Monday, April 19, 2010
Charming with Solder and Fire-y Love Goddess
Saturday, I was fortunate to participate in Chandra Thomason's soldered charm class at River Twist. Having attempted to teach myself how to solder charms previously, Chandra offered some absolutely simple tips and tricks to make the process go much easier, and offer a much-improved outcome ~~ tips I would have enver thought of without her professional guidance. While I have much room for continued improvement, the charms made Saturday were so much more "professional" appearing than my previous ones.
I would love to make some sturdy key chains using this process...if I can find glass that will stand the abuse our key chains receive ;).
After the class, I came home and worked on my Fire-y Love Goddess, a work in progress (WIP). This one began when I found a previous sketch I had made of a heart with a couple of flames coming out of the top of it. I thought, "can I draw a face on this, and make it work?" Well, she's not "working" yet, but I will continue to pursue her and see where she goes. My friend, Jan, offered some very helpful criticism to let me know I was painting my eyelashes backwards (curling inward, instead of outward), so I corrected them Saturday, and I'm loving the effect! Now I need to narrow her brown dress and see if I can obtain the "high collar" effect that I was going for, as well as continue to build the flames. I love the handpainted background.
I've also been working with iron and rust paint and LoViNg the results! Pics to come.
As for life in general, it's moving right along. After Chandra's Saturday class, she and I were talking, and discovered that we both would love to create art 24/7. How many others feel likewise, I wonder? Creating art is so fulfilling ~~ a way to express and share our inner selves freely, and find total enjoyment in the process. However, creating art full-time is such a risky step to take, especially in today's downturned economy, when a steady income has become even more important. I admire anyone whom follows their dream of doing so. Admittedly, I don't have the courage to do so currently and, truly, I'm not sure I want to take a step that could possibly turn my art into a "chore," or add pressure for me to create. I love the experience of creating with different mediums, without pressure for the outcome ~~ if it flops, I can rework it or throw it away; if it turns out great, I can keep it, give it away, or attempt to sale it! If you are a full-time artist, I would love for you to share your experience with me here; do you still enjoy the process of creating art, do you feel pressure to create, do you find yourself cutting corners to speed up the process of creating productively, what has brought you the most success?
Happy creating to each of you! May your days be filled with blissful creativity in whatever way makes you happy!
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