Lost in Translation, part three

It's been a while since I have posted in this little series, but I have collected many more photographs to share with you. I'll start with the most recent, which went up today. These are posted outside the door to the garbage chute.

There are more posted in the lobby, which I will put up another day, perhaps tomorrow. For those of you not familiar with this little series, this is a collection of notes that the super of my building likes to put up from time to time. Unfortunately his English translations from his native Spanish are atrocious. My boyfriend says that the Spanish versions he pastes up are mostly well-written, so perhaps he is using an online translator which is giving him these funny results with the English translation. And anyway, he's a terrible super (don't even get me started on it!), so don't feel bad having a chuckle at his expense. More to come...

My Momma

Look at this sweet little lady! I just had to share this photo, I think it is just so delightful. This photo is from the summer of 1970. I just acquired a massive amount of negatives from my Mom, dating from the 1970's and possibly the 80's as well (haven't gone through them all yet.) Isn't she lovely? I have decided that I will undertake the massive project of scanning them all in on my awesome Epson scanner. This project may take me several years at my snails' pace, but I am sure it will be rewarding! First I really have to figure out the best settings to scan all these in at, it is actually trickier than I thought. I don't think I am going to go the "fully automated" settings-route, I can't imagine that will give me the best image quality. Leave any tips you have for me in the comments! (please do not steal this image, all rights reserved cutiepie company)

Pretty Things

Last week I was incredibly lucky to score almost 50 stems of tulips. Aren't they lovely? My boyfriend's studio is next door to a commercial landscaping company. Apparently they dispose of large numbers of plants and flowers on a regular basis! I went over to his studio and dumpster dived for flowers! Okay, well sort of. The dumpster was overflowing with soil and plants and flowers, so I got up along the edge of it, and walked around it pulling tulips out. They were still in the pots. We cut most of them for placing in water, but kept one pot which was fairly intact. The blooms are all gone now, so I have about a dozen bulbs. Anyone know how I should store them?

This photo shows only about one-third of all the blooms we had! I don't think I've ever had so many flowers in my home at once. I placed some of them in little glasses and spread them throughout the house. I just love spring flowers!

Where Have I Been?

Distracted, in a self-imposed cocoon of crafting, and not able to keep up with blogging. I have been really distracted lately... but have been happily crafting away at home, so it's all good. I have been meaning to post about a little interview I did over at the Etsy Beagle Team's blog last week. You can check it out here, if you want to learn a bit more about me. (It's not a very long interview.) Thanks so much to Linda, aka Ms. Anomaly, the Beagle Team leader, for posting it!

Lost in Translation, part two

This is posted downstairs in my building, on the door that leads to the laundry room and recycling bin/trash can area. I think it's strange that the super doesn't get anyone to help with the translation, but hey, it's amusing!

(And I don't mean to offend anyone with this! My boyfriend is hispanic as are many of my friends and most of the people I grew up with. I hope nobody takes this the wrong way!)

Fun with Food

I have long been a fan of bizarre product packaging, particularly of food items. I have a small collection of very interesting food wrappers, including "Commando Chips" from the Middle East, which feature some gun-toting folk on the wrapper. I have to unearth those and scan them one of these days! For now I wanted to share some fun finds that a recent shopping trip yielded. I snapped these on my camera phone--not bad I think!

Lost in Translation, part one

I think this speaks for itself!

My super likes to post these interesting signs all over the building. This one is located above the trash chute on my floor. There are different ones in different places throughout the building. Stay tuned!

(My apologies for the poor photography, let's just say the lighting is less than ideal, and I didn't go to the trouble of pulling out my grey card.)

A Confession

Well, maybe more like an admission: I am messy!
I am a very messy person. At home, no matter how hard I try, there always seems to be some mess, big or small... or huge. The "real world" job I do requires utmost organization, and I actually excel at that, and love keeping things organized. The organization facilitates doing the work in an efficient manner.

But at home, it's another story. Even though I know that organization would help me in my creative pursuits, this is what happens:

I organize my work space. Then I start a project. I work on that a bit and then decide there is a different project I would rather work on. Instead of putting aside or putting away the first thing, I start my next project right on top of it. And I usually continue doing that until there truly is no room to work, and then I must take a day to organize everything. And the cycle starts again. I truly believe that even if I had a huge studio, I would still cover every available surface with projects in varying stages of completion. It would still be a mess.

Hm, maybe if I just had more shelves...

Creative Frustration

So it's been a while now that I have been feeling frustrated with my work, like writer's block, you know, but for a visual artist. Visual artist's block, if you will. And this is also one of the reasons I have been posting so little here, as well. But I had a bit of a breakthrough this week. I finally came to an important realization about my work.

I think the main thing is that apart from the stuff I create for my etsy shop, I have been doing collage and mixed media for a very long time. And it is quite different from the work you see in my shop.

mixed media collage (copyright by me, please do not steal)

I'll backtrack a little here. Since I was a tot, I have always been creating some sort of visual "art." Collaging, drawing, painting, tracing my favorite illustrations, etc. I have also been collecting and obsessing over paper goodies for almost as long. In high school, I started collaging zines and creating collaged displays for my bedroom walls. I didn't realize mixed media/collage was actually considered a "legitimate" art form until I discovered Robert Rauschenberg and Joseph Cornell in my late teens. And when I did discover them, I mean, WOW. I just fell in love.

Throughout college, though a film major, I took art courses, from painting and ceramics to lithography. And my film studies enriched my photography (another love of mine). Then, six or seven years ago I started using a new mixed media technique I had learned in a workshop. I began creating these mixed media pieces, mainly utilizing image transfers. And this is still one of my favorite techniques.

mixed media collage (copyright by me, please do not steal)

Since I have always loved paper, I have also wanted to make greeting cards since I as long as I can remember. Loved making them for friends and family. Then about a year ago, after I discovered Etsy and the nifty Gocco, I realized I could make that little dream come true. I opened up my shop and started creating my paper goods!

Once I began doing that, I stopped creating my mixed media works. Not on purpose, it just kinda happened slowly. For the past few months, I have been feeling very frustrated, unable to come up with new ideas, lacking inspiration. I knew of course, it was partly due to the fact that I had stopped making my mixed media work. But I realized this week the main source of the frustration was due to the different ways I approach the work.

When I am making mixed media/collage pieces, I don't approach the work with a final design in mind. I simply gather my materials and begin selecting images and start putting them together. The work just shapes itself. I go along, layering, adding, until I achieve a result that feels complete.

When I am making work for my shop, my approach is completely different. Besides the considerations of materials cost, time expended (time=money) and what will sell, I will attempt to design a final product... I will have to create a screen with which to print my images. I have to think it out and design it and come up with an idea. And this approach is so different than the way I create my other work.

And so this had been my stumbling block! I realized this when, in a fit of frustration, I pulled out my mixed media supplies and set to work making a few new pieces. My method is to just let the piece come together on its own. I can't believe I didn't make this connection before! So then I got some colorful papers and began collaging some simple but cute notecards. It felt so liberating! I was just putting the pieces together, moving them around, letting the colors and lines dictate each piece until it felt complete.

So now I have to make sure I strike a balance with my work. And maybe I have to rethink my approach to the way I design products for my shop. Please share your thoughts and ideas with me in the comments below! I'm sure most of you have felt creative frustration before, and I welcome all of your opinions and advice!

More Silly Dog Tricks

Almost as soon as I posted the photo of Hunter in the previous post, she climbed back in the basket. And I promise you, I didn't stage that bit of lace over her face.Then she settled in for a little nap. And by the way, she has numerous dog beds in every room of the house (except the bathroom). But I guess she likes making up her own dog beds.

Silly Dog Tricks

Is is just me, or does anyone else find this incredibly funny? My beagle Hunter has this habit of always crawling into baskets or containers full of soft things, i.e., the laundry basket while it's full of clothing or freshly laundered towels! Last night was particularly amusing because she crawled into this very small basket full of fabric scraps. Then she posed there for several minutes while I almost fell out of my chair laughing and snapping photos.

I have a hunch that she knows how much this cracks me up and she does it for my benefit/amusement. Though a rascalish doggie in a basket of clean towels in not actually that amusing...

What silly things does your dog do?

A Quick Introduction

I thought I should probably introduce myself a tiny bit. My name is Milly, I'm 30, and I live in the Bronx with one dog (a little beagle who is always hungry even after she has just eaten) and one boyfriend (with his own etsy shop!). We are both big-time night owls. I have been known to cook dinner around midnight! I am lucky to make my living as a freelance camera assistant (film and tv), though I am trying to get away from all that and eventually make my living with my own business, doing what I really love (art and craft).
I say I am lucky, though sometimes working as a crew member feels like a curse. More on that some other time...(and there is lots more!) But I am lucky because being freelance means I don't work every day, and I have plenty of time to devote to my etsy shop (well, there are two of them actually). It is sort of like working part-time... but usually working just a 3-day week means 40 hours. And a 5-day week usually means 65-75 hours. So it's a bit hard to describe. But some weeks I don't work at all. So it all sort of averages out, you know?

I might write about my day job from time to time... but only when I have a really good story to share! That's it for the moment, thanks for reading!