Fascination With Feathers

The tale of The Feather Pillow starts with my inspiration. This is the Nicole Miller Feathers pillow that I had been eyeing for a while. My main problems with this pillow are that 1. it is too small (only 14") 2. the background fabric is cheap and an unpleasant color, and 3. the idea of spending $39.99 + tax on a tiny pillow that was made in a factory in China physically hurts me. It seems silly to spend so much on a pillow in the first place, but the idea that the person who physically constructed it would see so little of that irks me when I'm paying for something that I want to be made with love and quality materials. The background fabric is a cotton polyester blend and feels like it is 100% shitty. It seems silly to have these amazing feathers on such a terrible canvas.

Close up of fabric

The finished Feather Pillow

While the idea had been mulling a bit in the back of my mind I saw a great pillow that was covered in silver beads that were scratchy and yarn that was brown and slightly sparkly. Ok, the decorations on the pillow were ridiculous, but the fabric of the pillow was raw silk and in my favorite shade of teal and it was down filled, which I have a total weakness for. It was the perfect starting point for my version of the feather pillow.

The Feather Pillow

Why not make your own pillow base? The cost of the small amount of fabric and a zipper if I made the pillow myself would be more than I paid for the pre-made pillow and I would still have to find something to fill it with and put the time into making it myself. Also, I'm fairly sure that if I made the pillow base that I would have done a much sloppier job of it than the hard working factory technician that constructed the teal pillow for me. Hypocritical much? Not really, there are some things that I recognize are best made in factories, such as plain basics and things that are recognized as "cheap", but this particular pillow had been reduced in price so much that the person who constructed it might have seen a quarter of the price I paid for it, where as for the Nicole Miller pillow, they might have seen 1/32th of the price of the pillow, if that. The percentage of profit on some items just makes me gag, but that's probably why I have a secret love of the dollar store. Shhh, don't tell anyone, this can be just between us.

Close up of pearl bead detail

Close up of Feather Pillow

Anyway, I removed the scratchy beads and the ugly yarn, to reveal a lovely teal pillow, ready for my own embellishments. I went down to the discount fabric store and invested in 1.5 yards of feather trim (green lady amherst pheasant feathers, for those who are curious) as well as a circular pad of the same feathers. I started work on the feathers by doing a running stitch through the ribbon and cinching it so that I could get the ribbon to form a spiral. Next I pinned the curved feather tape down as I sewed it to the pillow by hand along the ribbon edge. Yes, I feel silly for sewing it by hand, especially since it seems that most everything I made I end up sewing by hand because it is easier that way, but this time I had to because of the glue holding the feathers to the ribbon. My pins got all sticky and the needle I had to pull through with a pair of pliers. Chose brown thread to sew the feathers because it disappeared better than green due to blending in with the lower part of the feathers. To top it all off, I attached a large pearl bead in the middle of the feather filled circle. I don't know if I want to keep it for myself or sell it, but I love the way it turned out so much that I might end up making another for sale and keeping this one for me.

Feather and pearl detail

It seems to be a recurring problem for me, the fact that I don't want to let go of the pieces I make that I love. Maybe I just need to find a price that I would be willing to let it go for. Maybe I just need to keep making things that I don't need in the hopes that I will let them find new homes. Maybe. We'll see.

The Feather Pillow

Anyway, this project took two days of distracted construction to complete and cost me $23 in raw materials.

Girls day out

Mother Octopus by Erin J. King

Today I went shopping with my two lovely female housemates for supplies. Goodwill is an excellent source of items that are fantastic for deconstructing and altering to make amazing things. Lowe's leaves me feeling like a kid in a candy store because of all the things I want. Went down the aisles pointing at things that I want, but don't really need, and things that I can't really afford, jumping up and down.

*Sigh* Can't I be independently wealthy and just pick out everything I want and take it home? That would be nice. Instead I spent more than I meant to, but have some fun projects that I plan to work on and leaves me feeling motivated and excited, though a bit lighter in the wallet.

Projects:
- a men's striped button down shirt that I'm going to turn into a skirt
- a pillow that I'm going to rework with feathers
- a large number of items to improve the atmosphere of the bathroom to sport a jungle theme
- frames so I can finally mount some artwork I purchased from artist Erin J. King and Matt D.
- a bunch of brass & copper nails due to my inspiration from my favorite book Altered Curiosities to embellish other projects to make them even more awesome
- a wooden candle holder to cut and screw between two plastic plates to create tiered platters for display storage on my vanity

I feel so inspired, yet exhausted and think that I will have to wait until tomorrow to get started on all of my projects.

President Abraham Lincoln Riding A Dinosaur by Matt D.

Ok, so I got a bit more motivated and framed one print (the Mother Octopus one, shown above) and have to make a mat-board for the other print (the Abraham Lincoln Riding A Dinosaur one, shown at right), due to fact that the second frame came with the wrong size mat-board for the piece I have. Guess that Lincoln with have to wait in my closet until I can remember where I put my Exacto knife and right angle ruler. Here is a good video on how to make your own mat-board to frame prints in random frames you find at second hand stores, just like your good pal Jessie Night.

Tomorrow I plan to head over to the fabric store and buy feather tape so I can have a mass of feathers on the pillow I'm reworking. Saw a very pretty pillow at Bed, Bath, & Beyond, that I thought was cool, but far too small and not exactly what I wanted, so now I'm doing it how I want. And isn't doing things your way what Art is all about? Maybe I'll do another post about the difference between Art and art some time, we'll see if I feel like tackling that rant any time soon.

Working in the studio

So, today I had some fun cutting out images for collages and cleaning up my studio space a bit. It was lovely having some time to do these things because I feel like I have been neglecting my creative side too much over the last few years and any moment spent in the studio is precious. The feel of scissors through paper is so soothing that I have this slight fear I might be a psychopath. At least I've been feeling more inspired by the images that I've been cutting out, despite it taking forever to do well and the worry that cutting feels good in a deep-seated way. I've been thinking a lot about animals in victorian dresses and fun hats. Too trite?

Also, there was a potluck at my house earlier tonight where I got to talk to a lovely gentleman who told me that he is finally starting to make it as an artist! The idea that someone can get tot he point where they are able to support themselves with their creativity is so uplifting. Now, this gentleman has not agreed to let me use his name, but he used to work for Lucas Arts and is now working hard to make and sell his pieces. I had hoped to pump him for more information, but he slipped away before I was able to get to that spot. Alternately, the whole conversation ended up with me calling myself "more of a craft artist" which I'm not sure is 100% accurate yet. I think that I imagine myself as a mixed media artist, but in the end, where is the line between craft and mixed media? I don't know yet, but I think it is time for more exploration and play in the studio.

Inspiration

Today I read a fabulous book called Altered Curiosities by a fantastic artist named Jane Ann Wynn. There are whimsical stories behind her art works and she has good technique in her construction. I adore the fact that she ages everything and gives objects a creepy twist and yet the pieces remain light-hearted and fun. I feel so inspired that it makes me really sad that I have to go in to work today. Why can't I be home making amazing things? Oh, yeah, bills. Grrrr.

Supporting the Arts

Just received a fantastic duvet cover that I ordered from Deny Designs. The one I chose is by a fabulous artist by the name of Valentina Ramos, who specializes in illustration. I love her use of visual texture and heavy detail work to make each piece special. I feel so inspired by her art and the fact that she is working hard and selling her creations and doing her own thing just makes me want to do all that much more. Is it silly that I want to be her when I grow up?