Skapande

I am taking a course in chip carving this Thursday to Sunday and it’s so great! The teacher is a really skilful person. This summer I went a course named Skureut at Sätergläntan, and that was a more folkloristic course than this is. We are carving more traditional patterns this time even if folklore is all about tradition, of course. In skureut we were carving more as we wanted, even if we started with traditional chip carving there to. Because you always have to learn the basics before you can do more as you want. And every new teacher you meet has something new to learn out. So it’s just so inspiring to meet a new teacher and new people taking the courses. This time I didn’t have to travel somewhere either and my work is paying. So I’m just feeling happy!

Chip carving is used to decorate all kind of woodworks, and the name comes from the process in which you are carving away “chips” from the pieces of wood you work on. In German they use the word Kerbschnitzen and therefore the Swedish word is karvsnitt which is a direct translation, karv is chip or carve and snitt is cut or pattern. In Sweden we have a lot of German loanword because there was many German people working and living here in 1300s-1500s.

First two days I made a lot of chip carving, and it turned out great. I have made many of the patterns before but it’s fun anyhow. I never get bored or tired of this thing. I love carving. Today I started to work with some sculpture carving, I don’t know if that is the correct word for it in English. It was a bit harder, but I like new challenges so it was fun and interesting to do! I will continue tomorrow with the flowers.

One boring thing is that I don’t have so many tools for making sculpture carving at home. Think I have to buy some, but it’s expensive to so… hmm… Maybe Santa can bring me some…

Karvsnitt, bildhuggeri, tälja, trä

Studio Friday

This week’s topic: COMFORT!

(I have problems with posting my entries at Tinesparkles, I think it has something to do with blogsome and squarespace not liking each other.)

Comfort can be a good office chair by the computer, or a nice sofa in the living room. Owning a car or taking the aeroplane when you travel somewhere. But I don’t know if I have done something to make my studio corner more comfortable. I have a blue office chair that my mother gave me. It’s nice to have it, but I don’t think about it like something comfortable even if it’s a good chair to sit in. I have tried to arrange my studio space as practical as possible because I don’t have so much space to use because I don’t like to have my creative stuff in my bedroom. But I work a lot in my kitchen too which has a really good work bench.

But I find my home comfortable and nice. So my working environment is quite comfortable more or less. I have tried to find a main theme in my apartment to make it personal and I think it reflects me. I have a lot of vintage furniture’s, mostly from the 50’s and 60’s and of course some new stuff to, like the blue sofa. But I think its seven years since I both it now, so it becomes older too. It has soon past one year since I moved into this apartment I now live in, and it has felt like my home almost from the start, al though I have some things left to fix. For example, I have to paint some door frames in my hall and I have some things left in my living room. I have a wall with a backdrop and on that wall I haven’t hanged something yet…

Hmm, I could have written just, my home is comfortable. No more than that.

Tomorrow I’m off to work again after being sick this week; I hope my substitute not has created a complete mess in my classroom, but that I have to wait until tomorrow to see.

Do you remember the collage I wrote about, hmm, let see, one month ago! I finally finished it this week. It took some time, but I’m quiet satisfied with the result. I ended up only using paper and images, I have problems with adding colour to my collages, and it has become a barrier I can’t get true. Think I have to train so I don’t feel this barrier. But time, time… so much to do, and I sometimes being so bad at getting things done. This is the biggest collage I have made so far; it is 50*70 cm. And it fits well in my hall over the radiator where I have hanged it. There are a lot of famous women in the collage, do you see which? They are all beautiful and are or were really successful and famous. I could have added more of them, but felt satisfied with does I added. There is one I actually don’t know who she is, it just happened to be an old black and white photo in one of the newspapers I used. I have to find out who that lady were. And the Liza Minelli picture is a piece of a plastic bag from Lindex a Swedish clothes store. There is Ingrid Bergman, Greta Garbo, Madonna and Marilyn Monroe in the collage. Marilyn Monroe also reminds me of that I should have tried to finish the book Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates. I got stuck over a year ago when I tried to read it, and still are. I think it’s so cool that both Garbo and Bergman where from Sweden and became two really great actresses. . (I had problems with the light when I took the picture; it became a lot of shine from the glass.)

Yesterday I managed to finish my second Christmas gift; I will not show any pictures, some one maybe look here and see what I created. But I’m happy about how it became!

I was at a flea market today, I have bought something really, really nice. Something that totally is me, but I’m going to be secret about what it is until I have got it in place. Then I will show you all what it is. Oh, so fun to have secrets sometimes!

Studio Friday: This week’s topic: THIS IS ME!

” How about photographing a collage of the things we work with? An arranged collection of papers and embellishments, or fabrics and trims, or paints and paintbrushes, or whatever it is we do that says “this is me.” I know we did tools and supplies already, but I thought it would be fun to create a little collage of all the things we use - tools and supplies both, and even other things like a favorite cd, dvd, cup of coffee, nail polish etc that say “this is me and this is what I do”. ~ Jill

This is me in many ways. The collage says very much about me, both just by looking at the pictures, but I could talk a lot about what this things means for me. So here we go. There are three pictures with woodwork and that just because it’s my biggest interest. I love woodwork, there are so many things you could do, both hard and easy stuff. And it’s my work to. So it takes a lot of my time, wood.

Then I have my bookcase in the collage, because I love books, I try to read as much as possible! Sometimes I think about the time when I was a child and didn’t read because I found it boring. I’m so glad that it changed when I was 12 years or so.

I love the ocean; I love the woods, or just nature. But I’m not so good at going out in the woods, think that it’s one thing I should do more often. I see so much beauty just buy looking at the seagull in the horizon and that amazing sunset I captured this past summer is just great! Two pictures that sum up nature for me in a good way.

Then it’s my skull gloves, and they are symbolic for two things, I like skulls and I like to knit. And why not combine them!

Last, in the right corner it’s a collage and that is also symbolic, I really like collages, but I’m not so skilful on making them, but find it relieving to make them. You never know before you start work what it will look like in the end. But this collage also means much more for me. It was one of the first I made, and felt satisfied with, and it’s about my grandmother and grandfather. I have written about it exactly one year ago today! How they where the world for me as a child and made me to the person I am today.

And that little girl with the skis in here knee then? That’s me, as a child, its Christmas 1982 and I have got my best gift ever. Skis and ski sticks.

I have finished the angel that I wrote about Monday and it turned out like this.

I made the body and head of steel-wire it was a lot of winding before I got it as I wanted. The body became more like something on an animal then a body of something human. But the dress makes it to a normal body. Then I used a bit of an old white curtain that I cut off years ago, to the petticoat. Made it so it would look like a flounce and then I use the lilac fabric with flowers on to the dress. The dress is made of four pieces of fabric. The dress is one piece and the petticoat it sewed to a kind of body-sock. Making the petticoat and dress became a bit hard here and there. Had to think and find other ways, but after some thinking I found the right track, and then it just went well. I also found some pearls that I could make two necklace of and some lilac pearls that I used to the eyes. Maybe I will make a halo, haven’t decided that yet. The wings are made of steel-wire and some lilac very thin steel-wire that I have wind around the thicker wire.

I feel quiet happy about the result, maybe I should have had some lace on it, but I don’t have any. Now I only have to leave it in at the museum and it will be so fun to see how other people have interpreted the angel-competition. I feel satisfied that I have made a non-traditional angel, I have not seen something like this, of course there are angels made with steel-wire and fabric, but I can’t say that I have seen something like this anyhow.

I had fun making it, but I think it will take some time before I make on more angel. So what have I named this angel then? I call it “Carry me home” because it’s just that the angels do? Carry people “home” and where home is, I think we all have our own ideas about. I think it would be great to be carried to the everlasting woods the day my life ends. But I hope it’s a long, long time to that moment.

This post is also added in November Whiplash: Alt Craft

I’m home from work today and tomorrow too. Being ill is so boring but I have a cold with a really irritating cough. I’m talking a lot at work so I thought it would be a bad thing going there.

When I home being ill I can’t do so much, or, it feels like that anyhow, I get a guilty conscience doing stuff, because if I’m able to do something home I always think that I can do something at work too. But no one thanks me for going to work being sick. So therefore I try thinking that staying home was a good idea, so I can become well quicker.

Anyhow, I try to work on an angel that I’m going to leave in too a competition that my local arts and crafts society arrange ever year when it’s a Christmas market outside at the museum area here in town. No pictures yet, because I’m in a critical moment right now when I think it’s no good.

How it’s going with my shawl that I have written about earlier, hmm… the knitting goes forward, but slowly. But I think it will be nice when I’m finished.

What else is going on then, not much, I plan to read out the Johnny Cash biography that I am reading for the moment, rest and drink some tea.

Update: Cash biography ended in Sweden, Öland. That was cool I think!

Studio Friday topic for November 10th: STUDIO INDULGENCES!

” What can’t you live without in your studio.” ~ naomi

The answer to that question is partly the same as that I gave on the tools topic in September. I can’t do any woodwork without my tools, so them I can’t live without.

I have to admit that I can’t live without my computer either, because I get so much inspiration from surfing to all the blogs and creative pages. But sometimes I wished that I wouldn’t be so addicted to it. But hey, there are worse things to be addicted to then the computer I think!

But actually I think I need all my stuff in my studio corner, because when it comes to my creative stuff I’m a big materialist. Sadly but true, in other context I’m not so materialistic I hope! I mean, don’t know when I need sometime so just choose a few things doesn’t work. But the two things I mention above is two things I use a lot, another thing is my sewing machine and thread and needles are some other things I can’t live without.

And of course, my lamp, without light I can’t work all the dark evenings that we have now.

I bought two cheap light chains on IKEA, one red and one white. Thought I should make some Christmas decoration with them. Yesterday I tried one idea I had, I placed them in a vase and the result turned out like this. One problem is the battery box… because I don’t really like that I have to place them outside the vase. But it didn’t look so nice to have them in the vase either. Anyhow it became cosy and nice. So now I only have to arrange the battery box better, then I’m satisfied with the decoration.

Yes, it’s a bit early for Christmas decorations… but until that I see it as an ordinary decoration, or an autumn or winter decoration. And in December it becomes a Christmas decoration.

This past week I went to a friend in Malmö, and meet here and one more friend. We had a good time, talked a lot, went shopping, eat and drank some vine and stuff like that. I had a good time and when I came home yesterday I meet a winter landscape so beautiful I almost didn’t believe it. I had to take my camera out for a small walk just around my neighbourhood.

In Malmö I did some shopping at Panduro, came home with some nice stuff to use in some different projects. So fun! I’m almost glad that we don’t have a store like that in this city. I probably would shop too much thing al the time. Went with J to IKEA one day when M had to work for some hours. Found some small things to buy there to. And some small things at Granit, that I hope will open a store here to, because I really like it. Have bought my bag there three years ago or so and still use it every day.

One week of vacation pas by very fast, but sooner then I think it will be December and Christmas and holiday again. So I will not complain. Just feel happy about past week!