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Mundane Materials-Rubber Bands

by Filed Under: Art, Inspiration & Education 6 Comments

Rubber Bands may be considered by some to be mundane because they are used for all sorts of everyday things.  They stretch, they hold things together, they bunch up, they come in many colors and they can be spotted these days being used in lots of unconventional ways.  Here is a round up of some of the unusual rubber band findings including jewelry, vessels or containers some beautiful artwork!

Painted Desert Ring by Margarita Mileva

Floral Pin by Margarita Mileva

The three pieces above are examples of work by M2-Margarita Mileva of Milev Architects where her work explores “opportunity to experiment with new design challenges, ideas, materials and forms” as seen through the eyes of an architect.  Fabulous, don’t you think?  She is certainly someone who stands out as truly innovative.

Fine Rubber Bands by RuRong

Rong Rubber Band Necklace

The two pieces of Jewelry above are by a former SCAD student who’s work I saw at the ACC show in Baltimore (2010).  I did some research and found out she is a Metals/Jewelry major and is origionally from China.  Her work may or may not be available for sale but you can get in touch with her via her Flickr account.  I love how she uses rubber bands in such an elegant way by combining them with more precious materials.

Red Rubber Band Ring by Colleen Baran

The two rings above are by Jewelry artist and designer Colleen Baran.  She blogs about her Ring A Day project over at her blog SeeSeeBe.  Check it out, she’s got some wacky and cool rings (and other stuff).

Rubber Band Cube by An Pham

Rubber Band Cube by An Pham

These two pieces of artwork are by an artist I came across on Flickr; An Pham.  I don’t really know much more about her work but she explores using other ever day materials in her artwork as well.

Rubber Band Digital Art by Patrick Gunderson

Long Woven Earrings by Amila Hrustic

Woven Earrings by Amila Hrustic

Necklace by Christian Diehl

Each one of these artist works with rubber bands as well as other materials, sometimes digital, sometimes photography, architecture or landscape.  The work they do explores the possibility available to each of us in what we might consider Mundane materials.  Seeing beyond the mundane to the possibilities is what makes these artist work so interesting.

What materials do you consider Mundane but worth exploring? Next week I’ll share with you a new project I’ve begun which explores the use of the “Mundane” plastic bread tabs that comes on our bread bags.

Field Trip Friday::Oasis @ The Textile Museum

by Filed Under: Art, Art & Design, Inspiration & Education, Museums & Galleries, Textiles & Pattern 1 Comment

Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats (image copyright The Textile Museum)

I went to check this show out last week with a friend.  We had also intended to go to the Phillips Collection which was FREE to the public last weekend to celebrate their 90th, but alas the line was insanely long so that didn’t happen!  It was okay because I’d had this exhibit on my to-see list for way too long.  I admit that sometimes I take the Textile Museum for granted and don’t get as excited about some of the more traditional exhibits, boy was I wrong about this one!  I just thought it would be another nice Ikat exhibit (right~ you know I’m a textile designer when I say that) but it was so much better than I had anticipated!  Look at the COLORS, wow!  No wonder they called it Colors of the Oasis.

Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats (image copyright The Textile Museum)

This exhibit showcases 19th century Ikats from central Asia.  The collection (of over 200 Ikats but not all are on view was donated to the Textile Museum by collector  Murad Megalli.  This is the first time this collection has been on view for the public and many of the pieces were beautifully restored.

Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats (image copyright The Textile Museum)

They chose such a fantastic color for the walls to offset this collection.  I can’t say I’ve ever really noticed the walls at an art exhibit but this color really does the collection justice.  These warp ikat designs are characterized by vibrant colors (with a lot of primary’s used) and bold, rather large scale motif’s with quite a bit of contrast.

Colors of The Oasis: Central Asian Ikats (copyright The Textile Museum)

I would love to really be able to study the motifs and color combination’s used more closely, it was so inspiring.  It’s no wonder these magnificent textiles were a sign of prestige and status in the Oasis towns of Central Asia.  Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats (copyright The Textile Museum)The exhibit also featured a small display and video explaining the technique and process used to create warp Ikat designs.  These were contributed by students at MICA’s Fibers department.  The exhibit is also accompanied by an in depth exhibit catalog (that I would LOVE to have!).  I’ve been a member of The Textile Museum for the past 5 years and I’d greatly encourage you to donate or join if you are inclined to value the research and exhibitions in textiles that this world class museum provides.

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Exciting Craft events, coming soon!

by Filed Under: Art, Handmade, Inspiration & Education 2 Comments

Literally!  If you live in the DC Metro area there are some exciting craft events coming soon.

First, on October 2nd is the 7th year of Crafty Bastards in Adams Morgan.  I am not sure I will be able to attend this year but I’ve enjoyed all the vendors in the past several years.  Here are a few shots from some of my favorite vendors over the  last couple of years. 
The Small Object

Carlybird Weaves

Biggs and Featherbelle

In addition to great vendors there are always some fun DIY craft projects to get your hands on as well as music, b-boy battles and other great entertainment.

The second event coming to DC in October is the “Crafting A Nation” conference at the Smithsonian American Art museum.  This event is FREE and it’s in conjunction with American Craft Week 2010.  There is a great lineup of speakers and discussion panels and this event will be going on over 2 days so you can attend one or both days.  If you can’t make it to the conference check the website out for events in your state.  This event runs October 1-10 and there seems to be something going on in practically every state.

The last event I’m going to mention is the Sugarloaf Craft Festival at the MD State Fairgrounds on October 1st-2nd and the Montgomery County Fairgrounds on October 8th-9th.  This festival is always fun for me to attend (even though I won’t be going this year) because I grew up in the area and have attending this event many times and I have fond memories of dreaming of becoming a crafter one day.  Dreams can come true!

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Sheer joyful color!

by Filed Under: Art, Art & Design, Inspiration & Education, Photography 2 Comments

Yesterday I was cleaning up a bit in the kitchen and prepping some veggies and as I cut off the top of the yellow bell pepper and set it down I was captured by its sheer joyful color and form!

I went to get my camera and came back to the kitchen and noticed the yellow sunflowers that I’d been meaning to take some photo’s of and then they were in a lovely teal vase (I collect teal pottery and ceramics) and then there were those yellow cherry tomatoes sitting inside the berry bowl by Bridgman Pottery!

sheer joyful color

All this yellow and teal together, a favorite color combination of mine (especially if you throw in a little red also).

For the next 30 or so minutes I just let myself be caught up in the beauty of the moment of sheer joyful color!


I loved the total spontaneity of this photo shoot, not planned just joyful.  How can you not think joyful thoughts when looking at the warm golden tones of sunflowers and the golden veggies of late summer harvests.!

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Something for nothing?

by Filed Under: Art, Handmade, Wellness & Mindset Leave a Comment

Something for nothingHave you ever been asked to do something for a client only to find out that they can’t actually pay you? If not be prepared to be in that situation sooner or later in your creative career.  As I have started this journey of self-employment I have encountered quite a few opportunities to do something for someone where I was not necessarily “paid” in monetary terms.

Depending on your situation you have to ask yourself a few questions to determine if this project is a good idea or not.

1.  Is this project something I would enjoy or love doing?

2.  Is the client offering me something I can truly use in return for my time and services -is it truly of VALUE to me?

3.  Can this client lead me (or refer me) to other clients who can pay me?

4.  Are the project and the expectations of you and your client clearly defined?

5.  Is this an opportunity to expand in a new direction that you have been wanting to gain experience in?

If you answered yes to at least 3 of the questions above then you may want to consider this sort of arrangement.  I am finding that I am being asked to participate in various types of projects by other entrepreneurs and when someone else is just starting out as well I am more inclined to help them out if they are serious, professional and can offer me something equally valuable (relative to the time I would spend for them).

I’ve also been approached by mid sized/large companies asking me to work a barter deal with them.  Frankly, this is not as appealing to me unless they rarely have something valuable to offer me in return. We all have to earn a wage at some point, here in the US it would be virtually impossible to survive on a barter system alone.

The whole subject of “Free” is one that is continuously being discussed. I’ve participated in a few online discussions over at the former website “Make and Meaning”.  You can find an archive of these discussions on the subject of free over at Crafty Pod. This subject really gets people worked up, they either love or hate the idea of sharing their ideas and services for free or for the exchange of publicity, referral or some other less monetary exchange.

Either way, be prepared to explore the possible advantages and disadvantages of doing something for “free”.

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