This one is from a while ago, and was a fun mix of watercolor and pen. I love God and I love flowers. I love that God loves flowers. I love that God loves me! Very little compares to the beauty of flowers growing...being...just brightening up and beautifying every place they grow. And considering that I've seen flowers grow in some pretty tough environments (think hot days, heavy rainfalls, etc) those little plants encourage me during tough times that God cares for me and keeps tending to and nourishing me in all circumstances.
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Not too long ago I wrote that I don't display art in my home and that it was a goal of mine to remedy that problem! Well, here is my first attempt at fixing that! I cleaned out my work table in my "office" and organized my art supplies and hung as many pieces as I could fit on the wall behind my work space! I've loved the Marx Brothers since I was a little kid so when my sister gifted these hand water colored prints of them to me for Christmas I was really excited! She painted them herself! The rest of the prints I got from classmates or craft fairs or I collected from places I can't remember and the giant paintbrush I got while in China. I made the little "abstract" blue and gold painting in the bottom right corner. The teapot was a gift from one of our Chinese graduate students and it's next to my little cork collection. I collect (unused) corks for when I make ceramic flasks or bottles. Since I'm a renter and I a) don't want to put tons of holes in my walls and b) don't own enough frames for all these prints, I bought decorated clothespins from the craft store and stuck them to the wall with double sided tape. It's not the most glamorous display, but it works for my situation and enables me to easily display the handiwork of some very creative friends and family members!
Now onto the other rooms! It's 2 days before the beginning of 2016! I want to write about something that has meant a lot to me this year: swing dancing!
Back in college I was introduced to swing dancing and it was one of my favorite things to do! I found that once I turned my creative interests into a career move they stopped being a stress relief and became a source of stress. Pretty much everyone else I know says that's the case for everyone who turns a passion into a job...your relationship to that passion changes. That's one of the things I came to appreciate so much about swing dancing. When I was spending so much time in the studio swing dancing was a great way to kill many birds with one stone! It gave back a creative outlet and was great exercise as well as a social activity. When I moved to Michigan it was one of the things I really missed about my college town. Well, I'm super lucky! Because it turns out west Michigan is home to a very large, thriving swing dance scene and this year after not dancing for about 2 years I got connected to this scene and have been dancing regularly ever since! And goodness, the benefits of it are so huge for me! I can't begin to say how much healthier I feel when dancing is part of my weekly routine! Not only do I get a great workout I feel more optimistic and ready to tackle the more mundane tasks in my schedule! And let me tell you, it does wonders for keeping the winter blues at bay! Which I must confess, I find Michigan winters to be really difficult! What activities are priorities for you? What do you do to keep your creative juices flowing? If you have extra tips to beat back the winter blues I'm all ears! The final market was merry and bright. Sales were...ehhh. :) It was a good end to a busy first year of business. I guess it's technically my second Christmas season of markets, but my first year of trying to seriously consider this endeavor as a business. There has been lots of learning, lots of frustration and lots of blessings. I guess at the end of this year I can say I am very ready for a break. I was always ready for a break at the end of semesters too. But I'm also ready to plan for next year. I have been drawing new pots and planning strategies to grow my little biz. I'm taking the rest of 2015 off. Next year I'll begin again and have more things to share in this little space.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! These little guys were whipped up this past week for a Christmas market. I learned to make books while I was in college. I love the options they present for mixing colors, patterns, and textures! This little open bind style is my favorite, but I'm thinking I'd like to start experimenting with some long stitching or stab binding too!
These are my favorite sketchbooks to use personally. I love that they're small and can be tucked into a purse without adding too much bulk or weight (does anyone else find that their purses end up weighing a ton? What's even in there?) and they're made with sketching and drawing paper that is easy to write and draw on. While I don't have a lot of personal attachment to my pots these days and prefer to send them out into other peoples' homes I find myself wanting to keep all of these books to fill up with ideas, thoughts, and drawings. But instead I listed them to my Etsy shop! You can find the link on the right sidebar of my blog! I make art. And I believe that homes filled with art and handmade items are often some of the most beautiful homes I've been in. But my house does not have much art hanging on its walls. I do a little better in the area of handmade dishes and blankets, but not that much better.
Why is it so hard to make my home a reflection of one of my values? Maybe it's because I share a home with roommates and it feels like it would be invasive to them to start putting art up. Taste in art can vary from person to person. Sometimes I think it's because I just procrastinate big time in that area. I stay really busy. When I come home I tend to choose between working in the studio downstairs, doing chores, or resting rather than decorating my home. Truthfully, displaying art is kind of an intimidating thing for me. You know, when you've seen so many perfectly hung gallery walls on Pinterest it's easy to feel like the effort it would take to get it right is too much work right now. And the time it takes to make some of the artwork I want to display doesn't seem to be something I have right now. However, it seems weird to me that if people came to my house I don't think they would ever know I'm into art, much less that I make art, because you don't see any around my house. I really want to have a home that is filled with art and that is a reflection of creativity. So that is a goal of mine for the next indefinite period of time. To make, find, collect and display artworks around my home. So don't be surprised if you find me posting updates on that endeavor in the next weeks and months. I'm thinking during Christmas break it would be fun to set some time aside to make the spaces I live in more inviting, inspiring, and fun. Does anyone else feel like it's important to have art on their walls and shelves? Does anyone else find displaying and decorating to be a stressor rather than a fun activity? This past weekend I had the opportunity to participate in my 4th local Maker's Market! I'm not sure why this one was such fun...maybe it was because it was a gorgeous day and we were out in the country which made me feel like I was back home! Maybe it was because I had a fun booth buddy and lots of fun visitors. Maybe it was because I only got 4 hours of sleep that night and was running off adrenaline and some crappy coffee. Maybe it's Maybelline.
It was probably a combination of all those things (minus the Maybelline) that made the day just lovely. To all you lovely people who came and said hi, gave hugs, chatted with me, and bought art...thank YOU for being part of a beautiful day! I had such fun and by the end of the day was wonderfully, satisfyingly exhausted! You know...that kind of tired that you feel like you earned by being super productive! I'm excited to tackle the next market and set some new goals! But first I need a full 8 hours of sleep! Good night! I was invited to be in two markets this fall/winter. I am excited, but very behind in making work! Lots of changes are coming up in my life this season. These include a new job and setting up my own home studio. All good things, but there's some work that goes into getting it all set up which requires time which takes away from my time in the studio...
Anyway, I wanted to try something a little different from my usual designs so I tried to make these flower mugs that would (hopefully) be somewhat reminiscent of the flowers in Rifle Paper Designs. I love that company! On my agenda for clay projects this week: mugs (can't get away from them), ornaments, serving bowls, plates, and that sort of thing. I want to sculpt some animal vases...I need to buy more clay! .I sort of fell into art on accident. On the advice of my dentist (who was also my boss at the time) I enrolled in a non-major ceramics course my very first semester at West Virginia University just for fun (I was going to be either a nutrition major, or a dental hygiene major). I had always wanted to try it, but I had no idea how quickly I would become hooked! It wasn't long before I resented my other classes for keeping me away from working in the studio. It wasn't much longer after that when I realized I had to continue studying ceramics. I couldn't imagine not continuing to take classes in ceramics and was convinced I would regret it forever if I allowed the fear of an unconventional career to stop me from learning. What can I say? I was in love and it does weird things to you. So, to my surprise, and the horror of some of the adults in my life (not my parents thankfully), I switched majors to fine art with a focus in ceramics.
For this (recovering) control freak I was pretty terrified of all the unknowns I was about to encounter...and yet I also felt wildly excited about the new adventure I was starting. I remember walking into the Creative Arts College for my first drawing class. This is, oddly enough, a memory that sticks out because I was terrified to be in a drawing class. I was a weird art student because I never had art classes before I went to college. I loved being creative, but I'd never learned the basics of art. Like elements of design. Or drawing. Especially drawing! I'd seen how good these kids could be and I rarely even bothered to draw stick figures. I was a complete newbie. But I knew that I had to be a ceramics major so I sat down at my drawing horse and watched as the teacher put a skeleton in the center of the room and said, "everyone take about 5 minutes to draw that." I honestly almost packed up and left. (Confession: I am awkward AND I have anxiety. I get worked up over things that I probably shouldn't get upset about) There was no way I could draw that skeleton in the whole class period much less 5 minutes. But I drew what I could and when our teacher called out to stop and turn our boards around to show the class I did just that. And then I waited with a pit in my stomach...ready to be discovered as the worst art student in all of history (aren't you glad I'm not dramatic?). To my surprise, I wasn't the worst...not that anyone else was either. I could see there were other beginners in the class or people who didn't take to drawing as well as others...and maybe those that just didn't care about drawing well. My teacher had helpful comments on things to look out for and tips on what to try or not to try. And then he said, "I saw some of you using erasers. Don't use them anymore. If you make a mistake just live with it. Or use it in the drawing. If I see you use them I'll take them away." Wait, what?! No erasers? Live with my mistakes? One of the many things I love (and hate...let's be real) about art is that it forces me to deal with my insecurities. I used to think it brought out my insecurities, but now I think it makes me look at them and deal with them. And unfortunately, I don't do this gracefully. But being creative requires vulnerability and sometimes it requires me to be vulnerable with myself. And I hate making mistakes. HATE! Making art has challenged me physically, mentally, and spiritually with infinite opportunities to see all the ways I mess up and make mistakes. But the great thing about it is I get to see myself learning too! Now that I've graduated and am trying to figure out how to use this degree I find myself in a sort of similar place. I have been saying for ages that I'm going to start my own business and sell my art. It's something that I feel compelled to do. I also want to find ways to teach too. But that requires learning a lot of skills and projecting a lot of confidence which I find myself lacking. Why? Because even though I've spent the last 6 years (4 in college, 2 since graduating) making work and making mistakes and making more work and making more mistakes I still hate messing up. I hate the unsettling feeling of not knowing what I'm doing. I hate not knowing what I'm talking about. I have a pride problem, and I know that just like art, trying to figure out business or teaching will be a huge learn-as-you-go experience. But maybe, just like art school, it holds opportunities to learn and grow and dream like I have never done before. Art school led me places I never thought I'd go and showed me that I'm interested in things and good at things that I'd never thought to try before. Maybe this new experience can do that too. I look back on my first drawing class and kind of wince inside because I was so anxious about something that really wasn't that hard. Drawing requires some skill, but I think it mostly requires patience and the willingness to keep working when it's boring. I actually learned to like drawing! Maybe, if I'm consistent and work hard, I'll look back at this post someday and have a similar realization about learning to make and sell art. If I can take away any important lessons from my drawing class it would be to be patient, work with my mistakes, and keep trying new things. |
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Hello! I am Grace Goswick. This is where I share thoughts, stories and photographs of my work and life. Archives
December 2015
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