now featuring

Well, all of my new dolls have made it to my website. See me at:

www.zhibit.org/suzestudios

more good stuff soon to come!

back, finally

well, once again it's been a long time since I managed to post anything. But at least I finally also got some work done. I actually got done most of what I wanted to do at the guild retreat, and managed to finish up three dolls in the week since. (These guys just count as one, by the way) So, I'm feeling good.

Got to get back to the work grind tomorrow, but hopefully next weekend will see some more progress.

more from the work table

Well, in the spirit of learning everything new that I can, here is the latest from my table, the result of a Michael deMeng class. It was an interesting class, with a very different angle on found object figures than I usually take. Learned lots about painting, which was my goal.

So, whaddaya think?

it figures

I haven't quite figured out what this piece of wood once was; a part of a cabinet of some sort, maybe. But no matter. Now it's a doll. Well, almost. The idea has been gelling, some of the pieces are laid out. I don't want to start connecting, tho, until I'm a little more sure how it's going to come together. I'm feeling a little impatient. Many more ideas brewing and, as usual, not enough time.

energy burst

Sometimes I get so bogged down with work and day to day grind, that my mind grinds to a halt. I can sit at my work space staring at the materials, turning over beads, metal, clay pieces over and over with.... nothing. But then, at the most inopportune time, creativity strikes. In bed at night before falling asleep. While getting a massage. Not good times to jump up and run to work, or even to a pencil, to get the ideas flowing.

But finally, this weekend I did begin to get some ideas down. And even managed to keep going when things started to go wrong, pieces broke. So, hopefully, this will be the start of something. A few jewelry ideas. A doll starting to come together.

new news, old news

Just found this e-postcard in my email files, advertising the textile center show. It should be up and running by now, tho it's not likely I'll get to see it - it being in Minneapolis. Starting to think about new projects, again, although I still can't quite see my way through my studio. I found the table top for a couple of days, but it seems to have disappeared again.

I've got one project that's been hanging around begun for ages, but just doesn't want to gel. So, in the meantime, planning new ones.

I've also been trying to put together a small bag of things to do next week, while I'm at a professional conference. We're lodging in a dorm, so I'm gonna have to find something to do at night. I've got my Kindle loaded up, and some beading to do (if they don't take away my little beading scissors on the plane).

inspiration

We all get our inspiration from different sources. Some artists get it from nature walks. Others from looking at other types of art work. Some get inspiration from emotional events in their lives. I frequently get my inspiration from.... yard sales!

Yep. I was driving home from the local nursery, scrunched into my car with 6 flats of ground cover and two trees. All in my 2-door convertible. The guy at the nursery swore I wasn't going to be able to even get into the car to drive home. Little did he know my penchant for putting down the top and throwing all sorts of things into the back.

Anyway, I was driving home thus and passed a neighbor's yard sale. A there, before me, stood two great looking mini-coffee makers. Well, having gotten into the car once, I was not about to try to get out and back in again. So I pulled into my drive and unloaded. Then my hubby vacuumed all the potting soil out of my car. Then I walked over to the yard sale.

And didn't see the pots!! Aaahhhhh.

Well, turns out she had started putting things under cover in the hot sun. There were these two perfect espresso maker pots - perfect for doll bodies!

Ah, sweet inspiration!

I'm not such a basket case after all. (see photo) LOL

spring cleaning

well, i may not have made any art this weekend, but i sure did get a lot of cleaning done.

the whole trouble with the "pull everything out and see what works together" method of creating is that once you pull things out, they have to go back in.

i've been so busy having fun creating lately, that i knew i'd have to pay for it eventually.

this weekend was that eventuality.

i even had a whole extra bag of stuff from my shopping trip to the architectural salvage store.

but i'm happier now that i can actually find (some) things. i even did some of my own salvaging and resurrected the beginnings of a vessel i started at least a year ago by planting some hill tribe flower beads in it.

and i got to pull out my design board, tack up some fabric i made months ago, and start to think about my next project.

yes, i'm a basket cased

OK, folks, now it's time to clean up my studio. I've been concentrating on getting projects completed for the show and, while I've tried to put away tools when I'm done with them, my table has gotten piled higher and higher and the floor gets messier and messier. So, now it's time to pay the piper. After a while I can't work any more. I can take only so much clutter. In spite of the silly signs that say something about messy desks and clear minds, eventually I need to be able to find things.

So, now it's way overdue to put things together, away, and neatly sorted.

Then I can start all over again.

productive

feeling good about getting a lot done recently. having some fun with it, too. i've actually finished some projects i sketched out last fall - hard to believe it. the queen of unfinished projects. i'm actually happy with how they turned out, too. and, taking things at an easy pace, managed not to mess anything up, even. getting a little fumble fingered lately - the fine motor skills are going slowly. but, i'll keep on creating as long as they keep working at all.

Little & Large looms. I spent the weekend finishing up the details of several projects. Adding clasps, repairing, polishing, etc. It's the most time I've gotten to spend on art in quite a while. I felt like I was on a roll. It was a great creating jag. I even got to start a few new things; including a bracelet I sketched out months ago before the SLK class in Seattle. I love planning the details, figuring out how to make things work, solving the problems. Sometimes I really care if the product doesn't come out exactly as planned, but other times I love the serendipity how the details happen.

dead from deadlines

Well, I did it.  I managed to get the sculptural and jewelry pieces for little and Large exhibit finished on time, photographed, and in.  And I also had some fun carrying the concept to some other pieces.  Now I just have to get those done in time for the gallery delivery and I'm all set.  Dead tired, but all set....

The hardest part was having to come up with the artist statement about the relationship of the pieces.  I always have difficulty with those.  The pieces tend to come together of their own accord.  I don't always have any idea of what they mean.  Just that they happened. (although i still think i need to go back and take some engineering courses).  Planning out the locket was the hardest part.  Starting with a cardboard box meant a lot of consideration of how to make it sturdy enough to hold rivets and hold up over time.  A copper lining did it.

So, here they are.

Little & Large Looming

Well, I'm trying to get pieces ready for San Diego's little & LARGE extravaganza this summer, coinciding with the Calder Jewelry exhibit at the museum.  I'll be represented at the Colluseum Gallery on Kettner, showing my "dolls" (a.k.a. figurative sculptures) and jewelry.  Trying to get the jewelry piece for the show brochure finished (the doll is done) and some other pieces for the gallery.  And, yeah, still got my day job.  Too busy.

I was away for 4 days, going to my daughter's college graduation, and when I came home I forgot where I had put a whole tray of pieces.  PANIC!

But I did find them.  Today, of course, was one of those days when nothing I touch went smoothly.  Made jump rings to join a bracelet.  The copper were too big and too lightweight.  So, I did them smaller and in a heavier gauge metal.  Too small and too heavy.  Ok, heavy gauge, larger...holes in the bracelet pieces too small.  So, tomorrow, when the sun shines, I'll head out to the drill.  Maybe it won't be one of those days!

one more down

Ahhh, the joy of finishing another project.  I love when something actually turns out right. I'm quite pleased with the newest member.  She's ready in time for the Big & little show.  I'm going to look at the gallery space on Friday.  Next on the table in the jewelry piece for the show.  I got it started today, but ran out of steam.  Well, next weekend is another day.

publish or perish

The new issue of Art Doll Quarterly came in the mail yesterday.  They did a really nice job with photographing my doll - "grounded."  They shot her nicely, and did a full page of close-ups.  It was nice to see.  You need a 'feel good' kind of day periodically.

Here's one of the pictures Marie shot. She lost her head feather on the way home.  I'll have to fix her.  One more thing on my messy studio desk.

been away

Well, it's been too long since I last posted, and with no better excuse than just plain being busy.  Gotta get rid of this day job thing.  But then I suppose I'd also have to get rid of eating and other unimportant bills.

Fabulously enough I have gotten some time for art the past couple of weeks, including a good start (and almost a finish) on my figurative sculpture for the BIG & little show here in San Diego.

And, even more fabulously, Marie Segal came by on Friday with her magic camera and took some great photos.  She's still working on them, but here's one of a necklace I posted a couple of months ago that shows just how much better she is at this than I am.

Thanks, Marie!

Thanks, too, to Cassy for her vote of confidence.

reclaiming more

Another "doll" is standing on my work table.  I was so happy with this one, and had enough related ideas that I had to go find more of the antique loom bobbins from which it was made.  Once again, he did not turn out in the least as I had originally planned; but rather became himself as he wanted to be.

Jewelry, of course, does not do that.  It does not have the same personality waiting to express itself.  But the figures have a mind of their own - which is perhaps why I am gravitating more towards them these days.

A trip to the Road to California quilt show last weekend inspired me to go through my stash of fabrics looking for the next design.  A trip to the alpaca farm on Monday afternoon added fuel to the fire.  My car trunk is stuffed with wonderfully soft young alpaca fibers, and plenty of roving.Time to get the sketchbook out.

bottles of hope, revisited

I received an email from Lisa Pavelka the other day, congratulating me on being a finalist in the Staedtler BOH challenge.  So, look below to the prior post that pictured the bottles - my charming, hopeful little old men - to see them.  

I spent some time with Elise Winters yesterday, as well as Seth Savarick, talking about polymer clay, its history and the explosion of the field.  It was renewing to see Elise's work and get my creative juices flowing again.

Have to start thinking about some new things to do.  Yet again, so many ideas, too little time.

a mind of their own

Dawn Schiller (oddfae.com) once told me her dolls frequently defy her and decide for themselves who they want to be. I'm beginning to see what she means. I keep having the same experience myself. So, while I am pleased with my latest addition to the family, the final is not the end with which I began. But, it chose its own way as we went along.

wet feet

I find it interesting the different mind sets of different media. In metal work, I wouldn't think of using glue to hold pieces together - it's just not done. Cold connections are a great and varied solution for those who don't solder, and I've also recently tried some silver fusing. In clay, we try to keep the joins clay to clay, as glue can be tricky and unreliable, but we do use it. In mixed media pieces, however, it is sometimes unavoidable. I know Keith LoBue doesn't use glue in his pieces; prefering a variety of soldered and cold connected solutions, and he goes to great and wonderful lengths to create those connections for pieces. He also uses some caulking when desperate.
But I do sometimes resort to glue. Then there is the inevitable waiting for the glue to dry. It's so rare that I get large uninterrupted period in which to work. It;s frustrating to spend them watching glue dry.
I discovered some very old dried out two part epoxy yesterday, which meant having to use a slower glue. I've been trying to do my gluing for this piece at night, so I can work in the mornings. Bit by bit, it's coming along.

happy new year, new thoughts

New Year's Day was a combination of cleaning out the old and creating the new. And of course, with me, the two frequently overlap. I've got two new dolls just about finished, pieced together from the old. (pictures, soon)
My studio overflows; there is never enough room as I keep adding stuff with abandon. But, in a small attempt for balance, I spent part of the day cleaning out the garage - and not even spiriting any of it into the studio to be saved. Old client files for the shredder, lots of boxes and papers for the recycle bin, plenty of things for Goodwill or some other charity. And I have a list of things for the Freecycle list, but NONE of it coming back in the house.
And so, one old loom bobbin, a bud vase, a cookie tin, a coffee carrafe, and two paintbrushes later a couple of dolls I'm kinda pleased with.
Happy New Year, all.
s