I’m playing catch-up today, after a really full (and kind of stressful) week. My first step is to get some laundry finished, then I can tackle the rest of the mess.

Weekend, with eclipse

My husband and I came into both free movie tickets and an offer to babysit, so we took advantage of it and went to see The Avengers. It was highly entertaining! And it was REALLY nice to get out. We treated ourselves to food (including sushi — I tried octopus and tobiko) and it was SO GOOD.

Then! Then! Sunday night we got to see the annular eclipse!

I didn’t get solar viewing glasses from the planetarium soon enough; they were sold out by the time I could go get some. So instead we made a couple simple pinhole viewers out of some boxes, foil, and paper. Here we tested them out.

At 6:30 we could see a small sliver of the moon covering the sun (I didn’t get a picture of that), but then… THEN… some clouds moved in. For an HOUR. But they cleared up just in time for the BEST PART!

Here’s our pinhole viewing setup. One was a long box with a pinhole at one end and a paper at the other, and the other was a box lid with a pinhole in it, and a large box with a paper in the bottom. The long box was easy for one person to use at a time, and the lid-and-box setup was easier for more people to look at it. It worked great!

The eclipse itself made the light look really strange — yellower, like the sun was coming through a filter. I wish we could have gone down to southern Utah to see the full Ring of Fire effect, but what we got to see was pretty awesome all the same.

Summer is Coming, With Art Projects

This is the second-to-last week of school for the kids. I am trying to brainstorm some activities to do with the kids once they’re home all day.

My oldest son and I are going to put together an art show! We already have a theme: Words As Art. It will be a series integrating letters, numbers, words and full text into works of art. some will be comics-style, but we may also try some illuminated-manuscript-style work; I did illuminated letters with his class last week and he LOVED it. I’m going to make some ACEOs to go with it — I’ve already started on “A”. I’ll post more on this project as it develops.

And maybe — just maybe — if I involve my kids in my creation process, I can get more accomplished…! We’ll see how this goes.

Mirrored from Puffbird Studio.

The first time* I tried to show my oldest son the movie The Secret of Kells, he was Not Interested. They looked too weird and cartoony (which he Does Not Like**) and, more importantly, I don’t think he understood anything about what was going on.

This week I taught art for my son's class, and chose a project about illuminated manuscripts. I showed the class images of letters and pages from illuminated ‘scripts, in particular from the Book of Kells. I talked about how, before the printing press was invented, people had to write books by hand, and because it takes so long (some of the kids guessed a month or two) they only made books that they felt were very important — important enough to decorate beautifully like this.

I zoomed into the pictures to show them the complex knots and intricate details, the animals hidden here and there. I pointed out the gold leaf and the many different ways the letters were decorated.

The kids were very quiet and attentive the whole time. When I started them on their project (Pick your favorite number or letter, draw it full size on your paper, and decorate it to make your own “illuminated” letter) they set to, and worked (mostly) quietly for a full hour. I counted it successful.

When my son came home that day, I showed him The Secret of Kells. He was riveted. This time, he knew what the Book of Kells was — at least a little.

It reinforced to me how important knowledge is to understanding.

—

* Probably a year ago.

** Hence his reaction to a LOT of cartoons kids normally enjoy, like Spongebob. Though his love of Phineas and Ferb seems to go completely against this rule…

Mirrored from Puffbird Studio.

Flyaway by ~puffbird on deviantART

A sketch I made using the online Harmony drawing tool, which I then pulled into Photoshop to slap color on it.

Art
I'm going to make it a goal to attend the Salt Lake Gallery Stroll every third Friday, just to see what's going on in the local art scene. Also, I need to do some anatomy studies and basic drawing exercises, just because. I've been feeling the lack.

I need to get in the habit of posting actual art here and on my website blog -- and I need to figure out what I'm going to do about the website blog, because I haven't really been using it. Also, it's not working as an online gallery. I need to figure out how to fix that.

Today:
Work on the fiber art experiment. I set it aside for a little while I worked on other things, but it's time to pull it out again.

I've been using my time over the last two months to examine my creative process, try to figure out what I want to create, and how I want to approach my art career... and I have some goals in mind. I've spent more time working on my fiber art, and analyzing my day and how I use it, and generally getting more work done. The thing about fiber art is that it takes a while to get things going; it's a slower creative process. I have an abstract embroidery piece in progress, but I'm also working on some knit socks and a hardanger piece (I've mentioned both now and then over the past weeks). While I've worked, I've listened to the podcast, Writing Excuses; and when I'm not doing either, I've worked on my writing project and my web comic script.

I like having several projects in process, because then I never get bored. And if I get stuck on one thing, I can work on something else while my mind tries to sort it out. (The down side is that it takes longer to get things done. But that's for another post.)

So while I was doing all that, a funny thing happened.

I said a while ago that I was going to put Songseeker on the back-burner, because I needed to focus on my self-analysis and on income-generating activities. But in the process, I a) re-read my full synopsis for Songseeker and got really excited about the story again, and b) found time for me to work on Songseeker a little more than usual. Because, you know, when you're being productive, you discover how much you can really do with a spare hour. So now I have three finished pages of Songseeker, and a sketch of a fourth -- which puts me six weeks ahead.

I'm building up my buffer for Songseeker so I am well ahead, but if I get far enough ahead, I will do what I promised from the beginning, and increase my release days. I would really like to be able to update the comic three days a week (ideally!) because regular updates bring readers. (Publishing every two weeks makes for reeaaallly sloooow storytelling. Not good.)

So! Question time! Shall I post more working sketches and photos of things in-progress? Because I am in the middle of a lot of projects, but I don't feel like I have much to show for it.

Blrrrrg. My night was FAR from long enough -- between wakeful boys, a nasty head-cold, and pondering fiction.

Songseeker
There was a new post last week... and following that, I finished two more pages and sketched a third! This will wrap up the First Interlude, a glance at the mythology of my Songseeker world. Then we'll run headlong into the Overture, introducing the Jackal, one of the Crane Hunters -- whose name I still don't know! He's awfully stubborn -- who will lead Pau and Feinne on a long and arduous (and, for the Jackal, completely unwanted) journey.

Garden
Planted tomatoes, right before a night with danger of frost. :P But I think everything survived. It's cool outside, but not cold.

We also have cabbage, broccoli, artichoke, and volunteer onions. And a neighbor just brought me some bell pepper starts. So we have a good start!

I'm not sure how the artichoke will turn out. According to my book, they're native to the tropical Mediterranean. It's okay to try them in zones 4 and up... but we are zone 3. Too cold, and not long enough growing season. So we'll see! I have planted them in front of a south-facing concrete wall, which absorbs the sun pretty well... so maybe they'll stay warm enough. We'll see.

Crafts
I'm actively working on two projects right now: I'm knitting a pair of socks, and I'm working on a hardanger piece my grandma left unfinished when she passed away. The socks are easy to do while I'm waiting in the car to pick up my son from school, and the hardanger is really good for working on while I'm watching TV and such. I'll post progress pictures later!

----

Son 3 just dumped a puzzle out, and I have to go pick Son 2 up from school... Onward and upward!

So I've been preparing a book proposal on "How To Draw Mythological Horses", and yesterday someone I watch (and really admire) on DeviantArt, who is previously published and has a batch of "how to draw mythological ___" books already, posted a painting of a hippocampus which will be part of a new book on How To Draw Mythological Horses.

Boo!

I guess I could take this the Sour Grapes "WAAAH, I WAS TOO LATE WITH MY IDEA" way... OR I could tell myself, "Wow, I had a pretty good idea if someone THAT brilliant is doing it!"

Part of me is thinking "Wow, her art is so amazing... mine just wouldn't have been as good."

And part of me is thinking "Wow, her art is so amazing... but mine would have been different, because my style is not the same as hers."

So I'm going to finish my book proposal anyway, complete with sketches... and then I'm going to research her book to find out which company/imprint is publishing it, and I'll submit mine elsewhere to see if I can get some other bites. Because really, there are A TON of "How To Draw ___" books out there, and every single one is different, even if they're about the same topic... because every single artist, just about, has a different approach.

I'm tired of the Dumb Dad on TV. You know, on TV shows where Dad is SO STUPID that he apparently can't tie his own shoelaces. He walks around the house with a beer can in one hand and a channel changer fused to the other one. Even though his family loves him, his children can't respect him because they can tell they're smarter than he is. And his wife doesn't respect him either, and questions his every decision. (Think Homer Simpson.)

We need more TV shows that portray smart, articulate and caring fathers, because IT'S OKAY TO BE ALL OF THOSE THINGS.

So after an INSANE weekend in which I attended a political convention as a delegate AND helped run a talent show ON THE SAME DAY, I am ready for a nice, calm week with a regular schedule that doesn't involve me going ANYWHERE.

Except when does THAT ever happen? :P

I can tell I'm not getting enough sleep because I get half-way through the day and suddenly can't keep my eyes open.

Talent Show...
... was AWESOME! We had tap-dancers, singers, bagpipers, an accordionist... we had an arts and crafts show and cooking demonstrations; a florist showed how to arrange flowers, and a smart kid showing how to solve a Rubic's cube. And I demonstrated hardanger embroidery. It was fun!

Songseeker
There's a new page!

Garden
My weekends have not been my own. As a result, my garden has one lone cabbage that my 3rd grader brought home from school, and five volunteer onions that somehow sprouted after not growing last year. (Go figure!)

But I've turned all the earth and removed all the weeds, and I can maintain it now until I can get some crops sown.

Writing
My writing experiment is now up to 15,000 words -- which, I think, is about as far as I've ever gotten on a single story. (I haven't done word-counts on the starts I made back in grade school, written longhand on college-ruled paper.) I want to finish it this time. Then I want to tackle some of the other ideas that I've started or had percolating for years.

My goal is to write at least 500 words every working day. I've gotten as many as 1,500 on a good day. I'm also listening to the Writing Excuses podcast while I draw -- it's good for this writing, AND for my web comic. (The writing principles are the same, after all!)

On the way to school this morning, Bean was reading a Tales of a Wimpy Kid "Do It Yourself" diary and telling me all his Big Plans for the future.

Bean: "I'm going to major in Engineering so I can build a rocket suit! But I'm going to minor in Art, because I'm a GREAT ARTIST."

Okay, that's a great plan! I encourage this!

Bean: "I'm going to live in a mansion."

Uh... "Honey, mansions are pretty expensive. And they're kind of hard to keep clean on your own." (Though if he has enough money for a mansion, he'll probably be able to afford hired help to clean it. But still...)

Bean: "Oh, don't worry; I'll be married."

Oh no. "Umm... "

Bean: "And I'll help her."

Okay, that's better... "Still, I think a mansion would be hard for even the two of you to keep clean."

Bean: "We'll have ten kids! THEY can help us!"

After I died laughing, he explained the rest of his plan; he'd make $100 million a year and we could all live with him in his huge house with his ten kids. He even has a floor plan – with space for more kids, just in case he has 16.

I've decided to go out on a limb.

Yes, me... Mrs. Safety-First, Get-A-Real-Job-With-Benefits-After-Getting-My-Art-Degree-Rather-Than-Be-An-Artist.

I'm doing Fiber Art.

I have loved embroidery since I was little and my mother taught me how to cross-stitch. I have loved crocheting since I watched my mom create an afghan out of a skein or ten of yarn, and she taught me to crochet my first chain. I haven't always loved knitting, but I've found my love for it. I even finished my first quilt this past year. Fiber art is something that comes from my heritage and it's something I'll always carry with me.

And I love doing it.

But it has an unfortunate reputation in fine art circles.

I starkly remember the first time my favorite art professor disappointed me. From a man who gave really strange but always insightful advice, it was a bit of a shock. I admitted, during the course of one of my chats with him, that I liked to embroider.

He got a puzzled look on his face and said, "Why?"

My disappointment welled up from many sources as this simple word questioned my creativity, judgement and even my heritage. I know he didn't mean it that way, but that's how his simple "why" affected me.

I didn't rise to the challenge in his "why" at the time. It took me this long to figure out what to say.

There are a lot of people out there who cross-stitch and knit and crochet and such, but only work from patterns others have created. That's still great! They're still engaging in traditions that are sometimes becoming lost arts. (Hardanger, anyone?) From that angle, it is easy to see why a fine artist would not see that as being "creative" -- in that they're not creating their own image, but copying someone else's.

But I love creating my own patterns. I've designed my own afghans to crochet. I've modified knit sock patterns to my taste. I've created my own designs in hardanger.

Plus, fiber art can be made into fine art. It's just a matter of treating it as its own medium.

I still remember how excited I was to see the book Drawn to Stitch at the local craft store -- and I almost picked it up to purchase, until I flipped through and realized that a lot of the stuff it talks about was stuff I learned while getting my BFA. All I need to do is apply my knowledge to this new medium. A much better book for me would be a basic encyclopedia of embroidery stitches -- because that would be my brush technique.

So now I'm going to be learning a whole new host of things... like transferring my sketches onto fabric for stitching. And preparing fabric pieces for framing.

But first, to design.

My first piece will be more of a free-hand, abstract sketch full of practice stitches as I learn. But I'll be drawing away, looking for my next piece of fabric to work on, and getting a sketch ready.