Paperbag swag month/page 5

Posted on July 6, 2007 by mimik

This month I am working on Amy’s book. I already showed the first 3 steps of the project. Here is the rest. Tons of photos ahead.

After doing the background, I sewed the figures onto the fabric and cut it into the pages afterward. This is the pre-cut photo. Sorry it is a bit out of focus.

I glued rickrack onto the edges- silver and blues. Photo of glue drying-

Then the part which always feels like a huge step- gluing the pages into the book-

… in case anyone wants to see my oh so complicated system for clamping, weighting and gluing.

Phew- they are in! I’m committed! Now for the finished photos-

left page-

right page-

close-ups-

I had so much trouble with this face- I did it over 3 times!

I wrote “Momma’s Dream” on this piece. When my kids were little, the one thing that seemed like bliss was when everyone, even me, was asleep and safe- ah, peace. Amy’s theme for her book is balance, but I don’t really think you get much balance with three little babes. You get through every day, trying to keep your sanity intact, and if you can relax, laugh and still notice the beauty around you, you are doing an amazing job!

Finishing this project has overlapped with starting the next- the printed fabric swap that Bitter Betty organized… this is all new to me, but more about that learning process another day…

threading needles

Posted on July 5, 2007 by mimik

Who needs fireworks!Â This is a beautiful asiatic lily, amazingly not devoured by red lily beetles.

And this is my new tool/toy-Â a needle threader from Clover.Â I am loving it.Â And yes, I can usually make it work with one or two strands of cotton embroidery floss.Â Wool crewel, no.

It looks like I will be in Ithaca, New York in 2 weeks.Â Anybody out there?Â Any recommendations?

a Monday report

Posted on July 2, 2007 by mimik

How cool is this?! This is a first for me, my artwork in a book-

I am talking about this book– Making Gourd Dolls & Spirit Figures, by Ginger Summit and Jim Widess. I just got my copy and am pleased as punch! I can’t quite figure out why they put someone elses doll (the one the upper left hand page) on a page with my name on it, but… hey, I am very glad to have the photos of my dolls together! The book has a great range of examples and instructions for making dolls from gourds- very interesting.

Other stuff-

Am I the last person to read this post on Yarn Harlot? It resonated with me.

I fell in love over the weekend. I’m going to have to get one of these for my garden- Lady in Red Hydrangea.

I saw on my stats that someone had searched for “m kirchner pottery”. That was how I used to sign my pots. I had this crazy idea, right out of college (actually someone told me!) that it would be better to make my signature gender ambiguous so I would be taken more seriously. That was 1976. I don’t think I fooled anyone. My imagery hasn’t changed much when I switched over to fiber arts.

I’ve killed my website, which never was much of a website anyway. Mostly it was just a front door to my photo galleries. Now if you go to Mimi Kirchner.com, you will be here at the blog. This is where the action’s at anyway. Hopefully this will be an incentive to do some clean up chores and rearrange the furniture around here. I hope this doesn’t mess anything up for anybody.

And, I am working on Amy‘s paperbag swag pages. The thing I’ve loved about this project is that it has given me a place to try out some techniques/ideas/materials that never seemed to fit in anywhere else. I have always admired Abby’s scrappy patchwork fabrics and have wanted to try making some.

Mine seems a little more uptight then hers, but it works for me. Next step- pages and some applique-

and then sketches for the next part-

I love my copy machine. I did the drawing and then copied it in several sizes to see how it works on the piece.

Lastly- flower of the day- Butterfly weed-

I am posting these now to get me through the winter.

another grandma

Posted on June 30, 2007 by mimik

this is the way these pieces happen-

I’d been thinking about ladies in curlers for a while. I even mentioned it at the end of this post. I pulled out my grandma/big lady design and got to work, cutting out the main body pieces, looking at photos tagged “housecoat” and “curlers” on Flickr. btw- Who ever knew there are curler fetishists?! The things I learn everyday!

I start doing floral applique on the body pieces and soon it seemed way too pretty to be a housecoat. That’s when I started the purple one. Sometimes a project goes it’s own way and there is no point trying to force it into towards where I thought I was going.

And another detour. I drew the face on paper, cut it out, made myself a little stencil and transfered the features… but somehow my happy smiling grandma turned into this-

She looks terrified! Somehow I was unable to see that until I was all done and ready to take photos. So, back upstairs for a face rework-

Much better! She actually looks happy now.

I am thinking of her as the post-curler grandma- look at her lovely hair-

The photo is washed out, but the embroidery floss I used is variegated light blue.

The front-

and the back-

and the bottom of her shoes-

and one last photo- she is sitting in the thyme and lavender- so perfect for a grandma.

Now- the flower of the day- an amazing poppy! Too bad they only last for one day-

One last thing- has everyone read Shula’s wise words/rant on the topic of crafting and craft bloggers? Wow, can she say it! I felt she was speaking right to me, although not about my recent personal experience. Just happened to come up at the same time.

Wow!

Posted on June 28, 2007 by mimik

Thanks so much for all your supportive comments- I am so touched and completely blown away! I guess that is one way to delurk people! Just remember though, positive feedback for whining? Probably not a good thing… at least that was the mantra when our kids were little. And who knows where this blog might end up if you encourage it. Hee!

I have been thinking a lot lately about validation. That is, what I personally need in my day and in my life to continue to feel that my art is worth doing. I don’t get the classic American style validation- ie money. For many people, that’s the only validation worth respecting. But I HAVE to do what I’m doing. I think I’d go completely nuts if I couldn’t do my artwork. My blog has become my validation- knowing that people come and read what I write, look at my photos, leave me comments, understand and appreciate what I’m doing. Yes, someone, many someones, are interested, and it turns out that that is enough. I make stuff, I show it online, people look at it. Isn’t that what it’s all about as long as there is food in the fridge? Now if I was making all these things in secret and stowing it away in a closet for my children to discover when I died of fabric poisoning, it would be a better story, I’d fit the description of an outsider artist and I really would be nutty!
The other part of this thought cycle is about “worthiness”. I used to worry a lot about being an “artist” and worrying about how other people defined the term. Now, I don’t worry so much and try not to set myself up to be judged (see last post- ahem) although it is unavoidable to a certain degree if I don’t want to drown in finished dolls. That is the beauty of the blog- I put it out there, you come and look if you want. I am not asking anything of you. But really I have gotten so much. It has been very interesting for me to think about how my reasons for blogging have changed over the 3+ years I’ve been doing it. It has been an on-going and changing positive experience for me. Thanks everybody!

grandma with curlers

Posted on June 27, 2007 by mimik

Here she is, basking in the sun. I felt kind of cruel, taking her out for a photo shoot. The temperature is around 100 degrees and she is dressed in her wool housecoat, slippers and kerchief… not to mention her wool skin and hair. She made it through with a smile on her face though. What troopers these grandmas are.

Above is the face, in progress, before I added her eyebrows. And here is the back- her hair in curlers under her kerchief:

A close-up of the front of her dress:

and her fluffy slippers-

One more photo.

**Warning- I’m going to whine now. Last night I got an email telling me that I am a Plush You reject. I guess I’m not surprised. I was seeing around the blogs I read, about other people getting acceptances weeks ago. And truthfully, when they posted about my work on their site in March, I thought there was a lack of enthusiasm. And then today, I see this review on Drool.icio.us. Is it just me being too sensitive, or is this kind of harsh? Have these people seen what an American Girl doll costs? Should I be happy that people are noticing my work at all? Any publicity is good publicity?

Well anyway, I keep going back to this review at Design Boner to boost my spirits. Being totally clueless though, I had to figure out whether a design boner was good or bad!

Something else to make my day. A perfect Abraham Darby Rose. So fragrant. Breathe deeply and relax.

nothing finished

Posted on June 23, 2007 by mimik

I haven’t been doing a lot of sewing. Lots of other things have been distracting me- all that life stuff… Now let’s see, what have I been doing?

I have a project for which I need a certain color of wool. I happen not to have enough of the particular color. Oh goody- an excuse to go thrift store shopping! I decided to use this as a reason to go check out a number of Boston area thrift shops that I haven’t been to before. Okay, that has been REALLY fun! I now have at least one new favorite- Urban Renewal.

On Father’s Day, we visited the rose garden on the Fenway. The roses were amazing. Now I’m thinking I need to plant more roses in my garden. This one is called Sally Holmes-

It is poppy blooming time in my garden-

I am actually thinking a lot about the garden these days. For about 5 years I had sort of lost interest and was in maintenance mode, but I am considering some major rework. I am thinking garden design thoughts.

Did you see this link over on Craftzine? I rushed over and got me some-

And now for some actual artwork- this is what I’ve been working on in my attic-

wip- hopefully I will have something to show soon. Happy weekend everybody.

tiki 3

Posted on June 14, 2007 by mimik

or 3 tikis-

It is really hard to get a good picture of something red. I thought it was me, but I did a google search for a solution, and it’s not just me. Everything in the photo is perfect except the red thing, which is over-exposed and kind of glowy. Weird. So, I’ve got a bunch of slightly off photos to show.

Here is a work in progress shot- flat man!

You can see the puffiness from the quilt batting. Here is a back view-

I thought this one was was good, in terms of color-

and some details-

side view for the sexy tiki profile-

I might try taking more photos tomorrow, but I’m not holding out any hope. The dark red/purples are especially bad… geesh! I have a Canon 610, if anyone wants to give me any advise.

That is all the tikis for now. I’m thinking about curlers… and bathrobes… hmmm.

tiki 2- the greenman

Posted on June 13, 2007 by mimik

I’ve made another one. I just couldn’t help myself. When I make one, I think of all kinds of ways to do it better and so have to make a few more. That is why I am so often doing my artwork in series.

Here is where we were this morning-

working drawing on the right. My tiki face, flat, on the left. I embroidered the features and stuffed the nose like last time. But this time, I used a piece of thick quilt batting behind the fabric. I did a running (hand quilting?) stitch around the features and now they have a bit of puffiness.

I didn’t use the pillow insert this time. I stuffed him with wool scraps and poly stuffing. He has got a nice heft to him. He’s slightly taller then 14 inches and about 6 1/2 inches across.

Here is a close-up to show some of the embroidery.

It started to rain just as I went out to take photos. These aren’t too bad though. I kept thinking of the old Jolly Green Giant commercials when I was sewing him up!
And speaking of green… did you see Ellia‘s posting about dreams (versus reality, I guess)? I loved it. I remember my college interview, so many years ago. The woman who interviewed me asked what I saw myself doing, 10 years in the future. The question came as a shock to my 17 year old self. Growing up in a time of constant nuclear fear/threat, I don’t think I really believed in 10 years away. I told her I could see myself in my own shop, selling my work, whatever I was doing at that point… sound familiar Ellia? Anyway, fast forward to now. I was thinking only recently about how Etsy has given me that little shop, a place to sell the stuff I make. Funny really.

tiki

Posted on June 10, 2007 by mimik

Tweedy wool, soft, squishy… combined with tiki- that makes me laugh. So-

A perfect addition to any sofa. We had to play a bit-

details- I appliqued the wool in place and embroidered outlines. Shiny button eyes.

and with latest arrival to our house- this wonderful creation from Wawaya– all the way from Japan.

I made my tiki to fit a 6 inch x 14 inch pillow roll insert. Using an insert seemed like such a great idea, but I don’t love the way it fills the doll- I have much more control when I use stuffing. So, I guess I will just have to make a few more to get it perfectly right!

This is the kind of house I live in- I wanted to photograph the tiki. I’m thinking that I need a tropical drink with a paper umbrella (of course!). Hmmm, we had a birthday party once, tropical theme in February, kid was 9 or 10 (she’s 23 now), we must have some. Yup, I found them!

Doll

the art and craft of Mimi Kirchner

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