best tools in the studio

The studio was built in the mid 1800s. Very little insulation ; none in the floors. There's a heater in the main room , but it won't heat the whole studio. Nothing will heat the floors. So I don't go to the studio without these tools:

Yes, they are quite dirty. They are for the studio only and have acquired a patina of flux , solder sparkles , and studio dust. I got them on sale for almost nothing and the line has been discontinued. I really regret this. The sheepskin lining is much thicker than what I see for sale now. They are made to fit wide calves and come almost to the knee. I don't care about fashion.

Once I've been in the studio long enough for the cold to creep around the edges of even these , it's time to go a few yards back to my cozy house with the wood heater .

SO NICE !

Multi - Medial

Years ago in Art school we were taught to work in lots of different medias. The portfolio we submitted covered six different types of art ; two types of three dimensional sculpture , and four types of 2-D work , including the photography used to submit our slides ( are the images submitted digitally these days....I know we've switched to that for art shows ).

Working in all these different areas put me outside my comfort zone , but I'm glad it did. It's come in handy. And allowed me to work in two different craft media at once , which may have doubled my profits.

There's glass :

painted glass tree - stained glass frame

And there's free - form crochet :

And sometimes there are other things:

These are wet - felted fairy nests. We needed some more fiber stuff for a show at the gallery. It gave me a chance to play.

More stuff for the fiber show. Here I yarn - bombed a child's rocking chair and added wings to it . Not sure why.

This guy is a needle - felted greenman tapestry I made for my booth at the Renaissance Faire . I had a hard time keeping the cats off this as I worked.

Then there's my only venture into public art. This is the Mirror Wolf . Part of the Raleigh Red Wolf Ramble . Yes , that's a whole bunch of individual mirror placed on him with adhesive. And yes , I'm out of my mind to have done that.

But you can see I haven't been bored.

 FIRST DAY of " RETIREMENT "

  Everyone advised me to sleep late and wake up with nothing to do. Set the tone for your future. Leave the slate blank. Oh , well ; I blew that. I got home from my last day of work at midnight. Got up at 7 A.M. and went to the Carthage , N.C. Tractor show. This is a world class event.

And while I'm really not that into tractors , I'm into art. And old stuff . And I'm curious about things I know little about.

 It turns out that this show has about a dozen very large buildings full of vintage heavy equipment. Much of it runs and is being driven around the large property that houses all this. Steam powered,coal powered, diesel , gas . From the size of a small house to toys .

It was such perfect weather  Here's the link ......http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.edervillenc.com/&sa=U&ei=NvleVK__OYeeyATS4ICABQ&ved=0CBQQFjAA&sig2=7ZlnlEGzH8cLG49n9PcwKg&usg=AFQjCNGzGZB12E9whf_47pPW-iIkGM2Msw

As if this wasn't a full day , we had to balance all this yang with some yin by going to a great gallery in Seagrove , N.C. Not far from Carthage , Seagrove is a pottery destination. I do not have the official count of how many galleries are in this area , but it is huge. We specifically went to visit the gallery of a friend of a friend :http://www.potteryroad.com/waltons.html

 I'm an official pottery addict. I've been on pottery probation for countless years , but I found things here that I had not seen before and just had to have. The gallery displays it's wares on a big collection of vintage stoves and other antiques.https://www.facebook.com/potteryroad

There were plenty of choices for Christmas presents and I found the perfect bowl for a serving of salad.....just the right size with deep enough sides that would keep the salad contained. 

Just a wonderful first day of freedom.

It's always possible

kiln - carved glass

This blog is about never giving up your art. I have been earning money as an artist since I was twelve. There were many years when it was not enough to support me. During a bad economy years ago I started another career and kept my art going as well. Now I am retiring early from the other career and going back to just art.

Over the years of doing art and craft shows and being involved in exhibitions and galleries , I have met and been friends with many artists.  Very few of them have been able to make a living on their art alone. All of them have been able to make things work in other ways.

During the 1990s when craft shows flourished and most folks had extra income to spend on arts and crafts , I heard a good bit of talk about artists losing their integrity if they had outside jobs . One customer who was also an art critic asked me if I felt I would be able to elevate the level of my work if I had no other job. Good question.....but the answer surprised us both. It seemed that the pressure of my time limitations pushed me harder to create. I used mental down time at work to problem solve my designs and come up with new ones. I looked forward to getting into the studio each day and this created a balance.

painted and fused glass tree with stained glass frame

What I hope to convey with this blog is a can - do attitude to doing art all your life. I have heard many of my fellow artists say they should just give up since they can't make just their art work as a living. But....There are endless ways to keep doing art.

You may not get rich , but usually there is money to be made ; anywhere from enough to live on to enough to keep buying new supplies ( and for many of us that is enough ). But the most important thing to remember is that art is not just a living from the financial point of view ; it is a living spiritually as well. And if you factor in the possibilities of the internet it is a very good living sometimes. But....never give up. Always keep your soul alive .