Finished Decorative Arts: wrist warmers

I made my friend Chelle a pair of wrist warmers this week. They match the hat I made her last winter. I hope she likes them when she gets them.

Finished Decorative Arts: little cloth books

I love small notebooks. I like being able to keep one in my pocket and jot things down as I think of them. Book titles and authors, recommended places to go and ideas for new projects all end up in these little books of mine. I like them the best when they’re pretty.

I made a bunch of (eight) small blank notebooks that have cloth covered covers. I used some recycled materials, including the paper for the pages and repurposed pressed cardboard packaging, like spaghetti boxes. The branding is covered up by pretty cotton quilting fabrics. All of the books have 20 pages (if you count both sides of each, the number is 40), 14 (28) of which are blank and 6 (12) of which are graph paper. I love graph paper too. Each notebook is bound with waxed linen thread using the pamphlet stitch.

Go right here if you would like one for yourself.

Process/ Photo Sketches: small towers

Towers made from stacked up everyday objects.

A small selection of my large collection of beach rocks.

Every clean bowl in my house.

My favorite shoes.

Things: doodles

I was hanging out, doodling, in the cafe before my shift started. This is the result.

Reading List: sheila hicks, weaving as metaphor

Weaving as Metaphor is a gorgeous book. Besides the fact that the content – a number of Sheila Hicks’ small works, most of which are weavings – is visually stunning, the format is very enticing. Like the weavings themselves, it is very textural. The cover is white, with a weaving in relief, and the pages are cut jaggedly, as if with a saw. Each page spread has a beautiful photograph of the work on the right. On the left are the title, the location in which it was made, notes about the technique, media, size and the collection to which it belongs. Most works are also accompanied by a few notes on Hicks’ thought process while she was making it.

(My copy arrived unfortunately smudged, so I am borrowing this photo from here. It gives a better idea of the texture than the professional images I found).

Weaving as Metaphor highlights the sort of work by major artists (in this case, Hicks) that usually appeals to me the most. They are not grand works, compared with her more well known pieces, but instead are experiments with technique, color, form, etc. They are maquettes and sketches that show progress and ideas. Looking at them always gives me the itch to start making.

I had the opportunity to visit Sheila Hicks in her studio in Paris a few years ago. She is a very insightful and inspiring woman, and one whose mark on textiles in art cannot be underestimated. In light of that, and the awe that I feel towards her work, it seems a little surreal that after talking to us in her studio, Ms. Hicks led us around her neighborhood to some of her favorite spots, ending with lunch in her favorite cafe.

A few things she said have stuck in my mind more than the rest, so I want to share them. Learn to measure things accurately by sight. Sometimes the person who will matter the most in your life will be (or begin as) a total stranger. Watch the way children respond to your work because their curiosity is authentic. Also, in my notes from that visit I wrote this down as a quote, “it is so important to make every day. The discovery comes in the making.” (I’m trying.)

Look at this!: warmth

This morning I woke up and it was so chilly in my bedroom that I just wanted to stay snuggled up under the covers. That, and a promise to my friend Chelle to make some fingerless gloves/ mittens got me thinking about things that make me feel warm. October days in North Carolina are still are still warm by most peoples’ standards, but the nights are cold (frost warning tonight!) and I chill easily. This post is in the spirit of keeping warm with textiles over the next few months.

To begin with, I have loved scarves for as long as I can remember. Here are some cozy looking ones from Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic (in that order).

Wool socks like these from Toast would keep any lucky foot warm.

Hot water bottles. This knit cover with robots by Sara Carr is really cool. I also love the polka dotted one below it, by Catherine Tough.

This wool makes me feel warm just looking at it. It was so unbelievably soft.

My friend/ weaving teacher Karin’s blankets. Whenever I go into her studio or her store, Island Weaves, I cant resist touching everything. (Below is her handwoven silk, angora and wool throw).

And these blankets.

Vik Prjonsdottir has some interesting blanket designs. Based on the designers’ Icelandic heritage (including folk tales), they’re made of Icelandic wool and look really warm. However, while the fabric of the seal pelt (above) is gorgeous, and makes me kind of want it, I can’t imagine stumbling around my house in this while still needing to wear a sweater underneath and not being able to utilize the arm flippers as sleeves. The twosome blanket (below) is probably more practical, although I don’t like the fabric as much. In defense of its resemblance to a Snuggie, I think the main detractor of the Snuggie is the ugly, cheap fabric, and the twosome blanket resolves that. Seriously, tell me you wouldn’t love to watch a movie snuggled under this thing.

Art Scene: pikaland

I found this blog through Etsy very recently. I haven’t read that much of it yet, but I love it already.

It was started in February 2008 by artist Amy Ng as a collection of illustration, design and inspiration. It has evolved since then to include two more contributors as well as become a hub for her projects with other artists. Those projects include the Good to Know zine (advice and conversations on topics involving art) and PikaPackage (small collections of art, like the one below, from a selection of artists). Cool stuff. Check out those projects, some lovely illustrations and more here.

Finished Decorative Arts: you can call me ameliopolis (on etsy)

I have (finally) created an Etsy storefront! Check it out at ameliopolis.etsy.com. I have posted a few items already (such as Clara, the beehived babe below) and will be posting more soon.

Process: fabric yo-yos

(I meant to post this yesterday afternoon as an “experiment-drawings” post. Oops.)

Without naming any specifics, I have noticed a lot of fabric yo-yos in design lately. I don’t know if there are quite enough to call it a trend, but it’s moving in that direction. Because they don’t appeal to me that much automatically, I thought I’d make some to see what the big deal is. The funny thing is, now I kind of get it.

Automatic: cut and collage

Two of the artists’ work in volume seven (Break) of Lines & Shapes really appealed to me. Illustrators Reka Kiraly and Wayne Pate both used cut paper and drawings (and in Pate’s case fabric) to create playful, dynamic 0compositions responding to the theme. Kiraly’s drawings remind me a bit of the Portocarrero Soy Cuba poster I mentioned a few weeks ago. Pate’s remind me more of a catalog of patterns arranged into a wall piece. Because their compositions looked like they were fun to make, ending up with just enough polish, cut-and-collage is the direction I went in this week.