Struggling to Learn New Craft Skills

I have a few things going on that are making me realize the difference between an art and a craft. What is happening is that me and my children are struggling to learn how to use the tools of some different ‘crafts’. The bottom line is that when you do certain things that require that you use certain tools and that you use them in just a certain way in order to get your ‘finished product’ to come out ‘right’ then to me that is a craft.

Even when I have a unique idea which I consider a creative artistic skill, it cannot come to fruition with out a certain level of skill and mastery of the tools for certain types of work.

When I see a finished piece of artwork or craftwork that a person designed and conceived all on their own I consider that person an artist. The more I learn about mastering certain types of craftwork the more I realized that there is both the element of the mastery of using the tools and the artistic and creative idea in and of itself. I admire not just the finished stained glass window’s design but I admire the fine soldering work as well, from seeing my mother struggle and get angry with the soldering part of the stained glass works she used to make. The more I learn about certain types of work the more I realize which kinds of things are difficult to do. A stained glass maker can identify a design which has a successfully executed difficult shape or size of a piece (it make take many botched cuts before they finally got the glass to cut correctly as they wanted it). This is why those who know about making certain arts and crafts especially those with hands on experience at trying those crafts, can more deeply appreciate well-executed pieces of finished art. A person who is ignorant about the basic skills cannot appreciate as fully what that finished piece represents.

Part of making an artistic well-made finished product with a craft is mastering the actual tools and using them correctly. With a craft if you don’t have good tools, or if you are using the tools incorrectly or you are not yet skilled with using those tools, then the finished product will look bad, not just in an artistic way I mean, but it just won’t be right. I was so frustrated with my first (and only) stained glass making attempt because after all the work of cutting I realized two pieces didn’t fit well enough together to actually use them in the piece! With a craft you need your raw material, true but you need the tools to make those materials into something other than what they are in their raw state. You may have your vision of the artistic rendering of the finished product, such as if you designed your own pattern for knitted socks, but if you cannot master the working of the tools then this finished product will not come to fruition. Period.

The learning to use the new tools takes patience. Sometimes people get hung up in that learning process and give up. Being frustrated with using the tools is not a direct reflection on the person’s creativity or artistic talent, it is purely an issue with the tools and has to do with skill and lack of mastery of those tools.

Weaving with a Loom

Right now my son is trying to weave using a Brio (brand) loom. This was lent to us by our church as part of a children’s art show. It sounded like a great idea. However they didn’t give us the instruction book. I had no way to know what the proper way to start a new piece is. We don’t know how to properly remove it from the loom in order to not have it unravel. I don’t know how to rethread the loom to make another piece. All they showed him was how to do just the weaving part (the easy part).

When using the loom last night the tension appeared wrong. Since we have no directions we don’t know how to fix this. I then moved a piece on the loom like you are supposed to and a piece of the wood snapped. Oh no. I then realized that some of the strings were tangled. Further inspection revealed that the way the loom was strung I believe was incorrect. The strings were bungled up more near the middle instead of being evenly spread out across the length of the span of it (this is how we received the loom). Having the string going on an angle caused too much tension on that outmost ‘rung’ or whatever it is called and caused the thin wood to snap.

I should mention too that I had spent time on the Internet twice now going all over trying to find directions for this Brio loom to no avail. I have found direction for different looms which are not at all the same as this one. I feel like we are the blind leading the blind here.

This Brio loom is quite nice and I see it sells for $40. It comes with a booklet and I am sure if I had that information we’d be in a much better situation right now.

Today I tried to rethread the loom. I had to dissect it to see how it was set up and now I have tried to re-string it (or whatever that process is called). This is very hard to do when one does not know what they are doing. This is when it was underscored for me that a person needs to understand how to use a tool like this—that is part of the ability to make the finished product; there is skill and knowledge of the tools involved here.

Beading (Jewelry Making)

Two weeks ago I strung my first necklace with beads. I was following directions in a book about how to make jewelry including the very important step of crimping the ends so that the thing doesn’t fall apart. I struggled with that. My son (the seven year old) made me a necklace. Then it fell apart making me realize I had crimped it wrong.

I spent time later reading books and watching YouTube videos about crimping and realized the tool I own that led me to believe it was an ‘all in one’ tool was not a crimping tool and so it didn’t do the task right. I hoped the finished pieces I had already made would be alright.

The next day another necklace I made fell apart right in my lap while I was in a public place. I gathered up the beads and tossed them into my pocketbook. This underscored to me that although I used creativity and an artistic eye while designing my own necklace, the fact that I used the tools incorrectly really screwed the whole thing up. The necklace was not functional, it was in pieces.

Later I went in search of a crimping tool only to find out while staring at the wall of jewelry findings that the tool needs certain sized crimping beads and the bead size depends on the size of the thread you use. Why this very basic information was not clearly stated in the three books I read ‘for beginners’ is beyond me. I learned this by reading many labels and by putting two and two together on my own.

Those are the times when I realize that having a local friend who does a craft or taking a workshop can be very useful. I will say though that I did take two workshops on beading which ended up being only a putting together of a pre-made kit not actually learning anything about me making a beaded item from scratch but that is a longer story that I may tell another time. I guess another lesson learned is when you pay and attend a workshop you should have a clear understanding of the goal and content of said workshop. Probably the two workshops were done to meet what the majority wanted, they wanted to just string the beads onto a necklace to have the finished product in their hands. Well I wanted to learn the basic skills of the task and to be able to do the entire process on my own (all the making of it plus the designing of a unique creation).

Soldering

The second project is that for a long time I have wanted to learn to solder. I would like to make some of my own charms to use in jewelry pieces. I grew up watching my mother make stained glass windows and soldering but never looked at what she was actually doing. She liked to work alone and she hates teaching others so she never taught me any of these skills. (Well a few years ago she tried to teach me stained glass and that was SO HARD.) I have read three books about making metal things that use soldering. I still felt that I didn’t get it. I then discussed this with my mother yesterday and asked her to demonstrate it for me. Instead she explained it verbally in a way that I suddenly realized I had something very wrong. I kept having to ask her to explain in again and in a different way so I could fully understand what she was saying. I then verified that from reading the books I had the most important part of the process incorrect. I realized that part was never shown in photos in a step of soldering and that if I had tried it based on how I thought it was done from the book instructions I would have failed.

My mother told me the soldering iron we bought at Home Depot is junk. She lent me hers which is much larger and looks more industrial and heavy duty. I told her of some of the recommendations in my books about buying more expensive ones with thermostats on them and so on and she said that is nonsense. I said how the book said you need a metal stand to hold it and she shooed me a hunk of pine wood that she used for years and said it sufficed quite well. So much for needing expensive stuff that can only be bought from specialty companies. If a person has been soldering stained glass windows for years with a not super fancy soldering iron and a piece of cheap scrap wood then that is proof for me that not the best equipment on the market today is always necessary either. There are times when the best of the best equipment is needed and there are other times when being skilled with the tools is sometimes acceptable for making fine finished pieces. The best tools with weak skills is worthless also.

Knitting

Lastly the urge to knit persists in me. One reason I want to knit is that it will keep my hands and mind busy at times when it kills me to sit still. I would like to knit while a passenger in the car and while sitting in a boring meeting or even while listening to a conference speaker. I would like to knit while sitting on the side of the room for my son’s Boy Scout Troop meeting. I would like to knit while camping. I would like to knit while visiting relatives and having conversation with them. I’d like to knit while watching our nightly TV show with our family. I need something to do that is portable. I need something that is not very personal (journal writing or sketching in a sketch book is too personal to do in public or around family sometimes).

I looked at some knitting books last week as I had a 50% off coupon for Joanne’s and also A.C.. Moore and a 40% off coupon for Michael’s (they are all in a 1.5 mile range from each other so I can go do a craft run and use all the coupons to stock up on various supplies). I got overwhelmed by the knitting books as some projects used three different needle sizes. Other projects used even other needle sizes. I wanted to just buy one set of needles and do something from start to finish with that one set of needles. I guess then I’ll have to make a scarf, is that my only option?

I realized I should narrow down what kind of knitting I want to do. I was reading some felting books and was thinking about making a felted handbag like a friend of mine does. But two stores didn’t have the needle sizes I needed to do the projects in the book that the stores were selling. Groan. So I bought nothing.

My mother agreed to teach me to knit. I then realized though if I bought a book of a project she’d never done (like knitting socks using circular needles) then she could not help me. I figured then that maybe I should just have my mother teach me to knit in the way she knits and that I should start off doing just what she does. Once I have my general bearings I could buy a book with a different technique and teach myself that.

I also will share the fear that I felt when I looked at the list of the directions to knit what the book called a simple sock. A terror ran through me and I had that feeling that maybe I was not smart enough to handle doing that kind of work.

Thoughts on Skills

I saw a piece of soldered jewelry that was a real mess because the person was not skilled at soldering well. My son’s weaving is coming out terribly because the tension is not right on the loom, it started out wide and it very narrow further along. Those are both signs of the fact that a person can make a craft while they are not yet skilled in the craft itself. My point is that when working with certain crafts the mastering of the technique itself, just handling the tools and materials I mean, is something very different than having a unique creative idea and making art with it. Other artistic endeavors such as drawing doesn’t need complicated materials or tools but requires the skill of being able to draw. I guess then the eye and hand are the tools?

So you see in these three different craft projects the use of the tools themselves are a skill that has to be learned in order to make the project at all. While a craft such as weaving, making metal jewelry charms and knitting is art making—especially when the person designs their own unique creations out of raw materials (yarn, glass, metal, and homemade art collaged pieces)---the art piece cannot be made at all if the person is incapable of using the materials in the right way.

Other Thoughts on Crafts vs. Art Making

One last thought about ‘crafts’ is that to me a craft is sometimes something that requires certain materials that must be used and bought and that also has a preset finished product conceived by some other person. To make that craft you then follow strict instructions to create a project entirely conceived by a stranger. There is little room in there for creativity or uniqueness of the maker. The person who just follows that direction and uses preset materials is not freely expressing their artistic vision. A perfect example is the scrapbook kits that have everything you need to make pages and they give examples of finished pages and when a person makes an exact copy of someone else’s work. Another example is if you watch a craft TV show and exactly replicate something they made on the show.

On the other hand some crafts can allow for more open ended artistic creation. When our family used the Fabric Blo Pen kit it came with factory made stencils that we could use. We instead designed our own stencils and used other tools that I owned to do that part of the work. I already knew the process to make a new stencil and I already owned the special tools needed for that part of the job. We then used the fabric paint from the kit to make our finished product. I feel that more creativity was used as we used our unique ideas.

Knitting allows for more creative expression when the knitter picks out their own yarn instead of just copying what the directions say. If a knitter makes up her own patterns then that to me is very artistic.

Creating one’s own things from one’s own imagination takes creativity, desire and guts. It can be scary to create something totally unique.

I personally enjoy working in a more organic manner with more of an intuitive flow. I like to have materials at my disposal and then to just begin working and creating. While I am in the flow I just make things, sometimes without putting thought into it, following my gut feelings. What the thing ends up being in the end is something that I had not planned out in advance. I can’t always plan things and then execute them to the end. This is why I like to draw and make collage. I just start in and get to work and stuff happens. This has been true also with my recent playing around with embroidery and needle felting with wool roving. I don’t like the craft kits with pre-planned work though of by other people as the most fun for me with creating is just diving in and me being in control of what is being created. I also do like to have some ideas ahead of time and try to make those come to fruition (with beading my own designed necklaces, with wanting to knit ).

Anyhow those are some thoughts on my mind today.

My Collage Status

Last note: I have not been working much with collage at all lately. The reason is I have been busy and have not even had time to haul the stuff out and use it at my kitchen table then no time to clean it up in time for three meals a day and homeschooling at the kitchen table. I make much more collage when we are not doing our homeschooling lessons (such as in summer) or when we are on a ‘break’ from it. I make more collage when I can leave the kitchen area messy. I’ve been on a kick to really keep my kitchen decluttered and clean and that includes having the art supplies stashed in the basement and closet (and some overflow on the unused dining room table). (No, I cannot use the fancy dining room table for making arts and crafts or homeschooling lessons or eating all three meals a day.)

This of course had led me to pine for my own workspace. I have been thinking of converting part of the fourth bedroom which is presently being used as a playroom into a studio for ME. Gasp! I also have tons of room in the unfinished basement and some desks and tables that I could use. However I find unfinished, poorly lit basements dark and gloomy places which I really don’t want to spend much time in let alone trying to create things in a space like that. I’m not really thinking much about that whole idea right now and am instead trying to learn the new crafts that I described above which are less messy and are easier to clean up and can be done in various places not just needing a big flat table space to work on.

Most of my creating since about Christmas 2007 has actually been done in my bedroom sitting in bed: the journal writing, the embroidery, the needle felting and the necklace making. I do not make collage or use adhesives in my bedroom or while sitting in my bed (yet). My drawing and sketching in my little sketch books has been done in public or while a passenger on a car or train.

Hooray! Art & Life #11 Arrived

I was surpsired on Easter morning to see the envelope containing the magazine Art & Life #11 sitting on the kitchen counter. It had arrived in Saturday night’s mail and my husband hadn’t told me that I’d received stuff in the mail, let alone something as good as this. If I had known I would have spent all of Saturday night reading it. Instead, in between and after Easter celebrations I read the whole issue. Hooray!

I love this art magazine which is published quarterly by Teesha Moore. It is sold through her website. What I like the most is that we are never told WHAT to do but just to make art and do what we want to do. There is no judgment that a person’s creations are good or bad. The focus is not on trendy and being ‘in’ with making whatever is hot at the moment. The overall attitude is to do what you want and make what you want. There is more of a concern with the process of creating and the wonderful flow experience that happens. In other words the focus is on the process not the product.

The publication is so non-judgmental that I love it. There are written articles, by Teesha and other contributors, as well as in the recent issues, full-color reproductions of artwork made by Teesha, her husband Tracy and other artists.

I was so inspired to go make some paper based art that last evening I sat down and did 16 pages of collage work in a blank journal. I plan to continue embellishing these pages and then will use them to write in, in between and on top of the collaged items. My main focus in this last month has been on making fiber based creations and Art & Life inspired me to go play with paper and glue.

In Art & Life #11 Teesha shares photos of some of the handmade things she purchased or saw at Design Festa in Tokyo. She also wrote about the reproductions of her art journals which she made while in Tokyo and is selling on her site. I think I’ll have to go buy Teesha’s Tokyo journals.



Since I am teaching myself metal crafting I was curious about the book review that Teesha did on "Making Connections: a handbook of cold joins for jewelers and mixed-media artists" by Susan Lenart Kazmer. The review is glowing and dubbed a ‘must-have’. I went on Amazon to buy it today, figuring it would cost at Amazon’s price, $15-20 at most (and no tax and I get free shipping). I can’t find it on Amazon. Instead I found it on Kazmer’s website, selling there for $48 plus shipping. YIKES. That is more than I had wanted to spend, especially because I am new to metal crafting, am a beginner and not good at it, and am not sure if I want to put that much money toward a book on it at this point in time. Then again, the book’s cost is cheaper than taking a workshop, so I could look at it that way…

"Making Connections" book description on Kazmer’s site

Preview of Making Connections on Kazmer’s site

I found this book on Amazon which may be a suitable alternative for a beginner like me. It is called "Semiprecious Salvage: Creating Found Art Jewelry" by Stephanie Lee which Amazon is selling for under $16.



In my Amazon surfing I also learned that Giuseppina Cirincione is coming out with a new book this year, available with an Amazon pre-order discount, called "Bent, Bound And Stitched: Collage, Cards And Jewelry With A Twist". I already own her book "Collage Lost & Found" and I enjoyed that.





I see that Teesha reviewed “How to Make Books” by Esther K. Smith which I was interested in and blogged about, and which I purchased last month. I love the book too and plan to review it soon. I laughed when I read that Teesha plans to make the cake box book as that is in my plans too! (Imagine the cover and spine of a book beign made from a cake mix box. That is what it is. I also plan to use little jello boxes and jiffy muffin mix boxes to make miniature books.)



Another book already on my wish list is here too, "Acrylic Revolution" by Nancy Reyner.



I just wanted to share with you how much I love Art & Life magazine! I find it so inspirational.

Technorati Tags: Art & Life, Teesha Moore, metal crafting.

Finally Finished a Metal Crafting Project

Over a year ago I bought and read the book “Metal Craft Discovery Workshop” by Linda and Opie O’Brien.



After reading it the first time I tried making something but I lacked all the right tools and I could not finish the project. Specifically my files were not right or good and it was leaving sharp, dangerous edges. I also lacked anything to make the cold connections with. (The book covers the use of brads, rivets and wire.) Yes, I did not even own metal wire. So I stopped thinking about making something right then.

I slowly gathered tools as I came across them and put them in a box with all the other metal crafting tools. I saved some tins and other metal pieces to use in the future.

My last acquisition was about four weeks ago when I went into Home Depot myself in search of the right metal files. My husband claimed they really did not sell them there. Well I found them on a gigantic wall of files, down at the height of my ankle. I bought the cheaper brand set with a handle and it was just under $10.

And I have read the book a total of three times since I first bought it! That is how much I wanted to do metal crafting.

Last month I had an idea for a project. I figured I’d start small.

Last week I was going away on a trip to visit my grandmother. I knew we’d most likely be snowed in and having quiet time in the house. I gathered up everything I thought I may need and brought this book along and decided I’d do it.

I waited for a day when I had time and when other relatives were not coming over to visit. I laid out all the tools.

It was then that actual fear gripped me. I am not kidding. I was scared to actually cut the metal and try anything. I sat there for just a few minutes then I talked myself out of the fear. I forced myself to just jump in.

To make things easy I began by deconstructing an aluminum can (specifically a Starbucks iced coffee drink can which had cool stripes in the design). I realized the smallest shears were the right tool for the job. If I cut carefully, I didn’t even have to file the metal.

I had trouble with the brads. I am brad-challenged. I don’t know what is wrong but they don’t work for me.

I then switched to using wire for the cold connections.

I made my little project. Hooray!

My ten year old inserted himself into this in the middle of my exploration. He was begging to learn to do it. So I taught him. He had a concept and he cut out the metal and punched the holes using the two-hole punch (that is not a power tool).

My seven year old said he wanted a finished piece. I then did ¾ of the work on a new project to give to him.

This whole project took me over three hours and by that time I’d had enough and I put it away.

I will say this, learning a new skill such as this is not all fun and games. I have no experience with jewelry making so my skill working with wire is not good.

Before I can consider doing this kind of art something that helps get rid of stress I will have to perfect my skills with these new materials and with these new-to-me tools. I am sure once I am used to these it will be more fun and less work and therefore I’ll have less frustration with myself due to my lack of ability with the materials and tools.

I will share a scan of the finished piece as soon as I can scan and upload it. It is a little robot.

For now I am patting myself on the back that I had the courage to try something totally new. I am proud also that I taught myself to do this with using only the Metal Craft Discovery Workshop book as my guide and teacher.

If you have been curious about how to do metal crafting and you are interested in learning cold-process connections, this is the book to use. The book by the O’Brien’s is also full of inspiration and eye candy. They also teach the skills of how to color metal, etch metal, change the finish on the metal, transfer images onto metal, collage onto metal, and more.

If you are interested in learning to solder I would recommend Lisa Vollrath’s book “Metal Mania” which is sold on her site "Ten Two Studios".

You might also see if you can find any video demonstrations on YouTube about soldering. I bet there are some out there (I have not looked yet). Learning to solder is on my list of things I want to do. (My mother knows how and she could teach me; she used to make stained glass windows. It is nice to have an option of having a real live person teach you things.)



Technorati Tags: metal crafting, metal craft.

Made Some Purchases of Art Supplies Today

Today I made three purchases for stuff for me. To have fun with. To do something for me for a change. Knowing that some relatives will be giving me cash for Christmas, I’m spending it ahead of time.

For over a year I have wanted to teach myself screen-printing on cloth. Last week I noticed that AC Moore’s old screen-printing kit was $90 (yikes) but a new one is $55. Today I used a 50% off coupon to buy that for myself. Yippee!

And while there I snagged the latest issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors as Amy had been talking about it on the Creative Mom Podcast Episode 72. I have never purchased this magazine before.



Today my Amazon gold box offer came up with “Mixed-Media college” by Holly Harrison and I snapped it up at a larger than normal discount.



I ventured into Home Depot (I hate that place) to find the fine grit files I need for metal crafting. My husband claimed to not be able to find them on two past visits. One brand would have cost me $20 and the other was just under $10 so I got the cheap set. I now have everything I need for doing more metal crafting. (I am using Metal Craft Workshop as my guidebook.) I also was inspired to buy this now as last night an idea for a new project sprung to mind…



Today also I bought a two hole punch for metal crafting. This way I can use the quiet hand held punch instead of my husband’s drill or dremel tool. I have a fear of power tools. I used Dick Blick online as the two Dick Blick stores that used to be near me are closed up. I see they have it for about 50% less than some online specialty shops.

And I added to that reason for ordering, some oil based Sharpie markers which I read in Art & Life will write on top of oil pastel crayon or water soluble oil pastel crayon for journaling. It comes in white color too which looks cool on top of happy bright colors. It said in Art & Life that they are hard to find in shops but that DickBlick.com sold them.

Lastly last week my older son went through nearly a whole pack of 50 pieces of wire coated with colored plastic making sculptures. I had purchased it probably 4 years ago and put it away and never touched it and while reorganizing craft supplies he saw it and used it. He had a blast. So I splurged on a pack of 200 or 250 wires this time (I forget the exact amount).

So there you go, happy me with art supplies in hand or on their way from UPS. 

I have not been making many ATCs lately. I am slowing down on ATC swapping until after the New Year. I have one swap left on Swap-bot and I have to do my November CMP ATC exchange (and December when that rolls in). I really am feeling a desire to work with metal and do some new crafty things.

Gearing Up For Metal Crafting Projects

With last month’s Amazon Associates earnings I purchased Michael deMeng’s book “Secrets of Rusty Things”. I am partially though it. You can see Michael deMeng’s website to get a gist for the assemblage work he does with metal.



I have been itching to do more metal crafting, on a smaller scale such as are shown in the O’Brien and Vollrath books.

Here is how I’ve been getting ready for metal crafting.

In August I bought a soldiering iron. They are $5 at Home Depot and later I found some at a dollar store for $1. I bought one from the dollar store, I am worried of the quality and if I will burn the house down or get electrocuted. You see, it was Made in China and two weeks ago, a lamp I own which was Made in China gave me an electrical shock when I went to turn the knob to turn it on! That thing was put right into the trash! Between my personal experience and the news reports, I am getting more and more leery of products Made in China.

On another day, my husband picked up the flux and the solder for the soldering iron, at Home Depot.

My mother said she will give me some of her copper tape which she has left over from her stained glass window making days.

I have aluminum metal tape on hand already and have been making ATCs with it so far, but I can use it in other ways also.

I picked up, on sale, some jump rings and fasteners (jewelry making parts). I also bought, on sale, a beginner’s jewelry making kit. These are so I can make necklaces.

I have on hand already, many resin plastic dominoes which I can alter and change into charms and pendants for necklaces.

I have been saving up various interesting metal food containers. I also have some old cookie tins and food tins with decorative designs on them. I plan to cut those apart to make some metal craft jewelry with.

I have some glass beads on hand from old art projects from the last two years.

With a 40% off coupon, the other day I bought a pair of fine detail shears for cutting metal, at Michael’s Craft store.

My husband already owns a Dremel and various power drills. He also has some metal files to smooth the edges with. We have steel wool here on hand also.

So basically I think I am all ready to dive in and to try my hand at metal crafting again.

The last step is to make sure I know the techniques. To that end, I am presently re-reading Metal Craft Discovery Workshop by Linda O’Brien and Opie O’Brien. Their website is Burnt Offerings and it will give you an idea of their style. I really want to make some metal craft jewelry similar to what they teach in this book.



I have also finished re-reading the book Metal Mania by Lisa Vollrath. The book is self-published and can be purchased on the Ten Two Studios site.

After I get that copper tape from my mother I’ll be ready to go with experimenting with metal crafting again.

I am really excited about it and hope that what I own already is enough to get the job done.

On the wish list for future purchases:
Two hole metal punch tool
Better metal files
Nibbler

Oh and I plan to also make some metal craft ATCs!

Wish me luck.

Technorati Tags: metal craft, metalcraft, Linda O’Brien, Opie O’Brien, Lisa Vollrath, Michael deMeng.

What I’m Up To Lately

I have not made any art since getting back from vacation.

I am busy with planning out my children’s homeschooling year for 2007-2008. That is taking many, many hours.

I'm also on a house cleaning spree. I'm trying to keep things uncluttered. I am busy packing then unpacking. The laundry seems endless.

In the last four weeks I’ve been book hunting. I’ve held a homeschool curriculum tag sale at my home and bought stuff from other people. I’ve attended a huge used curriculum sale in Massachusetts. I have visited two used book shops which also sell rare books, in two states. I have been to a gigantic library sale here in Connecticut. So I am up to my ears in “new to me” books and am busy sorting them, cataloging them, and organizing them/putting them away.

I also have been having summer fun and spending lots of time playing with my children.

I am in a bit of an art lull.

I have even resorted to not reading art books since getting home. I am in a mode of doing a lot of living real life not immersing in books.

The only creative thing I’ve done is I’m writing more and blogging more on my other (main) blog.

I am a bit burned out of ATC swapping and am fed up with problems with “problem swappers”. I go through cycles of feeling annoyed with the problem people then rebounding. So now I’m in that funk where I am feeling let down by swappers. Frankly at this point in time I have no desire to swap art with others. Right now I am hosting two swaps and those will end in August. I must force myself out of this art lull by the deadlines. But whether I’ll sign up for new swaps to participate in or to host is unknown to me at this point in time.

Creatively what is on my mind is this:

I am itching to try lino block cutting. I do own a starter kit and want to use it. But frankly I’m too busy right now.

I want to do more rubber stamp carving but right now have no new, uncarved rubber to use.

I am itching to try woodcutting but am putting that off until I use the lino cutting starter kit I own. (Side note: I have found it easy to experiment with designing and cutting my own rubber using a book as a guide. However I looked into a nonprofit art instruction place near me and they want nearly $500 for a beginner class on woodcutting and the same for a beginner class on monoprinting. Wow.)

I have been interested to try monoprinting. I worry that right now I don’t have a proper press. Buying one is not in the budget, I am pretty sure they cost hundreds of dollars. I guess I could start with simple prints that use a brayer (which I own).

In May I found this old book at a library sale for 50 cents, Printmaking by Henry Frankenfield.




This little book outlines everything a person needs to know to make prints. It covers everything from linoleum (lino) cutting to woodcutting. It covers lots of stuff, from printing on cloth to printing letters, printing in one color or multiple colors. This is the more old style book that keeps things simple and covers a lot in few words. This book left me feeling that I could most certainly do this and even do it without taking a $500 class.

I also suspect that if a new book on this topic were to be published the author would drag out the subject, take up a lot more words and they’d increase the word count and make the whole process seem harder than it is.

Anyway this old book left me thinking that the most important thing to do is to just TRY IT and as a person works with the tools and the materials they will learn by DOING. I think that is true of every art form but really I think lately it is not stressed enough. Instead we are led to believe that to try something new is SCARY and requires a lot of up front information and they assume we are all needing to be led by EXPERTS. Well, Mr. Frankenfield, your book was published in 1964 and you are still influencing people like me to JUST DO IT. Thank you!

Metal Crafting---
Again I want to try my hand at working with metal. I have been re-reading Metal Craft Discovery Workshop by Linda and Opie O’Brien. This book outlines cold fusion techniques, that is, you don’t use heat or a solder to seal the metal. I don’t know anything about making my own jewelry but I am tempted to make some funky metal jewelry with using old metal cans and cookie tins and such as the base material (free stuff I have on hand already).



I also was looking at a book on metal called “Metal Mania” by Lisa Vollrath. This book is self-published and is a soft cover with a comb binding. The book is only sold through the author/artist’s website, Ten Two Studios and it retails for $15.99. The thing I like about this book is that Vollrath makes learning to solder seem easy. She gives step by step instructions with photographs for each step. I appreciate that she gives her tips along the way.

I was speaking to my husband and he said that we already own some of the materials necessary to solder. Additionally since my mother used to do stained glass I am going to ask if she has any unused copper tape cluttering up her house that she’d give to me.

I am getting the itch to try to make some charms for necklaces or pins.

I think that the ability to solder would be a good thing to know.

Who knows maybe if something I made comes out decent I can sell it on etsy and actually make a few bucks.

So that is what is on my mind lately. I am pretty busy and trying to have some summer fun this summer. It is ending up to be an “out of the house and having fun outside with friends and family” type of summer rather than a “stay inside and make art and crafts” type of summer.

I hope your summer is going well!