Red Shoe Studio

Weekend fun...

It's like my car had a mind of it's own and it just pulled right into a parking
spot outside my local bead shop! I found some carnelian faceted beads, sponge coral discs (I hope they're not some kind of endangered stuff), and these turquoise drops...

I like the coral and turquoise together, but I want to make some charms with little painted landscapes or something...maybe seascapes or mermaids ...I don't have a clear vision of it yet, but I will definitely have fun playing around. I'm also thinking of trying some chandelier-type earrings with the yellow drops...they're probably out of style already, but I do like a dangly earring!

(Did you know that according to spell check, "dangly" isn't a word?)

A handful of photos...

I think sometimes the old phrase about familiarity breeding contempt is true for me in relation to art...sometimes our repeated exposure to certain images can make us overlook the interesting details and nuances that maybe we saw the first time we encountered the artwork.

When I was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art last November, I went through some of the European painting galleries and noticed the expressiveness of hands, how they were such an important focal point whether they indicated action or stillness.

This was also a good photography exercise for me..I don't like to crop my photos so it was a challenge to look at these perfectly composed works of art and pick out an area to focus on..

(  I will award a small "prize" if you can identify at least 3 of the paintings...)

A difficult distinction...

Last Thursday I went to a lecture/panel discussion entitled "Nudity in Art" which was geared for the museum docents and teachers. The curator talked about the history of nudity in art, and what she saw as the distinction between "naked" and "nude." It seems to boil down to whether it's Adam and Eve before or after the "Fall". Of course, it also matters if the artist is depicting an historical, mythological, or biblical event ("nude") versus an ordinary person, (that would be "naked!)
I lead tours for kids at the museum all the time, and there's always that group mentality, the giggling when we walk past a nude sculpture or painting. But I never realized that the museum gets requests from potential visitors that they not discuss, not even WALK by any nudes in the artwork! I don't know why that was so surprising for me to hear, I guess it's been a non-issue in my family. I started taking my children to museums while they were still in snugglies...and I'd much rather they saw a little gratuitous nudity than gratuitous violence. Just my opinion...and now for some nudes...

Still winter....

I mean "still" as in peaceful, quiet, and really beautiful...

This gas lamp in my backyard reminds me of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe story...I can see it when I'm sitting all warm inside casting a soft glow on the snow. We had about 5 inches of white stuff last night, it's melting on the streets though so it looks like there will be school tomorrow.

Treats

Do you ever get an idea and you want it done NOW? Sketch to E-Z cut block, about 15 minutes...trip to the fabric store for silk, $20 and 30 minutes..printing, 10 minutes...(fixing my bobbin doesn't count..25 minutes) and stitching up, stuffing with lavender 40 minutes....voila, sachets!

Okay, not exactly NOW, but satisfying none the less.

Brrr..

More cold and ice, although the sun was shining so that was an improvement. We've got furnace trouble which always equals "very expensive" in my book...great timing!

This morning I was looking out my back window, the sun was just starting to rise and a big owl landed on a tree branch...it was still dark enough that it was a perfect silhouette. I just stood and watched it until it flew away. What a beautiful way to begin my day.

Better....

I guess you could tell that yesterday wasn't one of my better days...I hadn't really been out all weekend except to scrape ice from my back steps, and I was aimlessly wandering around the house doing a whole lot of nothing...
Today I'm much better...I had a meeting at the museum this afternoon and then stayed to do a little sketching...

I chose to draw in the Native American gallery because I hadn't spent much time there lately. The pieces reminded me of some from my parent's collection of Native American art and artifacts that I photographed last month. I was fooling around with some of my camera settings and decided to try the sepia filter which I'd never used. I really like the effect with these kachinas and the cradleboard.

the truth...

Do you ever look at someone's blog and think, "How the hell do they do it?" I mean, create art/crafts, make their kid's clothes and home accessories, keep the house so clean and organized? It can be as bad as a Martha Stewart marathon, I get totally discouraged...like, " What's wrong with me?"
Today I'm telling the truth...after yesterday's cooking marathon, my kitchen is still a mess, I have unfinished projects piled up around the studio, my Christmas decorations are sitting in the upstairs hall for me to put in the attic, and I can't even look at the recycling mountain in the mudroom...

mess by my bed...

mess in the studio...

mess in the kitchen...there, now I feel better.

WIP

During winter break, I was rooting around in my Dad's studio, checking out new art stuff, books,etc., and I found a bunch of dyed leather. It was so thin and flexible, I immediately thought about the jewelry possibilities...maybe..wrist cuffs? But, being in the middle of the woods, I had to make do with supplies on hand, so no leather or beading needles, no quick trip to Hobby Lobby. I ended up cutting and gluing the smaller leather appliques onto the cuffs and then adding embellishments with seed beads I also scrounged.

They're obviously not quite done, I'm trying to decide on a backing,(maybe felt) and closures. I did drill a penny (because it matched the copper beads) for the crow cuff, I'm thinking of sewing that on with a loop on the other side...any ideas?

Good Reading...

I have to admit, for a few weeks in December, I felt like I had a third child..this is a photo book I self-published for my friends and family "homemade" gift this year. You know, I can craft, paint, print, etc. pretty quickly because I usually know what I'm doing, but this project seemed to take FOREVER! I used Lulu which actually has great tutorials and on line help, but I'm just so darn slow on the computer still...I would resize photos and add text until my eyes couldn't stand it anymore...but I'm very proud of my book, Do You See What I See, (title from my mom,) and the response from my family was great too.