I recently returned to an old fiber arts project that I started probably 20 years ago. It’s not uncommon for artists to have multiple projects going at any one time, or for us to start a project and either set it aside for a [long] while or abandon it altogether. This particular project started with a challenge fabric. I was part of a quilting group at the time and that’s where the challenge came from.…
I completed another slow art piece this past week. Years and years ago I was inspired by the Ojibwe bandolier bags in my museum’s collection to make a bag that was roughly the same shape, featuring a large square pouch and wide shoulder strap. The feature of bandolier bags that makes them so incredibly beautiful is the bead applique, which covers practically the entire pouch and strap. This makes for a very heavy bag, but…
While I was at the Twin Cities Book Festival, I picked up a few books at the used book sale. “The Plenitude: Creativity, Innovation, and Making Stuff” by Rich Gold was one of those books. It’s a slim volume, so it only took a couple of days to read. It expressed in written form a number of ideas I’ve had about being a creator in a world of too much stuff. Rich Gold was an…