Blog - Page 22 of 32 - Studio Deanna

HoursTracker – Lepidoptera, Algebra & Crochet

According to my HoursTracker App, this past week, I have completed 17 hours 15 minutes of Research & Development and 47 minutes of Marketing. But just what have I accomplished in this time?

I’m getting ready to place a big colored-copper wire order and wanted to be sure of the gauges, colors, prices and which company will send their items to me in Japan at the most reasonable price within a reasonable timeframe. Of course, it is difficult to make direct comparisons as one company sells by the yard, another by the meter and yet another by the 1/4 pound! Due to proprietary metals compositions and permanent coloring techniques there is no way a simple yards to meters conversion will give me a good complete picture. And by the 1/4 pound? Puh-leez! There is no algebra professor that can find that kind of “X”!

So I made a few wire crochet studies to be sure of the gauges that will be best. Last week was the Tunisian Crochet experiments. This past week was working a doily pattern which I completely misread by the 3rd row! Thankfully, it was the wire work look and feel I was testing not my pattern reading!

Off the clock, I chose to layer the wire crocheted pieces, combine them with fun destash yarn and created a wall hanging sculpture that I’ll insert into a deep box frame.

My lepidoptera research has been going over my photographs of various Butterflies native to Queensland, Australia, learning their wing colors, both on top and the bottom which is often very different. Googling what their eggs, caterpillar, and chrysalis look like along with which flora species they prefer. I am super excited that this will be a bright & beautiful project when it’s completed.

A bit more research went into locker hooking techniques to help me recreate the rainforest floor. Thanks so much for all those YouTube posters who have happily shared their knowledge. This morning I’ll tackle a sample piece.

The Marketing time is mostly adding to this website and posting daily progress to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, tumblr…

Good (Bad?) Enough to Bin It!

Yes! That really great idea I had that turned out to be not such a great idea is going in the Bin. More precisely, Michael Landy’s Art Bin at Yokohama’s Museum of Art.

As mentioned in my Decluttering Art post, what cannot be reclaimed, repurposed or given away to even one’s mother to love will need to go to the garbage bin. This huge (1 meter in diameter) black snowflake needs such a home. It reminds me too much of a yucky spiderweb. I am so very happy my project was good (bad?) enough to be accepted for binning at the Yokohama Triennale.

This huge black snowflake/spiderweb monstrosity of a bad idea will be given a chance to be rejected with dignity in an art museum along with a tribe of other rejected art.

Thursday, Aug 28th, sometime between 11:00 – 12:00 stop by to watch this and other rejected art be tossed into the Art Bin.

Study in Tunisian Crochet

Pulled out my 9″ long, I-sized Tunisian Crochet hook this past week to expand my crochet repertoire. A bit of inexpensive Red Heart Yarn, my Encyclopedia of Crochet by Donna Kooler, and a few YouTube videos and I was set.

It turned out to be fairly easy to do and I enjoyed seeing the stitch patterns emerge along with ideas I could get with it going forward on my Tropical Butterfly Garden Project. I played with learning no less than 8 different stitches and their combinations, even creating stitches that look just like something that was knit with knitting needles and stitches that resembled purling.

Tunisian Simple Stitch using Red Heart’s Artist Print Yarn

Using as much of my hook as possible I chained a total of 20 stitches across and have so far made a scarf-like study of about 40 centimeters of varying rows of stitches. The sides of the scarf are not even as I was focusing on proper tension and the actual creation of the stitch vs. counting the correct amount in a row. A recurring problem for me.

Tunisian Full Stitch or Slant Stitch (?), An experimental row or two, Tunisian Double Crochet, and several rows of what I call the Knit Stitch because it looks just like knitting. I have noticed several stitches seem to have more than one name.

This style of crochet does also have a tendency to curl which a friend in stitch group did warn me about. It was also suggested to use a larger hook with smaller yarn to help reduce this.

A bit of Tunisian Lacy Simple Stitch, Tunisian Double Crochet, and then a Tunisian Rib Stitch pattern which I’m not sure I did correctly.

As I felt more confident with my skills are started combining various stitches within the rows to begin creating varying textures and patterns. The top section is a match to a very interesting bark pattern I saw which visiting the Daintree Rainforest in Australia recently.

From yarn I moved onto wire, of course.

The stitch work and techniques are just as easily transferrable as with a regular crochet hook and I like that some of the stitches seem a bit more durable than with regular crochet but I am limited by the 9″ length of my Tunisian Crochet hook. Whereas with a regular crochet hook I am able to have a width as wide as my yarn will allow. As I type this I am getting an idea as to how to use that to my advantage. More Research & Development!

9" Tunisian Crochet Hook packed with 20 stitches of wire crochet work. — 9″ Tunisian Crochet Hook packed with 20 stitches of wire crochet work.

At the far end of the work I found I had a lot less leverage in which to create the stitches using the wire and it became more and more difficult to work. When I create my pieces I need to complete them in a reasonable amount of time or I won’t be able to finish so the extra wrestling it took to complete each stitch will need to be reduced.

Working from here on my Study in Tunisian Wire Crochet work:

HoursTracker: Still keeping track of the hours, this week I’ve spent mostly on this Tunisian Crochet which I’ve clocked under the Research & Development: Approximately 4 1/2 hours.

A bit of Marketing, mostly updating a few things on my website and blog post creating which includes taking the photos, editing the photos, and writing, etc: Approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Decluttering Artwork

Nothing escapes my decluttering madness when it starts and my creative endeavors are no exception.

Sometimes I’m lucky and all the materials can be fully reclaimed. Hours and hours went into the meter long wide scarf I was making from a super yummy wool/cashmere mix but in reality it just looked like a pile of leftover birthday cake.

When I pulled it out to reclaim the yarn, it left a pile of rainbow confetti ramen.

A run through on the Yarn Winder and I have fresh cakes ready for that as yet unfound perfect pattern:

Even the piece in progress from the first post I made is subject to scrutiny. It didn’t make it. Still like the lovely idea I had for a scarf. Using the lace thread popular here in Japan, I ran into the speed bump of having to pick up more at Yuzawaya and just never picked it up again to finish. I asked myself, “Why did I choose not to finish this project?” In the end it doesn’t matter, I’ll never finish it or be satisfied if I ever do. So I’ve ripped out as much as possible down to the Wedding Ring chain pattern. Sure I’ll keep the chain for another project but it will likely be tossed in the next round of decluttering madness.

What cannot be reclaimed, repurposed or given away to even one’s mother to love will need to go to the garbage bin. This huge (1 meter across) black snowflake needs such a home. It reminds me too much of a yucky spiderweb so I’m applying to the Art Bin Project by Michael Landy at the Yokohama Triennale to bin it.

But will my bad art idea be good enough? Will I be able to give it a chance to be rejected with dignity in an art museum with a tribe of other rejected art?

How long did it take you to make that?

I am often asked this question when someone is viewing one of my projects, same as many other artists hear.

We could all answer years, decades or even a lifetime we have spent honing our skills, learning our craft, debating which subject matter in which medium will touch the viewer most. Simply printing a single page which should take no more than 2 or 3 minutes can lead to hours of wrangling with computer programming hiccups, hardware problems, printer errors and ink cartridges as drained as the artist.

But that isn’t the answer they want to hear. It makes what we do inaccessible to our audience. I like to see the viewer connecting with my work, seeing the next evolution of possibilities and expressing those “What if…” thoughts.

As I start to fully dive into what it’s going to take to complete my Tropical Butterfly Garden Art Installation I have started keeping track of the hours. Using the HoursTracker App I’ve added in the maximum allowed 3 “Jobs” available in the free version.
1. Research & Development
2. Marketing
3. Construction

I know that I will need to have some parts of my piece completed even before I get to the Artist Residency Site. I am hoping keeping track of my progress will help me keep on track to complete the project as I have planned it to be.

So far I have completed:
1. 53 minutes of R & D: Which Tropical Butterflies do I wish to concentrate my efforts? Which wire sizes, colors and quantities should I obtain?
2. 95 minutes of Marketing: Searching for indy yarn dyers, Setting up a Tumblr Account, Maintaining current connections, updating website, etc..
3. 0 minutes of Construction

Debated with myself if my search for source materials (indy yarn dyers) should be a part of Research & Development but chose Marketing because I will be connecting with real people. In the end, it is doubtful that those who ask, “How long did it take you to make that?” will want this much detail. But, I am that curious to know.

In-Between Large Projects

I can finally see the floor of my tatami room studio again! Finishing one big project and before jumping into the next big projects(s), I’ve spent my time “spring” cleaning my studio.

As a very visual person I like to see all my options at one time. All my pieces, all my mediums displayed within easy reach as I work. In reality, this means pulling everything from their boxes, drawers, and shelves out onto whatever flat surface I can find, so by the end of a project it looks like my studio has projectile vomited all over itself.

This In-Between Large Projects time is all about putting these items back in their home, deciding if I really need to keep 6 different kinds of metalsmithing hammers and where to hang my latest art acquisitions.

I do have a couple of small creative projects going that I pick up during breaks in the deep cleaning but have essentially kept the major projects on the back burner. Yet, their presence still leaks through, the ideas still simmering and flowing out:

1. Last night I tweaked my Tako Stir Fry Recipe with a bit of kabocha.

2. Decided the Travel Journal Art Books I am creating need a larger number of pages than what I am currently putting together.

3. That pot of simmering projects on the horizon may be on a bit too high the more I watch video podcasts. I’m beginning to think video documenting my progress wire crocheting the Tropical Butterfly Garden art installation will be a great idea!

Eek! Turning that burner down a bit.

Electric Butterflies Art Installation – Photos: Shiro Oni

Now fully set up inside Kotoriya Studio, Electric Butterflies at Shiro Oni in Gunma, Japan, had its debut during Onishi’s summer festival called Natsu Matsuri.

Created during my artist residency here, Electric Butterflies is an art installation exploring the demise & disposal of the electronic personality. It is a technological reclamation art installation project combining metals and fibers.