Make It

My Next Project

I'm going to write a novel!

Or try to at least. My next creative goal is to complete a novel in 2010. And if it ends up being any good I just might try to get it published.

Right now, I really like the idea of working on a creative project that doesn't involve any special supplies or a special room of its own. All I need for this one is my laptop and my brain. I'm going to kick things off by participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), with the goal of writing a 50,000 word first draft in 30 days. Wish me luck!

Important Artifacts...

I just read the best book, which I think you guys will like. It's by my creative career girl crush, who I've mentioned here a few times before: Leanne Shapton. "Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry" is a graphic novel in the most literal sense of the word. Laid out to resemble an auction catalog, it tells the story of a years-long love affair between a young couple through their posessions. I've never seen a book like it and I devoured it in one day - it's a pretty quick read but there's alot of eye candy to pore over.

I was equally thrilled that I was able to check it out of the library, seems like a pretty hip book for the library to have, then again we have a pretty hip library. See some images from the book here.

By Hand - What I Think

I also recently received the book, By Hand: The Use of Craft in Contemporary Art, edited by Shu Hung and Joseph Magliaro.

The idea for By Hand came from noticing that a growing number of contemporary artists are producing work with their hands, using methods and materials traditionally associated with craft.

About 30 contemporary artists are profiled in this book. Each artist has a page with their picture and a statement about how craft relates to their work, which is then followed by several full color pages of their work. This book is pure eye candy, for me the text is secondary. There is a huge diversity in the types of work that is represented. Some of the pieces look like they could be practical for everyday life, others less practical (though maybe some of you could use the bullet proof sweater made of Kevlar thread). This is a great coffee table book, sure to stimulate discussion and further investigation of some of the artists that interest you.

I like the unpolished feel of the book, the font used inside reminds me of Courier New, stirring memories of writing high school papers and wanting to make them appear longer (make the margins smaller and use Courier New font). One complaint is that the artists submitted their own photos, so photo quality varies between the different artists profiled. This was especially apparent for some of the artists who do intricate work on fabric. Some of those photos just appeared flat on the page, almost like illustrations, and didn't give a great representation of the work they had actually achieved. While this is a major issue for a book made up mostly of pictures, it doesn't detract from the overall experience you'll have thumbing through the pages.

The Apron Book - What I Think

So posts are a little later today. Do you know why? Because I didn't get on the computer first thing in the morning! Did anyone else succeed in resisting the temptation?

Instead, I finished reading The Apron Book:Making, Wearing, and Sharing a Bit of Cloth and Comfort by EllynAnne Geisel, which I recently received. The foreward to this book is by the editor of Good Housekeeping, which should give you an idea of the tone. There's a huge emphasis on domestic work, taking pride in cooking, cleaning, and entertaining (complete with tips you can use in your own home) and the tone is very nostalgic for a time (the 1950s) that I do not long for.

Instead I will focus on what I did enjoy about this book. It contains a mix of tutorials, first person reminiscences and short pieces on the different uses of aprons. I found the tutorials pretty easy to follow and I think I may try the basic one myself. This book did succeed in piquing my interest in making an apron. I've seen aprons on lots of other craft blogs, but have never really had any interest in them. The Apron Book book showed me different ways that an apron is actually useful and I found myself thinking, hey, I could use one of those.

I especially  liked the story about how fashion designer Geoffrey Beene used his smock/apron as a way of delineating his work time from his non-working time. I think for those of us who craft at home, it's useful to have a physical distinction between crafting time and non-crafting time. When the apron is on, you craft and only craft; when it's off, then you can check your email. Trying to build a business at home is so much about managing your time and your sanity that I now think an apron is a fantastic addition to any crafter's arsenal. I also enjoyed reading the first person reminiscences from about 20 - 30 contributors in this book who talk about an important apron from their own life (from their grandmother, from an estate sale, used at their work).

If the goal of this book was to get me interested in the history of aprons and encourage me to make one myself, then it has succeeded. The book did not succeed in making me nostalgic for a time when wearing aprons and cooking and cleaning all day was the height of female happiness. That will never happen.