Spinning Cotton

Okay, I will admit it. I've never really like spinning cotton, but at the gentle urging of my friend at the last spinning meeting I got this beautiful cotton roving that I called "coffee, cream and blue jeans." I fell in LOVE with it! I love how the swirls of color spun up and just look at how gorgeous the finished product is! Now, what do I make with it???

May I Spin, Rosy??

Well, I've been spinning some gorgeous cotton roving lately (see upcoming post) and was ready to spin some more when I noticed Rosy, my sweet kitty asleep on the treadle of my spinning wheel. Just as I thought she was going to move, all she did was adjust her position without really moving. That's okay, girl. You go ahead and sleep. I've got laundry to do anyway. . .

Nuno Felting: The First Try

At the last spinning meeting I went to, there was a gal there that had brought in some samples of Nuno felting that she had done. I must say, it was beautiful! She had felted a scarf using wool laid on a piece of cotton gauze or something and wet felted it using bubble wrap. It was beautiful!

So, I just had to try. After researching, I read where some people use muslin, silk gauze, etc to felt the wool on. I had a piece of scrap cotton that I used and went through the process. (for complete instructions, go to YouTube and watch their tutorials.) Mine went well except that the wool did not seem to want to grip the cotton but it didn't matter. I decided to peel off the cotton and what I ended up with was a lovely sample piece of "cobwebby" looking stuff that was suprisingly firm and durable. Oh, the possibilities. . . I plan on making my sister a scarf for her 50th birthday and one for my Mom. Love the process!

My Latest Angel On Ebay. . .

I must admit, I have not been giving my blog much attention lately! I've been so busy with substitute teaching (which is now over), house cleaning (yuck) and so many other projects that have been neglected that need to be finished. I thought that once school was out that I would be able to devote more time to painting and making dolls, but that is NOT the case. It seems like there is always something that crops up.

However, I do want to get something off my chest that has really been weighing me down lately. And to be honest, this is hard, but here goes:

It was brought to my attention recently that a certain artist is accusing other artists of copying or coming very close to her angels that she sells on Ebay. She is apparently threatening to sue or file copyright infringement suits, etc. against other "Angel Artists." I don't quite get it, and I don't understand how one certain artist thinks that only she has the right to paint angels when they have been painted by thousands of artists for thousands of years with their heads in many different positions. On my end, I need this artist and many others to know that I have been doing not just angels, but women, children, and cats since I was in third grade. Also, my sister was painting on cabinet doors and wood when it wasn't really a popular thing to do, but I have the paintings to prove it. I am shy by nature so it was a tremendous step for me to list my first painting on ebay and to be honest, I did not put my heart and soul in to it which was my first mistake; my next mistake was looking at other artists' work and determining what was selling without taking my own style into account. So, I did copy in an attemp to sell. There, I said it. Gosh, that was hard to say. But, I have since gotten back to my own style and my own way of doing things and I am all the better for it. So it is here, I offer my apologies to those artists that I took a little bit too much from. I won't give names because I don't know if that is allowed or not. All art is derivative and I will agree that sometimes we need to take a break from looking at other's work and focus on our own which has been the best thing for me and has made me realize that I want to get back to unfinished works that have been floating in my head for some time. I think it's interesting that a lot of artists have went back to their "impressionist" roots and have created some of their best work ever. I have a lot of things that I would like to do artistically and I hope to get back to those things that I have left unsaid as an artist. As I said before, I am shy by nature and I guess I will always have that fear of putting something out there that might get rejected, but that is the chance you take.

I am just a silly Mommy with two boys that I love so much; I have bills out the wazoo like everybody and I love what I do and hope that it makes others happy when they purchase anything that I have created. For those that have bought from me and have sent me special notes along with good feedback, bless you so much. You are really what makes it all worthwhile. Blessings to you and to all the artists out there that just want to create something beautiful for everyone to see!