Making waste

In a book I'm now reading it mentions artist's 'waste'...the willingness to work for hours on an idea and then discard it if it hasn't worked - that part of the process that is often crucial but ultimately invisible - and there has been a fair measure of that this week.
It's not really a waste in the accepted sense; it's playing around and accepting that some things work out and some don't...and I do believe that you learn from every new thing you try - it all goes into your reservoir.
So - playing around with reduction, I thought this looked sort of interesting...

...but it didn't translate well into a finished object...however, some part of the process may come in useful in the future...

Having finally found a wooden chair in a charity shop last week, I have started on the seated woman sculpture-first job was to strip fabric off the seat and sand the chair.

Whoever stapled the upholstery to the seat should have been given an award for "the most staples it is possible to use" ... there were about 140 - 20 in each corner alone. By misusing a screwdriver and hammer over two days I got most of them out. I reckoned that by the time I'd finished I'd either need medical attention or have arms like a Russian weightlifter.

And the waste? Cutting out paper shapes again and again to work out the body/ corset shape. This is full-size attempt two, and there's a way to go yet...

How to make the moon for the big ship has been on my mind from the beginning and it's possible that this solution may also be discarded - I've attached it temporarily and need to live with it for a bit. It's glue-covered muslin on wire..

...and I think I like the string (also a temporary "see if it works") on the struts. Fits with the ship thing and with women's weaving - as well as possibly helping with the stability of the structure.

At some point I need to work out how to mount this on a base.

And finally, no waste here...
 A while ago I was given a shoe box full of old photographs from a house clearance - they date from the 1920's to the 60's ; typical family snapshots - of an Ireland that has disappeared. I have them copied on photo paper and make cards, mounting them in a way that suggests an old photo album.

This one of the girl with the pig is my absolute favourite.

Make and do and mend

Make ....Having finished my sister's rag rug, the next hooking project is another 'Stones' rug -  for Naomi...but before I started that I wanted to make something smaller (and quicker to complete). The power supply to the new workspace is a black cable going up to the ceiling from a socket  ... two or three small wall hangings would camouflage it. So I spent some time looking at 1950's textile designs and came up with some ideas...

Of course I checked what fabrics I had before deciding on colours....

...but as it happened what I did have came close enough. The brown is a disgusting fabric - flimsy and totally synthetic. I'd never use it for a rug but it was fine for this. Next time I decide to sew pieces of fabric to the edges, I think I'll do it first...

Work on the big ship is very slow - because the weather is so damp, some days all I can do is add one layer to a small area. I am so, so glad that I decided to opt out of exhibiting at Form this year...when I put the three figures into the ship it took two seconds to realise that they were completely wrong - I'd have been in a panic if the piece had to be done by now. I've started again and think these will work better...but if not, I'll try again...

Do ..... These are papier mache hens that I stopped making several years ago...after ten years or so I was very, very tired of  them - life's too short to be that bored.

Last year, flattered into submission by the young women at the local gallery, I made a few - and remembered why I'd stopped making them.

This is exactly what it looks like - more hens. I've promised them eight and three are already pre-sold...and they are still immensely boring ...and I did this to myself - all by myself.

Mend ...

When I was making giraffes I gave the first one to a friend...and it stood in his house for ten years..until last year his two young daughters decided to play with it... they must have had a wonderfully giddy time because three broken legs and a missing ear later it arrived back to me...was it possible to mend it? I didn't think so, but couldn't bring myself to burn it, so it's been standing about (well, falling about) in odd corners since then, forgotten until I moved all my stuff. Still not sure if it's worth doing - I might end up having to repaint the whole thing and as it's dry-brushed that could ruin the surface finish and its knees will never look the same again...

Making a it more accomplished

I spent a couple of hours on the internet, looking up how to finish the edge of a hooked rug. It was the Northwest Folk Design blog that set me off, with a post about various methods...Karen Kahle's website (?)  blog (?) was also very helpful, showing step-by-step instructions on how to crochet an edge....and it does look immeasurably better than my earlier rugs.

The original of this is a painting by Australian artist Dean Bowen ...

which I saw on Pinterest and sent to my sister, who altered the colours.
Faced with that large, blank corner on the bottom left, I added an element to relieve the monotony...

...using a stretchy velvet/ net combination, with a strip cut from a pair of red and gold tights to outline the edge of the wings...a bit tricky but not boring...

While waiting for parts of the big ship to dry I had a little play...

 Some years ago I made a series of these, which I called  "Over The Edge" ....they were about leaving the known, and stepping off into unknown territory. This one is " the ship of stillborn dreams"...it's made of very thin handmade paper and tissue...the prow is the jawbone of a mouse....the mast is the tip of a goose feather and the base a piece of bone from the beach.


The work on the big piece is unknown territory for me - technically quite tricky - and going back, albeit briefly, to something familiar is reassuring.

And this is another, not yet finished.

There have been many times when I've wished I had three hands, if not four....this afternoon was one of them, as I tried to balance a ship and four sticks.

As you can see, it's all very professional - a cardboard box with holes in it and bits of masking tape..

....looking at the photo, I can see that I've got the angle a bit wrong. Before putting all this together I was thinking that the ship was too clunky and heavy but am very much happier with it now.

The figures are emerging slowly...still looking very patchy and I am still feeling my way because I have no idea what surface finish to use, or how to make the moon shape that's in the original drawing.

Sometimes, (possibly often?) even if I can't see every part of a piece clearly at the start, things work themselves out.

Made by hand

Another trip to England...to mind my grandchildren. We've always made things together - puppets and theatres, cardboard box houses, books, dolls....this time it was small boxes. Well, I made some - my grandson was completely underwhelmed, preferring to play video games...my granddaughter was polite/kind enough to join in. Hers is the rainbow one.

Yes, the eyes are the wrong way up...











She does like sewing, so we also made a quilted pencil case - most of which she did herself...

I wonder if she likes rainbow colours...

A trip to the charity shops brought in a good haul of fabrics for the bird rug.

They're still not quite the dark teal I want, but as close as I could find.
                     The colours of my photos are sometimes nowhere near true to life - as in this one - no matter which setting I use. I think I'll have to bite the bullet and read the manual.

So now I have nine bundles of different strips to work with. I pull out one or two from each bundle and hook them almost at random...

And the good news is .... the patchwork is finally finished, with 28 feet of hand-sewn binding completed.

In 1970 I visited the American Museum at Bath and saw 19th century patchwork quilts for the first time.

They are displayed in these suspended glass cases so you can get right up close, and what I loved most about them was that some of the stitching wasn't that great...and I remember clearly experiencing a deep awareness that these had been made by hand, by real women. I suddenly felt a sense of connection with those unknown women who had cut and sewn the fabrics more than a lifetime ago.
The very first patchwork I made, six years later, was a Log Cabin cot cover for the baby I was expecting and I hand-stitched it all. 
(As I sat sewing by the window to get the most of the winter daylight, I did feel rather like a queen in some fairy tale.)

So maybe it would be faster to finish the binding on the machine, but I much prefer to do it by hand...with stitches that are not perfectly even.

 Front...(the colours are not true in this photo)

...and back... Because I'd sewn the blue binding to the front before working out the back, (plan ahead???)  I had to put some of the blue into the design, but there was only a very small piece of it left. There was a fair bit of redrawing and muttering..."if that one is six inches wide and that one is four, then...."

Not making it...

By the time I realised the foundry wouldn't be able to cast my pieces for the upcoming 'FORM' exhibition it was getting a little late to come up with something else and make it in time...it does take time for ideas to form properly; to get past the 'first thoughts' stage. Plus, I discovered that the old, slightly broken chair I was going to use has a bit of woodworm...and so far no-one I've asked has anything suitable. Work on the ship piece is slow - I'm not seeing it clearly at all yet and don't want to rush it just for the sake of having something even if I'm not happy with it.

It's funny what sometimes makes decisions for us..the size of the ship was in the end determined by the size of the biggest box I had...

I sort of, very vaguely know what I want for the figures...could do with more images but don't remember to whom I lent the book I need...and I guess I haven't found the right key words for an internet search to be all that useful...

This gradually grows into this...and they are making themselves...I'm just listening.

So, I've decided to opt out of this year's exhibition and make these pieces anyway, in my own time, without pressure...and if they end up in next year's show, all well and good but it doesn't matter if they don't.

I was asked to make some aprons for the local shop/gallery that has recently opened a cafe...and those I did make in time for an event they hosted last night.

Yes, it does occur to me that doing these 'little jobs' for people takes away time from other work, but it does feel good to get a few oohs and aahs...and it does also occur to me that it might be good to reflect on what I most want to use my time doing...

Speaking of which, the patchwork is nearly, nearly done.

 It's on the ironing board - when time and inclination coincide I stand there sewing the binding...

About two feet done, only another 26 to go....


And now for something else I did not make...

The hen workshop I was teaching at the Ennis Creative Arts Centre last weekend...

and the finished hens...

     

Making room

The week before Easter was spent making a duty visit. I was so glad that I'd made room in the suitcase for wools and hooks - making this little bag for my sister was one of the few pleasures of the time away.

Front...

I've left the flowers for her to sew on...or not.

And back...

Since getting home I've made some progress on her rug, having found  more pink and more teal fabrics in charity shops while away.

Front...the legs aren't showing well, I might have to redo them in a brighter blue.

 

and back...which do I like more???

Bleaching a T-shirt to get a speckled effect in the beak and the bit the bird is standing on..a hummock?

Could it be that my sister likes pink and turquoise?

A little progress has also been made on the patchwork this week. Having drawn out a plan, I tried out my block pattern for size, just to make sure....

...and in those in-between moments (waiting for the kettle to boil, on the way to bed) have started cutting out the pieces.

Now I just need to re-find the website on which there were the perfect plain black and red fabrics (yes, of course I made a note of it ...I wish!)

Over the course of the past few weeks I've been moving my work space out of the kitchen to the room my son built upstairs...it's still not fully sorted and arranged but I started work in there the other day. I see amazing, custom-built studio spaces on Pinterest (always unbelievably tidy) - mine is plasterboard and plywood, gaps around the windows are plugged with paper towel - but corny as it may sound, it is a dream realised.

There are of course pros and cons. I'm used to having everything in easy reach - tools, tape, glue etc. and I now need to duplicate some things so I'm not needing to run upstairs twenty times a day...but that's no big thing. Working away from the living space means I'm more focused, and having a much bigger room is already resulting in my thinking in terms of bigger pieces. The move has also meant that I went through everything (well overdue) and have thrown away a lot of stuff....but some has been just too difficult to let go of, even though I KNOW it won't be used again.

At the end of May I'm to take part in another 'FORM' exhibition and because this year there will be an indoor room, the plan is to submit some work in paper.
I've found that ideas come in layers, so to speak..what I call 'First Thoughts/ Second Thoughts etc. The first thoughts are often obvious and superficial, but a necessary part of the process...rarely shared with anyone. At this point they are like butterflies not fully emerged - fragile and vulnerable.

I'm reading a book by Emma O'Toole, in which she puts forward the idea that being a woman is mostly about performance...that we learn to 'act' our gender (isn't that also true for men?) and one of the ideas I'm working on is based on this....so these are the maquettes of the first thoughts...

The body works for me, but the theatre is too obvious..

Not sure about this either...

Too obscure? although I like the shape.... and what is it saying?

It may change drastically...or may not be made at all as a finished piece.

The other idea started a while ago as a moon-shaped boat with figures in it, so I began playing...it started as male figures...

 ...but by the next morning it had changed, and become "The Forgotten; Remembered"...the idea of the women who had been there too - at all the battles, the voyages, the migrations - but whose part is rarely mentioned in history books.

I may decide it's been done before, especially after looking up the work of John Behan. Maybe there isn't room for more figures in ships...