Balzer Designs

Adventures in Arting Podcast: Life Changes

On today's podcast I'm talking about two big life changes through the lens of art: moving into a new house and having a baby.

If you do not see the podcast player above, please click on this link.  You can listen to a podcast anywhere and at any time.  It is a recording that is available to you whenever you'd like to listen.  If you'd like to download it to your iTunes library, click here.  You can also pause and rewind or fast forward as you desire.  I like to listen to podcasts while I'm making art.  It's a little like hanging out with friends while you art.  Please subscribe to our podcast in iTunes or wherever you listen and be sure to leave us a review!  Reviews help other people find the podcast.  Thanks so much!

We spend a lot of time on the podcast talking about the gallery wall I'm in the midst of creating in my staircase.  Here are two photos of it coming along slowly:

It's still a work-in-progress, but that's one of the beautiful things about a gallery wall.  It can evolve.

Here are a couple of photos of the powder room I was talking about:

And finally -- as discussed on the podcast -- here is a photo of one of the eaves in my studio -- packed with stuff:

Oh, and in case you ever wondered why we don't film the podcasts, I'm usually in my pajamas looking like this:

 

Thanks for stopping by!

All podcasts are archived here.  Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here.  And if you like the podcast, please leave a review on iTunes!

Studio Bathroom Curtain Makeover

I needed a curtain for the bathroom in the studio.  In a pile of linens, I discovered a single canvas curtain panel with a few holes in it.

I decided that I needed to repair the rips and shorten the curtain (no one wants a curtain dragging on the floor right by the toilet). 

I stitched up the holes...

...and cut and shortened the curtain:

As you can see, I tacked it up to my painting wall and then went to town with spray paint and spray ink:

It didn't feel quite done at this point, so I added some dash lines:

As the white paint dried, it faded into the curtain in some interesting ways that I really liked.  So, I hung it up!

I love the way it turned out!  It adds some color and personality to the bathroom.  You can't tell there are any rips in the curtain.  AND the paint has made the curtain a bit more opaque -- which is ideal for a bathroom!

This was an easy project made from stuff I happened to have around. I love it when that happens!

Thanks for stopping by!

Salley Mavor of Wee Folks Studio

Quilters Connection -- my local quilt guild -- recently hosted fiber artist Salley Mavor for a lecture about her work and career.

It was fascinating.  Her felt illustrations are magical.  I snapped a few photos of the samples she brought with her:

Note the hand, in the photo below, for scale:

This next piece was extraordinary.  Photos do not do it justice!

The beautiful details are simply mind boggling!!

Salley has illustrated many children's books, such as Pocketful of Posies:

And written a how-to book, called Felt Wee Folks:

Most recently, she and her husband -- a photographer -- spent more than a year working on a 13-minute stop animation film featuring her felt creations.  Warning: It is political in nature, so if that's not your thing, skip it:

I found Salley's lecture fascinating.  Her work is beautiful and full of imagination.  The details are immaculate and inspiring.  You can read more about her on her blog and follow her on instagram or facebook.

Thanks for stopping by! 

---

The guild is hosting a fantastic two-day workshop coming up with fiber artist Susan Lenz. This is some of her work:

I think there are two spots left in the class and non-guild members are welcome to sign up. If you live in the Boston area, you might want to check it out.  The website is a bit confusing because there's no way to directly link to the class.  This link goes to the lecture.  Click on the class description and you can read all about it!

Improv Curves: In Progress

A few weeks ago I attended a one-day quilting retreat with the Cambridge Modern Quilt Guild.  It was just a few days after we moved, so I actually packed my bag for the retreat before we even moved!  And it was a good call because I never would have found all my stuff in time to pack.  That said, I kept it simple.  I pretty much packed a sewing machine, a rotary cutter, some rulers, and a big bag of fabric scraps.

In the days leading up to the retreat, I thought about what I wanted to make with that big bag of scraps and I decided that I would work on a quilt that featured improv curves.  I wanted to put some of my curved sewing skills to the test.  These are the blocks I came home with:

I rearranged them a few times:

And then I made more blocks:

I definitely still have some rearranging that needs to be done.  And I'm debating putting some strips in between some of the blocks and possibly going back into some of the blocks to add more variety.  Going to mull it over for a few days.....

Thanks for stopping by!

#Printinktober 29-31 & a Wrap-Up

I'm spectacularly happy that #PrintInktober is over.  It was a tough slog this year.  Some projects are like that.  And that's okay.  But before I get into lessons learned and things I'm thinking about, let's take a look at the last three days of prints.  Below, I'm posting the process video, embedded from instagram (if you get this blog via e-mail you may need to click on the title of the post to view the videos online) and a photo of the finished fabric:

And now, here is a look back at all 31 days of fat quarters:

When you look at them all mushed together like this, I think you can see how one day's experience often influences the next day's fabric.  One of the many benefits of doing a daily project is that your creativity snowballs -- because it has to.  Each day necessarily builds on the last and you have the opportunity revisit a decision you made yesterday and turn it the other way.  Too messy?  Let's go neater.  Too controlled?  Let's push it the other way.  Wrong colors?  Let's try again.  This is the reason I keep coming back to daily project.  Though, I will say, you can often get some of the same benefits from working in a series and/or on multiple pieces at the same time.

As with any project, I think the most important thing is to sit back and think about what you can take away from the experience.  Here's a quick breakdown of what I've learned this month:

• Showing up matters.  I know this.  But I have to constantly relearn and reinforce it.  There were so many -- SO MANY -- days that I did not feel like continuing on with this project.  I was tired.  I was cranky.  My body hurt.  It was late.  I couldn't find my supplies.  The excuses go on and on and on.  But to force myself to do it, I followed one simple rule: Go into the studio and pull out the fabric.  If you don't feel like doing it once the fabric is in front of you, fine.  Walk away.  And you know what?  Every time I actually had the fabric in front of me, I managed to do something with it.  The hardest part is walking into the studio and getting that fabric out.  Once that hurdle has been passed, the rest is easy.
• Ink vs. Paint.  For every single fat quarter I used fabric paint or ink.  I discovered that in general, I much prefer stamping with fabric block printing ink (as opposed to fabric paint).  The prints are cleaner, more colorful, and there is a long open time.  The negative of the block printing ink is that it takes about 48-72 hours for the fabric to dry completely.  Fabric paint is dry in less than 30 minutes.  This influences your ability to layer.  It's a small hurdle, but it can mean slowing down the process or accepting that it may take several days to achieve the look you're going for.
• Scale of Prints.  I know that I've mentioned this before, but scale matters.  Most of the stamps and tools I use tend to be small because I tend to work on smaller project.  A fat quarter is quite a bit of space.  While some of the fat quarters look great in the detail shots, many of them just look bland or forgettable in the further away shots because of the scale of the images.  If I want to do more fabric surface design, I need to work on creating larger stamps and other tools.
• Hand Printing Fabric can be Tedious.  Not a charming thing to say, but it's true.  It takes a lot of prints, a lot of table space, a lot of physical energy (pressing down), and a lot of time to print "just" a fat quarter.  I 100% understand why people sell handprinted fabric for so much money.  It is work.
• Random patterning vs. purposeful.  I feel like I learned a lot about the difference between "random" placement of images vs. registered placement.  Generally speaking, my eye prefers the neatly patterned fat quarters.  As art, they're less interesting.  As an art tool (i.e. something that will be made into an art object), they're more appealing to me.

I still don't have any definite plans for any of these fat quarters, but I'm looking forward to grabbing them from my stash when the muse strikes!

Thanks for stopping by!