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Monday, February 25, 2013

Hat Attack

I am a hat making fool. I really liked the pattern, so I made a few and have plans for some more. Now I have a nice hat and a sweaty hat, both of which I like. No second-string hats for me anymore. And if you don't know the difference between a nice hat and a sweaty hat then either you don't wear hats enough, or I'm just gross.

This is the first hat I made - for myself. I found the "Loira" pattern, 
through the Pinterest, at Where is the Wonderland?
I also made a less slouchy one for the kid with an added pom-pom.
And then, in good old fashioned over doing it style, I made myself
another hat with some scrap yarn. The grey yarn is from an old cotton Gap
sweater that I unravelled. The stripes are light pink cheap acrylic.



Monday, February 11, 2013

KYFTP Original Painting

Untitled, 4"x4" Acrylic on canvas, acrylic on paper.

Keep Your Fork There's Pie, one of my favorite (and local) bands, recently finished their second album. Yippee! As part of an art contest they supplied the lyrics of three songs for inspiration in creating a piece of art to use on their new album cover.

After not painting one single painting for more than four years, it seemed appropriate for me to enter this contest. Talk about putting pressure on myself. It's kind of like jumping all the way in to an iced over pond. I came up with a concept after reading the lyrics, and then I thought about it for a couple weeks. And then, because I'm a true procrastinator, two days before the piece was due I started painting.

Before I started though, I thought about not bothering to do the painting. At this point it would be a last minute effort, and there wasn't much chance that they would choose my painting anyway. Then I sternly (in my head) told myself that I had made a commitment to participate and I needed to follow through.

It wasn't about winning the contest, it was about putting paint on the canvas. So I did it. I did it and I'm happy that I did it. The final result may not completely represent me as an artist nor is it my best work (I'm rusty after all). But it does represent the inspiration I felt after reading the band's lyrics.

* I wrote this post weeks ago, unsure whether I'd actually share. However, after a lovely conversation with my neighbor yesterday about self doubt and waning self-confidence, I decided to go ahead and publish it even though I had a different post planned for today (about hats). I'd love to be able to tell you that the painting was chosen. Alas I do not live within the plot of a Hollywood love story or a Disney animation. And that's totally fine with me.