Peeking into the Peephole

Another wonderful weekend spent at Arrowmont.  This class centered around welding, which I learned that I cannot do.  The gasses used makes my system go out of whack.  But, thanks to our wonderful teacher, Frankie Tone, offering to weld my creations, I was able to complete 2 projects.  He went above and beyond and for that I am grateful.

Having no experience or direction with welding, I packed a few items that I thought would be fun to work with.  From my stash I chose a door peephole and a comic book and started planning. The top picture is what you see when you get up close and personal, peeking into the peep hole.  To make this I got to use a large chop saw for cutting metal square bar and dowels, and a grinder, both of which threw a vast amount of wonderful sparks.  Elbow grease was used to clean the edges and make them ready for welding.  I grabbed my trusty wire to attach the peephole to the top crossbar and with a little adjustment the piece was complete.  I enjoy making pieces that people have to interact with and with this one I was surprised at how many neglected to peep.

This morning has been spent in the kitchen peeling, cutting and cooking down apples flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and sugar.  I love to have them in the freezer because they go with EVERYTHING...pancakes, apple uglies, a yummy side dish, topping for pork chops...I could go on and on.  With the amount cooked I should be set for a while. Yea!

Today is a rainy, lazy, crocheting, movie watching Sunday...after the apple cooking, of course.
Enjoy what this day brings you!

Hilari

#arrowmont #craftexperience

The Ins and Outs of a Whim

This piece has been floating around in my head for a long while. Box painted,  metal parts acquired, wire rusted  but it was never the right time, or feeling, perhaps, to gather everything up and get started.  After one complicated day in the workshop dealing with the ins and outs of another whim, I pulled the parts together and it came together quickly.  The other piece hasn't been abandoned,  but it might be if it keeps back talking me every time I attempt to work on it.

Life has been busy with family obligations, and with that comes wonderful moments.  Granddaughter knows her way around the workshop, her hammer, ear protection, nails and wood, and she was able to introduce Niece the the joys of hammering.

They enjoyed the noise and using their hands.  No real projects were made but just seeing what tools can do is what is important at this age.

This winter we have had moments with our house overflowing and moments of quiet.  Both have been fully enjoyed but with spring in the air I can feel my creative side taking the lead.  My head is spinning with new ideas, each begging to be addressed first.  This weekend I have a mental list of what I would like to get accomplished.   I'm sure if I put the list to paper I would feel overwhelmed so for now the ideas can run free vying for attention.

So I wish you a happy quilting, metal working, wood working, jam making and a yummy sweet potato pie weekend.

Peace,
Hilari

Brown Bagging It

Brown Bag Book Swap

Each November our book club has a blind book swap and this is what I have created to put in my bag.  We had some trees trimmed earlier in the fall so I chose a smaller branch, about 3 inches across, from our wood pile and made sure it did not have a natural split to ensure that I could cut it in half.  I used the band saw for the cutting, chisels to carve the encasement for the book, a smidge of leftover well worn quilt for the book cover, and bit of leather and a stick for the closure.  In the book, which is about an inch tall, I drew outlines of leaves that are indigenous to our southern mountains.  On the next one I will try to attach the hinge so that the front of the casing will come to a better close.  I need to place the wood slabs face to face when screwing on the hinge instead of trying to fit the wood edge tightly together.  Other than that, this one worked up pretty much as I had hoped.

Today was shopping for Thanksgiving day. We have started the turkey thawing in the fridge and the ham is ready to cover in cloves, honey and cinnamon.  The chex mix ingredients are gathered for the weekend cooking, as well as makings for cookies and pumpkin pie.  I cook the sweet potato casserole, which is basically pie filling without the crust, but I classify it as a vegetable. Others bring what is important to their family traditions, so we have a nice array to choose from.  We have a possible head count of 18 this year but that is still very fluid at this point.  I greatly enjoy having a house full of friends and family laughing and sharing stories.  It makes for a table, or 2, of love.

Even on a Friday it is way past my bed time, so sweet dreams to all!

Hilari

Solitude and a Cigar

 I do not enjoy, nor am I proficient at making boxes to use with my automata, so I have found a way around this speed bump. I found a goldmine of wooden cigar boxes, and snatched up all that I could carry. While studying said boxes a voice whispered a tale of a nearsighted gentleman who loves to sneak off to smoke his stogie in the quiet company of his contented soul. 

Mr. Solitude's cigar lifts up 2 inches then drops abruptly, while his nose and mouth swing freely about. This is the first time I have used this type of movement so there was some trial and error in getting the cigar to have enough lift and drop to simulate smoking.  Not that there isn't always trial and error when I put a plan into motion...no pun intended. I am still very new to this artform and on short supply of how this all works. For me trying to figure out how to get A to move towards B is the best part.  Well, actually seeing A move towards B is the best part.  The mechanical thinking is the fun part...most of the time.  There are a few projects that have gone by the wayside due to lack of knowledge but I keep at it.  And sometimes that little voice will whisper to me in the middle of the night with instructions and before you know it A and B are moving right along.  I find that pretty awesome. 

I have a couple of ideas on the back burner but for now Husband has decided that it was time to redo the living room so we are up to our elbows in paint and flooring.  He is the honey do list maker in our family which is a good thing because if left up to me our list would consist of eating cookies and petting the cat.

Meow,

Hilari 

Colorful Camouflage

This was my first project made during art class and even though it is a simple design I learned a lot from it.  Major lesson: one cannot manipulate wood without knowing how to do so.

The "follower" which sits on the "cam" (sounds impressive,  doesn't it) was, at first, going to be the cam.  These are what make the girl bounce up and twirl. I wanted her to have a lot of movement and by designing the movement part to have many bumps and ridges she should have jumped all over the place.  My problem arose with the first follower I made, and revised multiple times.  It looked like the one in the book but was WAY to big and after adjustments it would get jammed on my poorly designed cam.  As time was ticking by and I knew where my mistakes were, I decided to readjust.  So with the addition of color to help cover the fact that she barely moves I am pleased with the end product, as well as with what I learned.

While at Arrowmont I usually stop by the cigar shop and pick up a few wooden boxes because they are a good size of the ideas I have floating around my head.  I do not like to make the boxes from scratch because no matter how I measure or how careful I am while cutting, the sides just never match up.  That is why, as you can see in the picture, the sides are usually off set from the top and bottom.  I am sure that with more practice it will come together but for now I have some very nice cigar boxes I can work with.

This weekend we have plans to build a murphy bed to put in our son's/ guest/ husband's workout room.  Our son took his bed and furniture when he moved so this will allow us to multi-use space in our smaller house.  Of course I could just give up my craft room but.......

Today was a short day for our business so Husband gave me the day off.  BFF had to come to the big city so she stopped by for a quick visit, a trip to the library and now off to the workshop.  What a lovely day!

Peace, 

Hilari

The Solution

The Solution

In February, I received the class catalog for Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. That is one of my favorite days for mail delivery.  I love to peruse all the offerings and imagine what I can learn.  This year's choice could not have been a more perfect fit.  The week was filled with learning how to add movement to your art.  Yep, right up my alley!  Our instructor was very knowledgeable and seemed to enjoy working with all the students. 

All was going great, enjoying shop time, meeting new people, lunch each day by the creek...until Thursday.  On Wednesday, we visited the lathe shop to see their work and while there those interested were given bowls that were destined for the trash. Of course I grabbed one and started planning.

I wanted my bowl to be the water and have the fisherman standing still while the fish swam around him.  Sounded pleasant and reasonably easy enough, or so I thought.  To make the bowl and man independent of each other meant that the mechanism had to be on the top of the box. Thursday morning the instructor and I discussed possible avenues to make this happen.  Without going into a vast array of details, the top picture shows the last desperate attempt at a solution to create the movement I saw in my mind.  I reverted back to what I manipulate best, my wire.  I used it as a catch for the cogs (which I have never made before and after a horribly failed attempt at gears) and low and behold the fish starting swimming. It was literally 6:00pm before I was able to get any type of consistent movement and even that was wonky at best, but I was thrilled and I believe the instructor was as well.  He had tried throughout the day to help but the piece was putting up a good fight.  After a full night of sleep (apparently, I was exhausted) and a bit of tinkering with the wire, Friday morning saw a fully functioning piece of art.  The piece will never have a smooth spin but I am proud that I stuck with it and am very happy with the results.

Once again I have to thank my BFF for putting me up and getting me to class on time.  It is wonderful to get to spend time with her as well as spend time at Arrowmont.  I can't wait for next year's catalog to come out!!

Peace,
Hilari

#arrowmont #craftexperience

Catching Up

Be Unapologetic, Commanding, and Incredibly Sure of Yourself

  

 I am now able to share a picture of the piece I wrote about earlier.  It was well received at the KBAG show last month.  I read these word somewhere and they stuck with me. They were perfect for this combination of hard and soft, and movement.  It stands 23 inches tall, so it made quite a statement compared to the other books which were a more "normal" size. The wooden block came from a deck post patiently waiting to used in some creation, the tatting was made by a grand-in-law, the bells were a wedding present, and the quilt has it's own story.  My maternal grandmother ALWAYS had her hands busy doing something, mostly crocheting but she also enjoyed quilting (Ceramics were important to her as well but that she did out of the house so I only saw the end result).  Anyway, the only quilt I have been given is a well worn 9 square that I treated with great care, only taking it out for special occasions.  When it got to the falling apart point, I knew I wanted to save as much as I could so I steeled my heart and took the scissors to it.  I made small curtains for my art room and have saved the rest for special projects.  I was so proud that I was able to reuse the quilt and showed my mother when she came to visit.  I wanted her to know how I taken care of it over the years and how I had put it to good use at the end of it's first life.  When she saw them she flatly stated that Granny did not make it.  WHAT??  My mother's family lived in a coal miner's town, a woman lost her husband in the mine and was asking for handouts. My grandmother gave her some of mother and Uncle John's clothes and said her she would pay her to make a quilt.  That is the quilt I have. It is still special but not exactly the story I had pictured, Granny carefully sewing the 9 squares.  I find it interesting that Mother remembers the story behind that particular quilt.  I wonder if it is because she lost her father in the minds when she was six and it resonates with her.

Here is the picture I mentioned in the last post.  My father's first (and possible only) fish!  The only problem is you can't see the fish.  He and Mother both say that it is there but....  I just love the vest layered with pockets full of all the stuff one could ever need to fly fish.

Here is Dad in all his hiking glory with his boots, shades, walking sticks, binoculars and more pockets full of useful items.  I could go on and on but as I said I am my father's daughter.  Just ask BFF about all the important stuff I bring on vacation with us.

The sun is shinning, the family is in, the day is beautiful!

Peace, 

Hilari