making it back

It's taken three hours to get back on...I last wrote three years ago and had forgotten how to sign in. The relief of discovering that my blog isn't lost, is enormous.
Right now I'm working on a project which is taking me in new directions. There are lots of ideas, some of which I have no idea yet how to actually, physically make.
When I started this blog, it was in part a way of committing to continue making, because even if no-one saw it, it was "out there" in the world and not just in my intentions and my head. The current work is still a small, tender, green shoot . So tender it could easily wither from a sharp snap of "what's the point?" So much of what I'm doing is unfamiliar.
So I'm coming back because being on here I commit to turning up with something to show.

Tentative beginnings ... I think I'm on model 5C by now, and of course the initial idea changes with each one I make...

...and some attempts simply do not work. This was built with newspaper, wire wrapped around it and the paper burned out...almost total collapse of shape but the wire has an interesting texture. Try again, fail again, fail better...

More experiments... rust printing. One of the first attempts, on paper, with stitch added.

And there are happy accidents. This was the drawing I used under fabric, to guide placement of the bits of metal/wire. As it was thin and fragile decoupage medium was used to stick it to muslin, and at this point I also discovered that adding tea leaves makes black spots. All new to me...

So much 'new to me' stuff ... yes, there is an excitement and there are also shaky moments (days) when the discomfort of  "I don't know what I'm doing and it's all been done before anyway" is too much.
It's not reassurance or comfort or solutions or jollying along that I need then.... it's a safe space in which to simply say "I'm scared".

Making it again...and again...and again

Take a few technology glitches, a dose of discouragement because a piece of work will just not come right, add some boredom- and I can see how blogs peter out. It becomes increasingly difficult to get back to it - and after a while there's too much to catch up on.
So - here is the instant coffee version of the past two months...

.... the three wall pieces are finished - just need some holes in the wall now...

There has been a lot (really a lot) of making maquettes in the past weeks. These are first drafts of small hens to be cast in bronze. They're * put together, taken apart, modified where necessary, redrawn,  (repeat from * until you are either happy with them or throw them away)

...and this one was thrown away.

Another maquette ( cornflakes/pizza boxes are great for first drafts).











Many, many, many hours later of making it again and again,
this is the final version of the hare....

...which isn't finished yet -  because I'm on version 5b of the front feet and still not happy. So for the past fortnight he's been sitting in the corner.

 The ship is also not quite done - the structure is complete but I really cannot decide how to surface finish the base.,,

 .... so instead I made a new dress and apron for one of my dolls.
Ok...it made perfect sense to me..

 ...and then made some button cards for the charity shop I help in. The buttons I cut off clothes going into the 'recycling' bin and up till now they were displayed in an inelegant miscellany of small plastic bags. These lovely cards I found on the internet...

Which all sold....



.....and then I found some more card designs ....and then I ran out of buttons.

The intention here was to make a pair of hens that look as if they're walking along in conversation. It works well from the back - of which I don't have a photo and they've now gone to the foundry. There has been an expression of interest already; maybe I should simply accept that my mission in life is to make hens...again and again...

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...."