Ideas for many kinds of projects are always popping into my head. But if it’s an unfamiliar material or process, I am not good at envisioning the outcome or the potential problems. Is this idea even workable? I don’t know…
So sometimes I just – well, I just start!
Surprise – it often doesn’t work out. Complications arise that I didn’t foresee; or the difference between what I’m aiming for and what’s coming together in my hands is unsatisfying or disappointing. Or frustrating! I usually set those aside, which means there are always a few such items sitting around my house. Allow me to show you some of them.
I was given this manikin, and all these beautiful tiny beads. Both appealed to me, so I kept them around and then one day this idea occurred to me. The beads are difficult for me to handle – so small! But so colorful! It is time consuming, too – because each bit has to dry completely before I can move on to the next. But I’m still intrigued…. This project has been stalled for a few months, but I do want to go on with it.
How about weaving? I have scraps of colorful yarn, thread, string, twine, etc., all waiting for inspiration to give them a chance to shine. I came across circle-weaving here, and it looks beautiful! I have one of those round looms used for making tubular yarn garments – hats and scarves. Hmmm, I wondered, thinking of the famous Japanese woodcut of the Great Wave. Here, for your amusement, is the unsatisfactory project so far. This one also is still in the works, and might turn into something interesting.
I’m always interested in finding ways to sequester styrofoam – keep it out of the waste stream, find a way to make it useful. So here’s the latest attempt and I’m quite interested in this so far. This is pure experiment – I had no plan for a final ‘thing’; I just wanted to play with effects. And I do like these effects. Embeding the ribbon in the foam, and carving into the surface to let light through, are both very intriguing.
I hope you find some of my odd notions entertaining, and I also hope that the notion of experimenting with unfamiliar materials or weird ideas is one that lots of folks want to try!
