the old jewelry that seemed like a real good idea at that yard sale last Spring but now just looks sad and old and tacky. Going, going, gone. Before you know it, there is light and air and room to spread out and clean water for the brushes and all the waxed linen bundles snuggle together in a plastic bin.

2 apps out there but no answers yet. A studio 50% cleaner than it was yesterday. New stuff to unwrap and place in newly organized shelves. A couple of new ideas to look forward to and that little belly scratch of anticipation. A good start.

Oh, that money thing...

Last night I sat here with my laptop and bought paper. Mulberry, Lokta, crinkled, batik print, multifiber. Oh, I tell ya it was fun. $250.00. Dear Lord. This is the thing a lot of folks don't understand. We run into 90% of our expenses before the first show. Supplies, fees, hotel deposits, jury slides, display equipment -name it. So, when a show decides that they will cash your check when you apply instead of after you are accepted, it is a hardship. Especially if you don't get in. I have made the case that that is sort of like handing money over to someone at the door of Macy's just in case you want to buy something and getting it back 2 months later if you didn't. I'm thinking that if you took my money, I had better have a 10X10 space somewhere.

Nobody listens except other artists. I don't fight it anymore, I just grumble under my breath while I write the check.

When I started I was too frugal about supplies and components and tools. Russell had to show me how the right tool makes your job easier and better. I learned that quality components made for a more elegant final product and when your product is better, you make more money and so it goes. Kills my stingy little heart sometimes, but it is absolutely true. I could buy my handmade papers at a discount place but I find the most interesting ones at handmade paper superstore.

I still get my solid colors, the old, dependable basics at clearbags.com where I also get my packaging. Oooh.. but that other place has the most interesting, inspiring stuff. And if you don't stay inspired you might as well hang it up. When this becomes more job than joy it's over.