I have spent a lot of time trying to find the right blog template for me.
This may seem trivial, but when you are blogging everyday, it is important to have a theme that doesn’t hinder or irritate you. I just wanted a simple theme that would be pleasant to look at and easy to use. I hope I found one now, but you never know.
There is a really good book published some time ago that talks about developing a craft business. Some of the information may be out-of-date, but it is still a really good book for starting a craft business.
We can often get stuck on the little things like a logo, branding, blog themes, etc. These things are important to your business, but they are not the most important. Because this is often a creative task, many creatives find this part fun, so they tend to spend more time on it than necessary.
Since I found a theme I think I can live with for awhile, I will move on to other things.
Tomorrow, I will have 3 pieces in an art show at Reversing Falls Sanctuary’s Gallery Within. It is a black, white, and shades of gray show. I just so happened to have a piece called “Shades of Gray.” I entered that piece along with “Winter Night in Harborside” and “Better Angels Over Bad Moons.”
Shades of Gray was done years ago. It was one of my first pieces. It’s difficult to see the center, but it is a drawing I did of Albert Einstein. I placed the paper over fabric and did a paper punch technique. After I stitched on the lines I drew, I wet the paper and tore it off the fabric. You have to be very careful doing this so the stitches don’t loosen. I embroidered spirals around the center piece and beaded them.
Winter Night in Harborside is a recent piece. I used a picture I took near Bakeman’s Beach as inspiration.
I printed the photo out in black and white so that I could see the contrasts and to create a black and white piece.
I started this piece by wetting the fabric and then putting one end into a bowl with gray dye. I left it in there until the dye moved into the fabric how I wanted it. Well, I say how “I” wanted it, but the dye does it’s own thing. I sewed that piece onto the checked background and made French knots in white embroidery thread to represent snow falling. I then embroidered a black tree in the background and weeds in front. For the snow on the ground, I used sparkling beads. I quilted the checked background on the edges of each check and bound it.
Better Angels Over Bad Moons took me a long time to finish. It was over the holidays also, so I didn’t work on it diligently. Even if it wasn’t done at that time it would have taken a long time because of all the stitching and beading I did. I started this piece with white fabric and dyed it using the shibori method. Then it sat in my studio for awhile. When I found out about this show, I hurried and made it. It represents the current administration in America. The circles are bad moons and the angels are going through them. The lines coming off of the circles represent chaos theory. The angels’ wings are sewn in silver thread and beaded. For the heads of the angels, I used 10 moon stones and 7 rainbow colored glass beads. These represent the all inclusive angels who are always watching over us, even when we don’t feel or see them.
So, this show will be the first of the year. I hope to do many more and blog about them as I go.
My first artist show announcement. I’m on my way! : )
