Thursday 24 January 2008

Teddy Bears

My year so far has unfortunately been free of polymer clay but today I added pictures of the things I made last December to my Flickr-Gallery. When I stumbled across this picture this cute little face begged me to make a cane of it. So I tried and I think it turned out really nice. My teddy has a slightly more sad and melancholic expression though, hasn't he?

Wednesday 23 January 2008

Sewing

I'm in such a mood for crafting, but my hands are moaning all the time and say to me: "Don't you dare to force us to work with clay!" So at least at the moment I do how they wish. I was thinking about what to do, that will keep them quiet but give me some creative joy. A few days ago when I was walking around I saw a stack of felt in the shop window of a local craft shop. It made me think of the gorgeous things Lupin makes with felt, that I had seen on Flickr and I said to me, I should try something like that! So I went in and bought some sheets of felt and was very eager to give it a try. Let's see if I can do a little sewing! To stick a needle through a light fabric like felt shouldn't put too much pressure on my wrists. It took some time to draw a pattern that wasn't all wonky and again my inspiration was one of Lupin's beautiful designs, her lovely cherry blossom pin. This is Lupin's pretty Sakura:

She makes so adorable creations with felt! I especially like her oak leaf and her funny moustache disguises, you can buy in her Etsy Shop. She also writes a nice blog called Bugs and Fishes about her daily crafting.

This is what I stiched. I'm extremely pleased with the regularity of my stiches, because the hardest part was to hold the needle. My fingers are so easily exhausted and my tendons keep complaining. But it looks really neat, doesn't it? And it was fun to make!
If you, dear reader, have a nice idea, what kind of crafts put little or no pressure to moody wrists, don't hesitate to tell me!

Sunday 13 January 2008

Hedwig Bollhagen

Yesterday I was in Potsdam to see an exhibition about Hedwig Bollhagen, who was a famous german ceramist. I was familiar with some of her designs and patterns, but never really saw them in person before. It makes a big difference to see the details, the actual size and shape of the pieces and to sense their immediate appeal. They gave me a lot of inspiration.

I would have liked to know more about her opinions and her attitudes but there wasn't much information about that, exept for a film in which she spoke herself that was shown on a monitor. But to hear the sound only three or four headphones were provided and you had to wait hours to get one of those. I did not have the patience. There was another film that needed no sound, that showed the process of painting a cup, a bowl and a small figure of Santa Claus. I watched it three times. I love to see crafting in real time! I never get bored to see hands skillfully and carefully creating beautiful things. I also saw a worker from her workshops, who was there only that day, painting a ceramic easter egg with a Bollhagen design.

Edit: I wrote more on this subject here.

Concentration.

Freshly painted bowls with famous designs.

Sunday 6 January 2008

Nureyev and Me

It's my pain anniversary today. I wondered if I should mention it in my blog. Nobody likes to read about pain and suffering. Things like that disturb and don't fit in a world in which a human being has to be efficient. But hey, my blog is about my struggles and pain is a big part of me and it shaped me. I'm unproductive, slow and weak and need far too much help, but it's my experience that other people have more problems to accept this than I have. 15 years ago, same weather as today, freezing rain, I had a little accident with serious consequences. Rudolf Nureyev died at the same day. I still remember when it was in the news and although I never was his fan, I feel connected. ( I rather prefer Vaslav Nijinsky who turned mad, which in my opinion might be the only sane reaction to the society we live in.) My hands and arms hurt since Nureyev is dead! Does this sound too melodramatic?

Everybody is talking about New Year's resolutions these days, but I don't
have any. I'd just like to do crafty stuff as often as possible and I want to read more books again. Here's my list of the books I read in 2007. Usually I put those lists on my website, but unfortunately it suffers from lack of updates for far too long now and needs a relaunch.

Books 2007

Robert W. Connell - Der gemachte Mann
Alan Hollinghurst - The Line of Beauty
Edward Lucie-Smith - Erotik in der Kunst
Robert Merle - Moncada
Werner Alberts - Uta Ranke-Heinemann
Michel Foucault - Das Leben der infamen Menschen
David McCullough - 1776
John Berger - Albrecht Dürer
Pierre Radvanyi - Jenseits des Stroms ~ Erinnerungen an meine
Mutter Anna Seghers
Isabelle Anscombe - Arts & Crafts Style
Stefana Sabin - Ethel Rosenberg
Henri-Pierre Roché - Jules und Jim
Alasdair Gray - A History Maker
Bertha von Suttner - Die Waffen nieder!
JT Leroy - The Heart is deceitful above all Things
Eric Frey - Schwarzbuch USA
Christine Orban - Eine Liebe der Virginia Woolf
Norman Mailer - Heiliger Krieg: Amerikas Kreuzzug
Jeanine Warnod - Valadon
Hanif Kureishi - Intimacy
Suzanne Raitt - Vita & Virginia
Alasdair Gray - Unlikely Stories, Mostly
Gavin Miller - Alasdair Gray ~ The Fiction of Communion
Alice Schwarzer - Die Antwort
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Willa Sibert Cather - My Antonia
Marc Heiremans - Murano-Glas im 20. Jahrhundert
Helmut Ricke & Ulrich Gronert (Hrsg.) - Glas in Schweden 1915-1960
Keith Cummings - A History of Glassforming
Nikita Woronow - Sowjetisches Kunstglas
Rudolf Hoffmann - Thüringer Glas aus Lauscha und Umgebung
Helmut Ricke - Neues Glas in Deutschland
Ouzi Dekel - Intifada ~ Zwischen den Fronten
Arlene Hirschfelder - Native Americans
Kathleen Berton Murrell - Russland
Christian Brandstätter - Design der Wiener Werkstätte 1903-1932
David Cathers - Stickley Style