More Cuffs for Christmas!

More Cuffs for Christmas!

www.jacquieschicago.com

"Cuffs for Christmas"

www.jacquieschicago.com

Cuff's for Christmas ...  

 I have been busily making these for a Christmas art show in December!  A great way to use up scraps. 

 Each one of these cuffs has a hook and eye, asian style clasp and a vintage button or metal finding attached.  

They sell for $40.00 to $47.50 and are a great gift to give!

KC Willis' Marketing Mindset Workshops!!!!!

I took a workshop with KC Willis in Longmont, CO this past October and let me tell you, this lady is an artist and marketing dynamo!
We talked as a group about some of the ways she goes about representing herself and her art and how she makes a living doing so.  I am more than recommending that you sign up right now for her marketing workshops because she truly knows what she is doing and does it well!
You will get amazing info, videos, discussions, and lots of know how and you'll meet some great people!  I can attest to that!  Also, if you sign up now before her first video hits the web, you'll get a heck of a discount!
Here is the link to her "Marketing Mindset" workshop site:

http://marketingmindset.ning.com/
Sign up right away!!!!  Trust me, it's worth every penny!

Abstract fiber pieces are really a challenge to create because you really want there to be substance and meaning or a part of your self in the piece.  Whether that part is emotionally imbued or created with a sense of place or whatever the inspiration, there should still be a connection with your piece that speaks of you as an artist.  I love making abstract art because it always is a challenge to show my emotional connection to it.  To me taking things that inspire me or that I am inspired by and putting them together in a way that shows emotion is truly creative.

This is from a challenge on one of my online art groups.  The challenge was to take 3 fabrics, 5 buttons, a certain number of beads, 2 different color threads and 2 other materials of your choice.  "Bamboo Ladder" is what I came up with.  I am heavily influenced by the Asian culture and its' design.  I also have a real attachment to natural items, hence the rocks and the bamboo.  I wanted to use the materials untraditionally, yet people would still see this as a fiber piece.  This piece is inspired by the upward movement of my art toward nature and the desire to create a simple lined, natural, (cotton, felt, silk) Asian inspired design that I and others can connect with personally.

Anyway, I do hope you like it!   The piece along with another of my pieces will be featured in a book of 1000 Artisan Textiles in the summer of 2010!   More to come on that as it becomes available!

"Coral Sands"

Fiber art piece, burned and melted fabrics,  fibers and sticks, handmade papers, silks, organza, shells, hand dyed and painted...

...sold at "Blurred Boundaries" juried show and was the showcased piece at the show!

I am trying to decide if I should spend this next month working on more abstract pieces like this one instead of the photograph fiber art quilts I was concentrating on last month.  Still looking for that one "true to me" direction.  Maybe I should just let it go and do lots of different things like I was.
What do other artists think about having more than one direction?  Please leave your comments below!
signed,  "Still Confused"

Reprint from Old Blog...

This is a piece that I did with some of my vintage, heirloom draperies that I have in my stash.  I call it, "Love and Luck".  I love to use my painted, molded and sewn images that I cut out of magazines.  I don't just take an image from a magazine and go over it with paint.  Sometimes I make my own image irregardless
of what the image is in the magazine.  I just like the recycled quality of using several layers of magazine sewn together.  Sometimes I heavily alter an existing image in the magazine to suit my purposes.  Either way, the combination of paper and fabric has such an allure I think together.  Don't you?  Especially when it is made with textural elements like molding paste or garnet gel.  Love that stuff!

"Tree of Life"

In my quest for creating myself through my art, I have decided to try nature (not really the first time I thought of that!)  instead of people.  This is what I came up with in this format.  I like the simplicity of it and yet I wonder is it too simple?  Everything I have done in the past has been so complicated and so it's almost difficult for me to be more simplistic.  That's not to say that I did not put a great deal of effort into it just an observation really of how I work.

So, what do you think?  Was I successful in my quest?
Does anyone else struggle with this issue?
How do you handle it?

Thanks to everyone who reads and comments!  It means a great deal to me!

Reprint from Old Blog... "My Resin Jewelry"

These resin pins and pendants are a part of my collection of handcrafted jewelry.  I make mini collages with vintage button backgrounds or other and dye the resin to give it a vintage or old look.  Each pin or pendant is made with parts and pieces of a huge collection of my Grandmother's old costume jewelry and other fabulous finds that I usually find at the flea market or 2nd hand shops.
Hunting for these finds is half the fun and putting them together the other half!

I hope you like them.  They will be for sale on my etsy site soon!


Stay tuned!!

"Gloria"

"Gloria" is the second piece that I made while in KC Willis' Studio Retreat in Longmont, CO.  This elegant lady, (my mother in law!), shows us how to pose for a photograph and still look like a lady!

The fact that I made a second piece in a 3 day retreat absolutely amazes me.  I have taken many workshops previously and I usually am not able to finish one!  So, you can imagine my happiness and satisfaction  for not having to add another workshop piece to the UFO pile.  (Unfinished Objects!)

Yet another testimony to the great time I had at KC's!!!

"Gloria II"

In order to get my "art mojo"  back for creating a specific kind of art rather than 20 different styles, I am taking the wise advise of 2 special people: Georgia O'keefe and KC Willis who told me about Georgia's stint with charcoal drawings.

 Georgia decided in order to get out of the rut she was in, (predictably all artists go through this!), she would draw only with charcoal till she could draw no more and certainly she would find a direction!  Well, she found her direction alright and what a direction it was.  Her paintings of the Santa Fe landscapes and her famous flowers flowed out of this exercise in discipline.

So, that is what I am doing. I am concentrating on one type of art with one type of style till I can do no more of it and see what happens!

Wish me luck, I'll need it!

This is called, "Shanghie'd".  It's about a woman spy in a  "Charlie Chan" movie who steals riches from the men she pretends to love!  She covets money, jade, pearls and silks from far away lands and she always gets what she wants!
Oh what a story! I listened to this picture and heard espionage and intrigue from the woman behind the frame.
What fun it is to create a story that says something to those who look at it closely enough or maybe only to you  or me alone.  Hmmm!

"I keep my lipstick in the Fridgedaire for a reason!"

O.K.  This is the first piece that I made at KC Willis' Studio Retreats in Longmont, CO.  I had such a wonderful time.   Probably one of the best I've ever had at a workshop.  Made some good friends and lasting connections and some great art!  KC is a wonderful teacher and mentor and really shares herself and her art as well as cares about each person in her workshops.  If you have the chance check out her website:  www.lipstickranch.com
She offers one on one workshops as well as 2,3 & 5 day workshops.  I think you'll find that they are very worthwhile!

This piece is of my Grandmother who always kept her lipstick in the "Fridgedaire" to keep the shape just right.  It kind of explains a lot about her obsessive personality and her need to be perfect.  It shares a lesson for us all about perfectionism that sometimes the we shouldn't sweat the small stuff because it really doesn't matter anyway!  
Enjoy!~

"Dragon Lady"

www.jacquieschicago.com

"Dragon Lady" is a piece that I did after having a glorious 5 day workshop with KC Willis in Colorado last week!  I was very concerned when I made this as to whether it depicted my own work or whether it seemed too much like KC's.  I found myself wondering, "what does my own work look like?"  because as you will see in the coming weeks as I reprint some of my old blog posts on my new blogger blog that I have done MANY different types of art work, some abstract, some not so abstract.  Well, being the incredibly honest, open and caring artist / person that I have ever met, KC assured me that,  "This song was sung in your exceptionally special voice and it's beautiful."  Wow !!  was my reaction and how sweet of her to say that!  Between KC's approval and all the other positive feedback that I've received so far, I was given a new burst of confidence that I needed to get out of the slump I have been in for the past month!  It's nice to know that other artists and others in general can share their opinions and give their encouragement to other artists.  I think as artists we all need that from time to time!  Thank you to all!

Jacquie's Chicago: The Art of Jacquie Stone: My Blogger blog is new!

Jacquie's Chicago: The Art of Jacquie Stone: My Blogger blog is new!

My Blogger blog is new!

I have a blog and have had it for 2 years now but this one is a new one for me.  I will be transferring all my other posts to this site so bear with me if you have already seen a post or two!
My old blog was called, "Jacquie Stone:  My Art...My Life..."  But, I had too many problems so the old one will be up till further notice and this one will begin a new life.
As a mixed media, fiber and collage artist, I know the importance of getting out there so for all the people I haven't reached yet and to all my loyal fans, I hope you like my work and will consider following me on Blogger!  Bear with me as I learn this new site and hey, have a great day!!