Art Makes Me Happy: 2011

Monday, December 5, 2011

I've been wanting to make an advent calendar with match boxes and polymer for a long time. High winds and power outages gave me some much treasure time in my studio. The linear design doesn't lend itself well to photography, so here it is in two pictures. Happy Christmas to all!

Friday, October 21, 2011

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

These totally tubular beads remind me of my mom's empty spools she'd let me play with. And for some reason, I think of my son's favorite manicotti!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Go Big or Go Home

I'm someone who thinks of herself as a production artist, almost a manufacturer. I make pretty little things for my co-op gallery (Lamplight Art Gallery on Main Street in Bountiful, Utah) and I do an occasional arts festival. I don't usually allow myself the chance to dream big about a project. I'd really love to write and illustrate a book for children, but I've always kept my scale small...very small. In fact, when Cynthia Tinapple featured my art on Polymer Clay Daily (a dream of mine for years!) she selected a couple of tiny tins. It's not that I totally lack confidence as an artist. I can at least say the word now. I just wonder if my small approach to art has a deeper psychological meaning. If I keep it small, the chance for failure is small. Now that I'm fifty-ish, I want that to change! The Chuck Close, Seurat, and Eakes inspired pointalistic mosaic I did of my son has over 5,000 tiny dots of clay. And it's big! Then, when preparing for an arts festival, I got an idea for a display of my tiny tins...a mosaic! But when I put it all together, I didn't want to part with it. All the tiny pieces-- none of which are perfect, by the way, design-wise or even craftmanship-wise--fit together in such a way that moved me to try my art on a grander scale. So. I'm putting it in writing. Right here on this blog, for all fifty-four of you to see. I don't know what I'm going to do next, but it's gonna be big!

Monday, August 1, 2011

Monday, July 25, 2011

Yay!!! I made it to Polymer Clay Daily!!!!!!

I'm so tickled. What a thrill. I get up every morning and go to Polymer Clay Daily before I brush my teeth, before I do anything, and to wake up and see my little tins featured...wahoo! It's a good day. Cynthia Tinapple does an amazing job, and it's an honor to be on her blog. I thought I'd better get myself in gear and post some things on Etsy, where my name is Sunshine4u. Check it out. And thank you for checking out my blog!