El Anatsui at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Since I find one of my overall passions as an artist and a blogger is to blur the line between fine art and craft, I like to feature both artist and art that walks this fine line. This past summer I was surprised to find Ghanian born artist El Anatsui featured as part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's recent acquisitions. And for those of you who are lovers of art made from recycled materials you will be sure to love this find as well!

Dusasa II by El Anatsui @ the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The piece you see featured above is made from thousands and thousands of found aluminum and copper wire (flattened and discarded aluminum caps) that are weaved together. It is a wall-hanging and is quite large (full wall scale) I was craning my neck and having to step far back in the gallery to photograph it. El Anatsui is considered the foremost African contemporary sculptor.

detail of Dusasa II 2007 by El Anatsui

The community based Ghanian kente cloth construction of this piece can also be compared to mosaic work, folk art, and even the patterning that has been treasured in Gustav Klimt's paintings. The following images truly show the majesty and mastery of the piece.

detail shot of El Anatsui's DusasaII, 2007 piece

According to the artist (as I read on the title card)

the term Dusasa can be translated as 'a patchwork made by a team of towns people'

However another beautifully poignant quote from the artist that I found at another site states:

Art grows out of each particular situation, and I believe that artists are better off working with whatever their environment throws up.

- El Anatsui, 2003 super detail of El Anatsui's DesasaII wall hanging

On a side note - if you enjoy seeing El Anatsui's work, I recommend the National Museum of African Art site, which has a specially designated section on El Anatsui and three of his major works with podcasts of the artist talking. In addition, if you just google 'El Anatsui' amazing articles and images of his work come up!

Furthermore, if you love this kind of eco-conscious art-making you will really enjoy the Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. When I lived there I got to go often and it was indeed one of my all time favorite places to be! Please let me know what you think!

Mai Sweet Shop Treats Debut!

The Mai Sweet Shop debut and craft fair was a great success!!!

Mai Sweet Shop Craft fair table

During the D-E craft fair I was able to compete with the 'real' food (which is generally where people tend to gravitate towards) because the sweet cakes look SO edible.

Mai Sweet Shop Cake Containers and Candles

At first, I was so dissappointed that I wasn't able to make my open-skirt Marie Antoinette Doll as a table center piece, or make more of this and more of that- due to lack of time- but in the end there couldn't have been more, since the table was jammed-pack-full! I worked on products up until two hours before the fair! When I saw the table all laid out with Mai Sweet Shop stuff I was so happy and satisfied!

My student Isabella Whitney & the Mai Cupcakes I had a student who I mentor assist me and she rocked the fair! She even sold some of her own wares, you can check out her stuff on Etsy too under IsabellaWhitney!! Go Izzy girl! So people are still hunting me down and finding what I have left so my supply is practically all gone! By tomorrow I should know exactly what hasn't been staked out and claimed. What ever is left will surely be available in my Esty shop.

MAI rings!MAI Barrettes!MAI Whipped Cream & Cherry Rings!MAI Bags!MAI Hot Cocoa and Mellows Ring

Felt Ipod Touch Case! Gift Tutorial!

Complexity Level = SUPER EASY!!My Handmade Ipod Touch Felt Case I received an Ipod touch for my B'day this year from my best friend, my hub. So since I enjoy making custom fur coats for ipods, I thought I would make a case for this device. But this time I decided to use some awesome felt that I bought when I was in Munich, Germany last Spring. And for all of you crafters, I decided to photograph the process and make you all a tutorial so you can make your own felt ipod case!First cut your pieces of felt.Cut the window out by folding the fabricThe windowEmbroider The edges with a decorative edgeFollow the needle to learnPull the needle through the stitchThats the stitch!One More TimePull the needle thru the stitch Last Edging Stitch!Now Edge your Window!Now its time to do the cover!Pick another color to cut out a head The Girl needs hair!Start to stitch the hair down.Embroider a face.Choose a button and sew it on.Now sew on a scarf that wraps around the whole case to close at the button!

Congratulations You're done!!!

Handmade, Extraordinary Gift Boxes- Mai Sweet Shop Cakes! Faux Cakes with a Function!

Sweet Delights, Introducing Mai Sweet Shop Cakes!

My latest crafting venture has taken me into an entirely new realm thanks to yet another fantastic Japanese craft book that I found on making replicas of cupcakes, icing and candy with soft clay. Though these are a great departure from my usual work, here are some 'sweet' containers I made this past Thanksgiving weekend. Everything you see- short of the tin containers are not edible- but fortunately non-toxic if you try! (hee-hee) I think they're fantastic little storage boxes for the truly treasured jewelry in your life! I was so inspired by my trip to Paris, Baroque and Rococo time periods and Marie Antoinette,that I call these Mai Sweet Shop cakes, M-A-I stands for Marie-Antoinette-Inspired & 'Sweet Shop' for what my studio currently looks like! Each cake has their own personal name, so today meet Sophie, Natasha, Sherry and Maybelline. Enjoy!

Mai Sweet Shop Cake, Sophie -double container by marisol diazMai Sweet Shop Container Sophie, opened once by marisol diaz Mai Sweet Shop Cake, Sophie, opened twice - by marisol diazMai Sweet Shop Cake, Natasha, rectangular container by marisol diaz Mai Sweet Shop Container, Natasha - opened by marisol diaz Mai Sweet Shop Container, Sherry, rectangular container by marisol diazMai Sweet Shop Cake, Maybelline, double container by marisol diaz

I have made Mai Sweet Shop barettes, bobbi pins, rings and charms! I'm loving it! I'll be a featured seller at the craft fair at the Dwight Englewood School, in Englewood NJ during their Winter Arts Festival SUNDAY DECEMBER 14TH, from 2-5pm with a whole table of no-calorie goodies. You should stop by! I will be posting any remainder items on sale at my etsy shop immediately after! So if you're looking for that extraordinary gift box and are interested contact me or stay tuned! Let me know what you think!

Marie Antoinette Inspired Collage

I'm getting ready to write another 'Inspiring Artist' Blog, but until I have all my facts straight I thought I would share another collage with you all!!! I did this one right after I returned from the Europe trip. It is directly related to the images, Laduree treats, color and Marie Antoinette Exhibit that I saw while I was in Paris (See past posts). I cannot tell you how relaxing collaging like this is!!

Soon I'll be putting prints of my collages up for sale on Etsy...but I've also been inspired by other creative bloggers to do GIVEAWAYS once a month of collage prints - so let me know if you would be interested in me- doing that kind of thing. I was thinking I would post the small artwork as Giveaway art, then choose a 'comment' to which I send the piece to FOR FREE!!!! I believe in exchanging too, so lets see how this goes! Anybody interested in me doing this??

Embroidery & Body Image Life Question

This is one of my sewing machine drawings that I thought was appropo to todays post.

I am also miss asking questions of my readers from The Book of Questions, so I thought I would ask another question today, please leave a comment with an answer and I may feature your response in an up and coming post!

Question # 169:How many times during the day do you look at yourself in the mirror?

I'm doing a senior selective/presentation (for students who are seniors) these days on historical perspectives of body image, the definition and the pursuit of aesthetic beauty. The presentation is entitled From the Hottentot Venus to Barbie: Historical look at Beauty and Body Image and I thought that this question suited the topic. I'm interested in people's responses, so please leave a comment!

Relaxing with Collage!

Herstory exhibit is finally up and done I can relax again. As usual, I was a chump and forgot to take pictures of the opening event!!! However, one of my students did and as soon as I get those images from her I will post them here for you all to see the exhibit yourselves, as though you were there!!!

And as usual I fretted over nothing...the student support I received was phenomenal. More students than my faculty co-workers came out to support me which was sad but much more meaningful - since in the end that is who all the work was for.

I have been so busy getting ready for the Herstory exhibit that I haven't been able to do anything fun and relaxing, now I can. However, worse than that is not having anytime to collage (which is a new relaxing habit I picked up as opposed to knitting and crocheting...

I love origami and scrap-booking paper, though I'm not much of a an oragami-ist or scrapbooker. I also never truly understood the power of a one-medium-only pair of scissors, until I played with fabric and paper crafts.

So if you never considered collagen like this you should!! It's a delightful way to spend a couple of hours. Find a range of different patterned papers and play!!




If you really like one of my collage illustrations, soon I will be posting some these in my etsy shop!

Lamp Worked Glass Figures

This little shadow box of glass forms hangs on my living room wall. I combined small lampworked figures with wire wrapping. For the display I added incomplete arms, that I had lying around. I also found this antique photo printed on a piece of metal. I also chose a background fabric that I thought helped to evoke a passionate mood. I hope you like it!!

The art of melting and turning hand-held glass rods in a flame is called lampworking and/ or flameworking. Often we see Moretti glass which is brightly colored 'soft' glass used to make beads in a flame.
click pic to see my beads

I have many of those and love making beads. However, borosilicate glass is a heavier/stronger/harder glass-body with a lower COE made out of the same glass the original Pyrex was made out of. Though borosilicate can come in colors too, it is most commonly used in clear. I love borosilicate, with its lower COE it is very workable, but you have to work with it in a hotter temperature flame than the flame you need for Moretti. Hence, I can't use my little tanks of yellow Mapp gas to work it - I need real oxygen and acetylene tanks which unfortunately have not been in my budget.

So the bulk of the Europe pics are over. Though I still have a few Euro pics here and there that I will be sharing with you, I've been up to some new creative endeavors that I'll be posting - so stick around!

For the Love of Mermaids

This weeks Sunday Scribblings prompt is: Compose. I thought I would take a break from composing posts about my Europe pictures...

I have to confess another little guilty pleasure; making OOAK mermaids!!

Around two years ago, I started making these little mermaids and for a while, I became obsessed. The passion has died down since then, but I'm still smitten. I composed a story and a personality for each doll. I gave them a name and developed what I called a character card. If you know anything about me and my 'Fine Art' you'll know that these are quite a departure for me. The part of me that creates these dolls often feels silly. Unfortunately, I have even felt embarrassed about showing them to anyone, since they fall into that horribly divisive conflict of art vs. craft. Unlike the majority of the art world, I do not prescribe to the idea that fine artists shouldn't craft and crafters aren't fine artists. There is something about having an MFA that induces some intellectual snobbery about art in people, obviously not me. I have my MFA and still love to create functional crafts and obviously play with dolls! I find the mermaids artistically fascinating. I get a joy and peace when I’m constructing art dolls, unlike any other activity. Perhaps it’s the combination of tactile materials and fibers, along with the human form and the ability to compose a little world of tangible bits and pieces. maybe its about bringing a 2d illustration into a 3D piece of matter infused with spirit. What ever it is, I'm no longer going to be ashamed for it! Each is hand-sculpted out of polymer clay, with absolutely no use of molds. Therefore, every doll is unique (OOAK=one of a kind).

Meet La Chismosa or Chatty Patty

This Mermaid is a talker. She is all about catching up on the latest and being right on the doorstep of any blue world breaking news. Her most precious treasure: her state of the art seashell cell. You will never catch her without it. La Chismosa is also very stylish and witty. When the gossip of the day implies peril, La Chismosa knows who to call to set things right. She's proud of her keen perception and dynamic social skills. La Chismosa is everybody's friend, its the best way to get the low-down.

Sits around 3” tall with a 5 ½”long tail and is 2 ½” wide.

Quite a few family members own one of my mermaids. In addition many of the mermaids have sold through consignment at Midnight Owl in Chester, NJ. If you are interested in any of the mermaids available now, you can get them through my Etsy shop!

http://sundayscribblings.blogspot.com/

My Handmade Laptop Bag and Life Questions

This was my back-to-school-craft that I made at the end of summer. Like the students its hard to get excited about returning to the school year. I am in love with Japanese craft books and I found book like this one:

The books are not in English but the imagery, layout design and quality transcends translation and is exceptional. Click on the book to get order information!

As you may be able to tell I miss living in NYC; my birthplace and families home outside of Puerto Rico. I can't say that I regret moving out of NYC, because I don't. I simply miss it.

Most of us tend to learn early on that we should never live life with regret. Fortunately, I usually don't cater to regret at all. Still, I find the following questions intriguing, because we still often catch ourselves saying "I wish I hadn't done that." What I do regret, was not being more mindful of the importance of a community before my husband and I purchased our first home out here in the dune docks of hunting country (we're not hunters).

So here are the questions:

• If you learned you would die in a few days, what regrets would you have?

• If you were given five extra years of life, could you avoid those same regrets five years hence?

I realize the answers to these questions may be too personal and complex to share here with me, so I added another question from the Book of Questions for you to ponder and share with me!!!


• If you had the choice of one intimate soulmate and NO other close friends, or of no such soulmate and many friends and acquaintances which would you choose?

Since marrying and moving out of NYC this is more or less where I have found myself...with a soulmate and not many local friends - but I didn't really have a choice. If I had a choice (as this question implies...) I'm not sure I would change anything.