Studio Friday: May's Studio Treat!

Treat yourself to something your heart desires, maybe some chocolate or flowers or new art supplies... a nice little something (no spending a fortune). Celebrate yourself !!



Salt water taffy. Licorice swirl. I have a strange addiction to this stuff even though I'm trying to eat healthier. So I bought just a dollars worth and when it's gone, it's gone :)

More studio treats here.

Happy first official weekend of summer!

Studio Friday: FRAGILE

What is the most fragile in your studio? What makes it so fragile? What would you do without it and where do you keep it so it is safe and won't break?



Hmmm, not sure I keep anything really fragile (like glass or china) in my studio. I'd surely break it if I did. But I do have a shelf higher up on a wall where I keep some glass jars with buttons. And I store my vintage handkerchiefs in their own box up on another shelf. Some of them are fragile because of their age, but I do it more to keep track of them—anything small can easily get lost in the shuffle. I keep boxes for buttons, trims, embroidery thread, and patterns, too!

More Studio Friday here.

Studio Friday: Drawing a blank!

It's one of the most feared events in the life of an artist. Sometimes it can take a long time to overcome this sudden stop of the creative juices. What do you do? How do you act and react? How do you get back to splashing around in all colours? Do you fight it or work with it?

My head is so full of ideas that this rarely happens to me. But, when I'm feeling blocked, I pull out my idea notebooks or go through my piles of fabrics and linens, and I can usually find something to inspire me and pull me back in.

If that still doesn't work, then I don't fight it. Sometimes we just need a break from our everyday routine. I like to walk in the woods behind my house, usually with my camera in hand as it forces me to really look at my surroundings. Sometimes I'll do a short roadtrip to a local antique mall or junk store to hunt for materials to inspire me. For me, the blocks don't last very long and I've stopped getting stressed about them.

When you have your own business there are so many things that need to be done that aren't creative so, on days when I'm not feeling very inspired, I'll work on mundane tasks. Like ironing, or photographing products, or updating my books for taxes. I get impatient with these kinds of tasks when I am inspired, so it's the perfect thing when I'm not. Or maybe it's that they're so boring :)

Read more Studio Friday posts here. And happy second birthday, Studio Friday!

Studio Friday: The perfect art book

"As I was talking about books so much lately... if there was the ideal book for you as an artist on studios and life as an artist what would be the absolute most important thing in your eyes for it to have in it? What kinds of topics, elements, images would you love to have in it? A few words from your favourite artist as well? What would inspire you, what would support you, give you courage? Would you like it to be a big book with tons of pages or a small book?"

Reading over the question again this morning, I think I missed the part about the book being about studios and life as an artist. I got stuck at the title. So I didn't really answer the question properly. But I'm already late and I'm sticking to my original plan :)

An art book should have beautiful photographs or drawings, of course. We expect to see the art itself. But what really interests me is seeing into the artists world and reading about their process. How does their personal environment inspire their work? How do they get from here (thought) to there (finished piece)? It should feel personal and conversational, like blog posts often do.

I have a couple of books like this that I return to again and again. One is called The Undercliff: A Naturalist's Sketchbook of the Devon to Dorset Coast by Elaine Franks and it's designed to look like pages from a sketchbook. Interspersed among the drawings are little hand-lettered paragraphs with stories and observations about the subjects she's drawn. It feels like a diary—very personal and as if you're peeking over her shoulder. I could spend hours admiring the detail she captures in each drawing.


Common Blue Butterfly, © Elaine Franks

Another book I love is Patchwork Folk Art by Janet Bolton, who creates fabric collages that are beautiful in their simplicity. In it she talks about how she begins with simple sketches (beautiful, too), then moves on to choosing shapes, fabrics and details, and finally to how she presents the final piece.


The Small Bird,© Janet Bolton

I buy a lot of art and craft books (probably too many) and I'm often disappointed. They have nice pictures but nothing that makes me want to return to them again and again. So, the perfect art book, to me, should have substance and depth along with pretty pictures. That's not a bad thing in people either :)

Read more Studio Friday posts here.

Studio Friday: PORTFOLIO!

"I've never put one together. I would be very interested to see and hear what everyone else has as a portfolio and what makes up one." ~ Jo

I don't talk about this much but I used to be art director of several children's magazines. One of my responsibilities was to review portfolios from illustrators who wanted to do work for us. It's not an exaggeration to say that I've seen hundreds (seems more like thousands) of portfolios. So I know a little about this subject :)

"An effective portfolio accurately represents the designer's abilities and skills in the best possible light. This means that it is clean and well put-together, and while it's nice to try to be a little different, a portfolio should not look gimmicky. The viewer should be more aware of the work than the portfolio itself. An effective portfolio illustrates the designer's self-presentation and communication abilities as well as showcasing the work."

Some basic portfolio "rules"—
• Since you should only show 10-15 samples make sure it's your very best work. Start off with your strongest piece, end with an equally strong one, and have a good solid middle.
• Keep your samples fresh. Anything older than 3 years should be taken out. People want to see what you're doing now, not what you did several years ago.
• Tailor your portfolio to the specific interview and show work that's relevant to that business.
• Have a sample that you can leave with the person you're showing the portfolio to. And make sure your contact info is on it.

I work in two fields so I have two portfolios. But even these are fluid as I add or subtract samples based on the needs of the clients I'm showing them to. My graphic design portfolio has a lot of publication design work but, if I'm meeting with a corporate client, I add more business-oriented samples.

For Primrose I have a book of designs that serves as a carry-along portfolio. It's hard to carry more than one actual pillow when I meet with shop owners about carrying my things in their stores. So, the portfolio serves as a showcase of past designs and hopefully covers the kinds of things they sell. While I like making the funky and colorful pillows best, some shops are more sweet and girly. I try to do some research ahead of time and tailor my samples to what I think will work best in their shop. Here's what the book looks like.



I print up the 8.5 x 11 individual sheets on photo paper and slip them into the plastic sleeves. It takes just minutes to replace old designs with new ones and I can tailor the pages specifically to a particular shop. For a leave-behind, I have business cards and my latest postcard with my contact information on it.

Shop owners (and art directors) are busy people so make the process as easy as possible for them. Anticipate their needs and make sure your portfolio reflects those needs. Pretty simple really :)

See more portfolios here.

Studio Friday: LOOK WHO I FOUND... !

Well the pressure is on because I'm the one who suggested this week's topic!

"I love to discover new artists and often find them through other peoples mentions of them. So, introduce us, in words and/or pictures, to an artist, craftsperson, or writer you admire and that we might not have heard of before (i.e. not a famous one). What do you like about their work? How does it inspire your own work?"

I'd like to introduce you to the work of Brad and Sundie Ruppert. They create whimsical sculptures—everything from birds to cowgirls to angels—from wire and scrap metal and vintage found objects that they discover in their travels around the country. Each sculture is quirky and one-of-a-kind and I love that each time you look at one you find more things to see.


Seeing Eye Dog

They support themselves as freelance graphic designers just as I do and I love how they describe that in their about us section...

"We currently have two careers...one that feeds our kids (freelance graphic design) and one that feeds our souls (Vintage Sculpture). We are lucky enough that those two things work pretty well together and allow us the freedom to travel and pursue our dreams...whatever that might be."

What do I like about their work? I've always loved assemblage (an artistic process in which a three-dimensional artistic composition is made from putting together found objects—sort of a 3-D cousin of collage) and admire artists like Joseph Cornell, Deborah Butterfield, and Janet Bolton. I love the idea of taking other peoples discards and recombining them into something new and wonderful. Isn't that what I do, except with fabric?

All of which inspires me to be a bit more experimental in my own work. And to look at everyday objects in a new way.

See more of their work at Vintage Sculpture. And read about other artists here.

Studio Friday: INSPIRING DREAM STUDIO!

We get to see these wonderful studios, - how about not showing our own, but choose among the great studios we know about now? Tell us a little about why you like this studio, what you would like to do if you could work there for a day as it was your own, and, - if it is so, - you have learned from this studio/ artist? ~ mereteveian


©Tara Sgroi (photo)

This is the home studio of millinery designer Amy Hamilton. I clipped this picture from a magazine several years ago (Country Living, I think) and have it saved in one of my scrapbooks. It's a separate room off the kitchen of her old farmhouse in Ohio.

I love how clean and white it is. And I'm seriously crushing on those shelves along the righthand wall. Would I be more organized if I had shelves like that? Probably not, but this is a dream, isn't it? I bet when she's working and the studio isn't cleaned up for picture-taking, that her studio is messy, too.

A quote from the accompanying article—

"I have this old wall of post-office cubbies filled with trims... At night, I start putting together colors and textures. I'll develop an idea and the next day, while the children are in school. I'll actually make the hat."

Although we work in totally different areas, her process is very similar to my own. I gather materials for a project, then let them sit overnight (and sometimes longer), walking past a few times and checking whether I still like the combination. If I decide it's not working, it doesn't go any further than that. If I still like it the next day, then it's good to go.

I picture myself in this studio with the sun streaming in the window and my fabrics all organized in their cubbyholes. I reach behind me for the perfect fabrics and embellishments. My work is simple and clean and my mind is uncluttered with stray thoughts and worries. I'm totally focused on the process of creating. Somebody pinch me :)

See more beautiful and inspiring studio dreams here.

Studio Friday: RITUALS & WISHES!

"So many of my friends have certain little rituals they adhere to when starting to work, or finishing work. I do too. It can't be that unusual, and some are very sweet or amusing. Although some are maybe too embarrassing to share?

Another thought is: If you could make one or two changes to your studio, by magic, what would they be?" ~ Nancy Bea

If there were such a thing as creativity dust I'd throw some up in the air before I start to create. It doesn't work like that, although it does seem like magic sometimes. I don't think I have any rituals except that I'm quite messy when I work and I like to clean up before starting a new project—kind of like starting with a clean slate—or work table in my case.

As for wishes, more space, of course. Yet, whatever space I have, no matter how much larger than the previous one, I always manage to fill it up. So I should wish for better organizational powers instead. I'd also wish for better light, whether that was larger windows or track-lighting in the ceiling. I love the natural light on a bright sunny day but it can be very dark on cloudy days and at night.

What do other artists wish for? Read more here.

Studio Friday: PURELY WHITE!

"All these colour combos have given me an idea, especially with christmas coming...to do a 'white christmas' studio friday...where artists put together whatever they want...only using neutrals...or to be really strict....white, (being a textile artist its great to get back to basics and to restrict oneself to just one colour, then see how many different surfaces or textures you can find.)" ~ Jo

Some white things from my studio...



Row 1: Pin-tucking, vintage button, vintage cutwork embroidery
Row 2: vintage crocheted doily, hairpin lace, pearl buttons
Row 3: white-on-white embroidery, white flower buttons, daisy trim
Row 4: embroidered eyelet, pearl buttons and seed pearls, white crocheted lace

It was nice to take a break from all that color of the past two themes. And white just makes me think of Christmas so it was the perfect theme for this week. Want to see more? Check 'em out here.

Studio Friday: COLOUR COMBOS THAT MAKE YOU CRAZY!

" We all have combos we are uncomfortable with. Let's explore the *why* of it..." ~ Michelle

The list of colors I don't like together is much smaller than the one that I do. I think there's a place for most color combinations, even ones we don't use very often. Some people, for example, don't like to put bright hot colors together because they seem to vibrate. Personally I don't mind that.

I think the colors I don't like are the dull, muddy ones. A new quilt shop opened near where I live recently and I was so disappointed to learn that they are focusing on the "country" color palette—the deep dull reds, wedgewood blues, dark greens, mustard yellows, and browns and beiges that are used in this genre of quilting. I have no problem at all with the incredible quilting skills involved in the making of these quilts (in case anyone is offended by my opinion)—I just hate the colors that are so often used.

Here's an example that uses the Thimbleberries line of fabrics—



And some of the fabrics themselves.



I don't even have a problem with the prints, but the combinations just don't do much for me. Check out what others have to say on this topic here.