Studio Notes 16/08/19

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After a long weekend travelling back and forth to Liverpool – and not going to the Tate – I had a shedload of catching up to do.

Unfortunately most of the catching up had to do with housework, DIY, writing new articles, updating old articles and creating new graphics for them.

Before all that I did manage to find some buttons in my vintage stash to update a 1930s top that I’ve been meaning to fix for something like ten years. I do get around to things eventually.

Feeling a little frustrated with myself for having another week go by without much happening in the way of artwork, I tried out a bit of an experiment to see if I could get the next week off on a speedy start.

Re-tacking a cutting mat

When you get a home cutter-plotter machine, you’ll need a cutting mat, which is essentially a square bit of laminated card, onto which your material to be cut will be stuck.

You’ll need to stick it onto this cutting mat (or carrier mat) to be able to cut shapes out without the entire thing falling apart, so really it’s an essential.

The problem comes when the stickiness wears off and you haven’t got anything to use to renew the adhesive! Basically that’s where I am right now, so before I order this sticky mat adhesive* I tried using watered-down PVA applied with a foam brush to see if I could recreate the low-tack effect without spending any money.

It worked, after beefing up the ratio of glue to water, but the problem was, it was a little too tacky, and some of the kraft paper stuck.

Still, as I understand it, that’s just what happens with these cutting mats – working out the right level of adhesion is part of the process. I’m still going to get the proper glue though.

Designing a smaller coin

I’ve got a very different design in mind for a smaller coin; I had thought of it as being much smaller, but having just cut several basic shapes out of kraft paper for my experiment, I might just keep it at the size I produced. Maybe next week I’ll be able to show some more of that.

Oh, and the copper leaf on my shoes survived! Although it’s flaking off terribly now… at least it did the job for the day.

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Studio Notes 16/08/19

Studio Notes 09/08/19

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When I think about writing up my creative activities for this blog, it’s always focused on the visual art side, because that’s how I mainly see myself.

When I talk about my writing here, it’s always focused on the creative writing or maybe critical essays, and even when I mention the journals I’ve published so far I don’t link to them because they belong in a non-art genre.

But this week my other writing career got a major shot in the arm, and took me off on the crest of a wave that’ll probably last for at least another week and pay off hugely for a long time to come. So far this week I have:

  • Switched email newsletter providers
  • Created email autoresponders and new embedded forms and pop-ups
  • Designed several new pin templates in GIMP
  • Signed up for Tailwind*
  • Bought a Socialbee lifetime subscription through AppSumo*
  • Joined several new affiliate programs
  • Refreshed and re-published several older articles

Often whilst balancing a cat on my lap. Oh, and I’ve experimented with copper-leafing a pair of shoes. Seriously.

What kicked it off?

Not entirely sure. Something started it – my guess would be finally committing to pay for Tailwind and accepting that I’d have to make some better images to make that investment worthwhile – and then I realised how very out-of-date a lot of my articles were, and how much better my entire publishing business could be if I just woke up and pulled my finger out.

Sometimes you just get into a rut with a creative business, and there’s nothing like parting with some money to create enough pain to snap you back into action!

So my big blog will get the benefit first, and then I’ll overhaul this one once that’s ticking over.

Copper leaf on shoes?

Well, it doesn’t hurt to try. I have a cat who particularly likes new shoes… he specifically likes to scratch them to bits.

I thought I might as well have a go at rescuing a pair that fell victim to his claws. Of course, being an art materials hoarder, I had one single sheet of metal leaf left from a sculpture I made in 2003, and the little bottle of leaf size to go with it.

Will it look good? That’s subjective, and high fashion doesn’t usually mind looking dreadful, if we’re telling the truth.

Will it stick? Now that’s something I’ll have to answer after the weekend.

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Studio Notes 09/08/19

Studio Notes 02/08/19

The rasps I bought back in May have finally seen the light of day, but after a lot of activity at the start of the week I’ve had to give it a break to get on with some other vital jobs.

MCM ComicCon

One absolutely vital job was going to MCM ComicCon in Manchester! Of course since then I’ve been thinking about turning the intersection of cosplay and “playing mas” into a PhD. Never gonna get around to that but if you know of anyone that has, I’d read that thesis.

I got another great independently published comic though.

The videos that changed my art practice

This week we heard about the untimely death of Grant Thompson, founder of the King Of Random YouTube channel.

I couldn’t help but remark at the impact one person could have on so many thousands – if not millions – including people like me. It was my son who watched his videos years ago and got my husband on board with the idea of building a bucket furnace. Then they both badgered me until I watched the videos and signed up for it. Then we finally built the thing and I got hooked on melting metal.

Now I’m spending most of my creative energy on casting pewter instead of aluminium, and there are other great YouTubers that I’ve subscribed to since then, but I wouldn’t be doing any of it without first having seen Grant Thompson’s remarkable backyard adventures.

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Studio Notes 02/08/19
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Art Supplies Haul – June 2019

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There’s not much of a shopping list this time, because to make a list you kinda need more than one thing!

My art spending is strictly budget-based though, so when I discovered this beauty I had to funnel all my funds towards it… and if you’ve been reading my Studio Notes series you may already know what I’m talking about. Let’s have a look at my big buy then:

Brother Scan N Cut CM300 machine

A few months ago I watched a video of a Cricut Maker cutter-plotter machine for the first time. I was researching some art supplies and I don’t know why I ended up there, but I was hooked on the possibilities.

I could tell that it would be an amazing tool, but I knew nothing about cutting machines, and it seemed like an entirely new language to learn -software, hardware, brands, all the technical jargon, comparisons between old and newer models… it took a while to figure it out.

Brother Scan N Cut CM300 review
Click here to see on Amazon*

Eventually I settled on a Brother Scan N Cut CM300, which I bought second-hand on eBay.

You might remember that as early as May I was wondering whether I could use it to cut out kraft paper pieces to make a 3d form – well, that’s exactly what I did.

As for the original Cricut machine that caught my eye, it probably is better, as it has a higher cutting pressure and can cut thicker materials. Still, I like the scanning function on the Brother machine, as I naturally want to scan a lot of my hand-drawn designs.

You can click here to get a Cricut Maker at CraftStash*. Here’s the video that got me hooked:

Art Supplies Haul June 2019

Studio Notes 26/07/19

I spent a fair amount of time creating moulds for other people this week, and now I can say I have a much better handle on mixing good DIY silicone moulds. so the entire process is a lot cleaner and less chaotic than it was when I started.

As for high-temperature silicone moulds, I sure have learned some valuable lessons over the last few weeks. I need to buy some more to make more moulds, but that might just have to wait a bit longer while I tie up loose ends on my current job.

The final pour… and what’s next

Of course I’d find myself melting metal in my kitchen in the middle of a heatwave. I just had to have another go to perfect my cast – or get as close to perfecting as I could.

Thing is, it’s actually not perfect, and it eats me up inside. I have a major problem with perfectionism that I’m constantly trying to tackle, and sometimes I think it’s a miracle I put anything on display in the first place.

But logical Lee knows it’s not helpful; sometimes you need to accept what you’ve got and work with it. It’s miles better than my prototype, and when I look at the finish I achieved with that, it makes me think that this one will be great when I’ve finished with the engraving.

So yeah, time to move this thing on already.

Cutting the thing off the sprue with a hacksaw was bad enough, but here comes the dirty, noisy bit – getting the engraving tools out and grinding/carving/polishing the metal until it’s just right.

I think I need a hazmat suit to cover me from head to toe this time, because I’m not showering myself in pewter particles again. Nope.

To copper electroplate or not?

Copper electroplating – another layer of faff or something I need to do?

When I first conceived of this coin sculpture, I wanted it to be in copper. I liked the idea that copper coins are usually those of lowest value, whilst copper itself is quite expensive nowadays. Plus, copper is just so pretty…

So now I have to make up my mind as to whether or not I’ll invest in a copper electroplating kit to enhance this coin (and others to follow). I’ve got more supplies on my list that I need to buy, and last month’s purchasing kinda wiped my budget out, so I think I need to get on with making more of the coin collection before I commit to their final finish.

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Studio Notes 26/07/19
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