part-time lover...full-time creative thinker

i seem to be having a problem making time for creative ventures lately. i've become a part-time lover to myself and my right-brain. it's not that i want to be neglectful of my need for creative outlets, but work has had me in a tailspin for the past 3 or so weeks. spare time that i do manage to find i spend with my friends or the man in my life (don't get me wrong, they are WELL worth my time!)...that, or i work feverishly at keeping my apartment clean so that it doesn't become a disaster in the midst of my busy life, thus blocking up my creative flow even further... i can't work in the midst of a mess. ...figurative or literal, ha.

for now, as i spend time posting instead of actually doing a creative project (since i do have a bit of time but no materials close at hand), i'm going to write about a few ideas that i've had recently: (pictures to come...)

1) i love fabric and tend to collect fabrics that appeal to my eye so that i can have fun fabric whenever the idea for a project, sewing or otherwise, strikes me. i also love painting. i've decided to combine the two. my idea is to stretch fabric (one with a fun or cute print) over stretcher bars like one would a canvas for painting. then i'll prepare just a portion of the "canvas" with gesso...a circle in the bottom right corner, or a rectangle evenly spaced in the middle...and create a painting on the prepared area that jibes with the pattern on the fabric, but is different enough that it stands out. i think it will be fabuous! now i just have to find the time to start...

2) one random craft project that i do is making decoupaged magnets/thumbtacks (pictures to come) out of random magazine clippings and those round glass stones (the 1 in. round ones for magnets, and the 1/2 in. ones for thumbtacks) that you can get at craft stores. my idea is this: instead of making magnets or thumbtacks with them, choose a picture or make a collage, and then apply the glass stones, mosaic style, on top of the picture so that it creates a mosaic like work of art...you could also cut the picture up as it corresponds to the stones and then re-glue it down in order so that it is just the picture under the stones and not between them... it will take some experimenting to see how it looks best.

3) i've taken this community ceramics class for the past several months (spring semester and summer...) and i'm going to take it again this fall. i need to post some pictures of the stuff that i've made, but i've also got some great ideas for new pieces... one of them is a sort of dark but beautiful take off of the Leona Lewis song Bleeding Love... it involves an anatomically correct ceramic representation of a heart... i don't want to spoil the idea, so that'll just have to be a "wait and see"! i think it's the project that i'm the most excited to see come to fruition.

the show

I'm just a little bit
caught in the middle
Life is a maze
and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go
I can't do it alone
(I've tried)
and I don't know why

I am just a little girl
lost in the moment
I'm so scared
but don't show it
I can't figure it out
it's bringing me down
I know
I've got to let it go
and just enjoy the show
-Lenka