Recollections in Cloth, Paper and Thread

Posted on by Sandy Webster

Scrapbook first decade stitched

I could just be my age. For something different to work on in the studio I decided to break down my life into decades. Now I am into my eighth, not by a lot, but enough to make some choices of how I see that decade unfolding. There are eight panels of cloth all close to 18″ square. They were selected as a background feel for that period of my life. Here is the first decade. I am a child in a rural community who spends an enormous amount of time outside in the woods and meadows. Old farmhouses in northern Michigan.

I am not a very accomplished stitcher. It takes a while just to get that needle threaded and knotted at the other end. Then it is poke in some place and come up in another.  All the added pieces of papers and cloth were fused into place with a fabric bonding film. Loose bits were tied into place until they could be caught with the stitches.

This piece is trying to capture how those years felt to me, the things that stayed with me. The constellations in a very dark and star filled sky, old wallpapers, some falling away, marked cloth, grandmothers’ influences, the dullness of winter and snow, using only two crayons to wander out of the lines of coloring books. But most of all was the freedom to come and go, come and go and be by myself.

Here are some details of this “page”.

scrapbook first decade grass

scrapbook first decade snow

And now I have finished stitching the second decade. Those teenage years. A move from the woods and privacy to the suburbs of St. Petersburg, Florida in 1955 was a unwelcome adjustment. But being a teenager is constant adjustments, constant changes.

These pages will be bound into a very large scrapbook like we used to have many years ago. The kind we pasted in all our plans for the future. Now it will be pages of how things actually were or at least how I recall them to be. As the pages turn, there will be the marks of the previous decade shown to the left of the new decade. The viewer can see the marks of influence more or less of what is happening next. I think that this is where being a lousy stitcher is an advantage. Those threads and how they travel around on the back of the previous decade’s page is very narrative in its own way. Here is how a section of the two pages will be seen where they intersect.

scrapbook second decade pairing lo res

Wandering in the woods no longer possible with sandspurs everywhere. A red tide that came often enough to make the beach un-navigable. And finding it hard to fit into a predetermined system. I managed like we all do and actually found this a fun page to work on.  See below.

scrapbook second decade stitched lo res

I was now making my own clothes and still maintained my freedom for most of the time. Some details of the page.

scrapbook second decade if you alter

scrapbook second decade detail of shell lo res

I may go back into both of the pages. More is bound to develop in thought and manipulation. And some of these details I really liked and took them into a photo program to play with. I see possibilities for etchings using my press or maybe even collographs. Maybe drawings.

What I do like is finding the marks that are possible with needle and thread that capture my thinking. Better stitching may come as I work on each page. Before I show you the altered image of a detail from my first decade, take a look at how much my eighth decade shares a similar palette. Interesting I think because those other pages get pretty colorful with marriage, family, entering the craft world, then graduate school and travel. Interesting.

Here is the roughed in eighth decade that will take some time to get to as I must do them in order.

scrapbook 8th decade lo res

And the altered image of my first decade detail.

scrapbook first decade detail adjusted 2

I will show more as they develop.

Finishing Up – well sort of – Down the Rabbit Hole

Posted on by Sandy Webster

book on board shear

This blog is just a wrap up of how the book was put together.

After printing ten books worth of pages, twenty sheets per book and all but the three return sides of the covers and colophon required going through the printer.  Everything was laid out and saved in Microsoft Publisher so it was just a matter of bringing them up, making sure to check the right paper type and best photo options. Each page had to be loaded separately as most printers do not like being asked to do multiples of heavier paper and can get a bit off which is not a good thing.

My board shear was a tremendous help in the constant trimming of pages to the size of approximately 8.5 x 7 inches. The back cover is cut longer as it has to be the spine wrap as well.

using a straight edge

With twenty separate sheets per book there needed to be nineteen hinges made. I used a cotton office paper (white) cut into 7″ by 1/2″ strips and then carefully folded in the center. The book pages are stacked in the order they are to be pieced together in front of a metal yard stick that is weighted so as not to move. This allows me to align the sheets. A small glue plunger is the best for the very little amount of glue needed on each side of the folded hinge.

They will be glued by doing all foredges first. That means the mountain fold of the hinge is placed up and the left side is glued to the edge of the sheet to be on the left side. Here is the back cover and last piece to be paired and glued on the foredge.

foredge hinge

When gluing the right to the left on the hinge I brought them as close together as possible without overlapping them. Each pair of sheets is checked on both sides to make sure they are properly glued down.  Paper cuts along the edges of the sheets and hinges can easily happen. Just the smallest amount of blood can not be wiped away on the good papers that I used and once a sheet needed to be pulled away and a new one printed. After that I kept a paper towel between finger and paper edge.

paper towel handy

After the stack of ten double sheets are glued together it is time to adjoin them together using the hinge valley side up for the spine edge of the book. Here I did not butt them up close but left enough space for the pages to fold against each other without buckling the edges.

spine glueing valley fold hinge

I kept them aligned along the straight edge and folded the book together as each hinge is dried in place.

lining up pages for glueing

I used a bone folder with a thin edge to crease the cover in two places where it wraps around to become the spine of the book and glue to the underside of the cover.

spine gap before filler

To reinforce the spine I covered a piece of book board with lokta paper that fills the gap between the spine hinged pages and the creased cover spine.

spine filler being madespine filler glued down

Here is the finished book.

finished book open

As of right now there are only five books completely finished and five more printed. I am very happy that there will only be an edition of twenty of these. Now I am wondering what to do with all the cut offs from the pages. I might try to print on them using my etching press. Christmas cards is a possibility.

book page waste

It seems a waste not to use these somehow. There will be close to 400 when I get this edition finished. Next week I am taking a break and going to a friends in Asheville just to get out of the studio and have a good visit over a bit of single malt.

 

 

 

Let’s Take That “Creative” Thinking to Another Place

Posted on by Sandy Webster

Picture1 at 600

Since my last blog about being “schooled” in creativity, I did a bit more research into how instructors are sharing their abilities with the public. And did you know there are restaurants where a person can partake of “one of America’s latest trends.”  It is often referred to as “Creative Social Art”. A group comes together at a location to experience painting and drinking wine. The sessions last between two and three hours and often happen in a place that serves refreshments/food.

One site online even suggested that any one could become “the hostess with the mostess.” All you need to do is bring in some friends, furnish the paints, brushes and canvas and maybe even the instructor if you can’t take on the responsibility of assisting your students to a finished painting. Either they bring their own wine or it is furnished at an additional fee. You are hosting your own painting party. Catchy names for these events include, Fear no Easel, Paint and Sip, Wine and Design, and a favorite, Creativity Uncorked! Note that all of these events involve wine. There is no other alcoholic beverage used to enhance the experience.

The key here is to stress that no artistic ability is necessary. Everyone is gathering to have fun while experiencing the motions required to get a painting done in a set amount of time. It does not matter that almost all the paintings look the same. What matters is that the result be a happy person who has made a painting more or less all by themselves. And maybe, just maybe will try this at home, unsupervised.

But this is what stands out to me. Almost without fail these “learning to paint” encounters consist primarily of female participants. What about those guys? How to they get involved in Creative Social Art? And then I hit on the answer. Beer.

We need to take it to them. Men already in attendance. Men already being sociable. In the pub. In the tavern.

So, being completely caught up in those catchy titles for “Creativity Time”, I thought of the following for those in a bar who would prefer not to watch a ball game.

Let’s Paint with Pints and Points.

There was help on this one. My friend, Patti, suggested darts in a bar with small balloons partially filled with paint. Others would be filled with water to keep things blending and dripping. The instructor we will call him, just needs to get the scene ready with a plastic sheet on the floor and the canvas fixed to a wall with filled balloons pinned in place. After a determined time the scores of hits are talleyed and the one with the most points is allowed to turn the canvas any direction he wishes. More creative drips and colors later, the time is up and the winner takes his new painting home. Believe me if patrons can find themselves involved in karaoke, they can do this. They can do this and learn about color and gesture at the same time. Sort of a social Jackson Pollock approach to abstract expressionism. I would do this in a pub in a nano second.

And how about a more intimate group adventure into social creativity. This one takes place sitting side by side at the bar and is called:

Portraiture with Beers and Smears

If the patron wants to play along, he asks for the 7 x 9 inch piece of paper and the paint. It could be a very limited palette presented in shot glasses. There are no brushes because this is going to be learning the art of finger painting. Each of  them attempts to do a portrait of the bartender or each other with gentle blending and shading – all done using just his fingers. The cocktail napkin is for wiping away unwanted marks and his fingers before reaching into the bar snacks bowl. I have tried this after one Bloody Mary and before drinking down this nice dark beer…..and here it is! So pleased, I signed it!

bar finger painting

I think that both of these pub/bar/tavern creativity courses might have a better chance of being a hit in Australia. Down under there is more of a spirit of adventure when they come together in their social groups. At one point in time they even tossed dwarves about in outback pubs when their gum boots came up missing. (I read about this in a book titled, The Greater Nowheres, by a couple of young adventurers working for National Geographic.

But anyone could take these ideas and turn them into cash. Get the ball rolling and get those students hooked on getting in touch with their creativity. I heard about a woman who actually has a following of people who for a whole week she can talk into sitting in the grass and communing with Nature. Evidently they can’t do this at home….it takes instruction. And I really don’t blame them if they live around here. Our grass right now is full of those nasty chiggers. No one is sitting there. I’m getting side tracked here, sorry.  Back on topic.

I am still thinking about a title for my own workshop on creativity using the dot to dot method that struck my fancy last week. “Wine and Line” is the best so far. No paint necessary. Just a handout showing dots with numbers and a pencil with an eraser. I want to start out slowly and hopefully drag my students through long deliberate steps to creativity.

There is just one more idea I need to put forth. Our son, Patrick, has warmed to this whole concept of taking creativity classes on the road and for a short time only he will be offering a workshop titled, Creatively Caffeinated. These classes will be at the average cost of most Creativity with Sustenance events and be held in coffee shops. Offered in the greater Detroit area for limited time and only $47.50 per head the students can gather not only around their computers and iphones but a paint by number assignment sheet with a brush and brown watercolor. The pictured pile of coffee beans are to be painted according to a numbered system for light roast, medium  roast, and dark roast. Just coordinate the color with its number. Easy and fun to do with the guarantee of a finished painting in no more than two hours.

Creatively Caffeinated

We could now consider this subject of social creativity classes closed…..at least for now.

 

A Creativity Course – Just Follow Along

Posted on by Sandy Webster

Is it just me or is there an absolute abundance of instructional materials on being creative. Didn’t people just figure this out alone, working with the materials and techniques they were familiar with? Didn’t they simply say to themselves, “Today I am going to try something different, just to see if it will work.” Since when did we need to gather together in workshops or follow along in a book taking it one step at a time?

I think it might be a bit like the growing popularity of “adult coloring books”. When I first heard that phrase I thought the subject matter within the covers was perhaps naughty pictures. But I actually have been told that they are like children’s coloring books, just smaller areas to color in. The expectation is still staying within the lines and they are themed. Not like super heroes or Sesame Street, but butterflies, flowers, etc. This seems like a rich territory to subvert into something else, mass produce them and make a bundle. Let me think on that.

But for now I am remembering the dot to dot books. Remember, always start at “1” and follow the sequence to the end, and WOW something appears. And at age five, you drew it all by yourself. So I thought I would try it sixty-seven years later.

Here is my numbered dot drawing:

blog dot to dot

Of course sometimes some small features need to be added  to the drawing because a kid would not know how to do this themselves. Bet you can’t even guess what this will be when the dots are connected.

 

 

blog unicorn

A unicorn! How fun is that!

But if we take it a bit further and question the sequence, we can go off on our own. In a creativity course you may not be encouraged to do this until day four or somewhere half way through the book.

Within five minutes after I made this drawing up, I wanted to see if I could find a dragon just by connecting dots in random order. I made my lines where I wanted to and then ended up with the following.

blog howling cat head

A cat with an antennae on her head in mid yowl.

blog catterpillar pointing

Or turned to the left, a pointing caterpillar, again with an antennae.

blog rabbit hiding

Turned another way it’s a rabbit hiding in the grass. Does he, too, have an antennae?

blog grasshopper landing

And my personal favorite, an action shot of a grasshopper in mid somersault.

 

And all that with just one trip through violating the order of numbers.

If I was a quilter, I could cut all these shapes and stitch them together, and repeat them in blocks big enough to get me qualified for entry into Quilt National. Why not?

A basket maker, and I would definitely do the rabbit in willow. Do it large for some yard art. It could be done in the round or simply a flat piece. Oooooh, maybe a series running along the edge of the garden.

The yowling cat calls out to be a clay sculpted pitcher where you can pour the whatever out of that open mouth. All you’d have to do is increase the volume by making his neck longer. You may need to take off the antennae. (Artistic License).

But you can already see the possibilities here. I think I can do a book with this. The unicorn alone is rich with only one interpretation turned four ways. I think I will try another configuration. A dragon could still appear.

But what if I did another dot to dot, another smile and eyeball for clues of course. It is endless. And it could add a fun addition to the plethora of creative thinking books out there. A workshop with students struggling with where to draw that next line once they finished staying on course. I am warming even more to this idea as I write. At the very least it is going to be a handout at the next workshop. The only addition I think it needs is for the learner to be told to collect four phrases from a romance novel written before 1984 to be put into a poem about how the image they have created is relevant to an old flame.

I like it.