blog – Page 46 – ann wood handmade

botanical workshop at squam art retreat

June 11, 2015

by annwood

I got back from Squam on Sunday – tired to the bone, happy and satisfied. It was such a good time – 4 days in the spectacular New Hampshire forest making toadstools and seedpods. And it really feels like summer camp, a bell rings for meals 3 times a day, the cabins are rustic and charming and have lovely fireplaces that are magically filled with logs when you’re not looking. The nights were cold and the days were warm – the perfect climate for me. I caught up with old friends, made new friends, expanded as a teacher and came home inspired and full of ideas.

The student work was fantastic.

Thanks to lovely Christine Chitnis for the photos below and checkout lots more in her beautiful Squam post – you get a real sense of the place and the experience.

my big creative year : daily practice

June 8, 2015

by annwood

The hard thing about a daily practice is that it’s daily. And days and weeks are guaranteedto be weird sometimes. But I think committing to a daily practice – even a very small one – is valuable and fruitful. My practice is to experiment – to do something each day, on paper, to meander, and wander my imagination and try stuff that is entirely separate from the busyness and work of the day.

I chose to work on paper because it’s something I miss – making marks on paper – and I chose to keep it small ( 4.5 inch squares) to keep it do-able – especially in weeks where I’m overwhelmed and / or traveling. I share it here every Saturday and that adds some pressure but I think it’s pressure I need.

Some sketchbook favorites:

Last week showing up for it was particularly hard. If I was going to bail, take a vacation from it, let myself off the hook, last week would have been the week. I’m so glad I didn’t – I took James Clear’s advice again – reduce the scope and stick to the schedule. I didn’t have my full array of tools but I had a little paint and pencils and my little squares and they came with me to Squam. I got up a little extra early each day and spent time with my experiment before class started. I’m so glad that I did.

I don’t think it matters as much what I do as it does that I do it. It matters very much that I find a small part of each day that is personal and expressive and my own. It should be a priority.

sketchbook : week 16

June 6, 2015

by annwood

Week 16 in my yearlong sketchbook practice. Maintaing my sketchbook practice felt like a big deal this week, it felt like it might be impossible. I’m teaching at Squam Art Workshops and the days here and the prep and travel days are very full. But I found the time, little bits of time, and I’m so glad I did – this habit and commitment is bringing me good things.

my big creative year : books that have mattered

June 1, 2015

by annwood

There have been books that have stayed with me, books that inspire me and make me curious, books I just love looking at- over and over again. I’ve chosen a few of those to share with you.

The first is by photographer Arthur Tress, Fish Tank Sonata. Flea market treasures – knickknacks – arranged in a fish-tank and photographed. I love his others too (Teapot Opera especially).

Next is The Grosset Treasury of Fairytails illustrated by Tadasu Izawa and Shigemi Hijikata. It’s a 3-D puppet book- one of many created by this team in Japan in the 70’s. They were magic for me then and they still are today.
Shadow Theaters and Shadow Films Is a stunningly illustrated instructional book by the master shadow puppeteer Lotte Reiniger. The scenes are magical and every composition is brilliant. You can find some of her shadow films on youtube – I love the scratchy worbly soundtracks.

The last two were gifts that I loved :

Julie Taymor – Playing With Fire by Eileen Blumenthal. It’s a huge book that chronicles the the history and work of artist and directorJulie Taymor – her beginnings, her process and sketches – a window into her thinking – her imagination is giant and her thinking is rigorous. I refer to this book regularly – especially when my thinking feels lazy.

Joseph Cornell: Shadowplay Eterniday – Essays by Lynda Roscoe Hartigan and Richard Vine. I love Cornell and his dreamlike, melancholy, poetic boxes, those precious objects and little worlds. This is another giant book with images of more than seventy-five boxes and collages, as well as images of the fascinating source material, his treasures.

sketchbook : week 15

May 30, 2015

by annwood

Week 15 in my yearlong sketchbook practice. The small scale of these was a good choice for me ( they are 4.5 inch squares). It has kept the task managagable – it feels reasonably do-able most of the time. But it has also made me crave something bigger in scale and more time to be thoughtful and time to experiment. I’m curious what that would feel like – curious and intimidated.

made by you

May 27, 2015

by annwood

made from ann wood handmade craft patterns

I’ve put together a little collection of things made from my patterns – I love seeing these – beautiful work and tons of imagination. Thanks for sharing your photos!

A dear lamb by Evie Barrow.

A fantastic boat by Alla (this boat is made from my free boat pattern).

The paper mache ships below are by Val – she used chalk paint – I love the pale, matte colors.

An owl family! So many wonderful details – they are by Mama with a Needle and Thread.

A magnificent paper mache ship by Kileen.

sketchbook : week 14

May 23, 2015

by annwood

Week 14 in my yearlong sketchbook practice and a brief public service announcement:

In observance of Memorial Day I’m taking a break from the my blog routine and there will not be a Big Creative Year post. I hope if Monday is a holdiay for you it’s lovely,

onward,

ann

my big creative year : the one task method

May 18, 2015

by annwood

At any given moment I have a lot of things started. I bounce around working on something for a bit and then move to something else. It is rare for me to start something and stay with it without interruption until it is complete.

And even if something is nearly done there might be some small detail avoided in a moment when something else felt more urgent. More and more things end up in the land of almost done and lots of little details, like stitching fox paws, add up to a day or more of work that I’m not really factoring in. I’m nickel and diming myself to death in the time department.

For the last couple weeks, just to see what would happen, I’ve been picking one thing, one project or task and staying with it until it’s done. I check it off the list, clean up the mess and start the next thing. I started with low hanging fruit to get the ball rolling – little projects or orders that were just about done. The choice always feels uncomfortable, feels counter intuitive when so much needs to move forward and it’s hard to get all the other stuff out of my head and focus – but I settle down after a little while and I found lots of benefits to working this way:

* It busts right through unrealistic expectations and wishful thinking – I get a much better sense of how long things really take.

* Crossing stuff of the list feels good, finishing feels good – it puts energy back in the bank – loose ends are distracting and draining.

* It forces me to do some important things I avoid by burying myself in busyness – prioritizing, making choices and planning realistically.

* There is no ambiguity at the end of the day – progress or lack of it is very clear.

* Individual projects get more forward momentum – I’m less inclined to linger unnecessarily in choices and possibilities and I’m more inclined to work through problems efficiently since I can’t escape into another task, it creates a kind of resolve – it’s your birthday owl – today is the day, not tomorrow, not next week, today.

sketchbook : week 13

May 16, 2015

by annwood

Week 13 in my yearlong sketchbook practice.

It’s odd, and interesting to me, what my brain churns up in these little daily exercises – this week’s themes seem to be domestic and dark.

on my work table

May 14, 2015

by annwood

I’m working on a bunch of things all at once that I hope I can show you finished next week. That’s the plan anyway – for the last ten days or so I’ve been working differently (p.s. still standing up) and it is having a magical effect…. I’ll tell you all about it on Monday. For now here’s a bit of what I’m working on:

A dastardly indigo fellow made from my most treasured pieces from Sri Threads. I love all the mending, the other hands and the layering and textures – so owly.

And ships and boats and little passengers – spring is always for building ships. I finished a large ship and owl and photographed them earlier this week – it’s been lingering here captainless and almost done for weeks. A note on photographing ships and boats – they move. They have sails so they twirl constantly – to help them be still for a sharp photo I tie a spool of thread to the stern and / or the bow and then use the spool to position them at the angle I want and anchor them – the thread is easy to get rid of in a photo editor like iphoto with the touch up tool.

Pattern notes if you would like to make your own ships:

The template and pattern for all the ships is here ( I sligtly altered the side template of the large ship for this one – it’s easy to do).

And the owl captain pattern is here.

sketchbook : week 12

May 9, 2015

by annwood

Week 12 in my yearlong sketchbook practice. I usually listen to music ( I have middle aged lady solo dance parties all the time) or podcasts while I work but I’ve gotten into the habit of listening to a sound machine app when I do my sketchbook work. And always the same sound – wind in the pines. I find it peacefull and soothing in general and it helps me settle into sketchbook brain more quickly – it’s become an important part ot the ritual.

brutus magazine and my mother’s dresses

May 7, 2015

by annwood

You may recall some months ago I was in a frenzy getting ready for a magazine shoot here. I am very, very pleased and excited to be included in Brutus Magazine’s New York Makers feature. Brutus is a Japanese culture magazine – it is always exquisite. It was shot by Yoko Takahashi and written by David G. Imber and Mika Yoshida – who made this happen for me – I’m truly grateful.

Seeing my Mother’s sewing machine in the feature made me think about what a long and interesting life it has had and how much she would have loved that. If you had known my Mother you would understand exactly where all those little birds came from. She collected fabric for me – before I knew I wanted it – and I saved many of her dresses and scrap bags and still sew from them ( she had excellent taste). In honor of Mother’s day I put together a little collection of some of things I have made over the last nine years or so from my Mother’s dresses.