Posted by Nancy Tobin on May 30, 2009 in Interviews
Jeweler Thea Clark Joins Me in This Weeks Installment of West of Chelsea
Looking at Thea Clark’s jewelry in a photo, you may think you’re enjoying a piece of sculpture . Her one-of-a-kind pieces stretch the boundaries of what we think of jewelry. Combining unusual materials such as felt, linen and PVC plastic, she addresses issues such as women’s identity in society.Read more about Thea’s fascinating work and life, in my third installment of The New York Times Local’s West of Chelsea.
Sunday: Went to Target with my daughter to get, among many other things, wrapping paper for my niece’s birthday present. Got home, no wrapping paper.
Tuesday: Stopped into the local grocery store for a few much needed items. Later in the evening, with a flimsy tearing bag of sloppy garbage in one hand, I searched high and low for the huge box of garbage bags I bought earlier, nowhere to be found!
Later Tuesday: Paid for a $5.50 hair thingy for my daughter’s dance recital. Used my last $20 bill ’til payday. Later, as I was preparing for the next day’s field trip I was to chaperon the next day, I stared in my wallet with a feeling of frustration realizing that I had been given change for a $10, not a $20. Now I have $4.50 to last me ’til payday.
Thursday: Trying to buy dinner for my family at the local pizza place, I tried to use my Paypal card. I knew I had money on this card, I checked before I left the house. The nice girl at the counter told me my card had been declined, “please try again” I asked. Second time, no better luck. So I ran back to my car, got my bank card, took out twenty dollars and ran back to get the food. Later, double checking that stinkin’ Paypal account, I noticed that I had indeed been charged for the food on my card! Oh please.
Now, I’m absolutely certain that none of the people involved in these transactions had nefarious deeds in mind. But I can’t help but wonder if subconsciously everyone is holding on to things a little tighter? Or, it could be just a crazy coincidence, highlighted by the fact that it was very busy week and I may not have checked things as well as usual.
Coincidence or not, I’m going to be checking what I pay for vs. what I get a little closer!
UPDATE: OK, maybe it is just me. Coming back to check this post that I put up this morning, I found three grammatical errors, and one misspelling. (And that’s just the ones that I found I’m sure there are more my trusty editor-husband is out of town!)
The colors and detail in Snow White Disney's first full length animated feature are still enough to make me sing!
For any of you who missed my last post; Lisa Pressman asked me to write about my top ten influences. You can see the entire list at her blog, Lisa Pressman Art Blog. I like the exercise so much I decided to explore each one of them as a separate post.
Number one on my list is Walt Disney. Here’s what I wrote about him in Lisa’s blog:
1. Walt Disney- Love him or hate him, it’s hard to deny his influence on our culture today. Saturday matinees at the local theater in Grand Rapids allowed me my first glimpses into the world of art. While the action was playing out in the foreground, I would find myself entranced by the captivating world created by the studio’s background artists.
I imagine that for many children like myself growing up, animated films are their main exposure to visual art. Though I always loved to paint and draw and make things, I never set foot into a real art museum until I was in college.
Eyvind Earle spins Disney Magic in his backgrounds for Sleeping Beauty
I admit that I am one that enjoys Disney stuff. (We’re easy to spot: say the word “Disney” and you either get eyes as big as Bambi’s or a shutter.) We’ve taken our lucky children to Disney theme parks many times in their short lives.
But, as much as I like all the trimmings, by far the biggest influence on my art has been the amazing backgrounds in his early films. I learned a lot about painting by looking at these lush environments, things that I may have learned from from the masters in museums, but didn’t. Disney is accessible.
Disney’s talented team of background painters would set a stage where anything could happen. A world that invites you to come in and create your own story.
It’s not that Disney created a world of fantasy for me, but that he planted the seeds, that I could create that kind of place for myself.
Biotic Fizz � Nancy Tobin
(I was delighted to come across a blog by Rob Richards called Animation Backgrounds. Rob has an amazing collection of background art, from Snow White to Lilo and Stitch. It’s cool to be able to separate the action of the figures from these rich scenes.)
Tomorrow I'll talk about influencer #1, Disney, see any similarities?
My friend Lisa Pressman invited me to do a guest post on her brand new art blog, aptly named Lisa Pressman Art Blog. She asked me to give her a list of my top ten influences. It was a little harder than I thought it would be, some were obvious choices, but some I had to dig a little deeper to find. Overall it was a great and enlightening exercises. Go check it out at Lisa’s place, and tell her I sent you!
I decided that I wanted to take each of those influences and expound on them. So for the weeks to come I’m going to be visiting the ghosts of my past. Hope you’ll join me!
Posted by Nancy Tobin on May 21, 2009 in Shop Talk
Flower. Mother. Hush.
This is one piece that I actually had a vision of before I started, and stuck with it to the end.
I usually start off with and idea and then it kind of blossoms from there in a free flowing way.
One time I counted each little flower and circle that I cut, but I’ve forgotten. I do still have the callous on my thumb from cutting all of them out with scissors!
Jennifer spins a web with her fascinating still lifes. She talks with me about her work and life; reflecting on how one influences the other.
Still life was the best subject because I could arrange things exactly how I wanted them. That, along with my realistic style, felt like a dot of control in a blaze of chaos! These compositions were busy and crowded and echoed how I was feeling in many ways.
In my own struggles with realism, I admire her ability to express herself in this context, and do it in such an engaging way.
I’ve been a little like the bees swarming my garden lately; working tirelessly on various projects, big and small. I’m guilty of neglecting my blog and the dear readers who come here looking for morsels and tidbits.
So to make up to all you who loyally visit (and all you new folks, too), I’m having a giveaway!
One of those various tasks I’ve been busy with was getting together a line of Jewelry Art by the Inch. These darling necklaces are the first in my line, and I want to hear what you think! Please check them out at my Etsy shop and then come back and vote for your favorite, using the handy “vote-matic” thingy below.
I’d also love to hear any feedback, so if you leave me a comment, from now until the end of May, I’ll put your name in for a free necklace of your choice.
xo Nancy
