Crafty Musings by Hagit

Urban Inspiration

I can never get enough of these urban patterns.
I find them so very inspiring!
They stir my mind and make my hands itch - what will I be inspired to make? maybe somd doodling? image transfers? create a stencil from them? carve a stamp? stick the pictures in my art journal? 

Take this door, with the rust creating an intriguing pattern:

Same door, different angle:

And paint, splattered on walls:

And on the ground...

And some painted metal doors:

And how about these gorgeous circles? Wouldn't they make a magnificent stencil?

And more patterns:

I love this!

Do they make your heart sing as well? :-)

Process oriented art

Israeli artist, Einat Aloni, in a post about her teacher, Sasha Galitsky (beautiful art journal in that link, don't miss it!), explains how she convinced him to be her teacher, and describes a lesson:

"Sasha gets angry when I outline my images in black ink. He can't stand the thought that I approach my drawings with a finished idea in my mind, he splashes some paint, adds a cockscomb, sticks a tail, turns the hands into legs and the ground into clouds".

Drawing by Einat Aloni and Sasha Galitsky

Don't you just love it? :-)

 

Pops of Color

In my art journal: 

In a new book I'm working in: 

 

 

In my messy workspace: 

Around the house:

 

 

In my workshops:

 

And on the beach! :)

Where do you get your color fix? ;-)

Ceramic Tilda Dolls

My friend, Yael, fell in love with Tilda dolls, and instead of sewing them from a pattern, sculpted them from clay!

I think they're beautiful, and I love that she didn't stick to the original idea, and decided to create them her way:

For more pictures, visit Yael's blog.

It's a feature, not a bug!

Something funny happened in one of my recent altered domino workshops.
One of the participants stamped an image on her domino, and was very disappointed to learn that the ink was dry, and the image turned out somewhat blurry and light. She told everyone to watch out for that ink pad - can you imagine how embarassed the instructor (that's me!) was? :-)

But several seconds later, we all took a look at the "ruined" domino, and realized that the "dry ink" effect was beautiful! It sort of made an interesting light background. Here it is:

And then can you guess what happened? everyone was on the lookout for the dry ink! it was so funny. People started asking "who has the dry ink?" "I need the dry ink, where is it?" as if it were a desired new product, and not something to be trashed. These are a few of the dominos people made with "dry ink":

Can you see how the stamped image is light, uneven and imperfect? and doesn't it make a much interesting background than an even clear image?

This reminded me of how Celine Navarro stamps - without fear! Know what I mean? look at this, for example:

Now honestly, how many of you would have freaked out at such an imperfection? :-)
I think it's just perfect! It makes a much interesting texture, and gives her albums more character, doesn't it? Have a look at this beautiful mini here and you'll see some more "imperfect" stamping. I love it!

And this is when it becomes even more of a feature. See the shadowed alpha stamps here:

Celine explains how she does that: "To make this shadow behing each letter, you just have to stamp EACH LETTER twice without re-inking your stamp.I Use black Versafine ink, stamp one letter and then, without cleaning your stamp, stamp again but a little bit on the side, to make the shadow" - well, isn't that the "dry ink" technique again? :)

And I have several other examples, where the "imperfection" led to something very perfect.
A year ago, I sewed a diaper bag for my nephew's bed:

Because I'm only a beginner and my sewing skills really need to get better, as I turned the fabric to its right side, I realized there was a very crooked stitch, and not only that, but I had also left it open. So I sewed the lace on top, and I like the result even better! See, I wouldn't have thought of adding the lace without making that mistake.

And here's an example from my friend, Keshet, who made this frame in a recent workshop we both went to. She got too much glue on her frame, and it showed, and made her very unhappy. She then moved to cover it up with the aqua felt, and lo and behold! It looks so pretty, and much nicer than the original red-only frame! (that's her beautiful daughter in the pic :):

And this picture is from a recent altered photos workshop I gave. The same Keshet thought she had "ruined" her photo because her son, portrayed in the picture, got a smudge on his cheek. But then she looked again, and decided it makes him look like an indian, so she added feather to his hair:

Isn't it beautiful? She wouldn't have thought of adding the feather without that "mistake".

So what do you think? is imperfect the new perfect? :-)
I think those little imperfections are wonderful, and definitely interesting.
Have some examples of your own? Please tell me all about them/link in the comments section!

An Evening Stroll in Tel Aviv

(The first picture is of grafiti that says "Tel Aviv" in Hebrew)

 

 

 

The stuff I find...

I love find interesting stuff on the floor, and although I'm not that much of a junk collector (maybe because I do still think it's a bit gross) I do take some of the things I find home with me.

Here's a peek into a cool catalog I just found this morning. I've never heard of this brand, but they have gorgeous shoes, and I love their colors and interesting pictures. I think it's great inspiration, and I hope to use their papers some time soon.

 

 

What did you think?