Studio Sunday and Other Goings On

My studio work is going to be brief again this week. This is the last week before our spring break (thank God), so I do have projects due, but am still working on them.

In my painting class, we are to paint an object three ways: realistic, abstract, and nonobjective. I spent yesterday prepping my canvases, which just involved painting over three old oil paintings in white. Unfortunately, you cannot put gesso over oil paint as it will just peel off. They are drying in the cabinet at school and hopefully I can finish all three today. The object I will be painting is the very familiar tomato pin cushion, with pins of course.

In sculpture we are still working on our mold projects. They have to be done for critique on Thursday, and I am only done with one of the three pieces. Luckily the mold process goes quickly and I'm planning on working on these tonight as well. I will remember to take photos when I'm there so you can see some of the process.

In photography, I still need to finish my propaganda pieces. They were due last Thursday, but since I was gone for the funeral, she gave me an extension. Again, we have to make three pieces (seems to be a theme right now), and I have one of them completed. These are photo transfer and lift collages, so there is some down time when waiting for the gel medium to dry. My propaganda is on how social media/technology is taking over our lives. Next weekend, I will further explain each one once they are finished.

Now for other things. When driving home from Middle-of-Nowhere, North Dakota, on Thursday, I came upon this very striking abandoned church. It's the former Berlin Baptist Church (I'm assuming it served the town of Berlin, ND, but it's kind of a distance from there) and was built in 1949. There is a sign on the grounds saying that this spot was designated as a church in the late 1800's, however. I can only imagine that the original structure burned down, which has been common throughout the history in this area. I haven't tried searching online for information about, though I do intend to.

If I wasn't already tired and facing a three hour drive home, I would have pointed my car towards the town of Berlin. While I don't think there is much there, I have always wanted to go just so I can say I've been to Berlin, lol. There are many small towns with German references here due to the large German-Russian population. Chad is of this heritage himself and grew up hearing just as much German as he did English at times. His father didn't learn English until he went to elementary school and at times would slip out a German word or two, here and there. It's a pretty fascinating culture group, and if you are at all curious, you can peek around here for more about them.

I shared last Wednesday in the WIP update that I purchased some paper templates for EPP. I am so happy that I did that because I am enjoying this process even more than I thought I would. I just was fighting the plastic templates so much that I didn't even want to touch them.

In just a matter of hours, I basted all 100 hexagon templates I have and started sewing them together. No doubt this will become a finished project soon. Just one lesson in perseverance and finding a new solution if something isn't working. I could have easily given up on my idea after the struggles I was having but I decided to try another way. This may seem small, and it really is a small example of this, but it is true and can be applied to any difficult/challenging situation.

I've found myself coming to a sort of crossroads as far as my creative output goes. I think I'm at the point where the basics I have been learning are enough to push me to where I want to go. While I have been enjoying making more traditional quilt projects and such, I know my heart really lies in the art quilting category. I do still have quilts I want to piece, like taking the plunge and making a Farmer's Wife quilt, but my sketching is all about creating art pieces.

Why haven't I taken that plunge, you may ask? I am admitting right now that I am a little scared and intimidated. I'm letting my inner critic start to take over before I even start doing anything. I tend toward perfectionism and it is a fight at times to let myself mess up. To learn from mistakes and find what really works. This just gets worse as I come across work from other people that I admire. I know they all started somewhere and it just takes practice and time, but to see where they are in comparison to me, well it just makes me freeze.

I did make one small step towards starting. The piece I was going to create for the Tangerine Tango Challenge was going to be an art quilt. And while I didn't make it in time for the challenge deadline, I am still going to make it. It is sitting half finished on my sewing table right now. I do wish I had finished in time because it would have stood out in this challenge since so many were pieced quilts. But then I also asked myself if that would have been a good thing. Maybe the judges would be looking for a pieced quilt and discount my creation. I will never know that but I will go through with it and share the finished piece here.

That's my confession for the day. Are there any fears that you have in your sewing? What things do you do to get over them? I think I'm going to just have to dive in and do it myself.