Fantastic Tim Burton Exhibit

One of my favourite creative and bizarre geniuses has to be Tim Burton. You know him from such films as Edward Scissorhands, Beatlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas. He can make our worst nightmares seem almost fun. This week Toronto is lucky enough to have his latest exhibit which includes not only his films but many of his art pieces as well. The venue is the Tiff Bell Centre and runs through April 2011. It is organized by the Museum of Modern Art in New York which also hosted a hugely popular exhibit of his work. The films include more than just his blockbuster hits, but also some of his student work. I am really hopeful that I can find a way to fly to Toronto to see the exhibit before it's gone.

So why am I such a huge fan? You have to admire a person who can come up with such bizarre characters and stories, create the designs for them, then put them to film. I also admit that I am a fan of the weird and strange. I went through a period where I painted nothing but cancer cells, which was a bit unsettling to some. Burtons work is very unsettling yet touching and hilarious much of the time. I wish I could create like he does. So far my marionettes are pretty tame, but who knows what could happen? If you can't make it to Toronto then check out the Tiff website and enjoy!

http://tiff.net/timburtonhttp://tiff.net/timburton

I'm back, dry spell has ended!

I logged onto this blog for the first time since July. I couldn't even remember what it looked like anymore. The reason for my absence is simple. For the last year and a half I have been in a creative valley. I picked away at a painting for 2 months this summer. Nothing I did struck me as overly interesting. This is what a dry creative spell looks like, and it's not pretty. I look at others in the art/fine craft field and envy their focus. They've found their niche and have grown it. I instead have been the jack of all trades. A painter, a potter, a textile artist, a jewellery maker. I see something and I want to learn how to do it myself. The problem is, just like the jack of all trades, I have become the master of none. I was supposed to start my MFA this year, but put it off because, I told myself, it was too much money right now. The real truth was I wasn't totally committed to being a painter. I wasn't really totally committed to anything, which seems to be the story of my life.

I seem to be walking up out of the valley now, and for that I am eternally grateful. For about the last ten years I have considered doing something on and off, but two months ago it just started to seem right. I am making marionettes. Each one is unique and has their own story. I just finished my second and am already several steps ahead in my own mind. The first has a body, arms and feet sculpted out of porcelain. I clothing is made from thai silk dyed in, wait for it, maxwell house instant coffee ( I lost my dye kit and had to come up with a quick substitute). It actually left the silk a lovely shade of gold. I nuno felted her cape with wool and silk. I love her. Her name is Mother Earth Autumn. I have included a picture. My second project has been a needle felted version of my great grandmother from England. I found an old picture of her with her family in my attic. More in my next blog on how I created her and the symbolism of various parts of her dress.

After accidentally smashing one of the porcelain arms on Autumn I decided to pack her up in bubble wrap. I also had a foot stolen at school by one of my students, so had to remake one of those as well. Yes, a student stole a porcelain doll foot. I am sure it was just to annoy me, because what teenager needs a porcelain doll foot? Anyway, enjoy the photo and let me know what you think! Cheers!

State of the Garment Industry

I watched a really good documentary today on HBO about the state of the garment industry in the United States. It was called "Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags". I certainly learned a lot from it and it gave me pause when thinking of my own shopping habits. Let's face it, we all like a good deal. Just look at the popularity of stores like Walmart, as well as the many dollar stores. But how often do we think of exactly why these items are so cheap? In most cases, it's because products are now manufactured overseas where people are paid dirt wages in sweat shops. Canadian and American companies cannot begin to compete with these wages, and if you want your company to survive, then you will no doubt outsource your labour there as well. The problem with this model is of course that it eliminates good paying jobs  at home. Skilled workers can't find work in their trades, and we see what's happening to our economy. I was first alerted to this issue when I read the beginning of one of my favourite books, "Alabama Stitch Book". The beginning of this design book educates the reader as to how the cotton t-shirt industry in the south of the USA has been virtually eliminated by the outsourcing of labour to other countries. The author of the book, a designer, has taken a different approach and specializes in hand made clothing, hand sewn in fact, by skilled women who used to work in the t-shirt factories. I admire her greatly for this approach. You won't find an $8 t-shirt at Alabama Chanin, but you will find quality hand made garments that are supporting local workers who are paid a fair wage. Something to think about. By purchasing discount items made in another country you are literally biting the hand that feeds you. By this I mean that as we eliminate work in our own countries, we eliminate taxpayers, people to buy the goods in our stores, people to buy the house you built, etc..... You get the picture. Just my opinion, but again, something to think about. If you want to support the art industry close to home in many of it's forms, check out etsy.com. Go to your farmers markets. Check out the little design shops. Support fair trade whenever possible. Remember that buying goods made elsewhere could mean that it's made by children, and it could also mean that the workers are treated unfairly, paid next to nothing, and have unsafe working conditions. So the next time you see an item of clothing that is an awesome deal, consider how it came to be that price.

Getting Noticed

As any artist knows, getting noticed in the art world is not an easy task. There are a few things that you can do however to help the process along. First, join associations that are related to your area of expertise. I myself belong to Visual Arts Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Designer Crafts Council. Being in these organizations gives you access to newsletters, competitions, special events, and exhibition possibilities. The cost of joining these organizations is usually quite small as well. You don't need to limit yourself to local organizations. There are also excellent national organizations, such as the Canadian Painters Association or the Surface Design Association. They usually offer associate memberships if you don't feel you are at the stage where you want to face a jury.

Having subscriptions to the various art related magazines are also beneficial. Not only do they keep you up to date on the latest happenings in the art world, they also provide workshops, great photos, artist bios, etc... My favourites are Fibre Arts Magazine, Quilting Arts, Canadian Art, Threads, and Drawing (American Artist). Think about checking out the section on making submissions to the magazine. Got an idea for an article or a how-to? Check out some of the smaller publications. I recently had an excellent felting spread or several pages in "A Needle Pulling Thread". I didn't get paid, but it's great exposure, and something I can add to my resume.

Finally, there are various websites out there who's purpose is to inform artists about competions on a local, national, and international level. Two years ago I was chosen as a Canadian Artist to exhibit in Iceland through one of these sites. A word of caution. Beware some of the sites that have online exhibitions. They charge a fee for entry ( a common practice in most competitions), and you are exhibited on the site, however the only people viewing the site may be the entrants. Do your homework. I have gotten burned a couple of times this way. My favourite site for finding competitions is artshow.com. One final word of caution. When sending a work out for exhibition, make sure it is clear ahead of time how you will get your work returned to you and who will be footing the bill. I can one incident where I sent my paintings via regular post, but the gallery sent them back fed-ex with a HUGE pricetag that I was stuck with. Contracts are a MUST.

Good luck exhibiting!

I won, I won!!!!!!

I just received notice from the lovely folks at Adventures in Dressmaking and Paradiso Designs that I won their free pattern giveaway. I got to chose the pattern, which was of course the Lolita Skirt ( Pictured in my last entry). They are going to mail it to me. The MINUTE it arrives I will be whipping myself up a skirt, and of course I will post the results. I have just 4 days left until my summer break from teaching, so I will be sure to make at least one. I will also be checking around the bargain bins at the fabric shop for some cool fabrics in anticipation. Now if only the skirt could make me look as thin as the model in the picture........ Thanks again to Adventures in Dressmaking for the contest!

Paradiso Designs Lolita Skirt Pattern

Funky patterns

Good morning all. I just wanted to let you know about a small pattern company, paradisodesigns.com. If you like cool handmade bags, then check it out. Myself, I really liked a skirt pattern called the Lolita. It was very funky. If you go to the blog "Adventures in Dressmaking" you can enter a contest to receive one of the patterns for free.

On another note I FINALLY finished my wrap dress from the sewing book "Chic and Simple Sewing". I wouldn't recommend this pattern for a beginner sewer, as I had to make several changes to the pattern because it just wouldn't work out. I'll try to post a photo later. Since I altered the pattern from a size 10 to a size 16 it now fits, although it was a bit of a pain to grade all the pattern pieces.