Monday, March 7, 2016

Confessions of an ADD Artist

For a very long time I was all about the beads.  I am not complaining but there were those times when the beads weren't working for me and I stalled.  I thought it was because I needed a studio.
I love having this studio now but it is not turning out to be what I planned and that is perfectly fine because in the past few months I have been exploring other artistic avenues and I am enjoying it so much but.............
How do I make all of these a part of my life without letting any one of them get put aside?  I didn't want to have to always put one away just to work on something else.  I know some of you may not be able to use my plan but it may give you ideas of your own.
I created stations for each of my passions or rather the stations presented themselves to me.  First up is beading which is still a very important part of my artistic life.  I found that I love my studio for storing and picking out the beads but when it came to actually beading at the desk it just didn't feel right so I went back to the best little space on the couch. That is also where I have my OTTlite which some of you know is essential for tiny beads.
Under my tray is my tool box with all my needles, scissors, thread and thread burner.  All I need to do is pick a project and put it on my tray and it is always ready to pick up.
Tucked away along the side is a small quilt and a cross stitch project for those times either my eyes are too tired for the tiny beads or as I am sure has happened to you something is not working and you come to the point you just need to put it down.
What I found is that I needed the studio desk for is felting.  You have heard me talk about how much I have enjoyed starting this and I found that I need the desk for concentration and minimal distractions to prevent stabbing myself.  I really didn't think I would enjoy working at a desk so much and having it in front of the window is refreshing.
My ever growing gang is always there to encourage me to be creative.

I have taken my artistic journey a bit farther than I thought I ever would and took a class on Primitive Rug Hooking which is a primarily North American craft that began in the 1800's.  Here is the class project.

What I immediately fell in love with is the freedom you have in creating your personal rug.  Here is my finished (except for the binding) rug.

I knew going into this project that the flowers were just not something I wanted to do so with help from our amazing teacher Deb we created trees for me.  I love it but, with the frame and supplies needed there was no room for this to stay in the living room.

A funny thing happened when we had that snowstorm a couple of weeks ago.  My husband was working from home and actually enjoys my company while he is working down stairs so that is where I now have my rug hooking station.

A couple of Christmas's ago my daughter gave me this tote when I was attempting to do shows with my jewelry but that did not work out.  It works great for storing all the supplies needed for hooking and I can take it back and forth to class.  Oh and it keeps the kitty from stealing all my wool strips too!

As you can see I do flit from one to another easily and now it is not a time consuming challenge to put one away just to work on another.  Have you had this issue?  Did my tips help?  Let me know!

4 comments :

  1. It helps me a lot. I also get distracted by different projects, and it's good to see what works for someone else. Thank you. :-)

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  2. I loved this post. I have different interests as well. I keep most of my supplies in my sign shop and often take home whatever the art direction may be at that moment to my home studio. I move around from soldering and metal jewelry, to polymer clay, to painting, to resin, to beading.... and it helps me to have just that one project at my home studio for the weekend. I do a lot of toting. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. I have always had a set up like this. Beading, crochet, cross stitch and embroidery happen on the sofa. Polymer clay, felting, jewellery work, silk painting etc at the dining room table and sewing, quilting and paper crafy in my studio!

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