July 4, 2009
Today I am playing with smocking, as discovered in my wonderfully dated and now completely falling apart Reader’s Digest Complete Guide to Needlework. This meant abandoning a little vest I was working on using Herringbone stitch, which is a shame because I’ve already spent a fair bit of time on it, but I’m just not loving it. But the smocking is enjoyable and I’m hoping to make some kind of….. smock. In my mind this is something that means being tied in the back. Oh, and it’s also going to be cropped. I can honestly that idea came mainly from word play: cropped, smocked…..
Incidentally, I’m having a horrible time trying to photograph things. Never enough light. And the flash makes things washed out. And we have NO SUN. So so far this has not be the inspiring (inspiring to me I mean) visual reminder/record of my creative efforts that I had hoped, but maybe with time and practice….
July 2, 2009
I’m teaching several art classes this summer at the AGNS for 3-5 year olds. These are week-long, half-day classes (I have a morning and afternoon session each day) that I design and teach. My first class is “Bookworms in the Studio”, which I’ve taught before. The basic idea behind the class is that we read one or two books each day, and use the books as a starting point for our art. A few of the books also connect to pieces in the gallery which allows me to tie everything together when we go on our “gallery walks”. With a different book every day, each day has a…. dare I say it?….. “theme”. Now, strictly speaking, I am not in favour of the theme, when it comes to working with young kids. I really do feel that exploration should be more open, that constructing everything around a theme discourages children from making their own connections, forming their own ideas and focusing on aspects that appeal to them. Ideally, I suppose, I’d love to provide children with materials and opportunity, and keep everything open. But for the purpose of the week long class I feel I have to compromise a bit. In terms of theme, I try to think of it more as a “context”. I think that by reading a book together, we start off with a shared understanding of something which can then branch off in individual ways. The difference is probably subtle, but I try to remind myself of it because I think it stops me from planning limiting activities. But enough of all the theories – really it is fun, and I am looking forward to it! In the days to come I’ll share some of our projects.
July 1, 2009
Tuesday evenings is Triptych night. This is a project I started back in…. February? The church I go to has recently gone through some pretty major changes, namely leaving the old building and moving in to a temporary space while designing a new building to meet the needs of the congregation and community. In this time of upheaval, the idea came about for an art project that would somehow mark this occasion. Hence the triptych idea. I’ve been leading a small group through this project. Basically, it’s a large triptych (loosely depicting past, present and future) with plaster strip relief images. I have never done anything like this before and it has been a good learning experience. 
Working with adults (a change for me) is interesting, and I am continually shocked at the lack of confidence so many feel when it comes to making. Of course, these are not artists, and I know that everybody has there strengths, but when we get down to it, they *CAN* do it, and it seems to be mostly an attitude that I’m sure was taught. Anyway, the group did a really good job, and I was surprised and please at their vision for the project. I of course has some ideas in mind of how it would turn out, and I’m really happy that it is different – that they took the project and made it their own and had original ideas. And that is what working with a group is all about! It’s a pity I didn’t start writing about it sooner so I could document the process, and what I learned. We’ve now completed a plaster relief of the images in our triptych and have moved on to painting. Incidentally, painting seems to scare people off, as attendance has dropped a little, but this could also be due to the fact that the project has gone longer than anticipated, and it’s summer and we’ve had rotten weather except for some Tuesday evenings! I think that in general, though the plaster process was new to everybody, and many people still had doubts with their abilities, it was different enough to allow people to engage without feeling too nervous, where as ”painting” is so symbolically artistic that it can intimidate. Also good lesson here.
Fortunately, my husband volunteered to come along, and another dedicated member turned up, and I think we can say we had fun!
June 29, 2009
Woman knitting, rubber block reduction print, 2008.
And here I go. This blog is an exercise….an attempt to coax myself in to more of a regular practice when it comes to “creating”. Not perhaps as valuable as a sketch book, but I think there is some potential here. Certainly anything that give me a chance to think about things and document what I’m doing, or maybe even more importantly, what I see. Recently it occurred to me that I wasn’t “making enough”. Not “enough” as in quantity, you understand, but “enough” as in often enough. (I could go on an on about how people in general don’t do enough of the things that they really love doing, but I’ll assume we’re already on the same page there) So here I am, hoping that an (imaginary at this point!) audience will help me maintain a little discipline, or order, and that I will be consciously creative….. more often.
