3 posts tagged “craft”
Some combination of things has made me hit my limit tonight. I am fed up with being president of an NPO that does not have enough people and/or $$ to get anything done. I am tired of doing more than a president is supposed to do and it's all strictly volunteer work. It's not that I mind volunteering, but I hate being held to such a high standard for something that I am doing purely out of love. I am seriously considering resigning. Even more, I am wondering if I should be part of the co-op gallery anymore.
I no longer feel like an artist and I no longer make art. I feel pretty mediocre to boot. Even if I am not mediocre, if I truly am good, what is the point? My art is not marketable and in the meantime there is plenty of mediocre art that is doing fabulously. Why bother competing with that?
The only making I have done for a good long time (with perhaps an exception or two) is a lot of crafting. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with crafting and am in awe of many brilliant crafters out there. The problem is that, once again, I am only mediocre. My technical skills are quite good, but I do not have the innovation and aesthetic to be more than average in the crafting world. Or maybe I just don't have the marketing, but I'm not interested in playing that game and I can't afford to pay someone else to do it for me.
So here I sit and ponder simply walking away from all of it. I am not interested in holding onto art and/or craft (for the most part...can't give up knitting) as some sort of hobby. I do not need any more hobbies in my life. I want to make a living from making or I want to be done with it and go do something that I actually can make a living at. I know from experience that, thanks to chronic illness, I do not have the energy to do much of anything else if and when I am working full time. If I go get a "real job", that will be it for me and my artistic career. I am so full of self-pity and misery tonight that I am ready to make that decision. How will I feel in the morning? Will I wuss out?
The most usefull I seem to be in the world is as a teacher. I could go get a teaching degree and join the unappreciated world of education. I love teaching, though i love it most when I'm teaching photography. I doubt I'd get a proper art teacher job at school. Those jobs are few and far between. Once again, I feel mediocre and useless.
So we'll see if I feel the same in the morning (if I can ever get to sleep tonight...) and we'll see if I can pull my life together enough to feel like an artist again.
Okay, in an effort to be fair, I will try to give a bit of the positive as well tonight. Some random thoughts/highlights from the past few months:
*My BFF and I bought a letterpress and, with luck, will have it all set up in the next few months. Its home is in the basement of her new gallery/studio space which is pretty exciting. There is also a tiki museum down there which should make things interesting.
*Another good friend, g-jet, hosts weekly craft nights which have been good for my soul (and hopefully all the other fabulously queer souls who attend). I have pretty much stuck to needle felting and knitting, nothing too creative, but it's a good social time for me as well as a making time.
*I sent off a submission for a juried art show in October, so I feel vaguely like I've done something for my artistic career. Who knows if I'll get in (should I have heard somethign by now? I've lost track of the deadlines...) but it's good to be able to say I actually did something. As guess what? It's a fibers (specifcially stitching) show, not photography!
*I'm addicted to buying very small canvases and panels at ArtMedia even though I have no use for them. Small square ones. I fantasize that I will use them for collage pieces. We'll see what happens.
*I just bought a toy camera at a rummage sale that is a "spy camera" and takes little half frame shots on 35mm film. It is ridiculous and I love it. As a bonus, it had a used roll of film in it which I had developed. Unfortunately, I can't say there was anything too exciting on it. The vast majority of the photos were underexposed shots of a cat in a hallway. Oh well.
*I got to attend the Maker Faire once again last month. I hardly took any photos, but it was a delightful time nonetheless. I now am trying to justify wanting a laser cutter.
*Half of my gallery is full of art that is all manner of nekkid people. How can one be sad when surrounded by so many breasts? If only I had the $$ to buy some of the beautiful art.
Okay, that's enough with the positive thinking. It's making me queasy.
I decided long ago that life is too short not to wear fun socks. I wear fun socks every day. This leads to the sad yet inevitable demise of said socks when they end up with holes in them (my right big toe is usually the culprit for some reason, but I digress). Many of the pairs that are no longer wearable are still sitting around my bedroom because I cannot bear to part with such cuteness. I intend to use them in various ways - one pair has become a pair of fingerless gloves and a pair of kneehighs are now shirt sleeves, but there are still plenty more waiting for a new life. I took a few of my favorites and made this cute hat.
I wear hats often, usually ones I have knit for myself. I made this hat by first cutting off the sock toes and then cutting open the remaining tube down the front side of the sock. I am lucky enough to own a serger (thanks Grandma) so sewing was pretty simple. I sewed along the heels to make each sock into a more flat piece of fabric. Then I sewed them together into a big tube, doing some extra stitching around the top part to taper the tube towards the top. Finally I stitched the top together and stitched around the brim.
This hat features some very adorable socks: little rubber duckies; monkeys doing the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil; and a fuzzy turtle saying hello. I mean it when I say I love my fun socks.
The obligatory info for the contest folks:
This hat is being entered in Category 1: Creative use of normal/household waste. Yes, I would love to make more of these hats for Reform School if you deem me worthy of such an honor.
