Wednesday, March 12, 2008

All over the map? Need to somehow connect these dots.

I feel lately like i've been pulled in a million directions. I am absolutely loving creating art lately in the past couple months, to the extend that i feel like i can't decide even where to start. I would say 'mixed-media artists' would be the best way to describe me, emphasis on the 'mixed'. I can't seem to choose or focus on any area. The list of diferent media i would love to do seems so long and varied.

List of those i've tried:

Textile art, using stitching both by machine and by hand
Acrylic painting
Oil pastels
Watercolour
Coloured pencils
Soldering
Collage
Paper folding/paper craft
Wreath making/weaving
Photography/photo altering
Digital art
Image transfering
Altered books and journaling
Wire art

(... and these are just the ones i've tried already, not all the ones that catch my fancy. I'm sure encaustic art is not that far off from joining this list either, nor is feltmaking or paper making. Both are facinating to me as well.)

And the latest addition: glass art. Specifically, stained glass and clear glass. This is my latest interest now, i just went to this FABULOUS stained glass store and found myself completely enchanted. I loved touching the bumpy, bubbled glass...looking through all the different colours and textures available... it was wonderful. I couldn't resist buying a glass cutter, some copper tape (my entire reason for going there, for soldering purposes), and some small pieces of glass. The man there was so very nice too. I walked in, and was immediately reminded of being back in the midevil (sp?) towns i toured with my parents in germany. Wood and glass, everywhere, with classical music in the background. Two old men speaking german/hungarian/polish/? (sorry... don't know but something from that region) at the front of the store. One was so very helpful. He helped me find a glass cutter i could affort, the best copper tape for my project and gave me space to just look around. The other did not speak english, but was generous enough to share his chocolate easter eggs. I was completely enchanted by the store. The owner was kind enough to show me how to use the glass cutter and everything. This was a shopping experience walmart couldn't ever provide in my wildest dreams. The convenience of big box stores is alluring, but the experience is highly lacking. They were even nice enough to throw in a couple pieces of extra clear glass and mirror to practice on before using my nicer, harder to cut glass. The pic shows the stained glass and copper tape i picked out :)

So, now that i have this glass, what on earth will i do with it? I have a couple ideas perculating in my mind... maybe making charms with stained glass backing and clear glass front, with a picture of some kind inside? Soldered together using the copper tape? I can just see it now :). Now if only i can get the hang of soldering well enough to do this project. Or even lighting the torch. But will the torch mar the glass? I hope not. My soldering iron is completely useless... my glue gun gets hotter than it does. I guess that's what you get when you buy a 4$ soldering iron hahaha.

As i was saying earlier, i have what i see as fairly varied interests in mediums. What i need to do is find projects that tie together a couple of the interests. Projects such as the frame i found in Summerset Studios magazine a couple posts ago. I need to find a way to 'connect the dots' from my projects from all over the map. I think one way to do this may be to begin creating 'charms' and such using a couple of the different techniques. The idea of charms have always fascinated me, with the beautiful pictures/objects sandwiched between two pieces of glass. I guess i will just wait and see where this takes me? I find myself quite excited.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Get to a craft store and pick up an etching set for glass! They're so fun and you get hooked quick! Just make sure you ask your landlord before you start etching your room windows!! lol. Also handmade paper is not that hard to make, lots of recipes on the internet for them!