Taking it to the next level- The 2nd Floor Challenge

I've been going through a mini creative crisis this year.
It is an increasing challenge to stop all the internal chatter and just create.
There is always the question-who am I making this for?
Usually I'm making something just so it can go up here.
Perhaps that is why my work has so little influence.
It has no unique voice yet.
I made a promise to myself many years ago that when I got older I would write. I would create.
I would take many MANY pictures.
But I got lost along the way.
I decided chasing a corporate career and making money was important.
And I failed.
Spectacularly.

So now I am going back to that original promise and taking my talent seriously.
I am working on developing both my writing and my creative "voice".
I am an artist. Not just a hobbyist.
So when I read Julie Fei Fan Balzer's intro post on the Second Floor challenge.
I felt she was talking to me personally.

I've heard:
- Artists do not take photos of babies and family.
- People who call themselves "artists" are pretentious.
- Artists are too busy creating to run around calling themselves artists.

I let those statements quiet me for a while.
I've been called pretentious so many times I've internalized it and added it to the long list of labels for describing me.
Why is it ok to apply that negative label but not the more open and neutral label of artist?

The first step to any serious endeavor is deciding where you are headed.
You may detour many times along the way (it's fun) but you should have a clear vision of where you are going.
The final destination may change many times but to keep yourself motivated and focused those first few years you have to choose a path and GET TO WORK.

I choose the tools before me- a camera, some paper and some glue.
And I focus on WHAT I KNOW TO BE TRUE- my daughter, myself and my family.

So when I say I'm an artist, I'm thumbing my nose at convention AND taking what I do seriously.
Because I'm done pretending I'm "just a Mom".
I'm done calling what I do a "hobby" because I am so passionate about doing it I want to make it my career.

And so the need for the Second Floor Challenge.
I loved Nathalie Kalbach's Gold Paint post .
Using gold paint is the first challenge and its supposed to make you pause, freak out and think.
I love gold paint, gold glitter, gold thread but I have very little knowledge on how to use them effectively so this was a good chance to flex my creative muscle.

Here is what I came up with:

Toddler scribbles on water color paper painted over with gold paint. I sat on this for a
week. I tried a second page with Crafter's Workshop cloud stencils. I hated both.
So I combined the projects by cutting the clouds out and adding a sewn black border.
This could be more meaningful but for my first try at making something more abstract
 I can live with this. 

The Gauche alchemy punchinella is embedded in some Modge Podge.
The swallow chipboard is from Scrap FX.
I kinda wish I had added more of that black thread trailing from the clouds. 

A step in a long series of steps where the work isn't everything and the process also matters.
But I've never been very good at staying serious for long.

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
Michelle

On randomness, stencils and kraft issues- a Punky Scraps challenge

So it's time for the Punky Scraps "Get Picky"challenge.
This is usually the week I freak out trying to incorporate all the different elements Team A picks.
Yes I KNOW I don't have to pick all 10 but therein lies the challenge!

I'm a little insecure about what I came up with this week:

The Get Picky challenge items for this month are: kraft cardstock, a self portrait, 3 of something (cameras), masking and something red, metal (tiny attacher staples), something lucky (dandelions), fabric (ribbon), something pleated (ribbon) and stitching

I believe the biggest problem with this page is that the kraft paper- while awesome- is too dark for the Tattered Angels mists.

This is the mist color combo I used (I LOVE these by the way):

My Tattered Angels "Patina" bottle is getting dangerously low.
It's so hard to find!!

I like that the Sunflower color dripped in the bottom of the page and turned gold but the Frozen Lake color lost all it's luminosity.

I literally just added the black stitching and dandelion stencils after letting the page lie still over night- not sure if it's "rescued" but I certainly like it a lot more.
Here is how the page looked yesterday:

First draft. I shot this and realized it needed something
else. Not sure my solution helped the overall color problem.
I must admit- the overcast day lighting does not help.

In a somewhat related note- I'm in love with "The Paper Company" kraft cardstock!
I got a pack of 50 for 2 dollars at Joann's and the quality is really cool- darker, more rugged (sounds like a gorgeous man huh? laughing!!!)- perfect for mixed media experiments such as this.
And it's 8 by 11 so no measuring and cutting needed. WIN!
I'll use both kinds and call myself HAPPY!

Here is an alternate page to see if I could "lighten" the design up. I like the texture but the paper curled up so the second layer of mist went on wrong.

Crafter's Workshop "Squircle" is hella awesome!

Question for you experimental crafters- how the heck do you keep your cardstock from curling? I get curl no matter what I do- heat it flat, put a book on top over night- nothing works. 

Do you guys iron your pages while still wet?

The Crafter's Workshop "If You Believe" 6x6 stencil was hard for me to use as an outline because it's so delicate and flexible the stencil would slip around while in use.

Next time I'll use double sided tape to keep it still.

I decided to color the words in with a yellow neon highlighter and added Glossy Accents to see if the phrase would pop out more and it did.

I lack the design vocabulary to critique this.
It's not bad- it's just not what I call successful.
Has the same ever happened to you? The elements are all there but yet- it lacks.
Frustrating.

What I learned:
Kraft sucks up color like no other card stock so choose bright or paint dense formulas.
Crafter's Workshop stencils are fantastic just remember the artist tape.
Take risks more often.

What I need to learn:
How to mix gel medium or whatever so my gesso is thicker- tips anyone?
How to get maximum stencil madness with minimum paper curl!

GRATUITOUS TODDLER SHOT!!!!

WHY is everyone staring at Lola?? Clueless Mom adventures.

MuChOs SmOoCheS!
Michelle

The NEON Challenge!!

2012 is the year neon came back!
I'm seeing it everywhere.

Even on the lace bows of expensive french lingerie! 

Who wears neutral underwear with blindingly bright pink bows that cost 200 just for the bra?

MATERIALS: Bazzill grey card stock, Cocoa Daisy stamp, Cosmo Cricket’s DeLovely paper,
Crafter’s Workshop 6x6 chevron stencil, SC Mister Huey in white and chipboard from
Crate Paper, Sakura Gelly Roll pen outlines in fluorescent yellow,  neon pink twine,
Cosmo Cricket Heart In The Dark alphas and Jenni Bowlin flying bird punch.

To celebrate, I'm hosting a challenge over at DO MORE WITH LESS.
Yvonne Yam's awesome scrap style is both clean, modern and full of messy techniques such as paint, upcycled items and glitter.
How does she manage to pull it all off with nary a finger print or stray pencil mark on the page???
I aspire to that kind of control over technique.

This project was shaping up so well! Those finger prints are
UNINTENTIONAL and decidedly UNHAPPY accidents!

Perhaps you have some generic price stickers or neon pink twine lying around?  Most of Hambly's entire inventory qualifies. I've also found lots of great neon in Basic Grey (Out of Print) and Crate Paper's Random line.
Cosmo Cricket totally saw the trend coming because the entire DeLovely line is neon and it came out last winter.

Martha Stewart NEON GLITTER! EEEE!
25 dollars for the pack! Coupon time!

If nothing else Sakura makes neon gellyroll pens. (EEEEE!)
I tend to buy these every time I go to the scrap store because I use them on everything.
And there's always the 89 cent bottles of craft acrylic paint from the kids section at the arts and craft store.

Price stickers, 89 cent paints and thread.
At 5 bucks a pop perhaps thread is the purchase you want to save till
you've decided you love neon.

Swing by Do More With Less- you probably are already a follower- she's that awesome.
Thank you so much for the opportunity Yvonne!

My second project-you can do better I'm SURE! I do like the border. REDO TIME!
Materials: Basic Grey Life of the Party, Ki Memories NYC puffy, woodgrain fabric circles, Hambly
woodgrain washi tape,  EK Success peg alpha stamps, Scrap FX flying bird chip board, American
Crafts Zing embossing powder, K & Co Smash tape, Tattered Angels Glimmer Glam in Mermaid.

Ah bribery- the BEST way to drive traffic.
Here's what you get if you win the challenge:

GRATUITOUS TODDLER SHOT!!!!

MuChoS SmOoChEs!
Michelle

Blast from the past! The Educational Video Center in NYC

Last week I had a fine old time with some old friends and I am finally getting around to talking about it here. 


When I was 17 I joined the Educational Video Center and spent half my day working and learning away from my tiny and confining high school in the Bronx. 
I earned high school credits for doing what I do best- arguing with people, writing and asking annoying questions (a process documentary professionals call an "interview").
And it's all captured on tape for future humiliation, I mean, enjoyment.

I helped make three videos but only one was being shown at Lincoln Center last week.
This one. Made in 1993 while a member of YO-TV (Youth Organized Television) the graduate division of EVC and a great platform for a college freshman looking for a meaningful job.

Lower left- That was me back when I was cool.

I remember our group's teacher, David Murdock, walking up to us as we sat around a table trying to figure out the topic we would cover and saying "HEY we have a grant to work for the Whitney Museum. We're gonna shoot the Biennial!!!"

Our collective reaction was: HUH? Whitney Museum??? Biennial?

My specific addition was:
What the heck is a Biennial? Art? I hate art! 
It's SOOO pretentious!

I was 18 and a complete dumb ass.

No, a BIGGER one than now.

Sorry for the AWFUL photo- the lighting was lowered
and I'm using my crappy low rez  iTouch lens.

So last week I got to share that moment with a large group of high school age documentarians from all over the city and it was WONDERFUL.
I wasn't prepared to stand up in front of a filled auditorium but I surprised myself with how much I remembered about the process.
I really missed talking to young people. 
I can't believe I'm using that expression! 
But let's be real- it's been 20 YEARS. 
I ain't no spring chicken.

Some of our team: wish I had brought a tripod- this photo stinks!

Anyway here's a link to the video- warning- art form the 1990's- may not be "work" safe! 
Ah go ahead- it's totally PG!

Educational Video Center- That's What They Call Art!

I remember that one of my biggest arguments centered on the exclamation point on the title. 

I wanted it to end with a question mark. 

It would have read like this:

THAT'S what they call ART?

With all the sarcasm and distaste an 18 year old kid can muster.

Because that's what I thought about 95% of what was hanging in the museum at the time. 

Public speaking-
some people are more eloquent than others

I helped research, interview and edit the actual video (we were a collective of 7 producers with equal decision making powers and work loads). 
I saw 9 artists explain and go through their individual creative processes.
It slowly dawned on me how important their work was (and still is). 
How important it is to paint a stick and hang it on a wall.
Or chew a giant cube of chocolate and make small candy hearts with the "bites".
Or shoot pictures and pin them to a blank wall- unframed, edges curling.


Art is about creating a market place of ideas and challenging the norm.
It doesn't have to be figurative, beautiful or "important".
It isn't inherently bad or pretentious.
It just has to have meaning.
As a creator or a viewer- YOU have equal say in what that meaning is.
I think that's pretty awesome.
That was my primary lesson from my years at EVC and one I and apply to everything I do to this day.
So yes, it was a very well spent night.


If you know of a high school age kid looking for a great internship/educational experience in the NYC area- have them look into EVC- it's a great way to make connections with other thoughtful kids, round out a college application and learn marketable skills. 

TOTALLY UNRELATED PROJECT!

This is a series I'm working on just for FUN. I'm having the BEST freaking time!

MuChoS SmOoChEs!

Michelle

Happy Monday! Happy news!

Hello there!

I have some fun bits of scrap news to share.
I FINALLY took a risk and sent a page for possible publication.
It got lots of positive gallery feedback so I thought perhaps it had a chance and it did!
My Brooklyn page will be published this August in Scrapbook Trends Magazine- yay!

There is always the small possibility that a magazine might have to cut pages and not publish a project so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Has this ever happened to you? 
But it was a wild chance anyway so knowing it was picked is good enough for me.
Good news is GOOD, right now.
My inner Eeyore will have to go play somewhere else.
I'm bouncing with Tigger right now.

Scrap FX swallows chipboard. Clouds template from Crafter's Workshop

The second piece of happy "news" is that I'm one of the new DT members over at Scrap FX- a fantastic chipboard manufacturer based in Australia.
I made a mini announcement last friday so I won't say much else other than I've already met two other DT members:
Bellaidea
Scarlett
and awesome scrappy friend Misty who encouraged me to try out in the first place.
(thank you thank you THANK YOU Misty!!!)

The third piece of fun scrappy news is that I have a guest spot coming up this tuesday the 20th over at Yvonne Yam's blog Do More With Less.
I will be hosting a challenge for the week and have a VERY cool prize for the winning project.
Can you guess what the theme will be?

Swing by and give it a go.

GRATUITOUS TODDLER SHOT!!!!

I love the light falls in this photo.

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
Michelle