Taking a short Jewelry Break with a Brick Stitch Fringe Earring Tutorial

While getting ready to start teaching my next online class Bridgette on A for Artistic  I decided to take a quick jewelry break.  I have wanted to learn how to create brick stitch fringe earrings for a long time and noticed that the Beadaholique website had several really good free tutorials.  I learned how to make these earrings while watching a tutorial on their website.  You can see it here http://www.beadaholique.com/t-video-How-To-Make-Brick-Stitch-And-Fringe-Beaded-Earrings.aspx     It was fun and calming to make them.  I'll have to make some more soon!

Its still not too late to sign up and join me in my online class Bridgette on A for Artistic.   I can't wait for it to begin :)   http://www.aforartistic.com/bridgette-with-marla-l-niederer-cloth-doll-artist.html

Bridgette Class

I am eagerly anticipating the start of my new online workshop Bridgette on http://www.aforartistic.com/bridgette-with-marla-l-niederer-cloth-doll-artist.html

I hope you will join me in class!

Bridgette a Tuck Comb inspired Fiber Art Doll: Or settling into the Life of a Full time Artist

There have been very few days that I have not engaged in the creation of Bridgette over the past two months.  This project drew me into the world of Jane Austin as I researched her clothing and her time period.  There were many days that I gathered lemon balm, rose petals, and lavender buds from my gardens to brew a relaxing tea sweetened with honey to drink as I settled into my needlework.  Now that Bridgette is complete it almost feels like when you finish reading the most delicious book that completely draws you into its carefully crafted world.  Now that the story has ended it is time to leave the world the author created behind.  Only this time I am the one who created the world that drew me in!  It reminds me of a humorous quote I saw on Facebook not that long ago.  It stated, “I am an Artist.  This means I live in a perverse fantasy world with unrealistic expectations.  Thank you for understanding.”  When I showed the Facebook post to my husband Bob he just laughed and laughed.  Funny because it’s true.

Bridgette is a cloth needle sculpted ball jointed doll with a face overlay inspired by the Tuck Comb wooden dolls of the past. Watercolors were used for her skin tone and facial coloring.  English Mohair was used to create her stylish hairdo. She is dressed in clothing inspired by Jane Austin’s time. She dons a soft lavender colored cotton batiste empire waist gown with hand embroidered satin floss and glass bead flowers.  Bridgette wears hand crafted high heeled mules, a feather headdress, a pearl choker, and earrings.  I hope you like her.!

 Bridgette will be taught as an online class on A for Artistic.  I will keep you posted on details soon.

Another Week in the life of an Artist

Another week has passed living the life of a full time artist.  I am still trying to find my balance and establish a routine.  A friend of mine mentioned that it may take six months.  I love waking up every day to the knowledge that my day will be spent engaged in my art but it takes enormous self-control not to chase every fleeting artistic fancy that floats across my mind down the rabbit hole while focusing on completing my current project.  I remember reading a post on Facebook not that long ago that compared the artistic mind to having all your browser pages open on your computer at all times. Whoever wrote that comparison hit the nail on the head.

My current project, a tuck comb inspired doll named Bridgette, has kept me immersed within Jane Austin’s time. While watching a show on Netfilx about the  Highclere Castle with my husband Bob, I noticed a beaded face screen by the fireplace on the show.  I had to share with him what it was and why it was used.  Why would I know what a face screen is you may ask?  Well, Mary Ann Tate so kindly shared another Jane Austin website https://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/2009/02/ on which I found information about face screens (just part of my never ending search for the end of the internet).  They were beautiful beaded screens placed between one’s face and the fireplace to protect one’s face from the heat of the fire.  Some say it was to keep the wax make-up from melting off.  During Jane Austin’s time women often huddled up close to the warmth of the fire while engaged in the fine art of needlework.  The thoughts of these women sitting by the fire with needle in hand filter into my mind as I sit in my home engaged in the many hours of intricate needlework I am completing while working on Bridgette’s costume.  I have been using timeless embroidery stitches to create bullion roses, lazy daisies, and fly stitch borders on her dress.  

The life of an artist truly can be bliss!

How to Start Living the Life of a Full Time Artist

I have almost completed my first two weeks living as a full time artist.  I am finding that the first key to success as an artist is establishing a good working routine.  There are pitfalls to working at home without an established studio and I am trying not to get pulled into them.  I try to start each morning with an early morning walk, a green smoothie, and pot of tea.  I check my email, check Facebook, look at pictures of vintage dolls on the net, and then settle in to work on my current doll project.   I am learning that I need to limit my ipad time and not fall into the trap of searching for the end of the internet because I don’t believe the end really exists.   

The current project I am working on is a tuck comb inspired, ball jointed, needle sculpted, cloth doll with a face overlay.  When I am not working on the doll I am immersing myself into her time period.  I watched a movie on Netflix called Mansfield Park put on by PBS based on the book written by Jane Austin.  I assure you it was just for the sole purpose of costume research and the time was well spent because I had cloth and needle in hand during the entire movie.  In my spare time between doll making and sleep I have been reading Mansfield Park and Mummies by Vera Nazarian. As you may have guessed it is a parody on Jane Austin's Mansfield Park.  And during my endless search for the end of the internet I have found this website http://www.janeausten.org   that has everything you might want to know about Jane Austin.

I started working on this doll about 10 months ago while working full time in a demanding job outside of the art field, driving a ridiculous amount between work and home, and trying to keep up with the daily ebbs and flow of life.  I was able to experiment with and create some beautiful ball jointing techniques for this doll during this time period.  Typically I start with the head first but I was so excited about trying to develop different ball jointing techniques that I started with the body.  Unfortunately by the time I got to the head and costume during this time period I was exhausted and out of steam. The first head and beginnings of her costume reflected this and I tossed them into the dead head and dead costume pile.  I redesigned the head to have a more realistic shape and used a cloth overlay to cover that unsightly middle of the face seam often found on needle sculpted cloth doll heads.  I believe she reflects the contentment and balance that I am starting to feel as a result of entering this new phase of life.  Don't you agree?

Transitioning to the Life of a Full Time Artist

I have six weeks of working full time at my day job left before becoming a full time artist. I would like to share with you how things are going through this transition, some of the practical aspects of preparing for this transition, and what I learn through the process.  I truly believe that there is always more than one path to each destination.  I am only sharing the one path I am taking in these articles but keep in mind that there are always different possible paths to take.

First, I’ll share how it’s going as I face the prospect of abject poverty (no full time job, no full time paycheck).   All of a sudden I am starting to smile more often.  My heart is beginning to hear the music again.  I am starting to lose some of that unwanted weight.  An inner calm is beginning to pervade my inner being.  The list of future artistic projects is growing and filling my dreams.  So in a nutshell the transition so far is going well. Keep in mind that I haven't faced the abject poverty yet.

Second, I’ll share some of the practical aspects of how I have been preparing for the transition. The first thing that you need to do to prepare for the transition to full time artist is to never allow your fears to get in the way of facing the challenges you find along your path (you can read more about the 10 lessons learned from a well lived life here http://orsinisangels.blogspot.com/2013/02/in-memory-of-princess-ten-lessons-from.html ).  In preparation for this path I have started teaching online doll making classes a few years ago. I have something that I know I will be working on as I transition and this helps me handle the abject poverty fear.  It’s not that I expect to make a fortune teaching online doll making classes, but I enjoy teaching them a great deal, I believe in sharing techniques and assisting other artists along their way as others have helped me, and I hope that teaching will help pay for some of the art supplies I need to continue to create.   I have been working for the past year on a tuck comb inspired doll that I will teach a new class on called Brigette.  As I mentioned in my last post it is difficult to find the time to create when you exhaust all of your energies in your full time non art field job on top of your other everyday responsibilities.  So the project has moved slower than I would have liked but I have so enjoyed working on her.  One of the challenges of the project was to create cloth doll jointing techniques to imitate the mortise and tenon joints of the antique wooden dolls I fell in love with.  That took more than one try.  I also have a little OCD tendencies when it comes to my art and online classes.  So I created more than one pattern for the doll, more than one undergarment, etc before I was pleased with the outcome. I didn’t like how some of the pictures came out so I also created an additional doll to retake some of the pictures for the class.   I am currently working on her costume and hope to get quite a bit done on her overdress this weekend.  Here are some pictures of her in progress.

Other things that I have been doing to prepare for the transition to full time artist is setting very clear goals and expectations.  My goal is not to make a lot of money as a full time artist.  My goal is to set aside the time to fully immerse myself in my art and develop my art as far as it can go.  I don’t expect to bring in much of an income from my art for several years.  That being said, one needs to eat, one needs to sleep.  My husband and I have been preparing for this transition for quite some time. To prepare for this transition we have lived within our means for a long time and have added ways to keep our expenses down once I make this transition.  We will have our mortgage paid off shortly, our cars are paid for, and we have cut our utilities by adding geothermal and solar to our home. Our credit card balance is paid monthly.   We live in the country with plenty of space to garden.  I have grown many of our vegetables for several years and we are putting in more raised beds to grow more so I can freeze or can some of our food for the winter.  I love gardening and look forward to the time I will have to spend doing this.  I have dried the herbs from my garden for several years already and not only does this cut the cost of buying seasonings but they also taste so much better than the dried spices you buy in the grocery store.  If you don’t expect a lot of income coming in while pursuing your art it helps to minimize your expenses.  So a lot of the preparation has focused on minimizing our costs.

How all of my plans fall into place and what I learn from this I can’t share with you yet but will continue to post updates on this blog to let you know how it goes.  So follow, or check back in from time to time, pour yourself a nice cup of tea, and I will continue to share the story of living the full time artist dream.

P.S., P.S.

I am teaching a class on A for Artistic beginning next week on how to create a Boudoir inspired ball jointed cloth doll called Mistique.  You can learn more about the class and sign up for it if you wish by clicking here.

http://www.aforartistic.com/classes/open-classes/mistique-cloth-ball-jointed-doll-with-marla-niederer.html

How to transition from a full time job to becoming a full time artist

I am in the process of transitioning from working full time with a full time pay check to becoming a full time artist without the full time paycheck.  Jumping into the starving artist realm has always been financially scary for me so I have pretty much always worked full time with my art placed on the back burner.  But as any of you artists out there that have made the same choices by now know, it is really difficult to find the time to create when you have exhausted most of your energy into making a living outside of the art field and keeping up with your other responsibilities in life.   So I finally set aside 51 days last summer to create art every day.  It was wonderful!  I couldn't wait to get up each morning and start my art projects for the day.  Thoughts of my artwork filled every waking moment and filled my dreams as I slept.    I smiled so often my smile grew wider than the Cheshire Cat grin.  My heart sang.  I glowed with inner calm and contentment.  I even lost some unwanted weight.  One of my dolls won the people’s choice award at the Figurative Artist Consortium in Ottawa.  Another one of my dolls won second place in a Doll Street Dreamer’s contest.  I taught an online doll making class on A for Artistic.  Then I went back to work.  I gained back the weight.  My heart doesn’t sing like it did last summer.  My smile isn't as wide as the Cheshire Cat’s grin.  I stopped glowing.   Life is short.  I am fortunate that my husband has always been my number one fan and has always encouraged my growth as an artist.  My husband and I had several conversations and both agreed that it was time to take my art off the back burner and leave the education field earlier than we had originally planned for me to do.   So as of July 1^st this summer I will be a full time artist.  I plan to share with you what works and doesn't work during this transition and first year of living the full time artist dream.    I will share some of the things we have been doing to prepare for this change in a later post.  Until then I am wishing all of you well and hope you are able to find some time to be creative.

 

P.S.  If you are interested in taking my online class Mistique it is starting on May 22^nd and you can sign up for it by clicking on the link below.

http://www.aforartistic.com/mistique-cloth-ball-jointed-doll-with-marla-niederer.html