Creating an Apron of Inspiration

Last weekend, I finally did something I've been meaning to since January or so -- create an artsy apron to wear while working on my art! 

I've been inspired by Ruthie, the queen of beautiful sewing art & a hoot of a woman (she's just awesome and funny in real life!) & the aprons she's been posting on Instagram lately. Each time she posted a new one, I would look at my apron forlornly and wish I had space for my sewing machine that was gathering dust in my closet.  

(It got shelved when I moved all my furniture around, the poor thing.) 

When the weekend rolled around, I felt this push  to pull out the sewing machine, sweep everything else off my table, and sew . 

I combined two aprons into one: a shorter Slice apron I grabbed at a summer CHA show a few years ago that's been my staple apron since then, and a longer, frilly apron I grabbed at Hobby Lobby a little while ago. 

You see, the Slice apron, that I love, is made from really good canvas and has great pockets, but is a bit short, especially when you're sitting down (it stops halfway down my thighs, which means my jeans/legs/shorts get paint on them). The frilly apron was long enough and had a great bottom portion, but was made of thinner fabric and only had a single pocket.  

So i decided to sew the frills from the longer apron to the bottom of the Slice apron in a classic case of Combining These Is Easier Than Making My Own. 

I also added a little name tag made with layers of felt. I didn't know how different colors would show up, so I just layered a bunch and if you're close to it, you can read it. I plan to do more in-person teaching this year, so wanted to have this on my apron -- one of those If You Build It, It Will Come things...if I add a name tag, I'll have reason for it later on.  

I cut up one of my deliciously-layered studio rags to make pleated ruffles....except I had no idea how to make them! I found a video on YouTube that showed a simple way to make 'em, and I was on my way! 

So here's the finished piece! Don't mind the No Make Up Face or Studio Clothes That Are Ratty (just because you have an apron doesn't mean you won't get anything on your clothes!)...I was so excited to share the whole thing, I ran outside and had someone snap a pic for you to seeeeee.  

Now I feel Totally Awesome when I put it on to paint. It's hard NOT to. Look at all that artsy love on there! BAM! Instant Inspiration. 

Here's the quote I machine wrote on the bottom (via Messy Canvas): 

Live [for] yourselves. The signposts have fallen, unblazed trails lie before us. - CG Jung

It seemed fitting. Something big is coming, and I'm going to be ready for it.  

Do you have an apron you wear while creating? What kind of magic does it hold? How can you make it part of your life? 

Summer Camp starts in two weeks! Don't miss out on the fun. Read my Summertime Love Letter to learn more about where I am right now, & where we're getting ready to go, tribe-mates! 

[video] the secret of freehand sewing exposed!

Here ya go! The first part of the freehand sewing video. I hope this answers the questions re: sewing machines and set-up, any of you have had. 

I'll film and post the next Q&A video on Tuesday. Love ya all!

{the pleasure of finding things out}

“I don’t see that it makes any point that someone in the Swedish Academy decides that this work is noble enough to receive a prize -- I’ve already got the prize. The prize is the pleasure of finding the thing out, the kick in the discovery, the observations that other people use it -- those are the real things.”

- Richard Feynman

When I read this quote in “The Pleasure of Finding Things Out,” a collection of short writings and interviews by Richard Feynman I picked up yesterday, I felt the sentiment transcended his own thoughts on winning the Nobel Prize in Physics to really describe anyone exploring the unknown because they need to, not for fame or prizes or recognition, but because they genuinely enjoy it. That I would expect anything less from my favorite physicist is laughable and something I’m reminded of with each book of his I pick up or re-read.

Feynman worked on the Manhattan Project, came up with the theories of quantum physics and nanotechnology, taught, played practical jokes, and -- here’s the best part -- explained Einstein’s theories better than Einstein (this isn’t just a saying; Einstein actually asked him to come down and explain his theories during a lecture). He took the world of physics and created a conversation a seven-year-old girl in Chicago could understand and unlocked that wild, seeking spirit in her.

And I think, out of everything I’ve accomplished and will accomplish, all the paintings I create and journal pages I work on, there is nothing that can ever match with that pleasure that comes with pushing the envelope, trying something new, and figuring it out for myself.

Art has become a laboratory of discovery for me, a compulsion that rises in me each day to try something new. And my ideas usually come to me in that form. “What if I used the binder part from an old planner to make my own little 3-ring binder to journal in?” “What if I embroidered through paper?” “What if I made a cover out of canvas instead of book board?” All my ideas and projects have come as personal challenges, me sitting there and deconstructing what is and reconstructing it in my own way.

I’ve never been a quiet person. As a child -- and now, as an adult -- I pestered my mother with so many questions, other parents wondered if they could stay sane with a child as inquisitive as me. And these weren’t easy questions, but how-does-the-world-work queries that my mother sometimes didn’t know the answers to. I’ve always been like this. I want to know how things work, the history of words I hear, process and method and where I can find the answers. I read books on chemistry and physics to answer questions like, “Why is there a warning on the side of my Diet Coke?” “How can we time-travel (answer: we don’t. My favorite novel on the idea, Timeline, is based on the quantum theories of Feynman, and written by one of my favorite writers, Michael Chriton -- the perfect merging of literary talent and science)?”

It’s only natural, then, that these inclinations would spread to my art. And in this respect, I’m glad my background isn’t formal, art-wise. I don’t have any preconceived ideas or proper education. There are no opinions of art teachers or what is right and wrong coming at me from the pages of an art history book. And while sometimes I feel these gaps when trying to figure something out, I think I’m better for their absence because I can chart my own path and, well, find my bliss.

G out there and figure things out. Use what inspires you. Try a new tool or stamp with an empty paper towel roll (note: it looks pretty awesome!). Take a moment to pause and look at things in a new way -- deconstruct them and make them your own. Don’t be limited by what you learned in school or what the world has told you is the right way. Enjoy what you’re doing.

So the next time you’re browsing the internet or reading your favorite magazines and find yourself wishing for the popularity of your favorite artists or perhaps the talent you think you lack, think back to the words at the head of this blog post -- that there is nothing more enjoyable or blissful that finding things out, kick-starting that drive of discovery. And if you ever do begin to be noticed, going online and finding you’re inspiring others to paint or draw or discover -- that is worth more than all the magazine articles or classes or blog stats in the world.