Friday, January 30, 2009

Playlist

I don't know how it is for other artists. Some people like to work in silence. I am not one of those people...music goes hand-in-hand with working for me. Some times I like the music to have more of a background effect while I focus on my work, sometimes I like fast and furious, sometimes quiet and introspective.

On rotation now:

The Killers -Spaceman
MGMT -any, but especially Kids
Kanye -really loving 808s & Heartbreak
The Raconteurs -Rich Kid Blues
Röyksopp -Poor Leno
Wilco -The Late Greats
The Bevis Frond -Heritage Coast
...and I'm currently having a college flashback Peter Murphy obsession...must be a cold winter thing. :^)

Monday, January 26, 2009

A Good Read



Reading -one of life's great enjoyments. Every month or so a thin paperback catalog appears in my mailbox and tempts me for weeks.....once in a while I break down and place an order, often for my children, but sometimes for me or my husband. I love Daedalus Books.

Who can resist books titled Eat Thy Neighbor: A History of Cannibalism for only $5.98? For lovers of art and design there is The Design Encyclopedia 130 years in design history...much of which is from the MoMA collection. A fantastic deal for only $19.98. There are books in almost every genre, for every age and interest. They also have DVDs and CDs. Check out their clearance section to find Candyfreak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America only $1.98.

Now I'm off to page through my new catalog that came today.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Kanye ON my laptop


Kanye ON my laptop
Originally uploaded by Lynn_EL/UnaOdd

I turn around and he's sitting on my laptop. He likes it there, it's warm, it's under my work lamp, and the sun shines in.......it's a battle.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Simple Padded Envelope Tutorial

This is going to be a simple tutorial on making protective mailing envelopes for your jewelry, or other small art pieces.

You will need thin foam sheets, coin envelopes of the size desired, and double-sided tape. For the foam sheets you can cut up foam shipping inserts, or foam insulation sheeting from your local hardware store.

Place a strip of double-sided tape on one side of each piece of foam. Place the foam pieces together, tape sides out and remove the protective layer from the tape.

Slide the double-sided taped foam into the coin envelope.

The envelope with foam inserts firmly taped in place.

I do simple marker sketches on my envelopes. Every envelope is hand-drawn and so fun to do! I also use a simple circle punch, pretty colored paper, a silvery marker, and a xyron sticker maker to make simple stickers to seal the envelope. It's always nice to thank your buyer!

Add a sticker to seal and you're all ready to ship! Your own envelopes can be decorated with your choice of personal embellishments. Stickers, rubber-stamps, business cards, hang tags.....have fun and make it your own!

Finished




Paint is added to the back impressed branching details. The front is poured with a high build resin. In future pieces I would like to fine-tune the hole size.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Sunday, January 11, 2009

New Year New Technique

So I've been waiting for inspiration to hit me. After a weekend where I accomplished not very much I was starting to feel a bit depressed. I've been a little polyclayed out as the technique I use is very labor intensive and has a long turn-around time. A variation on my technique came to me today and I'm very excited to try it out. Once I've gotten a few samples made I'll post some pics.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

New Beginning



Originally uploaded by Lynn_EL/UnaOdd

Starting Fresh

I had a blog. My blog was sad. I deleted my sad blog.

This is the start of a new year and having new hope I am starting over.

I am an artist who is trying my best to capture and transmit the sights and ideas that interest me. I have a deep love of nature, pattern, color, life, shape, structure and growth. For many years I channeled that interest into my garden, doing a small amount of art and photography for largely personal enjoyment. Through trial and error and much experimentation I started working with polymer clay and resin. I found people responding to my work and felt connections being made. Having always been a very private and somewhat reclusive person, these connections were very exciting and gratifying and I decided to make the jump into selling my work.

For many years I did local craft shows and consignment, living a sort of nomadic show-going life. It was a lot of fun and hard work and was just starting to get really busy when we decided to start a family. Not wishing to deal with the unknown hazards of art materials combined with pregnancy, I gave up my work in 1998. I focused my time and energy on my family and garden, but always missed my artwork. Just recently, with the youngest starting school, I found myself wanting to pick up where I had left off.

I decided to jump in, and opened my Etsy shop UnaOdd.