Catching up Part 2

What's Creating Today - Catching up Part 2


If you read my last post then you know that I have been lacking in my resolution to be better about posting to my blog.  I'm hoping to redeem myself a bit by catching up my readers on what has been going on at The Loft since my last real post.  Also in my last post I mentioned that I reached a personal milestone of 1000 miles on my bicycle.  To celebrate that accomplishment and our 23rd wedding anniversary my husband took me out for a wonderful dinner and treated me to a mini staycation by taking me to a hotel in Downtown Tampa, for a weekend of fun.  After our wonderful dinner we enjoyed a leisurely stroll around the Riverwalk and Channelside areas.  On Sunday morning we headed over to the Tampa Art Gallery and saw some great art and a special exhibition of celebrating the work of fashion designer Norma Kamali.  As a fashion design student Norma Kamali was one of the many designers that I really admired.

We also got to see some another special exhibition of the work of Peter Max.   

And here are a few pieces from the galleries permanent collection

The Tampa Art Gallery is a very large building that houses a very small permanent collection.  It's a nice place to visit once in a while but is overpriced for the size and the quality of it's permanent collection.  I love art and art museums and have been to many big and small ones, but unfortunately our museum in Tampa is far from what I would call great.  There are so many times I can keep looking at very similar pieces of pottery, which this museum has a lot of. 

After the trip to the Art Gallery we headed over to the historic Tampa Theater to watch a screening of one of my favorite Alfred Hitchcock movies "Notorious".

As for studio time, I did manage to work on another project in July.  I did this great mermaid wall hanging.  Here is a photo of the project after it was fused and mostly quilted.  To dress it up a bit more though I bought a couching foot for my sewing machine and have been busy adding different fibers and trims to the sea grass, and have been adding some hand sewing in as well.   I'll post a finished picture when it's all done.

For the rest of July my husband and I were busy planning a getaway to Toronto in early August.  Growing up in Buffalo, trips up to Toronto were not uncommon.  But since I moved away 23 years ago, I didn't think much about going back, until my husband surprised me with the idea of a trip there for just the two of us.  We had all kinds of ideas of things that we wanted to do, and sadly we didn't get to do some, but still crammed in a lot of fun in a short amount of time.  But more on that in my next post, so be sure to come back and read all about it.

As always your comments are welcome so please feel free to drop me a note and let me know what is on your mind.

What's Creating Today - Resolutions as wish lists.

 

 

It is at the beginning of every New Year that many people make some sort of resolution, whether it is to lose weight, stop smoking, work out more, or cut their spending.  According to the University of Scranton’s Journal of Clinical Psychology about 45% of people make resolutions every year but only 8% are actually successful in achieving their goal.  A resolution is defined as a formal statement or decision to do or not do something, but you could also define it as a pledge, vow or promise.  These words carry heavy weight to me so I am not one to really make resolutions.  Psychologically I believe that these words add too much pressure to achieve success, which therefore causes a higher propensity for failure if a setback is experienced.

It’s unrealistic to think that when trying to achieve any kind of significant goal, that you will not experience a setback from time to time.  It’s only natural! But it’s also the primary reason people generally abandon their resolutions and usually within the few months. 

So instead of resolutions I made wish lists.  Things I would like to do, but with no pressure to achieve them, and with full awareness that some may need to be completed in baby steps to achieve my ultimate goal.   I actually made two wish lists, a personal and a creative one, and needless to say my creative wish list is a lot longer than my personal one.

Here’s my 2016 wish lists!

 My personal wish list

I’ll admit that this is a VERY short list, because most of my creative wishes are things that make me happy and therefore translates to a lot of personal satisfaction.  But of course there are always a few outside of those creative wishes that are deeply personal.  The first and foremost wish on my personal wish list is to lead a healthier life.  This actually stemmed from a few family health scares over the last 2 years.  And while it’s not technically a new wish for me but rather a continuation of a goal I set for myself for 2015, I include it because it’s a big one that needs constant reinforcement.  And for me to continue to be successful and accomplish those healthy goals, as a family we have had to all adapt to our new way of life.  This journey continues to be a challenge for me, and even though I have a tremendous amount of support from my family, it is still a struggle none-the-less. 

In that same vein however, and also on my personal wish list is to participate in my first distance charity bicycle ride.  When I started on my healthier lifestyle journey, bicycle riding became my primary source of exercise.  It quickly turned into somewhat of an obsession, and find myself pushing myself to ride longer distances in one ride.  What started as barely being able to go 1/8th of a mile has now turned into an average of 12-15 miles per ride and a personal best of 21.5 miles in one ride (increasing my distance this is also on my personal wish list).

Other things on my personal wish list are to read more for pleasure and to start teaching my youngest daughter how to cook.

 

 

My creative wish list is always overloaded but I think my most important entry on this year's list is to actually reduce the size of my typical creative wish list which means I need to do less pattern work and more self-designed and free thinking works.  

Last year I overloaded myself with projects that I neglected my blog a lot, so another entry on my creative wish list is to post a lot more of my work on the blog along with more insight into my creative process and work flow.

 

Some of my other creative wish list items include starting or participating in a Rolodex card art swap, finishing some, if not all, of my unfinished projects currently sitting in my studio. I would also like to do more painting, art journaling and scrapbooking. I'd also like to put more focus on my Etsy shop.  I'd like to go back to working on my dollhouse which has been an on again/off again project for about 18 years now.  I also have a few other project ideas that I would like to get off the ground, which if they happen I promise to post about them. 

I hope by sharing my thoughts and views on resolutions it will help you to see them in a new way.  I would love to hear about what's on your wish list, so please feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me your thoughts. 

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a healthy, happy and creative 2016.

 

What's creating Today - Defining Me

A friend recently introduced me to someone as an artist.  I was sincerely honored by the characterization, but in fairness to true artists, I had to dismiss the use of the label.  I am far from an artist and my rejection of the use of that term to describe me does not come from a poor self- image but rather an honest assessment of my talents.  I am not an artist!  And while I would truly love to be able to use that word to describe myself someday, the simple truth is that I lack the real talent and skill that I think is needed to be truly called an artist in the traditional sense.

This caused me to think however, on how I would describe myself?  What would be an honest characterization of me and the meager talents that I think I do have?

 

So I picked the most obvious place to start…the dictionary.  First I looked up the definition of the word artist.

Artist - noun art·ist \ˈär-tist\- a person having superior skill or ability in some type of fine art, esp painting, drawing, or sculpture.  A person who displays in his work qualities required in art, such as sensibility and imagination.

 

              Superior skill or ability in some type of fine art – well, that’s definitely not me

                Do I have the work qualities described? 

                Sensibility – maybe

                                      Imagination – I think I have a decent amount of that

 

Then I looked up the word Creative

cre·a·tive - [krēˈādiv]

ADJECTIVE

§  relating to or involving the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work:

§   (of a person) having good imagination or original ideas:

NOUN

§  a person who is creative, typically in a professional context.

 

Good imagination or original ideas – I don’t think I’m too bad on that front

Creative in a professional context – Definitely not me!

 

So in just this short amount of research I think my dismissal in using the term "artist" to describe myself is likely justified.   So then how would I define myself?  

 

If I were to describe myself using the shortest and simplest of terms then perhaps “creative player” is a more accurate label on that point.

 

 

But people are far more complex than this, which makes a simple description very lacking in capturing someone’s true nature.  Our lives are usually much fuller and far more complicated than a simple characterization can convey. 

So here’s the longwinded description of my complicated self.

 I AM … (in no particular order)

 

Blessed with a wonderful family

Creative minded but always striving to be better artistically.

Hopelessly and helplessly in love with my best friend (25 years and going strong), and sad when I have to say goodbye to him every morning.

Completely obsessed with fabric and art quilting

A hockey fanatic (Go Lightning!!!)

A new yogi – and loving it!

A lover of art journaling and postcard swaps

A classic movie junkie  (and must watcher of Hallmark Christmas movies)

Bicycling inclined (I need to find a “I’d rather be cycling bumper sticker”)

A fan of the music and fashion of the 1940’s

Ok about reading but would rather watch TV

Happy to finally have a studio, but sad that I don't get a lot of time to be in it.

I am realistic, stubborn and resourceful.

My mother’s daughter (thanks Mom)

 

 

 

 

Most importantly

 

I am not defined by those around me. 

 

 I am ME and

 

 

 

 

So how would you describe yourself?  Send me an e-mail or leave a comment and let me know how you define yourself.

 

Thanks for reading!