experiments.
Jack of all trades-- master of none. Still, better yet than master of one.
I've heard many times that the key to success for most artists is to find a niche and exploit the hell out of it, but I get bored really easily and like to play with different mediums all the time. If I'm not having fun while creating, what's the point?
Anyways, enjoy my ragtag collection of experiments. Or at least the ones I remember to take photos of.
print.
When I was just starting out learning digital art, I primarily used it to augment or plan out a few of my traditional art pieces.
For example, I was able to experiment with linoleum print styles before committing to carving a piece, and mural proposals were much easier to visualize when I could just draw directly on a photo of the proposed space.
craft.
As the granddaughter of a champion knitter (it's a thing), I take umbridge with anyone that scoffs at crafting in favor of fine art. They're apples and oranges; both are wonderful and there's no point in comparing them. Besides, find me a Manet that wouldn't be significantly improved with the addition of a couple well-placed googly eyes.
Most of these are created as gifts for friends and family, and I'm notoriously terrible about getting finished photos of what I've made. Most of these will be ornaments I made by using printer-capable iron on transfer paper to put beloved family photos on linen. I then hand embroidered little decorations, backed it with a decorative fabric, stuffed it like a little pillow, and hung them as ornaments. I got the idea from the House that Lars Built HERE, if you'd like a tutorial.
silk.
Next up on the list of "things I'm awful about taking photos of," we have serti silk dyeing.
I learned this technique in a short class I took with my mom at the Schack Center in Everett, WA. I took to it immediately and fell in love, though I've temporarily halted my silk production. The looms I made to stretch the silk on are 6-8 feet long, and since they typically take me a couple days each with drying times, I promised my husband I wouldn't bring them out in our tiny apartment.
Want to see more silk from me? Go buy some of my merch so I can buy a house with a room to ̶d̶e̶s̶t̶r̶o̶y̶ use as a studio space.
