ToDo/NewDo: Hand-Painted Bird Houses are the Talk of Bird Town

At last.. they are hung in the yard

There is no greater pleasure that wrapping up a project that has sat dormant for a little bit, or a long bit, as is actually the case.

A few years ago, as a creative project, four of us sat down one afternoon and began to paint unfinished bird houses that I had gathered for the social activity. The group included Missy (from France) who was visiting, on loan from her parents, Teresa, a past student from Mesa College, and Don and I. 

We gathered acrylic paints, and began the process of adding color and design to wood.
Missy finished hers, but the rest of us had a way to go when it was time to break down for dinner. Teresa later finished her house, but Don's and mine sat dormant for ... well, a couple of years.

Wrapping them up...

With the enforced stay-at-home we are now experiencing, it seemed like the perfect challenge to finish these bird houses and get it out in the yard. So, out came the paints, and in a matter of an hour or so, we were done.

The group

Of course, the next thing was to coat them with polyurethane, and then, we had to determine where to hang them in the yard. 

I've run out of wall space in my house (for art), and so, the yard and garden have become my new playground.
So, after and little experimenting, all the houses now are hanging on my back fence, amid my bicycle wheel/depression glass hangings.

New homes for the bird houses

Missy's polka dot version... Why Not?

What a great cloudy day! It set the colors off.

Already a birdie or two have been poking around, checking out the real estate. Don and I are having amusing conversations about what the 'he' bird is saying to his 'she' bird. 
"Hey honey... check out this red house. Don't you like the porch?"
"No dear, I think it is too much. I prefer the pastel model over here. It has a bit more deco style"
"But that one is beyond a starter house... I don't think we are ready for that"...
etc. 
etc.

The summer should be interesting.

Creativity vs. Corona Virus: Get Involved

As many of you know, I own and run Cochenille Design Studio, a company that develops software and design aids for the textile design world. I am a practitioner of many creative arts ranging from sewing, knitting, pattern making, cooking, mosaic, beading, photography, art, and many other things. Having grown up on a farm in rural Ontario, Canada with a mother and grandmothers who were creators gave a sound education in the home and creative arts. Having trained for and taught as a Professor of Fashion for most of my professional career also further nurtured things along.

Today in this world, we definitely live in uncertain times. For my business, we have had two trade shows canceled, which is no surprise given travel and other restrictions. We have also canceled our Italy retreats this June, and are still pending the decision for the France retreat (although I think that has now been taken out of our hands).

Here, at Cochenille, we’ve decided to try and make the best of our new daily life by using our at-home time to be creative. It is after all, National Crafts month.

So, we are asking our Cochenille audience and readers of this blog to join in and share with us on this creative challenge.

We are calling this challenge –ToDo/NewDo

• The To Do portion is to finish a project that is sitting in your ‘need to do’ pile. This could be a partially-complete project, alterations, or similar
• The New Do portion is to create a new project using any craft technique, from scratch.

Here is a link to a page on our website, where you can download this ToDo/NewDo list to use.

Join us in this creative solidarity. We hope to make it global. Send me (Susan) a photo of your project along with your info, and a brief description of the project.

I will share and post these for others to see. These do not need to be Garment Designer or Stitch Painter projects. Just jump in and finish up those UFO’s (unfinished objects), or start something new from scratch! In fact, your projects could be things like organizing your sewing room, yarn stash, or other.  Your project doesn't have to be fiber arts; it could be woodworking, home arts, a new recipe, etc. The idea is to use our time creatively and to share with each other.

We will be using this blog as the hosting site. This morning I posted a To Do.... now complete. Check it out.
So, I say Tag!! your turn

I will will post the images sent by those of you willing to be involved on this same blog. Please send them to susan@cochenille.com

Feel free to join the mail list of the blog so you can be notified when an entry is posted. Also feel free to invite friends to join in the ToDo/NewDo Challenge.

Be safe, and be well.

Our very best to all our audience.
Susan Lazear
Cochenille Design Studio

Creative Strength Training... my move towards creative focus

The new year is here, and with it comes resolutions and plans. As part of my new year doings, I decided to take an online class on Creative Strength Training from Jane Dunnewold, a fiber artist I have admired for a long time.

http://www.janedunnewold.com

My goal is to attain greater focus in the creative things in my life. The ten-week class has weekly readings and exercises. The exercises involve writing at times, and most recently a design exercise. I really enjoyed this exercise, as I learned about a Japanese philosophy called Notan, the study of positive and negative or the dark/light principles of design.
Here is a book which is excellent for explaining the principles.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_5?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=notan+the+dark-light+principle+of+design&sprefix=notan%2Caps%2C203&crid=1G0BLMDHE5EAO

The general idea is to start with a square of black. You then cut out shapes from each side (or some of the sides), and mirror the cut-outs on the edge from which they were taken.

Initially, I started my expanded squares on an airplane, and this led me to do so with Adobe Illustrator which doesn’t require scissors, knife, glue, etc. Somehow that wouldn’t be too easy to do on a flight.  As I teach fashion students how to use the software, I thought it would be a good exercise of thought for me to figure out how to achieve the same actions with the computer. So, on to square tool, using the Pen tool and shapes to determine cutting edges, and then the Pathfinder panel to aid in cutting out the shapes. Lastly, I used the Reflect tool to mirror the cut-outs and then created a repeating pattern so I could visualize the imagery as fabric.. As you will see by some of the examples I’m including, it is pretty easy to explore an idea and take it all the way into a garment to get a real sense of how it looks.

Cutting Four sides shows you the same squiggled line taken from all four sides of the square.

Two Sides Only and Taking a Bite files show you other experiments.

 Later, when back home, I took time to hand-cut an expanded square or two. The file Hand-cut1 shows you the result (sent via phone photo to Illustrator), and an example in a garment.

Breaking the Rules..

Now for the fun… I wanted to try and use some sort of shape for cutting that had an extra or hidden meaning. So, in thinking and doodling, it came to me that I should use a sound wave. Since Valentines day is just around the corner, I decided to use a line from an Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem… “How do I love thee, let me count the ways”. You can see the sound wave screen captured on my phone, and then the resulting square where I broke the rules by introducing a new color (red) and not reflecting one of the sides.

I can't wait to try other ideas with this approach to design. And of course, these must be translated to fabric.

Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna

As a big Klimt fan, I was overwhelmed with all the Klimt art I saw while in Vienna a few weeks ago.

And as far as museums go, the Kunsthistorisches museum is at the high end of the list for amazing buildings. 

A view of how the art is hung in the museum.

The stairwell

And of course, the museum cafe

More views of the art

Klimt's art... note the women up high

Art and Cultural Sites of Paris

If you want culture, then, this is the place.

At L'Orangerie, you can see large Monet works plus other Impressionist paintings.



Stroll through the Tuilleries....



En route to the D'Orsay, where you can view amazing art in an old train station.







And, at the Pompideu Center, you can find the best modern art collection (in my opinion), in the world.









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Location:Paris

Live from the Louvre

What can I say?
I am like everyone else, enthralled by a painting.







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Location:Paris

And the Renewal of friends

Every year I host a get together of "The Ladies From the Hood", a group of women I have know for years. We make ornaments, and we make merry, catching up on on each others' lives.

Here we are...


And some of our handiwork... Magazine cuttings, folded and placed on a styrofoam ball



The results


Other ornaments


Variations


In the works


And variations


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A few art shots

Here are a few shots.
This first is created with machine embroidery, by Carol Shinn.


And a close up




This piece, called Dam Crazy, (Dam =Denver Art Museum) is built as a quilt by Jane Mathews. The uniqueness of it, is that the material used is the museum Art Magazine publication.


And a couple of close-ups.







And just a few more shots..









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Location:Denver, CO

Art Around Us

In the process of developing one’s creativity, it is important to not only look at the world around us, but to ‘see’ things that excite us.

Here are a few images; one a form of utility (the bike stand) and the other, simply art.

Both are creatively executed. These were taken at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. The workers are removing the graffiti to make room for the next installation.

Pushing Myself... Watercolor Workshop with Jane Lafazio

OK.. time to push. I have never taken a true drawing class. But, here I am in Utah, learning how to sketch and create water color journal art. Talk about stretchiiinnnngggg.







Look at the environment. The view from the 'cabin'.


So, meet Jane Lafazio (www.plainjanestudio.com). Jane is our amazing instructor, who is guiding our way. Dianne Streifer is our host, Creative Mountain Retreats.

So... bit by bit, I'm finding my way. Thus far, I've done three pieces, and am losing the fear. Here is the class.


Our first sketch/water color, was to take a faux bird and sketch it. Then, ink it in, and then, paint it. Here are a few images.


Today, we went to 'town' and found objects at a boutique to sketch. Things like... a bird's nest.