For the Love of Art.

One of the things I love about being a seller of fine craft is the association with and exposure to other artists and their magnificent creations.  I truly enjoy seeing the work people create --  beautiful vessels containing their love, passion, energy, time and resources.  It never fails to humble me to walk the aisles of a really good show.

I think that's because no one 

(in their right mind) 

goes into art or craft to get rich.

People are much more likely to end up there because it is where their heart has taken them (which shows in their work).  And that's worth much more than money, really.  

And to those who understand the value of handmade and feel its pull, but approach it as appeciator rather than creator, we need you and we thank you.  From the bottom of our hearts.

Susan M. Hinckley
Small Works in Wool

Keeping it Real.

When looking for ideas for one's art, it isn't necessary to look very far from wherever you happen to find yourself.

 Moon talk by a poet 

who has not been to the moon 

is likely to be dull.

-- Mark Twain

Having been educated as a writer, I've had it drilled into my head ad nauseum that good writers write about what they know.  As a young college student, I found it difficult to restrict myself to my own rather limited 18-20 years of life experience.  And now, as a ...*ahem...slightly older writer, it is clear to me that my youthful writing truly suffered as a result.

That's why my art is, by and large, the stuff of everyday.  Because I want it to be true.  If I can't make it true,  I can't expect it to resonate with the people who engage with it.  Keeping it real in some way offers  an easy-to-grab handle they can use to pull themselves into my creations, whether written or stitched.

It's a lesson I'm glad to have learned,  
and one I wish I'd understood the value of much sooner.

Susan M. Hinckley
Small Works in Wool

And now . . . a bit of fun.

People say an awful lot of smart-sounding stuff about art.

And I'll admit that quite often, the smartest-sounding stuff makes me want to just scratch my head and say, "Huh?"

That's why I was absolutely delighted the day I stumbled across PIXMAVEN,
a handy-dandy tool that can make even the least sophisticated among us sound like true art professionals.

One merely types in any five digit number, and the phrase generator spits out a "pithy commentary or savvy insight"... capable of... "confounding friends and colleagues"... and..."dumbfounding professors and artists emeriti."

From a previous zip code, I got this:

"Although I am not a painter, I think that the subaqueous qualities of the figurative-narrative line-space matrix contextualize the inherent overspecificity."

How many times have I wished I said that?

Probably time to redo the old artist's statement.

Susan M. Hinckley
Small Works in Wool

Just a friendly reminder.

Having been without the use of my left arm/hand for the past two weeks, I have been reminded of how perfectly splendid it is to have two hands, both in working order.

I missed my beloved left hand for too many reasons to count.

Of course, there were all the expected things, like eating, writing, and flossing my teeth.  But I was a bit surprised by how cut-off I felt from my creative side as a result of not being able to use my hands.

All I could do was peck away at my keyboard with my index finger, one letter at a time, and while it saved my sanity to be able to do so, I quickly realized that I like holding materials in my hands and feeling the process as something tangible and useful or beautiful emerges.

Frank Lloyd Wright said:

If it keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs 

but the push-button finger.

And as I look around at the way people employ their hands most of the time these days, I am inclined to agree.  That's why, at least for the next while, I'm going to try to remember every day why I create in the first place, and how it feels --  the beautiful process and privilege of making with my hands.

Susan M. Hinckley
Small Works in Wool

Of Pencils and Possibilities

There's always a lot of noise in the art world about the definition of art, and who deserves to wear the Artist title and who doesn't -- admittedly a gray area. And it's a title I've been very reluctant to take for myself.

Most of the reluctance stems from the fact that I can't draw well. Even as a 4th grader that was painfully clear. It kept me from entertaining any thoughts of going to art school. And even though I know that drawing is a skill that can be taught (and that there's so much more to art than drawing), so firmly had I affixed the label "non-artist" to myself that it superseded my knowledge of those facts.

So I came to art via a long and winding path on which I studiously avoided picking up a pencil whenever I could. However, this year I decided to face my drawing demons and took on a 365 day Creativity Challenge to do a drawing every day for a year. It took me two years to work up to even thinking I could possibly do it (and so far I remain truly draw-o-phobic.)

So I count it as a great victory that this week I bought a case for my pencils and erasers. Sure, it was only 69 cents, but that was 69 cents I wouldn't have invested in drawing 3 months ago. It has polka dots! So I couldn't resist it . . .and it represents a step.

day 46 of the drawing challenge

I will never be able to draw with photo-realism. I don't even want to. I mostly just hope to improve my ability to see, and increase my artistic self-esteem by slaying the drawing dragon.

I know that practice does not make perfect. But I am also learning that practice does introduce possibilities.

And in art, it's the pursuit of the possibility that keeps us creating.

Susan M. Hinckley
Small Works in Wool

A Larger Net

Hunt

a larger net is not always

the answer, sometimes you must look

at what you already have, see

what's around you, pick

through everything, catch

and watch for a glint, a glimmer

a gleam that could be

used, re-used, made new, applied

combined, re-worked, colored

with an old notion or a new

brush, buffed, polished, put

up to the sun to see

what an idea looks like

-- smh

  
Susan M. Hinckley
Small Works in Wool

Do you have a garage sale mentality when selling your work?

Do you have the garage sale mentality when selling your work?

By Barbara Harms 

We just had a garage sale. That is a lot of work to be sure. Yet, it's fun too.

But the one part I dislike, is when a person comes up holding a brand new item with the tags still hanging on it, marked $85.00, that I've marked down to $2., and they say," will you take .50 cents for this?"

Now, I like a bargain as much as anyone else. Garage sales are my recreation.

But when I hear, " Will you take .50 cents for this?", I usually think,
" Look at this brand name, look at the tags, with the price I paid for it still hanging and viable, on the attached tags, it's never been worn or used and you want to pay 50 cents? You'd pay much more for it at Goodwill! Are you out of your mind?".

The really strange thing is, I will often accept this low price request. I'll bet you do too.
It's that garage sale mentality.

I got to thinking though. Do we do the same thing when pricing our work?

If some other sellers are selling their items for less than it cost to make them, we may feel that to be competitive, we must have similar prices. "Would you take .50 cents for this?"

It is pressure, no doubt about it. If you're just starting out, naturally you can't expect to charge the same as an artist with a well earned reputation and a huge following would.

But if you're giving your work away, what are message are you sending? Valueless
People expect to pay little for valueless junk, is that how you perceive your work? Certainly not.

Walk onto a car lot and if you see a Porsche priced dirt cheap, what's the first thought that runs through your mind? Isn't it,"What's wrong with it?" There has to be something wrong at this low price".

Place value on your work and others will too.

Appreciation Crumbs

Sometimes as an artist it is hard to know

whether you are really reaching your audience.

Long days spent isolated in the studio can translate into all kinds of self-doubt:

Will anyone understand what I'm trying to say?

Is what I'm doing worthwhile?

Would anyone ever want to buy this?

DOES ANYBODY OUT THERE EVEN CARE?!


That's why I try to leave feedback for people when I come in contact with their work. I know that when I do shows, the people who take the time to sign my book or leave a comment value what I do, even if they can't afford to take it home and/or have no space in their lives for a long-term relationship.

Which I understand because I'm also poor and my walls are full.

But art nourishes my soul

so I am careful to take 
the time to say "thank you."

Just leave a comment when you see something you like, or something that you feel the artist should continue to explore. One of the most helpful comments I ever received was from a woman who told me a particular piece "had legs." I knew I had an idea that meant something and so I worked on pushing that idea as far as it could go. (And the woman has become a very supportive friend and collector.)

It only takes a second to mark a "favorite" on an Etsy shop, or say "well done, and I especially liked that --" on a blog post.

It's the least we can do for our like-minded art loving friends who spend so much time and energy putting beauty into the world.

Just leave a little trail of appreciation crumbs as you make your way around the web -- it's sure to lead someone back to your own world and work, and you may find a kindred spirit (or even an occasional sale?!)

At the very least, you'll be giving an artist

the encouragement they need to keep on creating.

Susan M. Hinckley
Small Works in Wool

SPRING INTO ACTION-GET MOTIVATED!

Spring Into Action-Get Inspired!

Posted by Barbara Harms http://etsy@msn/shop/AsianArtAndQuilts/

Spring has come late to Oregon this year, where I live. It’s been a wetter and colder than usual winter. But the garden is starting to awaken from the long winter. And are we too. People are outside now, walking the dog, in the park with the kids & mowing the grass..

What does this have to do with fiber art you may ask? Inspiration of course! Even if landscapes or flowers aren’t the subject matter of items you make or sell, we need to awaken, just like the little plants need to waken after a long cold winter.

Spring has the power to stir us to more activity, to get us up and moving and doing. Now that has a big impact on our work, from creating more products, to working harder than ever to make your shop or website better & more productive. To try to implement all those great suggestions for new improvements & methods to sell yourself and your work more effectively.

Contrary to the old movie line, “If you build it, they will come", nope just not true. We’ve got to make it happen, make ourselves known, improve our business, market more effectively.. then they’ll come. Hard work, but wonderful, beautiful, renewing, spring gets us up off those couches and ready for action! So enjoy a little of what spring offers us and be inspired to be better than ever!

If you'd like to see more, check out my this post on my blog "A Walk In the Spring Garden" at
http://asianartandquilts.com/

I'll Give You Fifteen Good Reasons.

 

You don't have to think 

very hard at all 

to come up with 15 good reasons 

to buy handmade:

1.  You're helping the economy.  Most craftspeople are small business owners who can really use your support.  And if you buy at a local show, you're keeping the money close to home.

2.  It's good for the environment.  Many hand-produced goods are made using green methods and/or materials.  And there's no impact from fuel burned in shipping long distances.

3.  There's a human connection.  The kind you won't find at Walmart. It's a very different feeling when you pick up something that was made with care by a pair of human hands.  

4.  The item tells a story.  Either in the item itself or in the hands that created it, there's often more than meets the eye.

5.  It's personal.  An item that you've picked specifically for someone, or had created just for them, is a more intimate gift than a gift card can ever be.

6.  It's unique.  No two hand-crafted items can ever be exactly alike.  That's the point of handmade!

7.  It can be inspiring.  Seeing a well-crafted object might inspire you to look at your own scrap bag/wood pile/free time in new and exciting ways.

8.  You're helping someone else.  Buying handmade gives an artist the opportunity to continue doing the work they love, and helps them make a living using their skills.

9.  You spread the word.  Buying and giving handmade is a great way to spread the gospel of hand-crafted.  

10.  There's a potential heirloom. When you commission a piece to commemorate a specific occasion, a handmade item will carry the story you want to tell down through the generations.

11.  It's interesting.  In addition to enjoying your hand-crafted object, there's always plenty to learn about the person who made it, and the materials and techniques that were used in its creation.

12.  It's fun.  Shopping at craft fairs or browsing online is a great way to fill your hours with eye candy.

13.  Your item is well-crafted.  The kinds of people who create beautiful objects are the kinds of people who derive joy from the process.  Your item is likely to be made to last.

14.  It'll give you a good feeling.  For all the reasons listed above and many more, you'll feel good when you buy and give handmade.  It's the right thing to do.

15.  It's easy!  Etsy makes it easy to find thousands of hand-crafted items from the comfort of your own home.  Never before in history has there been such easy access to all-things-handmade . . . 

What are you waiting for?!

Susan M. Hinckley

Small Works in Wool

Creativity, Freeing That Angel from the Marble

A Few Thoughts On Creativity

posted by Barbara Harms

l

cre·a·tiv·i·tyxd

[kree-ey-tiv-i-tee, kree-uh-]

–noun
1. the state or quality of being creative
2. the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination: the need for creativity in modern industry; creativity in the performing arts.

Some synonyms include imagination, inspiration, vision and originality.

Inspiration? Vision? Progressiveness? No wonder we put a high value on this quality. As a society we certainly view creativity as a key element to achieving successful work. Therefore, I found all these little tid bits about this trait interesting.  I hope you do as well.


According to this headline from Newsweek we have a creativity crisis here in the United States:
“The Creativity Crisis: For the first time, research shows that American creativity is declining. What went wrong?—and how we can fix it.?”

We can take zillions of creativity tests online [Hint-if it takes a test to determine, you're probably not].

Multitudes of articles, books and seminars are out there, all designed to help increase your creativity; “19 steps to increase your creativity” [like this one?]. Hummm, what does that say about us?

Interesting Quotes:Some interesting quotations on the subject
I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. ~Michelangelo

Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try! ~Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!

The Possible's slow fuse is lit By the Imagination. ~Emily Dickinson

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity. ~George Smith Patton, War as I Knew It, 1947

Don't expect anything original from an echo. ~Author Unknown

Here’s some suggestions I found to boost creativity, [come to think about it, several of these apply to life in general, not just creativity].

1-Schedule time regularly to concentrate on some type of creative project. It takes time to develop your creative talents.
2- Build Your Confidence
Insecurity in your abilities can suppress creativity, which is why it is important to build confidence.
3- Fight Your Fear of Failure
Let's face it, many of us are afraid of failure and that stifles creativity. If this is a problem for you, remember that mistakes are simply part of the process, we learn something. Behind every "master piece" there are plenty of there"learning experiences"..
3-Part 2-Be Willing to Take Risks
This goes back to #3. Creativity requires taking some risks. True sometimes things don’t turn out as you planned, but playing it safe rarely produces a masterpiece. Occasionally, try a new direction in your work or a new technique. Climb out on that limb!





Free That Angel from the Marble! 

Go Forth and Create!!


posted by Barbara Harms
www.etsy.com/shop/AsianArtAndQuilts/

blog: www.asianartandquilts.com/

Which came first . . . the Art or the Idea?

If you ask me, it's as tricky a question as the oldie involving the chicken and its egg, because although the idea starts the ball rolling, it's the expression of the idea through a specific medium that truly fleshes it out, explores it, confirms its direction or chooses another altogether, and then AT LAST creates a tangible and lasting representation or expression.  And without that, the IDEA is just a tiny impulse in the brain cells of a single individual.


IDEAS WITHOUT WORKS ARE DEAD.

Okay, that's not exactly the way that verse goes, but it makes perfect sense.

The ideas come afterwards, 

when the picture is finished.

-- Pierre-Auguste Renoir

An idea is not art.

-- Robert Levers

Ideas are useless unless used.  

The proof of their value is in their implementation.

-- Theodore Levitt

To give a body and a perfect form 
to one's thought, 

this -- and only this -- is to be an artist.

-- Jacques-Louis David

The creative process does not 
end with an idea -- 

it only starts with an idea.

-- John Arnold

Come on!  
I will race you to the corner . . .




Susan M. Hinckley
Small Works in Wool 

  

Priming the Creative Pump

  

Sometimes the well runs a little dry when it comes to ideas, and I find that's usually when I haven't been working much.  Because when I'm working, there always seems to be no shortage of ideas that I can't get to because I'm too busy . . . well, working.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a continual fountain of ideas --

a library of sketchbooks to mine for gold, for instance, or a gigantic rolodex with an index card containing every great idea we've ever thought of but didn't take time to write down and therefore forgot?

I'd like to come up with a way to record those fleeting ideas that wouldn't result in piles of paper scraps bearing unintelligible scribbles in a shorthand so abbreviated that even I have absolutely no idea what it was originally intended to represent.

I think it's helpful to do a little something creative every day.  Because even when I'm not actively working on a project, if I flip the "creative switch" for a second or two I notice it's like throwing a drop of oil on the gears, keeping them ready to move should I provide them the opportunity.

And when I can't bring myself to actually DO something creative, it seems to be equally effective for me to look at other people's creative efforts.

The more art I absorb, of any kind,
the more my mind

seems willing to produce.

Charles Horton Cooley said,

"The mind is not a hermit's cell, 

but a place of hospitality and intercourse."

And yes, there is plenty of coming and going in my head . . . 

I guess I just need to up my hospitality a little

in hopes that my ideas will be tempted to 

sit down, relax awhile and maybe talk to each other.  

Susan M. Hinckley

Small Works in Wool  

  

Snippets.

 Breath is the thread 

that ties creation together.

-- Morihei Ueshiba

The only place where housework comes before needlework is in the dictionary.

-- Mary Kurtz

It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years.

-- Simone Signoret

If everyone gives one thread, 

the poor person will have a shirt.

-- Russian Proverb

She watched and taught the girls 

that sang at their 
embroidery frames 

while the great silk flowers 

grew from their needles . . .

-- Louise Jordan Milne, The Feast of Lanterns

A gentle heart is tied with an easy thread.  

-- George Herbert

Susan M. Hinckley
Small Works in Wool

The Beauty of Handmade

 
I've always had a weakness for handmade objects--

there's a beauty inherent in the work of the human hand that is somehow lacking in all things mass-produced, regardless of whatever stellar design qualities they may possess.

The imperfection imparted by touch is endlessly fascinating -- the jag of a line as it reflects a heartbeat or breath, the slight wobble of a stitch as the needle makes its way across cloth, pushed by a thimbled finger.

That no two hand-crafted objects will ever be exactly the same is surely part of the appeal.  And the context provided by the thoughts and feelings of a living maker informs each work as well, placing it in a specific moment, a specific place.

"That a thing made by hand, the work and thought of a single craftsman, can endure much longer than its maker, through centuries in fact, can survive natural catastrophe, neglect, and even mistreatment, has always filled me with wonder.  Sometimes in museums, looking at a humble piece of pottery from ancient Persia or Pompeii, or a finely wrought page from a medieval illuminated manuscript toiled over by a nameless monk, or a primitive tool with a carved handle, I am moved to tears.  The unknown life of the maker is evanescent in its brevity, but the work of his or her hands and heart remains."

-- Susan Vreeland

And thank goodness.  We can forever know something of the maker by the fruits of his or her hands, giving us a priceless connection, a glimpse into another human being's time, place and heart that transcends the value of the object itself.  

When you give handmade, you give . . .

 

A little piece of yourself.  
See? Beautiful.

Susan M. Hinckley
Small Works in Wool




 

A few words of wisdom 

for the creatively inclined . . .

(from smarter people than myself, I might add)

 

Conditions for creativity are to be puzzled; to concentrate; to accept conflict and tension; to be born every day; to feel a sense of self.

-- Erich Fromm

So you see, imagination needs moodling -- long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering.

-- Brenda Ueland

Creativity can solve almost any problem.  The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything.

-- George Lois

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.

-- Scott Adams

Now let's open the windows upstairs and let our music out, 

even if it's just a few notes.

Susan M. Hinckley

Small Works in Wool

Idea Cupcakes

Truth be told, there's really nothing new under the sun.

Without thinking too hard, it's probably easy to guess the origins of this piece:

Persons of Interest, Susan M. Hinckley,  2006, Collection of J. Greening

Do you see it?

Well, while exercising on the elliptical one day (sweating like a pig), suddenly The Brady Bunch came on TV. Ahhh, now  you can easily see how "Persons of Interest" was born.

 The secret of creativity is knowing 

how to hide your sources.

-- Albert Einstein


And then there are occasional cases of flat-out stealing ideas,

(which everyone does whether intentionally or not).

I save lots of things that I like, and put them in files or on the fridge or on my bulletin boards in hopes that a little bit of wonderfulness will rub off on my creations.

...if we had to think up everything from scratch,

we wouldn't get a whole lot done, would we?

Scratch cake is great when you have time, but thank goodness for cake mixes because they taste great and they're easy and economical too.

... to make good things, you have to make a lot of things (think of them as idea cupcakes).

And the way to have a lot of good ideas is to have a lot of all kinds of ideas and then throw the not-so-good ones away.

So feel free to beg, borrow and steal.

Take someone's idea and stretch it in your own new direction.

(I don't think the Brady Bunch will even mind 
when they find out what I've done.)

 Susan M. Hinckley
Small Works in Wool