He's Got a Cupcake Growing Out of His Forehead.

I am on a new kind of plushie making streak. I got the idea talking to the lovely Lace (http://lacejayne.blogspot.com/) over lunch last week, and I think 'tis a brilliant one :) Here's how it goes: Get a hold of some plain white cloth. Obtain fabric markers. Create amazing character that NEEDS to become 3D. Draw thus character with fabric markers onto previously referred to white cloth. Stitch together and stuff! Weee! I love the idea, because as you know I have been really enjoying turning my drawings into plushie form. While I am a huge fan of buttons and fancy stitching and fun fabrics, this technique gives the finished plushie a unique feel- more like a three-demensional stuffed DRAWING rather than...well, a plushie. It all depends on what you want for a finished product. Here's my first attempt. He was really kind of a guinea pig, because I was trying to get used to the way the fabric markers worked, blended, and went onto the cloth. Plus, now I know that I need to save more room for the seams, because even though I thought I had plenty of room I could use more. I think he looks a little bit squished on there...I would prefer to have more white around the edges.

He doesn't have a name yet, but he's got a cupcake growing out of his forehead (which he likes to eat with a spoon) so he's all good.

And here's my original like-three-second sketch.

I am absolutely OBSESSED with the fabric markers that I used to do this project. They were pretty expensive but they were worth it (plus I'm a working lady now, so I'm trying not to feel too guilty. I need $ to fund my projects!!) They -the markers- blend nicely while they're still wet. Siiighhh. Blissful.

One more new news goody-bit: My cousin is getting married later this month, and since I have absolutely nothing to wear, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to make my own dress! I went to the fabric store today and found the PERFECT pattern along with the PERFECT cloth. Yay, I'm so excited ^__^

I'm thinking of making the dress with the green skirt, but without the apron. LOOOOKIT THE CLOTH!!! It's pink with animals!!!!! AWWWWW :D

BEHOLD: THE SUPER STRAWBERRY KNEE PADS.

Ohh, work. Lovely lovely work. 'Tis that season again! I pick strawberries at a local farm during the summers. The people are nice, the pay is good, I get to spend the day outside and it's basically my perfect job except (ow!) the significant amount of back and knee pain. Every year I get what I call "the dreaded rhinoceros knees" which form due to the excessive kneeing that I do. Before they build up their crusty, protective outer layer, the skin stings for days on end and looks all red and puffy :( poor knees, you deserve better. AND YOU SHALL HAVE BETTER! I have taken this grave matter into my own hands, and created ...duh duh duh daaaaa!!!! THE SUPER STRAWBERRY KNEE PADS!!!!

KNEES: Oh, master! Please except our greatest thanks! In return, we shall serve you with hours upon hours of painless kneeling!

ME: What humble servants you are, kneesies. I must say you are one of my favorite body parts! You work hard, yes you do. My wallet and I thank YOU for your ongoing loyalty and servitude.

KNEES: *Quiver with happiness at pleasing their master so*

Reporting for duty! Herm, I think that I like them very much. Unfortunately, I may like them too much to actually USE them :/ I will try to put my attachment aside.

A few side notes before I wrap this up:

1. The skull quilt is coming along swimmingly :) I'm almost half way finished stitching the squares together.
2. I made another more mini plushie recently. He's a cute, simple lil' guy; just a square with an irresistible face. He's inspired me to make many more "shape" plushies ^__^
3. Between working and gym going (muscles good), I am having a hard time finding significant art time. I'll have the week ends and late afternoons, but I probably won't be producing as much as when I had my whole day :( It's sad, but money making has got to be done. So blog entries may become slightly less frequent *sniff* I hope not though!!!

Mr. Squarie-Square takes his place on top of the growing mound of plushies.

The Coloring Issue and a Skull Quilt.

TO COLOR OR NOT TO COLOR, THAT IS THE QUESTION...

I've done another self portrait! I like it best out of the three so far. Right now, it's only in the inked stage. I haven't gone any further, because even though at first my plan was to color it, now I'm scared to make the plunge.

Knowing when a piece is "done" (or ready to be "abandoned" as my painting teacher says- "I've never actually ever FINISHED a painting; I've just abandoned them!" So true, so true) is the hardest part of art making in my opinion. There is always the quandary of whether or not it could be improved. The problem comes because just as easily as it COULD be bettered, it could also be made worse (or totally ruined!) And overworked is never good; once you go too far there's no going back, unless you decide to reincarnate it as something else. I asked some people about their opinion on the coloring issue- most of them thought that it was worth trying out the color idea, but that I should try to make a photocopy so that I would still have a black and white version. The drawing is too big for a regular scanner unless I want to try to scan it in pieces, but I can fit most of it on an 11 x 17 piece of paper, which could be done easily on a photocopier. I'm pretty sure that my public library has one, so I'm going to make a few copies to try out different coloring techniques/materials, and keep the original just as it is. I'll keep you posted!

Do you recognize that little guy? (The gross white glare on his eye is from the camera flash. I hate flash, but I couldn't get a proper picture otherwise :/)

This weekend I also embarked on my first quilting adventure. I've never done any quilting, but as you know I love sewing (PLUSHIES!! PLUSHIES!!! ^__^) sew I though I'd give it a go (haha!) It's a skull quilt made entirely from 4 x 4 squares of scrap fabric. I found the idea on one of my favorite websites of all time, Cut Out and Keep. If you're a crafty and kooky person, you should definitely take a look. It has all kinds of great inspiration.

Yesterday I finished cutting out all the squares and laying them out where I wanted them to go. I may start sewing today :)

The skull isn't super prominent because I since I only had scrap fabric to work from, I didn't have many choices. But I think it's kind of cool that way. I had SO much fun cutting out all the squares, as monotonous as it sounds. I could remember what each fabric was originally used for...there were a lot of scraps from various shirts my mom made before I was born, and there are even some squares from some of my old pajama pants!

Frankie Turp, Maiibull-Eeen, and others.

Now that my painting class is over, I've been scrounging around for projects to keep myself occupied with. I don't sit well with doing nothing. It makes me depressed. Luckily I've managed to keep myself nicely fueled with all kinds of bits of doings. And I'm starting a summer metal sculpture class the 26th which runs for 5 weeks, so during that time my whirring motor of a brain should be happy :-)

I find that I tend to go through phases of different art forms, where I get really involved in one medium. Sometimes these phases last for only a few days, but they can go on for months. I'll get really into sewing, knitting, painting, drawing...the list goes on and on. And of course there are tons of subcategories in each medium: plushie making, spinning, abstract painting, cartooning, etc. The possibilities are endless. It's almost like the phases are on a rotating schedule, each taking their turn, passing it on to the next...then later on coming back for the next round. Most of the time I have more than one area that I'm exploring at the same time, and the ideas kind of spill over so that even though the work I am creating in each medium is different materials-wise, it's all connected; one thing leads to another. Right now, I'm in a Plushie-Making-Graphic-Novel-Phase.

This most recent phase started about a week ago when I decided that a fun project would be reincarnating some of my childhood drawings. So down into the basement I went, dragging out a mountain of dusty folders stuffed with scribbles and potato people. Children have such freedom, and can put things on paper with natural ease...I miss that capability, that blissful liberation from art "expectations." Using my childhood artwork as a jumping point, I made sketch after sketch of revamped characters which were originally created by my 4-7 year old brain.

The giraffe/bear and bee/dog/rabbit on the upper page were among a group of marker drawings titled "MIXED UP ANIMALS." There was even an angel/skunk. Heh. Imagine that.

I love the all leg guy wearing shorts (written in carefully formed letters on the original drawing: GLAMMA ITS YELLOW AND HAS NO ARMS. I assume "Glamma" was some kind of invented species of mine?)

This is where the "graphic novel" part of this current phase comes in. I've always wanted to make my own comic books/strips/graphic novels, but in the past I've felt like it was very intimidating. Not sure why, since I lot writing and I love drawing. Bang those two passions together and voila. Why should I feel like it's beyond me? I found the book Drawing Words & Writing Pictures, and I'm planning on taking myself through that this summer (in fact, I've already started.) I'm excited. ^___^

On to PLUSHIES!!! Who doesn't love a good plushie? I know I can't resist 'em. My graphic novel excitement was interrupted by The Invasion of the Stuffies. All my attempts to hold my ground were futile. The first incomer was Frankie Thurp, a dignified used book salesman with way too much heart (he certainly wheedled his way into mine.) He also smokes a pipe even though I tell him he shouldn't. I stitched him together during a visit with a friend.

Remember about what I was saying about the ideas spilling over? Well, here is an example of that phenomenon. After Frankie Thurp, I began making another plushie, but this one I based off one of the revamped childhood drawings I did. SQEEEE!!! I named her Maiibull-Eeen (hey, what a poet I am.) Just wookit dat wittle buck tooth! And her toes :) I wuv her! She's got wire in all those bows to make them nice and bendable and to make sure they hold their lovely bow shape.

There she is, up at the top.

And there you have it- my life in plushies and cartoons since classes let out. Sorry about the length of this massive post. I seem to have a tendency to get behind on this blogging bidness, and meanwhile the art work that I do keeps on a pilin' up. By the time I get around to doing a post, it's a novel...

Meet Winnefred.

Say hello to Winnifred.
Hello Winnifred :)

I think she's beautiful.

I have a book on making plushies, and one of the women who designed some of the patterns based her creations on her childrens' drawings. Since I was able to come up with all kinds of crazy critters when I was little with ease, I thought the idea of using them for plushie inspiration was genius. So I dug around in all my old scribbles (all of which my mom has kept :D) until I found one that struck me. I remember the day I drew it- 3rd grade art class.

This is only a small section of the original drawing. In the complete one, she's sitting in some kind of tree with a whole bunch of odd looking birds. I wonder what she was doing up there?

I have a funny thing for fabrics- especially scrap fabric. There is something particularly alluring about all the different colors, patterns, and textures (the same goes for yarn ^^). I wanted to be able to use as many as possible when making Winnifred, since sewing, holding, and working with each unique snippet somehow enhances my appreciation.

I am my happiest when I do things like this. It makes me feel complete. It makes me feel whole.