Testing 1, 2, 3...

I still have more Lickety-Split Ladies to be created, but the wanderlust bug has struck and I'm venturing through some new ideas.  Always fun to experiment.   A lot of trial and error...

 First some practice with legs...

Practice pieces, making notes as I went along.  Cautionary rules and regulations for myself...

All this time, my mind is wandering through doors, down halls, up stairs -- seeing what I want this small creature to become.  Isn't this just the best fun a person can have?

"Never, ever underestimate the importance of having fun." - Randy Pausch

Beginning Punchneedle

Finally, after a couple of months of delay, I have been able to devote some time to the craft of punchneedle.  I had dithered away a lot of time trying to use reverse punchneedle for doll faces.  After that didn't work I decided it was time to get started on an actual piece of punchneedle art.

My plan (if you can call it that) was to take an existing picture and copy it into punchneedle.  The picture had to have shading so that I could practice that technique and the technique of using varigated threads.  Also it had to be simple.  At this point in my punchneedle adventure 'complicated' was not a word that I needed to hear.

So off I went using this picture by Nicole Marley.  I promise you Nicole (if you're reading this) I will only use this picture one time, for my use as a 'practice' piece.  And I thank you for your lovely art which definitely fit my criteria.  I did eliminate the grasses because I was trying to keep this as simple as possible.

I learned so much while doing this project.  I learned how to blend the threads and colors, I learned how to fix mistakes (of which there were plenty) and how to go back and fill in, because I had a tendency to not space closely enough.  I learned to keep track of the thread I'm using so that if I have to go back I know what shade was used where.  I learned how to do blocks of color in a space and then go back and fill in around it - achieving a shading effect.  I learned not to judge a section by the first few rows. The colors in the actual piece are much deeper and more vibrant than my little camera could capture.

Punchneedle is very meditative and I very much enjoyed 'filling in the spaces' with thread and color.  The whole project went quite quickly once I got started.  But saving the very best for last was to turn the frame over as I went and to see those loops creating a picture before my very eyes.

"You don't know how much artists go through to make it look so easy. It's all in the practice". - Lauryn Hill

Punching In

The pictures I'm showing you today are not an example of punchneedle the way it is supposed to be!  That's my disclaimer for sharing with you my 'fooling around' with the craft of punchneedle.

I'm a 'doer' - I have little patience with learning something, I always think that I can just charge right in and 'do' it - come out at the end of the session with a finished product and go from there.  So, everytime I learn a new technique I have this 'learning curve' that I have to deal with.

Here are some examples of my punchneedle learning curve (which by the way is still curving in spite of my practice stitches).  My whole thought is to make faces for art dolls using punchneedle.  I have lots of pictures in my mind of finished faces - unfortunately getting them translated through my fingers is taking more time than I had thought it would.  Hmmm, could be I'm a little arrogant to think that I can just pick up a new piece of equipment and automatically have a finished piece before me in a short time!

I've made samples so that I can become familiar with the way the thread and needle work together. Using two threads with a small needle - using three threads with a small needle - using two threads with a medium needle - using three threads with the medium needle and so on.

I'm making progress -- slowly -- and am still excited about the prospects for this craft.  I'm even thinking that I might not stop with doll faces but might eventually make some of the patterns that I've seen in books and on the internet.  But all that will have to wait for me to get proficient enough that I can actually create an art doll face that I'm happy with. 

Patience and perseverance are the two words that I'm following as I wander down this new art journey path.

"He that can have patience can have what he will".  - Benjamin Franklin

Creative Ramblings

Here is a variation on the 'necklace' theme -- whereby I attached the beaded piece to fabric and framed it all. This 'picture' is named "Twilight Path" because I used muted purple and green beads in several shapes and sizes. Unfortunately the colors don't show up here very well -- so you'll have to take my word for it.

Any new adventure takes a leap of faith. During the learning process it is often hard to branch out, to 'let myself go' because I'm all involved in the 'rules' and trying to master stitches. As I keep learning the basics of beading I begin to feel more secure with the craft and that allows me to try things that are not exactly as the books had shown.

There is a small book that I would love to recommend to you. It is called "Creative Authenticity" by Ian Roberts. It has nothing to do with beading, but everything to do with creating. I discovered this book several years ago and my copy is now much worn from the times I have read it. It stays by my bed and I'll often read just one chapter before going to sleep. I especially love the chapters "Searching for Beauty" and "Your Craft and Your Voice".

One of his thoughts goes like this: You would not expect to be able to play a violin if one were handed to you, unless you had previous experience. However, with perseverance and practice you could learn to play. The secret is practice, practice, practice. I think it is that way with our craft and art forms. No one would expect someone to be an expert seamstress just by sitting down at the sewing machine so why would we expect to master any other skill or art immediately. So, here I am giving myself the time to practice, practice, practice with those teeny, tiny beads and in so doing I am learning to love beading in all of its forms (many of which I still haven't begun to try).


"Own your own creativity. You are creative with the same juice that flows in all of life. The question is not whether you are creative enough but whether you will free yourself to express it." - Ian Roberts