Flickr favorites

1. Pencil Vs Camera - 7, 2. Pencil Vs Camera - 3,
3. Pencil Vs Camera - 19, 4. Pencil Vs Camera - 9

It is certainly not the first time I'm making a mosaic with work from this artist. His work is so unbelievable inspiring and fun. He is the inventor of 'pencil versus camera' and replaces part of the picture with a drawing or reverse. How refreshing! I love how his imagination takes over. Just look at the 'girl with the pearl earring' from Vermeer - the gasmasque is just so surreal.
I can't believe I didn't follow his stream yet! Check!

Next week is a themed mosaic week. So if you care to play by theme take your favorite happy and built your mosaic around it.

My favorite mosaic from last week involved a color I love but don't wear often. :)

If you like to play this week, make your mosaic and add a link to your blogpost (NOT your blog please) or Flickr in Mister Linky (click on the button below and fill in your name with the link to your blogpost or Flickr picture)...

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New collaboration

A while back Veerle from Nevousinstallezpas asked me to make some beads for her and a little bit later she asked if I could make her some other stuff too. I was a bit tickled by the requests and we decided to do a collaboration instead.
What's the difference?
When someone asks me to make something, I try to make as asked. Then I sell and ship and that's the end of the story. It feels like a job.
A collaborartion leaves more space for thought. I can try out stuff and play to my hearts content. I can not only do what I've been asked to make but add a bit of me to it. I can experiment and it doesn't have to be perfect. I can send samples and she can just play to see if it works and then I can make the real thing. Yay!
Collaborating is exciting & especially in this case as we'll bring crochet and clay together - something that I have been wanting to do for ages...
It was one of the reasons I learned how to crochet but since I only know the basics, I think it's awesome to work with a master...
It feels like an adventure: exciting and inspiring. Can you wait?
A little update on the experiment I planned to do past weekend with the crochet beads I showed you in my creative space: when I found out that the base of the beads was solid wood, I didn't dare firing it in my ceramic kiln. I've done experiments with plant matter and paper, but never tried solid wood. I don't want to ruin the spirals of my kiln, alas I have nothing to show for I'm afraid.

made by Veerle from Nevousinstallezpas

But don't dispair, Veerle and I will hopefully show lots of exciting work in progress... and it will be one of a kind too. Double yay! :)

Guest post: a new direction

Note: If you would like to guest post @ ArtMind please contact me (mitsy@artmind.eu) and I'll send you the 'how-to-blog@ArtMind' -info.

By Kylie from Chasing Purple Dreams

I’ve always rebelled against the idea of having a personal style or working in a series as an artist. I wanted to challenge myself to master different mediums and techniques, textures and colour schemes. I thought I would get bored working in the same style all the time.

Adrift

Kylie Marie Stevens

Oil on canvas

600 x 900mm

2010

I thought it would be "cheating" that it would just get easier and easier. Now I find I've thrown my long-held opinion out the window and started creating a series. Oops!

Afloat

Kylie Marie Stevens

Oil on canvas

1020 x 510mm

2010

I’ve never worked this way before. Instead of cheating I find I am telling myself a story, delving deeper. In this series of abstract oil paintings there are symbols: a little boat filled with my creativity; floating, drifting or cruising with purpose towards a light that represents my creative goals, the place I want to be.
I don’t mind at all if the story you find is different from the one I am exploring myself. To me that is part of the beauty of abstracts.

Abound

Kylie Marie Stevens

Oil on canvas

1060 x 1210mm

2010

I’m always curious to hear what other people see in my work and what draws them to one piece over another. On that note I’d love to know what you see here. Do you have a favourite? Are they telling you a story?

Approach

Kylie Marie Stevens

Oil on canvas

840 x 760mm

2010

If you’re curious to see what came before or where this series is going, pop on over to Chasing Purple Dreams, I’d love to have your company on my journey.

Weekly Happy Stats

Things that made me happy last week:

• Signing up for a sewing course
• Getting a fun order from Tokketok
• Buying new shirts
• My parents that dropped by while in town
• Finishing my loungepants
  

Random happy pic by Otchipotchi

Happy weekend, everyone! :)

Merry go round

Every last friday of the month, I jump on the 'Merry go round'. What is the Merry go round exactly? Each month, a group of craftswomen from around the world join together and give their reponses to the same question/challenge.This time we had a photo inspiration challenge. We all submitted one picture and the one with the most votes was the one we had to be inspired by. Thank goodness I voted for the picture which won. It is made by Viltalakim and it just makes me happy and content.
But it is also summer and I have been slacking a bit lot, I have not much to show for as I only started something yesterday... So this is what I am making at the moment:
It's going to be a 3D brooch with the shapes of the balloons and I hope it will look like a happy cloud... I'm going to mould it and then press clay into it. I'll show the end result next month! So you have something to look forward to...

Want to know what the other merriers made? Hop over to their blogs. Please bear in mind that the members will be posting at different times of the day, depending on which world time-zone they are in :)
Alison at Tweed thoughts
Kim at Vilt a la Kim
Sara at Saras Texture Crafts
Fabienne at Easterya Jewellery
Mariana at Florcita
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent
Lily at Lily Pang Art and Design
Ruth at Birdland Creations

My creative space

When I came home yesterday, I found a little package on the table. It was from Sandra from ZsaZsaZsu. I did not order anything so I certainly was surprised & even more to see what was inside...
Some crochet samples she made with different kind of thread to see what works best. Bliss, material for me to drench into porcelain slib. Perfect timing as I planned to do a porcelain firing this weekend. Can't wait to see how it all turns out! Thanks so much, Sandra! :)

Want to show your creative space? Hop over to Kootoyoo to play! It's fun! :)

Looking forward to lounge

My favorite lounge pants are dead. They did a great job but are completely worn out.So I'm tearing them apart to draw a pattern from them.
But ouch... I didn't use stretchy/knit fabric for my new pair. So they turned out too small. Guess I'll have a happy niece.
Back to the drawing board with a new pattern... and a new piece of fabric.

Flickr favorites

1. Flowering fruit trees, 2. KAP in Blue Lagoon - Shark and Seagull feeding, 3. Elephants walking through the desert..., 4. Cannabis in cornfield

Do you know the aerial photography by Yann Arthus Bertrand? I find it very inspiring seeing aerial pictures. Aerial photography gives textures to a picture and makes me want to touch.
So I searched for 'aerial' in Flickr and when I found the 'cannabis in cornfield' picture, I had to smile.. The lengths people go to get what they want! :)
I also found this picture which didn't fit into the mosaic so I chose just to leave a link to it.

My favorite mosaic from last week is about what I would like to have more time for...

If you like to play this week, make your mosaic and add a link to your blogpost (NOT your blog please) or Flickr in Mister Linky (click on the button below and fill in your name with the link to your blogpost or Flickr picture)...

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Guest post: Photographic journey - Food

Note: If you would like to guest post @ ArtMind please contact me (mitsy@artmind.eu) and I'll send you the 'how-to-blog@ArtMind' -info.

by Judit from Vadjutka

Who does not like food? Well, I love eating, which means I also love taking photos of what I eat. Mostly I prefer simple food like sausage or bacon with fresh tomato, some cheese and freshly made bread....mouthwatering, isn't it? Than let's go on a small tasty travel!

Poffertjes (tiny pancakes) in Amsterdam

Purple onions

Golden honey

Rosemary

Pie with cottage cheese

Melon

Coffee in Budapest

Omlette for breakfast?

Sausage

Rose wine

Feel like photo challenging me?
Leave a theme in the comments and look forward to my next photographic journey, perhaps it's your theme!

To wholesale or not to wholesale?

The text below is taken from my profile on Etsy:

WHOLESALE
I love to have the time to create.
I make things with my hands in order to maintain a happy heart in a crazy world.
Etsy gives me the opportunity to let out creative things in my mind.
I need time to make new creatures once in a while and if I would be doing wholesale, I wouldn’t have time for that ‘cause I only have two hands…
However, the wholesale questions I have had in the past have made me *glow*
It can never harm to ask, as long as you’re prepared to have ‘no’ for an answer - I’m always open to discuss it and you might even persuade me… ;)
Now that’s a challenge…

Have you ever been thinking about seeing your work in 'real' shops?
I have and I think I would glow with pride but somehow I'm not ready to compromise my small handmade business with the demands of wholesale or consignment.

I love being able to work at my own pace, try out different ideas and experiment with whatever crosses my mind. If I would wholesale or do consignment, I would have to double my prices in order to give a 50% discount to the retailer. I considered wholesaling when pricing my work but decided against it as I can't mass produce my work and keep the unique character it has.
And I really enjoy making mini-art-feelings but I can't see myself day in day out in the feeling factory. That would make my heart bleed and take the soul out of my work.
That goes for all the work that I make really...
It would put pressure on me and I've learned over the past few years that living without pressure is so much more fulfilling...

How do you feel about wholesaling or consigment?
I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Weekly happy stats

Things that made me happy last week:

• Making a new tutorial
  
• Throwing a party for MarieMoo
• Having lots of free time
  
• A new exciting project with Veerle from Nevousinstallezpas
  
• New buttons on my blog (scroll down on the right hand side)
  

Random happy pic by Gurbosazil

Happy weekend, everyone! :)

Guest post: just leap!

Note: If you would like to guest post @ ArtMind please contact me (mitsy@artmind.eu) and I'll send you the 'how-to-blog@ArtMind' -info.

Guest post by Davia of daviadesigns.blogspot.com

image by Davia of daviadesigns

The first step is always the hardest. You know it’s true, you have heard it a thousand times. But how do you take that first step in the face of all that fear? What if no-one likes my stuff? Maybe it’s not good enough? How do I even get people to see my work? Perhaps you suffer from an inability to finish things to that “perfect” standard that you are happy to show people?

I hear you loud and clear! It is so frustrating when you work tirelessly at your craft, fine tuning your talent and then it sits on the shelf at home and you think to yourself “I know I could be great if only someone would just notice what I can do.”

YOU CAN BE GREAT, IF THAT IS WHAT YOU CHOOSE!

I recently made the leap after years of painting, drawing, sculpting and mosaicing in my home studio. I have amassed a huge body of work that no-one knows about. Until now!

5 tips to help you make the leap:

1. IT DOESN’T GET BETTER THAN THIS!
I never used to finish my pieces, I had hundreds of almost complete works around the studio. People would visit and say “Wow..that’s great” and I would say “yeah...it will be when it’s finished.” Finishing things is like saying “This is as good at it gets, that’s all there is folks” And that is exactly ALL THERE EVER IS folks. There will always be more, better and different, no matter what we do or how hard we try, so let it go, set your work free.

2. IF YOU LOVE IT, OTHERS WILL TOO!
You can’t please all the people all the time, so please the ones who are in sync with you. They are out there. You can not make a handbag that suits every woman, everyone has different needs. Just ask a girlfriend what she thinks is the perfect bag and you will see what I mean. So now I produce what I like, I love it and so do plenty of others.

3. TOOT YOUR OWN HORN!
You may be lucky enough to have a huge fan club that runs around waving banners saying “Hey Check out this chicky babe” but most of us don’t! We have to toot our own horns, Loud and Proud. It’s not ‘showing off’. NO! It is taking a stand for YOU as a successful artist.

4. BE THE INSPIRATION!
Be honest and share about what you are up to. People find this incredibly inspiring. Let others know about the journey you are taking. It is always great to know we are not alone.

5. BE COURAGEOUS AND LEAP!
One step at a time. You don’t have to complete it, perfect it over night or get it right. There is a whole world waiting to know who you are.

I hope this provides you with a little inspiration. Just leap!

My creative space

This morning I woke up to an e-mail in where Veerle from Nevousinstallezpas asked me to make something. Since I had planned playing with porcelain the entire day, I got to it right away.
I also have some porcelain work to finish for Anna from LilaRubyKing for our collaborative work. I think I'll be having fun today.

Want to share your creative space? Hop over to Kootoyoo to play! It's fun! :)

Yesterday...

... I had some lovely people in my studio.
I love it when it's filled with chatting, laughter and lots of creativity.

This lady, Veerle from nevousinstallezpas,

asked me to throw a party for this lady, Marie from MarieMoo

And she secretly invited another friend of Marie as well.
Genious plan for a surprise party.

And lots of lovely things have been made.

We ran out of coffee but changed to bubbles instead. Oops!
Need to put coffee on my shoppinglist for next time although it was a lot of fun with the bubbles! :)
If you are interested in doing a workshop @ ArtMind, feel free to contact me for the details.

Flickr Favorites

1. In charge, 2. ready to create art...,
3. hello paint, i've missed you, 4. Albert & Edouard

This weeks mosaics is about techniques that I know nothing about but would love to learn. I always look with admiration at paintboxes and wish I had the talent to use em. But alas, I tried and I'm useless at painting. Then I would love to be able to make digital collages but I'm also useless at Photoshop or any other graphic programs. I think the last ones is easier to learn then to learn how to paint. What would you like to learn?

My favorite mosaic from last week is all about movement...

If you like to play this week, make your mosaic and add a link to your blogpost (NOT your blog please) or Flickr in Mister Linky (click on the button below and fill in your name with the link to your blogpost or Flickr picture)...

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For best results, use HTML mode to edit this section of the post.

Granny chic

While I'm finishing up the blue one, I couldn't resist starting the new colorcombo in the granny chic project...
Not sure if these colors will clash but I'll see it when I put it all together.One more after this and then I'll show you the end result! :)

How to make a polymer clay brooch or ring?

Through Totally Tutorials, I've 'met' Michelle from EviesToolEmporium and she has been sending me supplies in exchange for a tutorial.
I find it awesome 'cause I get to play with new toys a lot . :) Thank you, Michelle!
She send me a Diamond Burr set a while back and I thought it was about time I made a tutorial for it. Normally, the diamond burr pieces are used for engraving in glass or ceramics. I'm going to use 'em in plaster . I have a love/hate relationship with plaster. As a ceramicist it's impossible to avoid plaster as it just makes your life so much easier. So I've learned to live & work with it.

Here is what you need:
plaster, water, a container for making the plaster, clay,
polymer clay, a diamond burr set, a pencil, a dry paintbrush, plastic.

Make domed shapes with clay and make
sure they are as smooth as possible.

Built a little wall around the shapes with clay so you can poor plaster in it.
Make plaster and poor it over the domes. Let it set and dry for a few days.

When the moulds are dry, sand the sides a little bit so that it feels smooth.

Draw a little something in the mould with a pencil.

Engrave the lines with the diamond burrs and
use a round shaped burr to engrave the little dots.
Because the set has so many different burrs it's
ideal to use for engraving in plaster as there is always
a perfect one to use for the thing you want to engrave.

When it's done, wipe excess plaster away with a paintbrush.

Then take a piece of polymer clay and press it into the mould.

Take another piece of polymer clay to take the piece out of the mould.

If you don't like the result, you can still adjust
the engraving until your satisfied.
Fire the piece of polymer clay and glue a brooch pin or a ring on the back.

I use this technique for my clay and porcelain work. I love engraving in plaster and you can get really fine details with diamond burrs. Try it, you'll be amazed at the opportunities it will bring you! :)