Life of an Artist

Hello, I am Joanne Bast, beader, felter, knitter and embroiderer, back as your blogger for the month of November. I thought I would discuss a little bit about what it is to be an artist. While there are artists who design and have others produce their work, the members of the Potomac Fiberarts Gallery are individual artists who work for themselves and by themselves, designing and carrying out the creation of our items. We are our own bosses and our only employees.

You may think that working for yourself is liberating. While it does have a certain amount of freedom, it also requires a great deal of self determination. Working at your own pace can easily lead to not working at all. When there is no one but yourself to tell you when and what to do, you must set your own deadlines and have the strength to adhere to them. An individual artist must decide what to make, how and when to make it, how and where to market it, evaluate it and make changes, and keep appropriate tax and inventory records.

Involved in this process is the need to keep up with the chosen artistic medium. Many professions have mandatory continuing education. Artists are again on their own with respect to keeping up with advances in their chosen area. We do this by subscribing to magazines on various techniques and media, by belonging to organizations and/or guilds of artists, by attending more or less formal meetings, retreats, classes or workshops to further our interests and expertises. The Potomac Fiberarts Guild is one organization that allows artists working in various forms of fiber art to meet and learn from each other and from outside teachers. We meet once a month and often bring in nationally known speakers and instructors to present programs and workshops. This year we will have programs on many differing aspects of fiber art.

Back in June, Mickey Kunkle blogged on attending the annual Bead and Button Show in Milwaukee. This is only one of many organizations with national seminars that include classes, lectures, vendors and other experiences. Just this past weekend, I attended a less formal retreat of fiberartists called NeedleArts Adventures in Ocean City, MD. This was a gathering of people interested in creative fiber work where we shared information and critiqued each other's work without designated teachers. I've included some photos of the retreat showing some round table discussions and some working shots. Boy do fiberartists cart a lots of baggage around. As a bonus, I've also included a spectacular sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean. What could be more inspiring? Joanne

Last Bead and Button Post

While many of us who use fiber techniques when we do beadwork, there was an artist and teacher at the Bead and Button Show who uses a loom to create masterworks of beading.  I was fortunate to take a class from Judy Walker in small bead looming.  I loved it and loved her clever "paper clip" loom which eliminates the need for lots and lots of sewing in of warp threads.  Judy had some of her work with her and allowed me to take pictures.  These are amazing pieces.  All of them were done on a traditional bead loom with lots of thread to cope with afterward.  The sizes were about 18" x 24" except for the "rose window" which was about 20" square.  The red rug has 47, 695 beads according to Judy and she should know since she would have picked them up one by one.  This type of beadwork is definitely not for the impatient and faint of heart!

 

You can look for some loomed beadwork in the gallery in the future but not in this size or complexity!  This type of exposure to new ideas and techniques is why many of us go to conferences.

A new "cloth"

There is more than one way to view/ use "cloth". This is a pin that my good friend Irene made in a class she took from Marilyn Moore. I believe that Marilyn started her art journey as a basket maker. I became aware of her work a few years ago at the Smithsonian Craft show--one of the most prestigious in the country. She makes and teaches jewelry and containers using woven metal cloth.

The "cloth" is colored using a torch instead of dyes but after that it is handled the same way as fabric--sewing (wire not thread), shaping (pliers not starch like liquids), etc. By thinking way outside the "fiber" box our members can come up with some very creative ideas of what constitutes "fiber and fiber techniques".



This is a piece of woven metal mesh (very fine weave) colored by gently heating with a creme brûlée type torch. It was then shaped, hemmed and embellished with pearls and crystals. A pretty pin in the making.

Location:Bead and Button Milwaukee WI

More from Bead and Button

I clicked on the wrong button while posting so now I'll try to upload a couple more pictures taken at the show.  this is a picture of an award winning piece of bead work.  It is called off-loom bead weaving when done like this.  Each bead is picked up individually and sewn into the next bead in a pattern (though it can also be done randomly).  Pretty amazing to see.  This is a life size piece

Reminds me of crocheted doilies like my Grandmother used to make.

 

 

This is a vendor who sells the frames (and yarn and beads) to make knitted purses.  This was all the rage around the turn of the last century.  The purses are elegant and not for the faint of heart knitter.  It involves stringing hundred of beads and knitting with very small thread on very thin needles.  But isn't the result worth it.  Gorgeous.

More from Bead and Button

This has been my month to blog and since I was going to be in Milwaukee at the Bead and Button show, I decided to blog about the cross over in media.  It has amazed me that in the seven years, I've attended this show (the largest consumer bead show in the world) that so many of the things a fiber oriented artist is drawn to have appeared at what used to be a mostly bead show.  It was easy to get lots of pictures but I forgot to take pictures of the beads for the most part.