Mosaique

I don't know if this happened to other people.  There is some times where I kind of wake up and want to badly learn something.  It is happening to me right now.  I want to try my had at mosaique.  I don't know why I want to try it.  It kind of appeared out of nowhere.  Of course, I like to look at old mosique.  I find admirable the patience people can have to do intricate floor or wall designs.  It seems much intricte when it is geometrical.  I also wonder how they could do draw with small tiles.  I guess there must be a technique to it.  I am unfamiliar with mosaique, so it is a bit obscure to me.  I vaguely know how it is done.

This is why I would like to take a class or something.  It is always more interesting to have a knowledgeable person beside me to answer my questions when they arise.  Some times, a easy craft can put many questions in my head.    Even if the answer is dumb, it is nice to have an explanation.  There is also some pitfall that can be avoided.  I like listening to the errors that other peoples made.  I am less likely to make them.  At least, it will make me think twice before doing the mistake.

I am looking around for mosaique class.  I also thinking to have a try with a mosaique kit, if it exist.  So, if I end up having a class, I would have some practical question to ask for.  When started something new, the questions arise while doing or when on my own after that.  I am ready to try mosaique to see if I will like it.

Many ways to get high

Getting high can be beneficial to creativity.  Personally, just looking at Picasso or Salvador Dali create an outside the box experience.  It set my mind almost like in a trance, in an altered state.  Those two were original and it show in their arts.  It makes me smiles to get this effect while looking at this kind of art.  Maybe it was the intended effect Dali wanted to induce in people.  Once, someone ask Dali if he was on drugs when doing his art.  He reply that he was the drugs!  I always thought he was witty while saying this.  I guess there was something deeper to his comment!

Not the only experience I got on alternative ways to get high.  Drums and rattles music had put me in a trance one.  I would be glad to repeat the experience.  Long enough (around 15 minutes) was enough for me to start seeing patter other than the monotone drumming and rattling.  As the music was playing, I was moving something like this but a bit faster and shaking a bit more the body: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lUQFT4zVWk   Of course, I am talking about the first part.  We weren't jumping.  Moving combined with drums and rattles was quite an experience.  I even put my hairs loose.

It is my two experiences with getting high wihtout any psychotrope aids.  Some will get their high doing extreme sports or doing anything that look a bit crazy.  There is so many way to get a high now, the choice is ours.  It is not always with the negative effects of drugs.  I know that what I experienced will be useful in my act of creation one day or another.  Maybe it already have a impact and I didn't notice it.  What started to get me thinking is this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2geVAuo1_0
It is about foods that get us high.  I wouldn't say it is foods that we didn't knew get us high because I knew about the poppy seed bagel (thinks Mythbuster!) and the rye bread/ergot that induce hallucination.  I learned the rye bread elsewhere but I dont remember where.  Thinking of it, we can get high on everything, if we want.

Owl and embroidery, mostly small talk

I have done an owl in embroidery.  It is on the same principle than those with the bees except the owl is only in one exemplar.

It was a nice change doing it.  I would like to do something more complicated, a more longer project.  I have the material, I just have to find a design to it.  I think of geographic design.  I don't know if it will look good.  I also want to try cross stiches.  I feel and think that I am ready for that.  I want to try, that's for sure.  My confidence is up by this kind of projects.

For the owl, it is not the only project with one that I have.  I have a latch hook kit.  I have not beginned it yet but I should.  I learned tht as a kid.  I had returned to it but I haven't done it extensively.  Each project was far apart.  As a child, I only had done one project.  I didn't knew where to find onther ones.  Now, it seems to be more available.  It is like woodburning, it seems. 

Owls seems to be popular right now. It had a nice symbolism.  It had a smart connotation.  I am an night owl, feeling more at ease creating in the evening and night.  I find that the expression «night owl» an nice one.  It is not something agressive or  with a derogatory meaning set in an accusion tone.  At the same time, I would like to find a symbolismn that represent me and that have a personal meaning.  I am searching for it and not found it yet.  I didn't have done any active searching and maybe it is time to do so.

One of my favorite myth

I am kind of obsessed with the myth of Hermaphrodite and Salmacis.  I find the song of Genesis on the topic the best retelling of this myth.  Here is the lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/genesis/thefountainofsalmacis.html And here is the audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In2fRySroH8    It is a very old song, I think it date back from the 1970's.  I also like it when a myth become a beautiful piece of music.  This song justify the impact of Greek mythology still have on our modern word.

I like this myth for many reasons.  One of them is being not one of the most popular one.  Whe all heard about the Labyrinth with Thesus and the Minotaur, the Golden Fleece, the 12 labors of Hercules, the Trojan War or Oedipus.  Secondly, it have an appeal that other myth doesn't have.  It is quite different from other myths were there is action and maybe some blood spilled.  This myth isn't about loosing life or the glory of a battlefield.  I consider this myth as a birth: the birth of an human being that is half man and half woman.  In Greek Mythology, birth of various beings is present but it is not all over the place.  Usually, the Greek myths like to depict heroes doing great deed for the benefit of human kind.

Lastly, I find this myth is a poetic explanation for the existence of intersex people.  For a long time, those who are intersex people had been called Hermaphrodites.  The ancient Greek didn't knew what caused a small group of people having both sexes.  They had to create a story for it.  They had the interest in that topic to get down and think about it.  I think it is nice of them.

The Importance of Creativity

Creativity is important.  It is the conclusion I came into.  I never gave much thought into that topic.  With the trigger of a few people, I started to think a bit more deeply about it.  A person told me that people like plumbers had to be creative to work in tight spaces.  Trades like that linked to creativity?  Why people don't think about it?  Is it that basic that people don't bother about that part?  It should be added in what we think about those useful and down to earth technical trades.

People who do speeches too need creativity.  They needed it for their text.  They also needed some creative bounciness.  They may be inspired by their speeches and come on with an iconic phrase.  That makes me think of the Muses.  They were a group of young woman with each her area of expertise.  They inspire and it is nice when the inspiration comes out of nowhere, as if a divine wind or divine thought softly blow in my mind.

Creativity should be left to it's own development.  It should not be denied or push down into the unconscious.  It can be useful in so many way.  It can be therapeuthic, making the mind feel better.  It can be useful in work related field because it can be useful in problem solving.  Can also be useful for those who have to convice people to not do something regretful.  It is always nice to be able to think outside the box.

One drawing, 2 personal touch

It is quite fun to see what can be done with the same drawing.  I used similar colours for the bees but on one, I filled the body and not on the other.  The differences are better seen below.

On one, the flowers are filled and not on the other.  The contour is not the same colour, to differenciate them.  One is pink and the other is green.  The pink contoured one is the first I made.  I didn't thought I would do two little bags with bees and hearts.  The second one was easier and a little bit faster than the first one to make.  I recently made one with an owl on a branch.  I have other ones with othre drawings on it.  I am not in an hurry to do those.

I would like to do something new or a bigger project.  I also would like to try cross stitches.  I just have to find small beginner projects.  Let see if I will like it.

Head Gear

The baseball cap above had took a long time to make, longer than I thought.  I wanted to do some gemstone.  Not totally what I expected but it is close enough.  Not too bad for a first time.  If I make another one, there is a few things that I would do differently.  I would do the exterior lines before filling in.  I didn't do that the first time because I didn't really thought of it.

Below, I tried to do two arrowhead.  At first, I wanted to do just one.  I didn't do the drawing at the right place, so I had enough room for a second one.  Quickly looking at it, it look like the play buttom.  Not the first time I will get laugh at with a design.  Once, I made a ring.  On it, I made an wolf that finnally look more like a polar bear with a tail.

I would not consider these failure.  It was the firt time that I made those.  It was closed to what I was thinking.  It is nice to get the results close to what I had in mind.  Of course, I learned a few things that I won't repeat in a next try.  For sure, doing the contour is a very good idea.  It is easier to fill in after.   It is easier too to have a good drawing to start with too.  I am tempted to do other projects like this.  I would get better with more practice.  It is encouraging when there is room in getting better.

It been a while since the last fail

I don't know if I am in a lucky crafter period but it had been a while since the last fail.  I just had one and it was an experiment.  I took some soaps and put them in water, thinking it would become good liquid soap.  Well, here is the result and it is not what I exactly expected:

 As seen about, it seems to start well.  It look good from the exterior.  It change a bit when it is stirred as seen below.  It is a bit slimey and there are still some chunk of soap.

I now think to put the stick blender there.  I have a stick blender reserved for soap making, so, no disastrous result with that.  I also think to look at the internet, to see if I had done that properly and if there are ways to recuperate the soap.  Don't mind if it stay liquid.

Public Transit

Public transit is great for the creative mind.  I can read, wirte, brainstorm, wool gathering for future brainstorm session, get inspired by what people are wearing.  Inspiration is always welcomed.  It can be a good place to do so.  Just looking at people, it can be turned into chracters.  I don't do drawing but I think that drawing students must always have a sketch book with them.  Personnally, I am always on the look out for jewelry.  I don't want to take them.  Just to see what I like and don't like on others.  It can trigger an better idea.

What I like less is about the place.  A place to sit to write, to take notes, isn't always available.  It is not always easy to take notes while standing.  It still to be worked on to be more creative friendly.  I don't want to infringe on other people personal space while writing and reading.  The other point is that I can't do all sort of crafting,  It is limited.  Beside reading, writing, brainstorming and for inspiration, I haven't done other crafts.  Some are impossible to do in a bus or the subway train.  No plug for woodburning.  I saw some people knitting but I haven't try it for myself.  I use lot of big ball of yarn and it is not easy to bring it with me outside.

So, the public transit is great for introspection, inspiration and brainstorming.  I like using this place for those reasons.

Creative wasteland or living in a creative desert

There are places where there is a proverty and lack of a grocery store.  It is outrageous in itself but it can be apply to the creative field.  For a creative person, a craft store is like a grocery store.  Both are important and are like breathing air.  Both are necessary for a creator.  It is a question of keeping a balance between basic survival and creating.  Creating is therapeutic.  The need of creating can become an unescapable urge.

So, I live in a creative wasteland.  There is no close craft store.  No real pieces of art around me.  I don't count the ugly wheel nearby.  It is more a hindrance.  I talk against it in the past and I won't change my mind about it.  It is a question of time before an ill advised person goes play in it for ending it's own life.  More playfully, I wonder if it will go Indiana Jones in free styling.

I think there is a few organisms that have some kind of creative programs.  It isn't well know or well advertised.  I don't think I know them all, if I know it.  I know that one in particuliar isn't attacting to me by the way it work.  It is not something I search for.  What I want is simple: a craft store that is nearer and a place where I could go to sit down and do the crafting.  I need a block of time to sit down and do something creative.  I don't ask much.  If I can learn something new is better.   No string attached.

Eat and crafting must be a right.  A right to do it or not, as we all please.

An original way of getting an idea

Most of my most promising and brillant ideas comes from the shower or dreams.  I am used to get ideas that way and it is fine with me.  I thought it was the two best ways to find ideas.  The rest was marginal ways to get ideas.  I was wrong.  The shower and dreams are still valid ways to get ideas.  I just got an experience that got me reevaluate the ways to get ideas

I got my revelation (well, my idea in fact) while I was reading a book.  It is on Atlantis (https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/atlantis-and-other-lost-worlds/9781784040901-item.html?ikwid=Atlantis+and+other+lost+worlds&ikwsec=Books&ikwidx=0)  I really read a lot of various books and this book is no exception.  I do have some issue with the book but I better stay on topic.  So, I read this book on Atlantis.  I came to a passage on crystal technology.  Immediately, I got the idea.

I have a story where I have magic and technology.  Right now, they aren't going well together.  There is a plot line where it will revealed that a technological character had a magical past.  The character had an accident and had to go on the techie side.  Eventually, I want that character to become an techno mage.  The way for her to becone one wasn't really set up.

 After reading the crystal passge, I got my answer and the way to get where I want.  My main character is on the magical side ahd she is in the rare category of an crystal user.  As some gemstones are used in technological device, she will be the bridge between magic and technology.  Both will no longer backfire when coming into contact, well, mainly for the techno mage.  I have to work out the details but the main idea is there.  For sure, my techno mages won't ve totally all powerful.  They will have some limits.

I now want to return to that story.  I have to take some notes but I still work on that story on an unconscious level.  I hope to be able to return on that realm soon...

Candle Making Again

I am returning to candle making.  It is only for a project for someone else.  I didn't expected to do candles again now.  I thought I would do it farther in the future.  It isn't the first time that I return to a craft.  It is just that this time, I feel the period between last time and now is quite short.  It is the impression that I have.  It feel like yesterday that I was doing some candles.

I will have to get my material out again.  I haven't used it since last time I made candles.  I think it was three to four years ago that was the last time I had done candles.  It will be a simple task this time.  There won't be any colour.  My biggest dilemma will be if I will put some scent in it or not.  I didn't really missed doing candles.  Strangely, I don't really like making candles for myself.  It is  what I discovered when I started doing them.  What I really miss doing is the candles maded from wax sheets.  It was fun to make.  I didn't made much and I don't remember if it smelled good.  I have to test it again.

I don't know how much it will take to make the whole project.  It is one of the thing that I don't remember from last time I had done it.  I just hope there won't be any problem.  It is not always fun to be in a problem solving mode while being in the heat of crafting.  It is particularly true while dealing with melted wax.  The wax have to be kept under watchful eyes while under heat.  Once the time had come to pour them in the various container, it must be done quickly before it start to cool down.  Spills tend to go cold quite quickly.  I think I will put a good period of time for that project.  I don't want to have bad surprise.

Tye dyes and results

Finally, I experimented with tye dyes on t-shirts.  Above is the first best result I had.  I like the final products.  Just above, an interesting result.  It ain't bad.  I think it was a good idea to add the blue to the pink.  There is also small area that look a bit orangish but the t-shirt have a nice look.

This one above was fun to make but it was the longest to make of the bunch.  I wrapped pieces of the t-shirt with rubber band (the pink spots) and put the dye.  I had to take two color of green and I find the result fine.  It look like flowers on a patch of green.  I thought it would be worst than currently is.  Sometimes, when not expecting a favorable result have surprising better result than thought!

This one is the faulty one of the bunch (my opinion anyway).  I wanted to do a 3 colored t-shirt.  I missed up with the dye.  The child wearing it is happy with the result so, I guess I can say it was my first try with the dye.  Next time I will do this kind of design, I will take a old or cheap rolling pin to roll the t-shirt on.  For this one, I took the cardboard of a scott towel roll.  The cardboard had soaked up the watery content and was mushy at the end of the process.  I guess I can put the error on that cardboard.

Another error I made was not washing the t-shirt first hand and applying the dye directly on the t-shirt.  I won't repeat that error and next time, I will try on wet t-shirts!  A precaution I would add to the steps to do: put also protection on the floor!   So, now, I feel that I have a better knowledge in doing tye dyes t-shirts!

Evidences in the creative field

Last night, I discovered that embroidery is better done during the day.  Natural light seems to be easier on the eyes than crude artificial light.  Maybe my lighting isn't the best but I have to go with what I have.  I don't really invest in the halogen lamps used for crafting.  It would be more a hindrance than anything else.  I don't really have a fixed working area.  I have a few area where I have projects, finished or not.  Having the lamp wouldn't help me.  I would have to set a place for the light too.  So, embroidery won't be an evening activity.

Another evidence I discovered over the weekend, is patience and time.  Patience is a vertue, as the saying goes.  I had done some projects that involved some patience.  I thought doing those projects would be completed a bit faster.  It was not the case.  I have to better evaluate time for each kind of projects.  I would be more fatal is it were in a professional setting.  I am not a professional artist but if I were, I would have deadline to meet.  If I would have a commission, I would have to know how to set my own deadline.  I will have to explore that further on.

Last evidence: working on something that demand a lot of details and concentration doesn't do well with a headhache.  Both in the same time does not have good result.  The projects seems to go even more slowly. I even questionned myself if I should stop and take a rest from creativity.  My body was doing fine except the head.  I wonder if there is a art that can alleviate the effects of headache.  It would be something to look for and do some experimentation.