Author: JP Dawes Artist

What I’ve been up to

| JP Dawes Artist

I have decided to try my hand at Etsy. Wow, this is a lot of work and just like Rome, my shop won’t be built in a day. Photographing for Etsy is different than the flat, what you see is what you get photography I do for Ebay. Geesh, gotta learn how to pull out all the stops, use props, write the story behind the item and anything else that will help it stand out to buyers. There is a big learning curve.

Why am I doing this you might ask. Ebay raised their listing fees and the commission they charge when something sells. This is great for the power sellers who run a full time business and who also get discounts but not so good for the little artisans who are trying to get noticed. It is simply too expensive.

I love to find vintage linens, vintage fabrics and unique one of a kind fabrics. I have an extensive collection but I need to move some of it along so someone else can give it TLC. I plan on trying to list  3-5 things a day from this stash. There will be ribbons, buttons, fabrics, linens, saris and whatever else I might come across in my explorations.

When I have a decent inventory of vintage fabrics and supplies, I will start to list some art and artisan crafted jewelry. Maybe even an art quilt or two.

Hope you visit me, send some friends and if there is something you are looking for along these lines, send me a note and I will let you know if I have it.

Technical Pens

| JP Dawes Artist

                                                                                 I purchased a set of Rapidograph technical pens on ebay. The seller said this was an unused set of pens. YIKES!  this was definitely a case of buyer beware. The pens were not only used, but frozen from dried ink. The ink contains a shellac and they are next to impossible to clean when that happens.  The box smelled like old stale cigar smoke. The entire thing was NOT a pretty picture. I could ask for my money back and instead I asked for half of my money back.

I will always go to great lengths to save a buck or two if the end result gets me what I want. The first photo shows how dirty the pen points were. The book it is laying on is “The Technical Pen”  by Gary Simmons. I didn’t know when I bought this book at our Salvation Army [new condition] that it is the bible for technical pens. I paid $3 for the book and I saw it on amazon for $55-$150. My mom always said I could fall into a pile horse manure and come out smelling like a rose.

The second photo shows what the inside cartridges looked like. This is actually a cleaner one.  The last photo shows the dried carbon pieces I was able to break out of the cartridges before I could even think about cleaning them.

It has been  2 days since I started the process. I soaked the pens in a 20% ammonia solution and all the refillable cartridges came clean along with the pen bodies. So far so good. I could hear the weight and wire moving around in only one pen.  I figured they weren’t going to be useable  unless I got them clean so my next step was to take a more radical approach.

I soaked them in straight ammonia overnight. This morning 4 pens are finally rattling. 3 pens are still frozen. They will go into a straight ammonia solution for another 24 hours and I’m hoping for the best.

I have a set of these pens that uses the capillary cartridge. I want to be able to fill these with acrylic inks to use on my fiber art. My dear husband Ron has asked if he may take over the cartridge set to do a little drawing and sketching. I want to encourage him to do that so I HAVE to get this other set clean and useable. He has done pyrography in the past and liked it. I think the pen drawing will be a more immediate source of gratification for him.  Wish me luck!

2011 New Year WORD

| JP Dawes Artist

Last year was the first time I chose a word rather than making a resolution. So simple, so easy to stay on track and nobody to measure my success besides me. Last year my word was “Acceptance”. I chose that word for many reasons associated with my personal life as well as my art. It surprised me how many times through 2010 I actually remembered and reminded myself to accept the situation for what it was and to accept my art for what it is. For the most part I stopped trying to fix things.

That word  was really important because of my RA. I did have a life before RA and it was different. Acceptance would not have been tolerated by my inner task master. It took me nearly 6 years of living with RA to know that Acceptance is the only way I am going to be able to pace my energy. Acceptance is the only way I can have priorities without guilt. I gave myself permission to not even try to multi-task.

This year my word is Persevere. Do you see the progression here? I think I do and I’m happy with it. I can accept my limitations but I will persevere to do the best art I can do within those limits.

Did you choose a word this year?

| JP Dawes Artist

I  have been absent from the Fast Friday Fabric challenges most of the year for many reasons. One of those is that I have been working  on a specific path and some of the challenges were too far off that path. I hope that means I am finding my voice and personal style. I have been moving away from representational work to only abstract form.

I love loose edged pieces, letting the work define itself.I lean towards more organic work and adore Jackson Pollock.

This piece is composed of multiple layers of silk and silk roving that form the shapes. I like the loose edges at the bottom that take on different depth of color dependent on the color behind the piece. This is photographed against black but looks totally different against white. To square up any of these edges would box in the forms and the piece would no longer be free form. The layers are stitched with large embroidery stitches of hand dyed cottons and the finished piece was splashed with paint to add more color and another dimension.

Ending the Year

| JP Dawes Artist

This is always a time of reflection for me. What did I do right, what did I do wrong, did I make some new friends, did I honor my maker? But most of all it is a time to look forward. I won’t make goals even though I have in the past. Those nasty little buggers just seem to plague me with stress.

I joined the SAQA  Visioning project because I thought I needed help with direction and keeping on track. So far it isn’t working out so well for me. I identified a need and I thought I was just the person to fill it. Not. Now I need to decide if I will take a new direction.

What ever direction I decide to take I hope I can keep my art fresh, unique and full of soul. My RA is flaring in these cold winter days so I am limited in what I can do right now. It is making me approach the pieces for Sacred Threads differently than planned. Sometimes those pieces turn out the best so we will see this time.

If I don’t get back here before Christmas, have a wonderful peaceful day.