Famous Artists: an informal poll

The other night I was thinking about Picasso and how his name always comes to mind when I think about famous artists. I started wondering if he was like the default for Artist in most people's minds. Picasso was the first name Christian thought of too.

In an Etsy forum I asked, "Just off the top of your head, when you think of 'famous artist' what's the first name that comes to mind?" Out of the 40 people who were kind enough to respond so far, here's the breakdown:

Warhol (6)
Monet (4)
Picasso (3)
Degas (3)
da Vinci (2)
Dali (2)
Basquiat (2)
O'Keefe (2)
Van Gogh (2)
Matisse (2)
Michelangelo (2)
Pollock
Rothko
Kahlo
Boticelli
Escher
Ditchfield
Haring
Brassai
Kandinsky
Renoir
Modigliani
Mondrian
Chihuly
Chagall
Rockwell
Wood
Pavlova

I'm glad I asked! People came up with a lot of interesting names. Only three women, which is a shame but not too surprising.

Hmm

Someone recently posted a thread on Etsy asking how many of the crafters and artists there are lefthanded. Quite a few people are. Well over half of the people who answered, when the normal occurance of lefties is about 13%.

I use my left hand for writing, sewing, knitting, crocheting, and many other tasks. I just realized...maybe the reason I have such a dislike of following patterns and instructions is because I always have to reverse them.

Several people have written in the Etsy forums that following patterns doesn't work for them. I wonder how many are lefthanded?

My obsession

Cat toys are my new obsession. Every time I make one I get ideas for three more. I've spent a few hours today working on a design that isn't cooperating. A couple of mockups didn't work out, but I've almost got it now.

Who knows where this dark path will end??! In the meantime, I'm developing quite a collection and my cats are happy.

Today's project: tea staining

I had some unbleached muslin that I wanted to add a bit of color/age to for some cat toys I'm making. Tea staining works to add age and character to natural fabrics but won't work on synthetics. Someone might be interested in the process, so I took pictures:

Step 1:



Boil water. For each yard of fabric, you should use about 4 cups of water. Pour into a bucket or bowl and add a couple of teabags for each cup of water you used. I put in seven bags of regular old Lipton tea. Let it sit for ten or fifteen minutes until it's dark brown. To help set the stain you can add a tablespoon of vinegar to the water.

Step 2:



Add your fabric and get it all wet. Use a spoon if necessary to push it down. As with any kind of dyeing, the more you swirl the fabric around and loosen it up, the more evenly the color will be spread. If you leave the teabags in at this stage they will make darker spots on the fabric, which you might like.





Step 3:



Wait. The longer you leave the fabric in the tea, the darker the color will be. It will always appear lighter after it is rinsed and dried, so let it sit until it's a bit darker than you want.







Step 4:





Rinse. Squeeze out the excess tea and run the fabric under warm water. It will lighten considerably.










Step 5:





Add a couple of drops of dish soap to your rinse water to get the rest of the tea out of the fabric. Rinse thoroughly.











Step 6:





Spread out to dry on an old towel. You can dry it in the dryer but it may leave a bit of stain behind.






All done! Now I have several pieces of darkened fabric to use. Mine came out with a fairly even tan tone, which works for my purposes. Good luck applying this technique to your own projects.

I like this quote

From the short story "Buffalo" by John Kessel:

"...art doesn't have to deliver a message in order to say something important....art isn't always a means to an end but sometimes an end in itself....art may not be able to change the world, but it can still change the moment."

For a long time I thought I wasn't really an artist because I didn't create works full of meaning and symbolism. I'm also not classically trained, though I've had some drawing and painting classes.

Now I believe there is art in a person practicing her craft. I like the Art Nouveau view that art can be decorative and that everyday objects should be beautiful or interesting.

Copperfish Mini

Since my Copperfish art quilt has been viewed by a lot of people on Etsy, I decided to make a smaller, simpler one that would sell for a lower price. The goldfish is a perfect shape for embossing, as the warm tones of the copper really highlight the scales and other details.



I'm also using one of the fish as my avatar on Etsy, so hopefully I won't get tired of it.

Pre-shrunk

I'm listing this on Etsy today:



I love this little guy so much I can hardly stand it. This version is a cat toy, stuffed with polyfill and "heady" (ha) catnip. I also make this design as a tree ornament and applique.

Just in time for Halloween!

It's the Little Things

When my three-year-old was going to bed tonight, I spotted this



lying on the floor and thought it would be a good time to snap a picture. My in-laws sent this Jacob's Ladder to us from Germany. It's one of my favorite things. Such a simple toy, but Aidan spends many quiet moments folding it different ways. It's easy to see why it's a classic.

"It is difficult to obtain the friendship of a cat."

Maybe Theophile Gautier, who made that statement, just needed some catnip.

I'm working on some cat toys and I picked up supplies today, including catnip. I brought it home to run it by the cats. Rascal (the Orange Behemoth) spent some time lovingly licking the carpet where I sprinkled the leaves and he's been sleeping in that spot ever since.

I tried to grow catnip once. Mysteriously, all the stalks were nibbled down to little nubs, and then this happened:



That's Oliver curled up in the catnip pot!

Up

As you can see from the sidebar, my Etsy store is up now. It wasn't too hard to figure out the listing process. Now that I've been through it a few times I'll be able to add more stuff on a regular basis.

Considering that my father was a photography and I have experience in the darkroom developing film and making prints, I should have better pictures. I need to get the hang of the digital camera. It's always been fine for snapshots but the format for Etsy requires bright, high-contrast photos. The pictures of the pink and brown quilts really don't do them justice, as they look dull and muddy. I'll keep working on that.

But at least the store is ready, and last night someone already marked me as a favorite. It's good to be up and running.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow's the day I set up my Etsy shop. I expect some fussing around with taking photos, uploading photos, and getting my policies and listings on there. I'm excited to finally get it going!

Today was another of those pleasant Saturdays we've been having lately. It was overcast but by the time we got to the zoo this afternoon the sun had come out with a golden light and the temperature was perfect. We saw this:



We ate ice cream. We rode the Max train home. Christian and I had a chat about business plans, then ate great pizza. We'd gone to the farmers' market in the morning. And I couldn't resist prepping strawberries for one more batch of strawberry jam.

Perfect Days

Posts are backing up in my mind because I've been making stuff and enjoying the last balmy, breezy days of summer, rather than spending time at the keyboard. Friday I spent the day discharge dyeing 8 yards of fabric. It all came out well.

Today I put together a piece that combines many of my favorite things: embossed copper, raw edge applique, quilting, and the discharged fabrics. I love the way it turned out, but I'm trying to resist looking at it more because I want to let it "rest" overnight and see what I think tomorrow. I expect to make a series along these same lines. I already have the next four pieces in mind.

The farmers' markets are still going strong. We went yesterday morning and I got lots of veggies and three kinds of berries. Gotta enjoy them while they last. All the way there, the only thing I could think about was the new addiction my husband gave me: kettle corn. I used to think this was a poor cousin of Cracker Jack but it's really grown on me. Being German, Christian doesn't believe in salted popcorn. Only salted licorice.

Inventory is piling up for my Etsy store. It's there and the banner is up, but I haven't uploaded any items yet. That's going to take a flurry of photographing. I also need some shipping supplies. But soon. Very soon!

Jam Recipe

Today I made what's probably my last batch of strawberry jam for this summer. I have several containers in the freezer and they should last us through the winter. It's been nice to smell the sweet strawberry scent throughout the house as the jam cooked down. Here's the recipe, which I got from The Oregonian:

Small-Batch Berry Jam
Makes 2 half-pint jars

2 pints berries (1 pound)
1 c granulated sugar
1 tsp lemon juice (only if berries are supersweet and need acid for balance)
1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)

Hull and clean berries. Toss with sugar, add lemon juice and/or vanilla if desired, and let sit overnight in refrigerator.*

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan (measuring at least 9 inches across), bring jam to a low boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer until berry mixture is syrupy and thickened. To test for doneness**, place ceramic plate in the freezer. When you think the jam is ready put a dollop onto the chilled plate. If the jam sets up (it isn't liquidy but runs slowly down the tilted plate after staying in place for a half-second), it's ready.

The recipe included canning instructions but I just freeze mine because it's easier.

*I had better results from the batch I let sit for two nights. That could be a coincidence, though.
**I never bother with this, I just cook the jam until it's very thick.

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Now that I'm done with the strawberries (I also froze many pints of whole berries), it occurs to me that blackberries are ripe and I could get the kids to pick a bunch for jam or pies...

A Quote to Kick Off September

I meant to post this yesterday but I was away from the computer all day:

"I look on that man as happy, who, when there is question of success, looks into his work for a reply, not into the market, not into opinion, not into patronage."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson