Thursday Thoughts...

“I am a series of small victories and large defeats and I am as amazed as any other that I have gotten from there to here.” 

Charles Bukowski

As I circle back to think about 'Life' amongst my rotating trio of ponderings, I thought about this one today and after years of sitting quietly in my large document, for some reason it was simply its time.

I don't think I have read any of his work, but this simple sentence has depth to it for me, and possibly for us all. I like the sense of awe and wonder and amazement that sneaks through its cracks. 

As we get older, I think we do often stop and reflect and think how amazing it is that we have made it from here to there. Whether that is because we had tough childhoods, or grew up with not much, or never felt confident, or ended up having one or two difficult relationships or had serious illness or injury interrupt us, or had always been told we weren't creative. For a myriad of reasons and from amongst the many things that could have derailed us, somehow here we are.

There is also something in the way he characterises his victories as small and his defeats as large. It seems that he feels he has really been knocked down at times; and that each time he won, it was only small or maybe fleeting. It made me wonder if all our defeats are large and our victories small? Possibly not all, but definitely some.

In line with other truisms, perhaps it really is that we learn more from our mistakes and losses than we do from our successes.

A recent defeat. But I did learn!

Trying different pebble jewellery things

 I have been thinking about the jewellery I make and at the moment I am still very happy making pebble-inspired jewellery. I don't have a need or a hankering to head off and try other forms just yet. And anyway I still have things I want to improve and get better at with these ones.

And so it was that I snaffled an hour the other day to try and see if I could use up some random, small pebble forms that were lurking about. I had this notion about soldering five pebble forms together to make a necklet of sorts.

And maybe some earrings, and then what the heck there were three left over so maybe a drop pendant as well? I had laid out the pebbles in the best form I thought and simply traced around them so I could remember what I liked!

The soldered pendant piece.

And the others...

And sitting on the couch one night I collected some silver chains to see what might work.

And with what...

 

And then I had another hour or so where I could file and polish and attach - and here they are.

Time well spent.

More refining to do - every time I do something I learn something. But I think these ideas are worth pursuing...

Re-stocking

 As mentioned, my grief card cupboard was bare, and so I set about cutting paper, setting type, inking up and printing. Then the illustrating and then the packaging and the final step updating the inventory.

All done now!

In a way it's sad that these are my best sellers; but in another way I am happy that folk can choose simple, heart felt and hand made cards for folk who need their thoughts and care at the time.

After finishing the illustrations for the dandelion cards - with the quote "they lived and laughed and loved and left... and life will never be the same again"

I find it quite meditative drawing these flowers and counting the seed heads that remain attached; and those that have been blown away.

This time around I also made some of my 'dandelion' cards in a portrait format, and they look OK.

Envelopes found and inserted, and then all tucked up in their cello bags ready for sale.

The other cards have the quote 'may flowers grow in the saddest parts of you' and  have a garden of hand drawn and coloured watercolour flowers.

This time around I chose a random set of colours for each card. I like working with the Graphitint watercolour pencils because they give such nice mellow colours - nothing bright or cheery.

All packed and ready to go. I printed a few on smooth card this time as well; and they have these lovely plain white envelopes which are lined with the deepest, darkest navy blue and look really really good.

Thursday Thoughts...

“An artist is an explorer” 

 Henri Matisse

I thought what a simple statement this is, yet what depth can be found within it.  

As an artist, I most often feel like a hesitant explorer, rather than a bold or daring one. It's interesting, because I definitely feel like an explorer. It feels as if I am tentatively setting out on paths I am unsure of; heading towards unknown destinations; travelling through lands only partially familiar.

It is rare that I have in my hand the map, the marked path, the distance to travel.

Most often I have a sense of the destination; and an inkling of the way to get there. But oftentimes I take detours and sometime find myself at impassable places.

The sense of explorer is all about exploring! Exploring ideas, techniques, methods of expression, successful approaches. Because I honestly don't think that artists always know exactly what they are doing or where they are going.

Explorers also seem to me to be about doing new things, going to new places, trying new ways, and as an artist that feels right to me. I may only be trying to find new ways to say something, but I am exploring the possibilities.

Finding My Way, 2010

Somewhat random bits of making

 My head is racing this way and that and trying to sort and sift and settle with so many things I want/need to get done. I am trying hard to come down on the side of things that NEED doing - rather than heading off in a million directions of things that I COULD be doing. Sigh. There will be time for those later.

I had a note to self that I needed to make a pretend scroll. Barry had previously made a beautiful scroll book which worked brilliantly for explaning about scrolls - but somebody recently purchased it and it now has a new home and I can't pull it out and use it for demonstration purposes! 

Down at the studio on the weekend I looked at a roll of paper and thought - that might do it.

And then I looked down at a crack in the floor and thought - that might do it.

I went off and grabbed a stick of graphite and did a rubbing of a crack!

I am quite fond of the marks made, and now simply have to work out how much to add to it without detracting from it!  That will happen.

If adding words, I have to work out is the work read from inside the scroll to the end of the scroll? Or is it read as you unfurl the scroll from the end ot the inside? Interesting...

I also have to print a few words, so was playing ever so briefly with some type, and surprised myself with how quickly I managed to decide on the typeface, the layout and then when I found one empty chase that I could pop the words into and lock it up I really felt like I was winning! 

Now to simply find some moments to cut the card and print! Easy right?

And then a quick rub over the letters with carbon paper to check if we are on track, and I think we actually are.

I also squeezed a few moments at home to sit down and try to use my alphabet to write some words out. I had a scrap of paper left over from the paper sample book episode, and just used a basic roller pen I use to write my daily to-do lists. This writing is quite small and dense.

Interestingly, I chose some words that are a reminder to me, and I like the way in which they are coded and not easily understood. Almost secret.

Life is full of variety!

And a rainy afternoon gave me the perfect opportunity to review these books and reflects on them as I prep for teaching and the Conference. So much wisdom and goodness within.

I enjoyed it so much the idea of a book reading session came over me - how delightful would it be to have coffee, cake, good arty folk and books and just sit in silence reading wonderful books and exclaiming and sharing every now and again?

Type books re-made

 Re-organising continues apace here and the paper inventory and the type inventory are both now complete.

I have documents in the computer and printed out of where things can be found; and I have re-made the books that acts as samples and guides. Very chuffed.

I hd noted a few papers I was missing samples of, so it was time to find them and cut them and pop them in the books.

And there they are, happily ensconced in the right place in the two copies of the book I made - one for B and one for me. The paper sample books are simply sequenced by paper weight, starting with 100gsm and ending with 300gsm samples.

And so it was time to move onto the type. We already had several type sample books, but given we have reduced our holdings significantly it was time to make sure the books reflected those we had.

I have made the type books in three ways; alphabetically; by size; and by style. I figure that these three approaches allow to find a typeface I want to use depending on what I need up front - does it have to be small? Am I looking for fancy? Am I wondering what size I have Colonna in?

Alphabetically we start with Announce Grotesque. I often think I should investigate what it is in the type world that grotesque refers to? In general terms it's not a word that describes something lovely; yet with type they aren't ugly typefaces so I am left wondering. One day I shall investigate.

And then by size - sometime you want to make a statement so you only want to look for large typeface sizes. Or sometimes you are printing a book and need to select only from your smallest type. So this makes that part easier.

And then I often items thinkI want to use a sans serif font or a fancy one for a statement of sorts and it's easy to go in this way.

Always satisfying to be able to find what you might want, amongst what you might have.

 

And here's a document that I leave on top of the drawers to grab and look at where I will actually find the the in the type cabinets.

And the prepping and brain space organising goes on as well... now we have pink post it notes too!

All of it alongside one of those sunsets you wouldn't believe was real if somebody painted it because of those rays of light...

And late afternoon sun on a port wine magnolia..

Thursday Thoughts...

“When you lose yourself in a book, the hours grow wings and fly.” 

 Chloe Thurlow

So true!

I always try to check who is who that I am quoting, given that I find the words all over the place in books or on random pages or searches. Apparently Chloe is a writer of erotic fiction who mother doesn't speak to her. Or she could be a knitting designer, but I think I'm going with the author here.

Books, reading and time make for a fascinating investigation of the relativity o time i think. Time is such a fluid concept and just as she says here, when you are deep in a book, utterly committed to it, using every spare moment, delaying and postponing other things just to get the time to read it, you do honestly lose yourself.

It is wondrous that words on a page can have that much power. That they can virtually warp time. Somehow their effect is as if to place you in a form of vacuum where there is no sense of time, that you exist somehow beyond the notion of it.

Just fabulous.

And yes, the hours grow wings and fly...

Small steps

 As we begin to find our way back to making here in Maleny, I have been prepping and printing a few bits here and there. Always trying to push a few things forward at a time, just to make sure nothing gets left too far behind.

I know International Day of Peace isn't until September, but there is a process of choosing words, and selecting type, then setting type and sorting through the brown paper cutlery holders, and inking and printing, and making holes and threading cord and sorting and packing and posting.... so I figured I might start now in my spare moments!

This year I have returned to John Lennon, and am simply asking that we give peace a chance...

On return, it also became clear that I had run out of grief cards. That is not my preferred way of being so I spent time finding if I had any blanks already prepped, and cutting paper to make new cards.

And then I wanted to check which type I might have used to print the name of the press on the back of the cards...

My first guess was close, but no cigar as they say.

My second was the very essence of Goldilocks - just right!

And so I printed some backs, some fronts and some middles...

I do love a deckled edge.

Now to let them dry and do some illustrating, find some envelopes and cello bags and add them back into the inventory once more.

And in other spare moments I have been doing the very last transfer of type from a small and difficult to use (that is, to get your fingers in to pick up the type) set of drawers into a small drawer that will complete the job.

I am almost there, and then we will have our final collection of type. Next job is to re-make the type reference books and create some new paper inventory sample books.

I keep saying to myself that future me will thank present me for doing these small tasks of sorting and re-organising.

And then to the ongoing beauty and gift of flowers. My dad's orchids are doing him proud, even in the cold and windy and sometimes wet weather we are having for winter this year. I love both the purity of this white one and the buoyant joy of the orange one.

And another gift of flowers, this time from my cousin, and these kangaroo paws are now on the kitchen bench being beautiful.