Bits & pieces, thoughts & things…

Look ~ Art Supplies!  :)  This is the box 'o stuff I ordered from Dick Blick in preparation for Art Nest.  Can't wait to dig in!
But instead of jumping into a painting tonight, I had an idea last night to make a Valentine ornament.  My table was all set up so I could start right in on this:
The Sculpey clay heart shape came out a little more bulky than I had intended, and also baked down a bit darker than I thought it would.  I'm still really learning how to work with this stuff.  I'm especially stymied on how to keep fingerprints out of the clay once it gets warmed up.  Any suggestions?  I tried holding it and working with sandwich bags over my hands, but that just left indents from the folds in the plastic. 

Anyway…I'm happy with the overall ornament and was glad to have a reason to use my coffee cup charm.
I'm really working on letting things be "good enough" and being able to enjoy things that aren't perfect.  I mention this because I almost didn't post photos of my ornament.  "I like it, but…" is a phrase that bumps around in my head too often.  I have a real streak of discontent in me.  Even when I was a kid, I would paint or draw or make something then destroy it because it just wasn't "right".  I'm not sure where I got the idea or feeling that art even can be right or wrong.  But there it was anyway – the deep reaction that the work could have been better.  The feeling that if it didn't come out the way I had imagined, that it had no value.  Or worse – a negative value. 

I'm glad to say that I rarely slide into this way of thinking anymore.  How exhausting that would be!  Most of them time I really enjoy seeing where the creative work goes.  It never comes out precisely how it was in my head ~ but so many times it comes out way better because it came out so different.  That's part of play.  Enjoying the happy accidents.

I wish I could find the blog post that really got me thinking of this.  I read so many good blogs that now I can't remember which wise woman was talking about it recently…I'll keep an eye out and let you know if I run across it again.  Basically though, she pointed out that some things are worth doing even if you do them badly.  Quite a notion!  It seems both right and subversive to me to embrace that idea.  Still mulling it over.

Phew!  Sorry for the tangent there.   All part of my attempt to be more authentic here and not just show everything with "cute!" and "fun!" captions. 

That said ~ I just have to show you this cute Valentine cup and tray I found at the grocery store tonight:
 As you can see, it no longer lives at the grocery store.  ♥