Writing my blog each day takes a fair amount of time. Lately, with the feeling of being spread thin creeping in, I realized that I might need to add some structure my day. Hence, last night I wrote out a list of tasks that I wanted to accomplish today. With a desire to work on some writing projects outside of my daily blog post, scheduling a time to do so might help.
However, when scrolling through my emails at noon, I saw a note from the art gallery in Iowa at which I consign my jewelry. They had received my pieces for the special exhibit that opens this Friday and wanted to know if I could write an artist’s statement about the pieces. Fortunately, I had put thought into what my creations were, so I was able to write my statement with a fair amount of ease.
“When the pandemic changed our lives in the spring of this year, I tried to remain “normal” as much as possible. This included keeping routines, schedules and activities as much as they were, if possible, before the shut down in March. This was difficult with my youngest son being a senior in high school. Many celebratory milestones were missed. Fortunately, he coped with this better than I.
When it came to my crafting, there were some changes brought about by the social distancing guidelines and need to wear masks. After twenty years, I found myself sewing again. At this time, I’ve made over 350 fabric faces masks and donated 250 of them to my local community. It’s made me feel as if I was doing something to help! Although the mask making has taken time away from my jewelry creations, it has been an activity that I’ve enjoyed.
My jewelry has always been inspired by color, nature, and travel. However, I found a new inspiration for 2020. My vision started to include the faces we saw on social media, in the news, and in person, and most of all those loved ones we were missing during this time of isolation. This vision led me to seek the bronze casted faces as components for the necklace and bracelet for the special exhibit at The Left Bank Shop and Gallery. The faces represent those affected by the virus.
I found the color red to also be significant for my 2020 Vision. Red, as a color, connotes many emotions: anger, passion, fear, and yes, even impending death. The sterling and Swarovski crystal earrings embody all the emotions experienced during this time. Having emotional responses to events in our world is a large part of being human.
And, lastly where do we escape to during the pandemic? The spiral teardrop beads seemed to beg to be paired with this mermaid pendant. The turquoise color is calming and reminds me of travel to parts of the world where the water is this shade of blue. The mermaid adds a bit of whimsy that carries with it hope for a time when we can emerge from the oppression of the COVID-pandemic. The name, Between the Waves, was inspired by each wave of the virus and carries with it a hope for a tide, returning us to normalcy that includes travel.“
Artist’s Statement by Carol Labuzzetta, 9/16/2020.
People who create sometimes see things differently. This is something I’ve known for a very long time. My ability to combine colors or see tone variations is not common. It’s worked well for me as I’ve designed jewelry and sewn home accessories such as window treatments or bedding.
Generally, I think its fair to say that people who create like to tweak their designs. I am definitely a “tweaker.” The fabric face masks I’ve sewn started out with a pattern, but then I adjusted for size and the creation of an additional slot for a nasal bridge. My jewelry creations are no different. One of the pieces I made for the exhibit stared as a necklace and ended up as a bracelet. Tweaking! It is what creators do!
And, working with words are no different. Over the years, my garden club lessons were constantly tweaked. I taught, I evaluated, and I tweaked. Now, I am editing some of my poems. Some of the structure and word choices need to be tweaked. I still hope I can get to some of that today.
But, my jewelry craft took precedence over my sewing craft, and my word craft today. It’s taken a back seat to those two hobbies for many months. And, by writing my artist’s statement, I did work on something other than my blog. In this case, I’m grateful the words came easy and there was not a call for a lot of tweaking! I just got it done!
Whew! Now there’s time to move on to something else! Do you have a crafter’s mind?
If so, how does your crafter’s mind work?
The Apples in My Orchard 