Friday, August 10, 2007

I’m such a dabbler

TriangleTwistsFrontSome time ago I teased you with a photo of a craft that I had recently tried. For some reason (laziness), I never got around to blogging about it. The photo I showed back then was an example of origami tessellation. Last month I took classes at a local store during their origami festival. I took two tessellation classes from Joel Cooper. (Please click on his name to see his amazing work. Look at his Masks and Tessellations sets. I cannot describe how incredible his work is.)

I learned a lot from Joel by my work is not quite up to his level. If you want to see more of what I’ve made you can go here. Sadly there isn’t a book from which I can learn more about tessellations—it appears to be a try-it-and-see type of craft.

And speaking of other crafts that I do (good segue, huh?), I decided to answer the craft meme seen on Grumperina’s blog. I segregated the crafts listed under #3 because, apparently, I’m quite a dabbler.

1. I have no interest; complete lack of creativity in this area.
card making, cartooning, collage, decorating, doll house making, etching, gift wrapping, lucet, shibori, spinning, stamping, straw marquetry, string art,

2. Would love to try it.
flower arranging, glass bead making, glass blowing, graphic design, millinery, tatting, quilting

3. I do or have dabbled in it.
As an adult (college or later):
crochet, designing/pattern writing, dyeing, entertaining, felting, gardening, lace making, origami, sewing, scrap booking

Special geeky cases as an adult:
* balloon animal making (I got a balloon animal kit to make tetrahedral models for a science textbook photo shoot. Then, I played with the left over balloons.)
* paper making (as part of a science project in college)
* soap making (as part of a chemistry class)

As a dabbler young ‘un:
appliqué, basket weaving, beading, book binding, calligraphy, candle making, doll or toy making, embroidery and cross-stitch, jewelry making, macramé, mosaics, needlepoint, painting or drawing, papier-mâché, poetry, pottery, rug hooking, story telling-acting-stage work, weaving, video/film making, wood carving

As an obsessed young ‘un:
music (piano, clarinet, harp, trumpet, recorder)

4. Love it! This is my thing.
baking, cooking, knitting, pattern editing, photography, writing

And I have plans to start this up again: music (cello)

WHEW!

I was a very crafty kid, wasn’t I? When I was younger, I was very interested in arts and crafts. Between my artistic dad, my crafty mom, The Best Elementary School Art Teacher in the World, and my many years as a Brownie and a Girl Scout, almost every art or craft whim that tickled my fancy was indulged. My parents’ house is still filled with some of my more successful (but still childish) works of art.

A parting photo
MorriganGettingClose.jpgGuro asked to see Morrigan again. So here she is. I’m mere inches away from finishing the body. I’ve shaped the front neck and divided for the front and the back. In a fit of insanity, I decided that I would knit the two fronts and the back at the same time. So I have three balls of yarn attached to the project.

I had hoped to finish the body by now, but my fingers are currently busy working on another super-secret project for Kristen. I was refraining from blogging about Morrigan because there were some interesting pattern developments that I didn’t feel like writing about. I will do so as soon as I finish the body.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very cool! I love looking at all the tessellations.

You've had quite a lot of creative experiences for a science girl! It must be the science in these crafts (measurements, symmetry, etc) that appeals to you?

Anonymous said...

WHAT!? Not interested in shibori? :)

Love the origami tessellations. I subscribe to the Origami Tessellations blog--mostly because I like looking at all the stuff, not because I have plans to make anything!

Anonymous said...

Morrigan is looking fabulous! All those twists and turns are kind of mesmerizing.

Lauren said...

I love doing origami, but have rarely made anything more complicated then a crane. I should watch for classes or workshops in my area. Thanks for the idea! :D

Elizabeth said...

Morrigan is going to be GORGEOUS. It looks just incredible so far.

Anonymous said...

Origami Tessellations, by Eric Gjerde. It's not available yet, but you can pre-order!

Dorothy said...

Morrigan is looking lovely. I ordered the book just for the pattern, but don't know when I will get around to it. Your origami is beautiful too. As much as I admire it, I can file that craft under one that I really have no interest in trying. I'll just admire the works of others.

Meredith said...

That origami looks very cool--did you see this in a recent Smithsonian? http://www.smithsonianmag.com/issues/2007/june/origami.php

Hope the link works! I thought his work was amazing.

Jennifer said...

Very, very cool origami!

Smokey said...

Laura--WOW, Morrigan looks BEAUTIFUL!