I Feel Like Dancing - New Work Wednesday

I love the concept of it all, dancing your heart out. Just throwing yourself around to the music with wild abandon. LOL – I can’t imagine what I’d look like if I did that anymore but it sure is an appealing thought. Cleaning the house and torching go so much easier with music. I’ve been doing these “dance” tags to add here and there when I make up component sets. When I decided to make them I googled the origins of the quote.

That was an exercise in futility. Apparently it is actually – if (and that is a big if) I have it correct it can be attributed to Anonymous. The funny part is some people attribute it to Mark Twain but “experts” say there is no evidence of that. Then, others say it belongs to William Purkey. Okey Dokey…never mind.

Here are the two versions – and it looks like there are more. Hahahaha. No matter, I’m just going to go with “dance”.


“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.”
― William W. Purkey

“Dance like no one is watching.
Sing like no one is listening
Love like you've never been hurt
and live like it's heaven on Earth.”
― Mark Twain

Who Are You - Sharon Driscoll?

Lately I’ve been spreading out my little artistic wings again. For the longest time they’ve been moth balled. It’s not like I was completely flightless – more like I’ve been a little penguin like and swimming more than flying. Maybe even sometimes feeling like I needed a set of water wings to keep afloat

You’ll note that January was full of posts to this blog. It’s been quite noisy and I’ve been very talkative. It’s part of that “unfurling of wings”. Not every month will be this full of posts. I’ve been working on sewing up the tatters in my wings and getting my mojo in order. It’s been a long time coming and hasn’t arrived yet – but I’m thinking maybe I can voodoo some up sooner or later. You know, one foot in front of the other.


It kind of begs the question – “Uh…Sharon, who are you? Why the big wander around in so many media? What is all of that about? We’ve always known you as a lampworker and jeweler. I mean WTF – you’re talking about a lot of different stuff lately and working in clay too. Where did all this come from?”

I thought it might be good to answer that and give you a bit of my background.


This is a tiny glimpse into some of the things I have done over the years. Actually, I didn’t feel like digging out the watercolors or the oil paints and more - but what I had handy leaning against the basement wall might help to answer why I feel I talk so can so freely about different media and color theory (I was going to show you my tone charts but the photo didn't turn out).


What are interspersed in this post are examples of my work over the years. Painted, inked, printed, and drawn, and so on. As I’ve stated in my bio – I LOVE art. I have painted in three media: Acrylic, Oil, and Watercolor. Of those oil and watercolor are my favorite. Printmaking can trip my trigger in a major way; and of that, lithography has always brought me particular joy. There is something about grinding down that stone and then drawing on it that is fascinating. Pulling the first print is magic. Serigraph is fun too and for 27 years I designed simple silk screening for my husband’s toys. I have about 30 readily scrubbed screens to attest to experience on that front.


I’ve competed, I’ve juried, I’ve done art fairs, and I’ve immersed myself up to my pretty little eyeballs. I’ve played & tested – sought out great instructors – driven to many a state and many a college. If someone had a great reputation as an instructor of something I wanted to learn I took a class – or semester – or year. And then I practiced, practiced, practiced! I have stacks of work and portfolios full of artwork.

No, I don’t qualify as the perpetual student – although I’ll admit to unbridled happiness at stuffing any new artistic information in my brain. And I hope to be cramming in more at this year at the Bead &Button Show.

Crazy Soup Anticipation

Two posts in one day – who am I?

My partner in Bead Soup passion – Rebecca Sirevaag - has let me know that the beads are “in the mail”. Whoo HOO! Her package and mine ought to be like passing ships in the night. Mine went out on Saturday so I figure they will say hello to one another around Nebraska.

So now that the "soup is on" here is the tease. This is what they look like:
Yeah sure, huh? But isn’t this a neat trick? It is the beads I sent, really.


Lori Anderson has been sending us emails all along (what an organized mind this woman has) and mentioned Picnik where you can apply all kinds of effects to your photos. It is just the easiest site to use and what fun. I couldn’t show you what I sent to Rebecca – because she doesn’t live in Nebraska (I just figure that’s the half way point) and the beads have to travel a lot further than that. What kind of a surprise is it if your partner posts what you’re receiving before you get it?

The other thing I wanted to post about is that Lori has received notification of what the cover is going to look like on her book. This is going to be another great one since Lori has such an articulate way of explaining why she has chosen the components for her designs. Could she have done anything less than create a great book about Bead Soup? I doubt it.

What day is it?

Second Book Giveaway

First, Carol Kauhaapo if you are reading about this book giveaway please send me your home address so I can send you a copy from the first giveaway. I had two copies of that book and both you and Anne Ricketts of AMR GlassWorks won a copy of 500 Beaded Objects.

On to the festivities… I thought this book might be appropriate for the second giveaway. I love my copy of this one. Candie Cooper must be the bomb with metal and what lampwork artist couldn’t use some great jewelry ideas.

How lucky was I to have won an extra copy? This was part of the winnings from Lark Books and if you aren’t signed up for their great blog and get in on some of their giveaways – well – what the heck are you waiting for?

Again, to enter – just leave a message on this post and I will use a random number picker on February 4, 2012.

Best of Luck!

Sharon

Random Thoughts

I wanted to say I see no comments on yesterday's post. Hmmmmmm, I'm not sure why that is - but okay. Just for the record I want to say that I don't believe you should copy any one's work BUT you can not look at the following beads and not see the resemblance to other peoples work. What I am saying is that most all art is derivative of something. And that - is OK. I've mentioned before that I had many an art teacher who espoused "Art in - Art out" philosophies.



At museums when I'd want to take off to peruse my speciality they would stop me and remind me to breathe it ALL in. They pointed out that no matter what you thought might effect you there were answers to your questions in unusual spots but you had to stop, study, analyze, and remember what you had seen. Absolutely.

Today I also sent out my Bead Soup package to my partner. I'm excited to hear what she will think. It was an unusual combo for me to send but I think she's up to the task.

It's snowing like mad here - great reason to turn on the kiln and hunker down.

Tomorrow - the second book giveaway. Yeah!

Thoughts on Originality

"Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters

"Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren't very new after all.”
― Abraham Lincoln

"All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Only those with no memory insist on their originality.”
― Coco Chanel

“We are all feeding from each other, all the time, every day.”
― Dave Eggers, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

“The small are always dependent on the great; they are "small" precisely because they think they are independent. The great thinker is one who can hear what is greatest in the work of other "greats" and who can transform it in an original manner.”
― Martin Heidegger

What do you think about the statements above? I am not for plagiarism but for a very long time have contemplated the idea of originality. If I put three lines on a bead ,that someone has also done, is it the same or different because I might have used ivory as a base and they have used red? It's an interesting proposition. I still haven't pre-ordered Kleon's book I want, but I'm going to. In the meantime I am adamant about coveting your ideas...ask me questions and I will answer. How do you feel about this topic?

It Always Comes Down To the Glass

I’ve been considering my addition of clay to this multimedia mix I work with. On lampwork glass I work with frits – crushed glass. I love the look you can get doing this. If you fire enamel on metals you are still working with glass – just in its finest ground form.

Clay – it’s the frame work to display my creative expression and once again – it’s covered in ground colored glass that’s fired onto its surface. Clay without surface decoration is, well – dinner plates. You know, the ones you in a package from Walmart. They’re probably slip cast in some large factory and sprayed whatever color is the most popular. I have a set of those…in the least popular (they were on sale) color of burnt orange. But orange is my favorite so I win…LOL.

The only time I don’t work with some form of glass is when I fabricate with sheet metal or carve wax to cast. And then, I’m often thinking in terms of what can be created and combined with the lampwork for a balanced fusion of the two. I’d actually prefer neither take the spotlight but work in a harmonious balance. Aren’t I the dreamer?

When I do Kumihimo, or felt it’s never fiber for fiber’s sake. They are merely a tree in the forest, a creation where the thought pattern was primarily about the glass. Like what can I hang on this beautiful cord or wouldn’t this felt make a wonderful purse for a handmade bead.

I guess since percentage wise it always comes down to the glass I consider myself a glass artist no matter which of the mediums is in my hand.

I have to laugh at myself…. it’s like thinking about a great meal. If you slap a steak on a platter and just serve it it’s never going to taste as good as when it’s served with a nice wine, garlic potatoes, and a medley of roasted vegetables. THAT is when the flavor of that steak can be savored. See what I mean – the glass can be appreciated when it’s surrounded by a great accompaniment of other mediums.

The good people over at fusedglass.org have this cool site called glassfacts.info that give you massive amounts of information about glass. Like they didn’t do that already. Fusedglass.org is one of the most informative sites about glass around. And who is a better reference hoarder than me! LOL

Have a great day!

Subtractive Art and More

Are you an adder or a subtractor? When I first started to work in wax for lost wax casting I hadn’t even considered the fact that it might entail adding layers where I might need them. I thought of it as a sculptural endeavor where I’d be removing little wax bits until I had the shape I wanted. I guess up until that point I hadn’t really thought of wax or my art in terms of being additive or subtractive. Now, I think of it that way all of the time.

No matter what you are working on jewelry, clay, quilting, painting, and so on you can look at your creation and say to yourself if I add a little something here – or remove it there can I enhance this piece of work. Lampworking is more additive but if you cold-work or sandblast the bead you are adding another dimension by using a subtractive process on it.

And that doesn’t even begin to cover what you can do with subtractive appliqué in art quilts, or wood sculptures ala’ Henry Moore. Then there is always subtractive color theory (trust me – I can’t even go into that here without putting myself to sleep) but you can click on those words and there is a fantastic site with incredible works of art that explains that and other color theories far better than me.



Okay – so all of this might be a little boring – you just want to make art. Me too! But this subtractive thing had rung a note when I saw an article in O – The Oprah Magazine. There is an artist who does subtractive poetry. His name is Austin Kleon. He has a site called Newspaper Blackout. It sounds like a fun thing to do when you are experiencing writers block or if you’re just done reading that old newspaper or book. Amazon carries his book – and I’m sure all the regular bookstores. I think I’ll have to add a sharpie to my purse for when I’m riding in the car or somewhere and have a peaceful moment.


He also has another book coming out in March of this year called How To Steal Like An Artist – 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative. You really need to go to the site; by clicking on the book title, he has these great visuals and explanations that run you through the quick version of what his book is about. It reads so true and it’s such a shocker. Sounds to me like this artist is on to something and I have a new form of writing poetry.

Like any of us need something else to do!

Ultimate Craft Showdown - Craft Wars!

Sorry Everyone - I had posted the info for this new show on my blog and somehow the photo was so very out of focus that I decided it just had to go. Then, upon a little more research to find a better one it became clear that the talent search had closed on January 13th. Ooops!

If you're still interested you can google it (Ultimate Craft Showdown)- If it's like most of the Challenge shows on the network I am sure they are still looking for talent. And, if you can win $10,000. for being the most creative - well, all the better.