Looking for Something

Over and over, I keep asking myself the same question, “What am I good at?”   Of course, this question does not refer to me as a person, but as an artist.  I’m an accomplished knitter publishing  free patterns on Ravelry.  Out of necessity, I learned how to sew my first garment when I was eight years old, and currently I’m enrolled in the Fashion Program at Canada College located in Redwood City, California.  Later in life, I studied Art History at the University of California, Berkeley.  Fulfilling a life-long dream, and being the first in my family to graduate from college was bittersweet.  But, “What am I good at?”

As a young girl, I enjoyed taking pictures with my father’s Kodak Instamatic Camera with plastic flash cubes.  When my father started using the Polaroid Camera with the peel-apart color prints, I was hooked.  I carried a Polaroid Pocket Camera everywhere I went.  A few years back, I began experimenting with Holga plastic cameras.  The journey which began with “red eyes,” instant color prints along with the double-exposure capability using 120 film, prepared me for the boundless creative options of the cellphone camera.

How could I take advantage of the beautiful art images I captured with my cellphone camera?  In a world with digital prints on fabric, why not put my images on fabric?  Better yet, why not sew with fabric which created a digital narrative of what I “see” as interesting.

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sticks-a-gogo Art Cloth Trees 1
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sticks-a-gogo Art Cloth Trees 1

These photos were sent to me by Virginia.  Along with sticks-a-gogo Art Cloth, Virginia used the Yuya Dress pattern by Damar Studio.  It is so gratifying to see my digital narrative take on a new meaning.

I began this post with a question, and I’ve found the answer.  For a view of my digital textile images, visit http://spoonflower.com/profiles/sticks-a-gogo_art_cloth

 

 

Art vs. Craft

I had a professor of art history ask, “What is your definition of art?”  After a brief moment of silence, he offered this definition, “Art is an idea made manifest.”

So, “What is your definition of art?”

http://ed.ted.com/lessons/is-there-a-difference-between-art-and-craft-laura-morelli#review

Still-Life--Vase-with-Fifteen-Sunflowers

More Buttons #2

Sea Glass and Sand Dollars #5

Mannequin

Mannequin #1140605_0002 (1)Mannequin #2I collect images of mannequins.

I captured an image with my cell phone the other day of a truck stowing naked, headless mannequins around town. Absence of arms, all but one, transparent bodies revealing breasts of both genders.  Publicly displayed without faces and an inability to gaze back at the viewer, presents an atmosphere of vulnerability.  The male mannequin on view from the waist up, while the omnipresent female mannequins stand surrounded by male mannequins.  The transparency of the material allows the sun to shine through the body illuminating the female mannequin.

Wouldn’t this make a great art history paper?

 

(The image Mannequins belongs to Mary Lou Fall 2014.  Please do not use the image without the permission of the photographer.  I know I could display my name across the image, but wouldn’t that ruin the meaning of the image?)