Light My Fire: How Printmaking and Sewing Reignited My Creative Practice

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Until this summer,  it had been a long time since I felt good about my art making practice. This year, I made a commitment to devote more time and attention to my visual art practice. As an Interdisciplinary artist, I’ve devoted years to different disciplines, specifically poetry and music, but I’ve drawn and painted my entire life.

Sometimes making a commitment isn’t enough to get the ball rolling, so I decided to revisit block printing. Something I was introduced while I attended NOCCA (New Orleans Center for Creative Arts) and it opened me up to a different level of creativity and job in my practice.

One of the results of this exploration and play has been the design of several pieces of fabric and a series of handbags, which I created and recently sold in my online shop. This coming fall, I plan to create and share more one of a kind bags with the world. I also have an exciting news to share that combines my art and my mental health work. More soon.

 

Explore, Practice, Play-the last few weeks

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When in the throws of creativity, it’s harder for me to stop to write and post. But I wanted to provide an update on what’s been going on in my creative space.

My hand carved rubber stamps
Paring the liner with the cover of a bag I’m making

I have to say, I have been pleasantly surprised at my creative output this past month. It’s as if a deep thirst has finally been quenched.

Being a full time mama and working a full time job and a part time job, it can be hard to have energy to create art during the school year.  The summer months offer me a lot of time to dive in without too many commitments.

When I went to grad school to become a therapist, I had every intention of becoming an art therapist. I promised myself that I would not lose my artist self ( as if that could ever happen) to the clinical side of my work,  but since graduation, I have not felt connected to my artistic practice and that really bothered me.  So much so that I didn’t feel like myself. But, again, summer has provided me swathes of uninterrupted time to create.

Lately I have been exploring textile design and it has been amazing. One could argue that novelty might has something to do with it, but I have been interested in textile for as long as I can remember. I am finally giving myself permission to explore it.

Handbags pieces hanging after fresh ink stamping.
Stenciled prints and the liner

The internet can be an amazing place. Even though I was first introduced to textile design as a child, the internet has been an invaluable resource to this autodidact. Much of what I have recently learned about different aspects of textile design has been via YouTube, exploration and play.  I’m looking forward to sharing more with you as I grow. Until then.

 

Where Mamas Make

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I love the term maker. Because in my mind it literally means someone who makes stuff and that’s what I do. I make music, poetry, non-fiction pieces, visual art, delicious food and simple furniture. Right now, I am learning how to make clothes and I absolutely love it. 

We’ve been living in our new home for about nine months now. At one point, I had my office and art space in the same space. What I found was that I did more “office” work than art work in here and that just didn’t work for me.  Now that I have moved my office to another room, when I am in this space, my creative space,  I am here to make. 

It is not lost on me that this is a privilege, but it is a very hard earned one. I remember the days when I would dream of having a space besides the kitchen corner of our small apartment where I made a LOT of stuff. And that day came and I am grateful for this space yet I know one day, I too will outgrow this space and need more. But for now, this is where this mama makes.

What about you? Where do you create/fund spaces to create your art? 

Explore, Practice, Play-week 4

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For this week’s print, I tried using sponge rollers instead of my brayer rollers. I have found that when I am printing on fabric rather than paper, I don’t the get depth of color I want.

Overall, by switching to the sponge I am more happy with how things turned out, but I was a little heavy handed on the ink. This was to be expected since I was learning a new technique.