One Blue Iron

I've spent a lot of time this week waiting for paint to dry.  Although this hasn't been a particularly labour intensive project, I do admit to a lot of huffing, puffing and perspiration where sanding was involved.  The build up of rust from sheer neglect had to be eliminated before any painting could take place.  Better to be thorough than regret it later.  Then it was easy:  a wipe down with white spirits, two coats of red primer, a few coats of enamel paint - anything bright - and a rusty old iron has been given a new lease of life!

Quite easy to come by, these irons can vary in price from £3 at car boot sales, to a staggering £12 or more from reclamation yards or antique shops.  If they've already been cleaned up (invariably with black grate polish) they can fetch upwards of £26.  They can be used for many decorative purposes, but I've already decided that mine will be living indoors, keeping a door open and adding another splash of colour to my life. 

Labour of Love

After nine hours of cutting, sticking, coiling and shaping, a paper bowl was born.  There were times when I wished I had more digits on my hands and resorted to improvising.  Thank you, David M. Smith from Springfield, Vermont, for inventing the 'spring-loaded wood clamp' (... that's a peg to you and me) in 1853!  (Source:  Wikipedia)

Nothing about the creation of this object was precise. Quite the contrary, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.  Was the process repetitive?  Yes.  Were there times when I despised myself for starting out on the journey?  Many, many times, the first being about half an hour into the project.  But the handmade, rustic charm my new fruit bowl exudes was well worth the paper cuts!

Paper, Scissors, Glue...

So here I sit with my first challenge:  turning newspaper into a bowl (see my Make It So page).  I could go down the route of papier maché but I don't fancy doing that right now, particularly as it's Sunday and this bowl has to be dry and finished by Tuesday.  No, I'm looking for a non-mushy, fast drying, free standing way of doing this, and one that won't require too much work at the end to make sure it holds together for longer than a week.  I love African basket weaving so I'd quite like to make a coiled bowl... of sorts, inspired by Zulu grass baskets.  I've decided to not only work with newspaper and glue, but also with sash window cord, which should make coiling easier as well as give more shape to the final object.

To digress just ever so slightly... A couple of times a month I get together with some of the ladies in the neighbourhood for a creative evening of dinner, making and chatting.  Thursday was my turn to do the hosting.  I decided that my creative contribution would be to make Lorraine Pascale's delicious Parmesan and poppy seed lollipops.  So I did.  They were easy to make, fun and a great hit. 

Anyway, enough procrastinating.  Must dash... I have a bowl to conjure up!

Dale

Welcome!

Creativity has a lot to answer for.  Along with being incredibly stimulating and empowering, it can also be insanely frustrating.  Like sardines in a tin can, the world is packed with artists and crafters, the majority of whom are either complete unknowns or, worse yet, have raw talent that has yet to be unleashed. 

As an arts professional I regularly meet people who claim to have little or no creative prowess.  In reality, I have still to find someone where this belief holds true.  Everyone can do something.  But it’s the lack of doing, or the inability to stay focused and see a project through to completion, that can be the source of much frustration.  I speak from experience.

There are so many reasons (read: excuses) why production slows down, or just doesn’t happen:

• No time
• Too tired
• Lack of confidence
• Can’t think of anything original
• Can’t decide what to work on first so I’ll spend a few weeks thinking about it…

… and so it goes on.  (Feel free to add to the list - we all do it!)  Time is its own keeper and has a nasty habit of vapourising right under our noses.  Before we know it, that-thing-we-wanted-to-have-a-go-at is no longer über fashionable and we’re a few decades older, wondering when that family of grey hairs hopped on board for a holiday… and never went home.

In an attempt to beat my stalling into submission I’ve decided to set short, achievable projects, resulting in work that is either original or inspired by someone else, using a mixture of recycled, found and new materials. 

Why the Little Red Lorry?  Because it’s passionate, zippy and can do a whole lot of collecting, carrying and storing on its journey of creativity.  Think dynamite on wheels! 

If you need to kick start your creativity, or if you just like having a go, why not hop aboard and join in – the more the merrier.  Any feedback, photos, challenges, ideas or discussion prompts welcome.

How it works
I'll post starting points for challenges on my Make It So page.  Once the project is complete, I'll post the results on my blog.

Happy making!

Dale