Depression & Creativity

I'm sure many of you have experienced it...

How does depression effect creativity?

It wipes it clean.

I don't suffer from depression per se...more like situational depression.   I have a lot on my plate.  And in my glass.  When you don't do illegal drugs, the legal ones work just fine.  I have probably been slightly inebriated since February.  Things are coming to a peak, the mountain will either be a smooth slide down or a rocky, foot cutting extended hike.  I'll know soon.

I guess a true creationist (new meaning for the term...'one who must create') still finds an outlet.  Mine has been nails.

I paint my nails.  All the time.  I have explored glitters, mattes, foils, one coat versus two coat, non-acetone remover versus acetone remover, etc.  The fleeting act of simply spreading color over ten tiny canvases is all I need right now to exist.   Yesterday, orange with black glitter.  Two days before, aqua with green and silver flecks of glitter.  Today, dark lovely navy.  Tomorrow I will spread a blue glitter top coat and consider it a job well done.

I want to get back into painting sometimes.  Maybe I'll use nail polish, since I have a rainbow in my bathroom cabinets now!

What's the hole in the middle mean?

If there's a hole, doesn't that just mean less donut to eat? 

Anyways, I love doughnuts!  Who doesn't?  Fried dough with frosting?  Happy little sprinkles Bob Ross would've been proud of? What could possibly be wrong with that?

I made a few today.  I'm still perfecting the technique, but I really like the chocolate ones with sprinkles.

Cupcake Earrings

I had a dream today while napping about Hostess Cupcakes.  I haven't had one of these in years, but I was looking at a package at work today through the glass of the vending machine.

I used Fimo Deco Gel and mixed it with oil paints to get the smooth frosting look.  It was a multi step process and I'm happy with how they turned out.  I might have to give in and splurge at the vending machine now, I can almost taste them.

Trying a few new things

Today I got out my Lisa Pavelka waterslide transfers that I picked up from Hobby Lobby.  I hadn't used the transfers before, and I thought that just the ink transfered onto the clay, but it's actually the entire piece you cut out - just a clear 'skin'.  I sealed the transfers as indicated with liquid polymer clay, specifically Fimo, but I still can see the transfer 'skin' on the clay and that's not pleasing to me.  You can see this in the photo as well.
I can't remember where I saw it but somewhere online someone had posted how to sew on clay.  I think that this could really be developed into folk art themed beads, and I think I'll give that a shot in the future.  I'd like to take a round bead form and be able to sew patterns into them. 
Since sewing isn't a technique you can incorporate directly onto lampwork beads, this is a nice perk to using polymer clay.

New bracelet

I needed a simple project, and I have been wanting to try the "circle in a square" extruder technique for awhile so I made this bracelet.  Check out the free tutorial here.

Although I know there is nothing worse than apologizing for pictures, I'm going to apologize for the pictures.  My husband says I apologize a lot after I've been drinking, and tonight I had some vodka mixed in with my lemonade.  So "I'm sorry for the picture quality, I took these on my phone and did some editing with Gimp."

I had a blast with the extruder.  I think I'll do some light switch plate work with this type of cane.

Answering the age old question...

Do they?

Polymer Clay Central

When I re-started my foray into using polymer clay I discovered Polymer Clay Central, a website devoted to clay enthusiasts with mucho info, I was so excited to see so much open sharing!  The lampwork glass community is also such a sharing group and I was glad to see the same for this other medium.

I'm someone who sometimes needs a little guidance towards what exactly I want to make.  Sitting down with all the supplies, the myriad of colors, and ideas floating around need corralled.  I decided to enter their monthly challenge.  I started with July, and the theme was "Summertime".  Here is what I presented:

It's my first attempt at a micromosaic.  The piece is about a half dollar size.  It was a pain in the ass.  I didn't win, but there are some really kick ass entries, check it out here.


I gave it another shot for August.  The time between July and August I had purchased a couple books on making miniatures in polymer clay.   If you want to see some amazing work, check out Angie Scarr and Sue Heaser.  I used some of what I learned in their books, about breads and pastels, and ended up making a picnic and here it is:

I won first place!  Yay!  I was pleased because I figured out the potato chips on my own.
Now I get to spend my prize money at Polymer Clay Express! 

Dale Chihuly

These are photos I took of the some of the works of Chihuly in Columbus, Ohio at the Franklin Park Conservatory.  Mr. Chihuly has done amazing things with glass.  His name is somewhat controversial now as he is known to have an unpleasant demeanor with his team.  (Google: chihuly jerk for about 80,000 hits).    He also had a couple accidents in the late 70's so he stopped personally blowing glass leading to the constant debate whether or not his work is really "his" work.  My personal feelings is that while a conductor of an orchestra isn't actively creating sound, he is instrumental (pun intended) in translating the work on the page into the soundscape you appreciate in the concert hall.  If the conductor wrote the piece, all the better for him.  Chihuly is the conductor who writes the pieces.

There is also criticism about his work - is it art?  Or decoration?  Or crap?  I think it's a matter of personal taste.  I love glass so much that I am a bit biased.  But I also love the way that light shines through his work.  I haven't seen a piece I wouldn't bestow upon the title of: "Art".

2D favorites

These pieces are inspirational to me.
The first is a painting by one of the Hudson River Valley school of artists, Thomas Cole.  I saw this when I was a high school student on a class trip to the Toledo Museum of Art.  I was extremely taken by it, especially for a high schooler.  Throughout the years I've gone from marveling over the technical accomplishments in the painting to enjoying the overall design of the piece, and now I'm much more into appreciating how artists convey feelings.
 

Thomas Cole, The Architect's Dream
 

This next piece is detail from a triptych by Hieronymous Bosch, called The Garden of Earthly Delights.  The piece in it's entirety depicts religious oriented concepts, such as damnation, falling from grace, etc.  I appreciate this work much more for it's grotesque creativity.  People are tortured and burned and displayed in tormented poses.  Something like this seems so modern to me, and would not be welcomed in your standard art gallery with warnings for the squeamish, however, it was painted sometime between 1490 and 1510.

Hieronymous Bosch, detail from Garden of Earthly Delights

And of course a Balrog of Morgoth!  I am a Lord of the Rings fan, and really enjoyed the imagery that Peter Jackson's movies put forth to appease the creative mind.  I read that the sound effect for the balrog's "roar" was created by grating together two pieces of cement block.  Wonderful!

A balrog!

Springtime in Ohio

Feels like a long time ago as now the trees are starting to shed their leaves.  Here are some photos I took back then...

Mother Robin

athelas  (not really)

Before

Before I started working with polymer clay, I worked with glass and created beads and sculptures.  Life circumstances have veered me away from glass for the moment, but here's a sampling of some of the pieces I've done:

 These are glass murrini which are made like polymer clay canes and pulled when hot:

 These two beads were launched into space on Shuttle Endeavour as part of the Beads of Courage program:

The buck starts here...

I started my adventures into polymer clay miniature making with a few slices of vanilla cake with chocolate frosting, hot fudge cake, and a meat product which I am going to call "roast".  I never eat any kind of "roast" so I will say it is a tofu roast.

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