Saturday, February 9, 2013

Happy New Year and Resolutions

      As I started this post a month ago I was wishing everyone a Happy New Year!  Now it is days away from Valentine's Day, and snow is coming down as we sit on the edge of an historic New England Blizzard.  This past of New Hampshire, often just lies on an outer edge, so we have about 8-10 inches rather than 18-24 inches (thank goodness!)  Probably like many of you, I have hopes that this coming year will bring new and exciting opportunities, bringing family and friends close-by, and maybe the strength to stay away from sugary baked goods and get outside and get physical!
      In January, I sat with two girlfriends planning a summer vacation.  Carole-Ann and Cindy are both artists/painters.  CA has been vacationing on Monhegan Island in Maine for years.  She goes to paint.  She has invited me the past few years to join her.  Last year Cindy joined her, their stories and art were, well - inspired.  So I promised the both of them, this would be my year to join in.  We looked through websites of cottage rentals and found one.   My goal for this week in July is to have the mental time and space to be creative.  The past two years have found me working at jobs rather than fiber or art or textile design, and my part time jobs have turned into working almost 7 days a week!  How did this happen? Opportunities, I guess. Yup and I took them.  So my New Year's hope for myself is just the same for you too, probably; hope that my opportunities shift a bit and I can get back into the position of getting income from creating.  I am working on it.
      What's on your creative to-do list?  While my list is large, time is very small. While that sounds restrictive, I am appeased by the gift Santa Tom gave me.  SIX! color inspiration books to keep me going.  Tricia Guild of Designer's Guild and Susan Sargent.   So how am I going to focus on that week in July?  I am planning.  When you think of it, it is like ony one of my students who plan all year to come to one of my workshops or Fling or any other spectacular organized event where one is surrounded by joy, creativity, fiber and art.  This year for that week in July I will be a student.  I am prepping, studying, learning gathering art supplies and then hope to use those 7 days wholly to create, and gather inspiration.  I am pondering wood block printing, and silk screening.  It has to be relatively portable as well.  I want to find out which inks are good for printing on paper and which are good on tees or silk scarves?  What kind of paper should I bring and print on?
      As a textile designer, my felt making was surface design in fabrication.  Now I want to revisit the printed surface process.  I loved silk screening in college and never pursued it. I really became intrigued in the idea of wood block printing after I watched a video of wood cut artist Carol Summers making one of his prints..  I grew up in a home that had a huge print of his on the living room wall, it is shown on the retrospective page called Aetna Alive 1964.  His process was not at all what I expected from wood cuts, and really resonated with me as how textiles would or could be printed. so I am planning on exploring this style of printing.  Maybe while I am planning and working out the process I will also use my images and inspiration from this last October's trip to Italy?  My photos from Venice are so spectacular I really need to do something with them as well!
     Meantime: here is my latest library shelf full of inspirational reading:  (I think there was lots of Ebay and Amazon involved and they are all used, but beautiful condition.) 

I would love to hear what some of your visual inspirations are for color and ideas?  Care to share?





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