Art & Design Archives

Sheer joyful color!

September 9, 2010 by Heather Filed Under: Art, Art & Design, Inspiration & Education, Photography 3 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!

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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Out with the Old~Inviting in the new

September 7, 2010 by Heather Filed Under: Art & Design, Wellness & Mindset 3 Comments

Lately my mind is on de-cluttering, purging and making space for new things in life. Out with the old!

My husband and I spent the last week going from room to room gathering things that we no longer needed, loved or wanted. We decided we wanted to try something different and gathered all of these items together to head to a local flea market! Our community has a regular flea market (does yours?) and they make it pretty easy to show up just once or on a regular basis. We’ve had plenty of garage and yard sales but thought we would give this a try. There are a lot of flea market regulars and certainly a guaranteed amount of foot traffic that you may or may not get at a yard sale. Anything is worth a try when you want to get rid of a lot of stuff at once (say for an upcoming move?)!

On Saturday morning we headed out very early in order to go to a flea market and sell a bunch of stuff that’s taking up too much space in our lives. This included clothing, tools, home goods from the kitchen to linens, gardening supplies and more. Basically, anything you would sell at a yard sale. We have a 10′ pop up tent, which I highly recommend for any outdoor affair.

We had made a decision that whatever didn’t sell wasn’t coming back into the house. At the end of the day, I was left with only a few boxes of items to donate. The weather was mostly beautiful (a little am mist)! It was fun to interact with other vendors and a challenge to not be tempted, as I was, to bring something new (to you) home. I got the two antique games below because I love the charming images on them! I also found a couple small hand stitched textiles. All in all, much more went out than came back!

Making room for “new” can mean a lot of different things but in my case I am not trying so much to make room for physical things as much as new ideas and inspiration. Another area of my life that I am doing this is in the exploration of old design sketches and concepts I’ve completed to some degree over the last 10 years. I am really enjoying bringing these designs beyond concepts and sketches and into fully rendered ideas.

Moving through old stuff and ideas can help us to release them and move forward and create space for new creativity!

You can not “hoard” your own ideas, they must be released in order for the new creative ideas to move through you, the same can be said for our stuff!

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Something for nothing?

September 3, 2010 by Heather Filed Under: Art, Handmade, Wellness & Mindset Leave a Comment

Have 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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Invoke the Spirit of Play

August 27, 2010 by Heather Filed Under: Art & Design, Inspiration & Education, Wellness & Mindset Leave a Comment

Cats, dogs play and children usually play on a daily basis…why don’t we make the time Invoke the Spirit of Play (as adults)?

Some of us play sports, some of us play board games, some of us play musical instruments. When I get particularly stressed my automatic response is the opposite of play. I think of all the things I need to do or that I should be doing. What I should actually do is make some play time, give my brain a little time off and free myself of all that is causing me stress. Last year for the holidays I broke down and got my husband a PSP player and I’ve found myself playing video games now and then. I don’t “Play” any musical instruments but love to hear my husband play guitar.

Sometimes play for me means sitting down and creating jewelry, knitting, making something with my hands or taking a walk with my camera and not taking the end “product” too seriously.

During one of the blizzard we had last winter we lost power for about 12 hours. One of the most fun parts of that blizzard is bundling up with blankets and candles and playing monopoly on our bed and Humm… my husband still owes me the completion that game!

How do you invoke the spirit of play?

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Modern Women in Design

August 24, 2010 by Heather Filed Under: Art, Art & Design, Inspiration & Education, Museums & Galleries, Textiles & Pattern Leave a Comment

One of the most inspiring things I have seen this summer (and there have been quite a few!) is the current exhibit at the Textile Museum. It is all about mid-century modern women in design and boy are there some fabulous and fun textiles on exhibit! I tend to be a rule breaker (in some areas of my life only) and when it comes to taking photo’s in museums…I often break the rules. I do it so I can share snippets with others who I know may not be able to experience the same thing in person. So enjoy the photo’s I risked my visit to take, luckily that day the security guard seemed more interested in talking on the phone than observing the museum goers.

The show is called “Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain” and it ends on September 12, so if you get a chance you may want to make a trip to see it. The show features a majority of designs by British designer Lucienne Day and two of her contemporaries: Jacqueline Groag and Marian Mahler. The work above and below is from Lucienne Day. Aren’t they just incredibly fresh and fun and honest? That is what I love about this era of work. The designs are not pretentious, over thought or trend driven.

This is the type of work I love to share because it’s different and fun and the love that the designer put into the work shines through.
Lucienne Day’s husband (Robin) was also a furniture designer. I’m certain this contributed to her overall sensibility about good design for home interiors. Below are some great tea towels she designed.Her are a few shots of the overall show. All these ladies were fabulous designers who’s designs have stood the test of time. I especially enjoyed the work of Lucienne Day and was so glad to get to see this show in person. Save