Category: Work In Progress

Suck It Up Buttercup. There's a Fairy Tale Kingdom Out There.

10/3/2017

It never fails. When I have multiple memories combined with current events in my life flowing through my mind they all somehow come together in essence and give me a sense of resolve. (Usually by way of a new drawing.) It generally takes awhile for me to realize all of the subconscious connections and unfortunately for Jimmy, he has to suffer through it all as my sounding board. Sometimes I even project my angst upon him in such a way as an effort to make him feel my turmoil too. (Misery loves company.) That is not fair. Never has been and never will be. So I always apologize but the words have been spoken and all that my effort brought me was a sense of being a mean girl.

As I grapple with memories of perceived mean words and actions with new hurt feelings, I truly try to follow the path of kindness for the most part because I can never take being the victim of mean girls (or boys). (Do unto others...right?) But then again, who can? Another mean girl? Someone with "tough skin"? Someone who let's things roll off their back like a rubber duck? I have spent my life trying to not be that "mean girl" but it slips out every now and then. (I guess a person can't help it if they were raised in a house with seven females.) I've often been told I'm too sensitive, or that I'm overly emotional, or that I'm delusional in the way I see things. That's ok. I'm ok with those past descriptors of me. I'm sure that I will continue to be those things...too sensitive...overly emotional...somewhat delusional in my take on the world. Why change now? I finally have a focus on who I really am, what I really want to be, and how I want to continue living my life.

I had a friend once tell me in her experience as a mother, her son never said the kinds of things her daughter would say to her in an effort to intentionally hurt her feelings. Women seem to know how to hit each other below the belt for that gut wrenching effect. I was able to empathize with her. I saw and heard it happen all of the time growing up. But in all fairness I have heard some guys say some pretty nasty things to their mothers. I'm pretty sure feelings were hurt just as deeply.

As I type, type, type away, I'm trying to lasso my ideas together to make a succinct point. I'm not sure I can do it because my writing skills are a bit scattered. I feel more at ease reflecting my feelings through pictures. Every one of my pictures has a meaning but it's not always very obvious. There's no play button in the corner of the picture to push to hear the meaning in voice...words of description...a definition to go along with the image.

My recent image depicts a little girl in a huge window looking out over what could be a fairy tale kingdom. Seeing the world as she wants to see it...magical and full of opportunities. Full of wisdom. Full of hope. Full of wonder. But most of all full of beauty and love. Only seeing the best the world has to offer. Am I trying to tap on that proverbial fountain of youth through the mind of a 58 year old woman? Maybe. Maybe that's what the fountain of youth really is; portraying the world through the eyes of a child with the wisdom of years lived. (Some fairy tales were written to warn children about the dark side of the world. Hansel and Gretel was written to warn the young about the evils of seemingly kind strangers. Aged wisdom through the events a child could understand.)

I've often said I love the decade of my 50's. Now that I'm closing in on the next decade of my 60's I'm looking forward to how much more I might know about myself and my life...provided good health prevails...provided how my version of the fountain of youth prevails. In my mind I feel just as young as I did in my 20's, just wiser. How many times have you seen the question on Facebook "how would you relive your life if you knew what you know now?" I've been seeing it a lot lately. I guess my postings are fitting into an algorithm of artificial intelligence identifying me as age appropriate for such thoughts. (lol)

My point being that I hope my art continues to connect me to my life and vice versa. Seeing my life as a constant learning experience. Treating my art pursuits with the zeal of a perpetual student of the arts. Noting the wrongs I see without allowing myself to become victim to those wrongs. Or, at the very least, trying not to proliferate those wrongs.

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The Shadows

6/6/2017

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Thumbnail sketches from 1980 - by Lisa Tettimer

I've never posted two blog posts back to back before. I guess I have a lot of words roaming around in my head that I need to let out. Yesterday's blog had nothing to do with my art, or did it? Maybe it will lead to something.

While walking on my treadmill lately I've been revisiting my art school years. There are two or three sketches from that time frame on a bottom shelf of a workbench next to my treadmill in the basement and I keep looking down at them as I walk. I found them last summer when attempting to clean the basement. They are stained with mold and are smelly. Even still, I've been thinking about framing them. Not because I think they are good but because they seem to be a place marker in the growth of my art. A place where I stopped. A place I'm compelled to revisit. In a way framing them would be a way to honor that place. A way to honor my gift.

Shadows by Lisa Tettimer. Silkscreen print 10 of 10 - 1980. Based on the first thumbnail sketch above.

As a student of the fine arts all those many years ago I was taught to create art in very traditional methods. I learned the skills to produce art in a number of mediums all the while honing my drawing skills. The instructors would actually say that they required their students to learn the traditional skills, to draw well, to paint like them, and to create like them. In the end they would expect the students to take all of the skills learned to make their own version of art. If their students ended up painting or drawing like them they had somehow failed to truly learn the most important lesson the instructors taught...to speak their own voice through their art.

At the end of my time there my preferences were leaning to the depiction of the human form, shadows, negative space, orbs and symbolism. My color work was not where I wanted it to be. I figured that would come with time and practice. But it wasn't long after I graduated that I just stopped doing "my" art. I stopped doing it for a lot of reasons and for no reason at all.

Even though I stopped pursuing "my" art I never stopped drawing. I wove my ability to draw into my everyday life. My favorite subject matter became my children, my garden, animals, and characters from mythology and fantasy. I fulfilled my need to make things. I planted a garden, landscaped my yard, made stained glass windows, and built rooms onto my house. I became a parent. I raised my family. All of this and much much more would result in who I am and the art I create. I lived my life.

Now there is now. I traveled beyond "my" art and back again. That certainly doesn't negate any of the work I have done in the between. What I once saw as a road bypassing "my" art I now realize was very much part of "my" art. (Don't two parallel roads get you to the same location?) It was the building blocks I needed to take me back to the place marker that I left behind. It was also the growth and maturity I needed to allow me to continue with focus. I'm actually very proud of all of my work through the years. I've sold many pieces through galleries. I've also gifted a large part of my work to family and friends. I design, make and sell art jewelry. All of it has been "my" art.

These days I've started to say "I can" and "I am" instead of "I can't" and "I'm not". I look at my work from the past, compare it to the work I currently do and I recognize that I do have a personal color palette that came about through time and practice. I allow myself to work in whatever medium I want, do whatever subject matter I choose and explore more than one style of art. Is my work good? Does it speak to others in the way I want it to? I don't know. I hope so. Even if it doesn't I'll just keep painting in the shadows.

Shadow of a Woman - In Progress - Oil sticks and oil pastel on canvas paper

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A Cauldron Full of Wishes

3/14/2017

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It never fails. I'm working on getting new pieces of jewelry made for a specific show and I get side-tracked by all of the pieces of metal from past projects that are still laying on my work bench. I start seeing new elements from the leftover metal from the negative space of the things I've made before and the dominant theme of my thoughts for the day or week just seem to emerge in a 3D composition. It's never planned. At least not in the traditional way. No sketches were rendered, no written list of materials, and no idea how or whether the project will turn out.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about wishes, among other things. The kind of wishes that are unspoken and invisible and stay gathered in the far recesses of one's conscious thoughts. The kind of wishes that are mostly rhetorical in nature but wishes nonetheless.

Recently I've also been thinking about the ongoing debate about whether a society, or humanity as a whole, can believe in both God and science. It has always been my humble opinion that yes, it is possible. For all of the wonders that God has bestowed upon this earth, it is humanity (and only humanity) that has created the sciences to understand all that He has given us. Why would a greater power than mankind give us the ability to question "why" if we weren't supposed to use that question? Even if it should only be used to help preserve all that sustains us. But unfortunately science can be used for both good and bad. So, it is one of my grandest wishes that only good prevail in the use of science.

These earrings started from flat football shaped scrap brass sheet metal. I used a cheap little ball peen hammer and a traditional metalsmithing technique to "raise" the sides of the cauldron bowl. The handles are made from fine silver wire, hammered and stamped with a starburst motif. All of the components along with the soldering are done with rugged finesse. The flaws are not hidden or reworked. It is never my intention to produce perfection with these projects. I strive more for an aged weathered patina and the look of quality from a learning craftsman. The star dangling above is perfect though, just like the ones in the night sky. At least as perfect as a man or woman can produce a shape symbolic to our natural world. (It's a purchased charm.) All of the components are brought together with an imperfect flat ring of fine silver.

As I raised the sides of the cauldron my wishes filled the hollow space. Like the wishes of a child in awe of the surrounding world; my cauldron will always be full even when one of my wishes is no longer a wish. Another wish will certainly fill the void.

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Bill's Mermaid

7/16/2016

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My father-in-law was a waterman...in every sense of the word. He worked the water from a very early age. He literally came to this county by way of water to work the nets at Flag Pond. He was an Eastern Shoreman that made his home on the western shore.

He had the typical reputation for a waterman during his day. He worked hard and he played hard. Hard Crab was his nick name. He was a man most didn't want to mess with and you really didn't want to mess with his friends. But I never knew him then. I never knew the man that had that kind of reputation. My husband thought his dad would scare me when I met him but he never did. Maybe it was because I admired the way he lived his life so unapologetically.

Bill always greeted me like my name was the lyric to a song he was playing in his head. Bill always made me smile. He also always made me feel special even though we never had long conversations or did many things together. Maybe it was just the way he said my name.

At the end of Bill's life he became homebound due to his failing health. I think one of the last long trips outside of his home he made was with my husband and I and our two sons. We took him to the new Orioles stadium after it was built. He was an avid baseball fan. Baseball had always been a huge part of his life when he wasn't working the water.

After Bill's death, his family celebrated his life out on the Chesapeake Bay as he had requested. Two boats held the family as they traveled to the place on the bay that Bill threw his pots over. With the motors off, words were spoken, prayers were said and roses were strewn into the water. It just so happened that one of the boat captains had the presence of mind to record the longitude and latitude of where the boats had drifted during the ceremony. I don't remember the exact coordinates that he recorded but this I do remember...the number 913 was part of one of the coordinates; the same number given to Bill with his crabbing license to mark his crab pot buoys. Bill was home once again.

My most recent illustration is still in progress but it is in honor of Bill. Thanks Bill, for being exactly who you were. My son's are all the better for it.

Completed 7/25/16 in Memory of William A. Tettimer, October 25, 1922 - July 12, 2000

Bill's Mermaid - Mixed Media (pencil, colored pencil, gold leaf and gold acrylic)

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Everyday People...Everyday Crowns

5/31/2016

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I see invisible crowns on everyday people. It's not that I see something that others don't see...others just don't imagine holographic crowns sitting on everyday people's heads like I do. Rays of energy that create an aura above and around the person, emitted from within their very being. Positive vibrations gifted to anyone who will receive their grace. Warm energy that settles the mind and calms the soul. Angels among us. Angels.

Other people see the same things that I do, they just use their words to describe the angels among us. Words like selfless, generous, caring, compassionate, wise and kind. Words that reflect their genuine character. Words that reward us just as their presence in our life does. Words that make our hearts swell with joy and with love. Words.

I see the warm golden white energy that makes those words real. I see crowns. Everyday crowns.

"I See Crowns" work in progress.

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With Awe

4/4/2016

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With Awe

"With Awe" is the title of my new mermaid. She was born from an idea a friend sent to me about the possibility of depicting a mermaid's fin in lace. She knows I love lace. That along with filigree, paisley and all patterns in general. I dwelt on the idea for quite awhile. Although her fins don't really resemble lace, the seed that was planted in my mind took on the form of an ornate tail fin. She isn't quite finished yet. Along with the metallic gold tail fin she will have other "sparklies" sewn to her and entwined in her hair before I'm done.

Most of my mermaids have a story behind them. Not all, but most do. Some have verbage included in their composition. Verbage that relates to my intentions. Intentions that are on my mind as I'm scribbling away at building the darks and erasing the lights. Intentions that are meant to be read in her eyes. Through her eyes she connects with her natural surroundings. Surroundings that only she can interpret. How they affect her being. How they affect her sense of purpose. How they affect her soul.

I have yet to decide if the verbiage on my mind will become part of her composition. My thoughts don't usually end up sounding like rhyming prose but for some reason they do this time..."As I look with awe at the world I see...I realize I'm as much a part of it as it's a part of me."

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Angels Among Us

1/14/2016

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I finished the bracelet I designed for the upcoming show A Sweetheart of a Show at The North End Gallery in Leonardtown on Friday, February 5th. The reception is from 5 until 8 p.m. I hope some of you might have time to drop by just to say hi.
I call it "An Angel Among Us". I'm a true believer in the notion that there are angels that watch over us from Heaven as well as walk among us here on Earth. The ironic thing about the ones among us is that they don't even know who they are. I bet you know a few of those kind yourself.

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Prayer Feathers

12/17/2015

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I've been making prayer feathers the last three days from copper and sterling. I've had orders for 6 of them. Each one has turned out a little bit different as is the appeal of handmade jewelry. As I sat working on them I couldn't help but think about each person they were for, some I know, some I don't. I thought about the reasons for which they are being given. With each feather I had a unique experience in completing it. Each feather seemed to refuse to be exactly like the last by challenging my skill. Maybe not so much my skill but my patience. And so they are.

Prayer Feathers

Native Americans believed prayers and messages were carried to the Great Spirit on the wings of eagles and other fine birds.

Prayer feathers, either single or bundled are used by an individual to offer a prayer to the Great Spirit. The feathers carry your words, thoughts and feelings to the Great Spirit. Each time you look at your prayer feather, your prayers are again sent in your behalf to the Great Spirit in the Heavens.

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Raindrops and Roses and Whiskers on Kittens...

10/14/2015

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I've been singing this song from The Sound of Music all day long. It started when I put one of my found objects, a glass prism "raindrop", together with a hand carved conch shell rose. I added a sterling silver chain. It is made to be worn but it would be a pretty sun catcher too. I've been hanging on to these beautiful carved roses for far too long. It's time to offer them as part of a talisman to remind others when they are having a bad day to simply remember a few of their favorite things and then they won't feeeeeel sooo baaad!

(silly me)

NOTE: I will have some with me at my show this weekend at the St. Mary's Oyster Festival at the St. Mary's Fairgounds in Leonardtown, MD. I will add some for sale in my store next week if you're interested.

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An Exercise in Mermaid Tails

10/2/2015

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This is not my original idea, but I had to try it. Mermaid tails made from silver plated spoons. It's a wonderful exercise for me to hone my jeweler's saw skills and my metalsmithing skills in forming (or in this case reforming), texturing and soldering. The spoon is silver plate, but I silver soldered some sterling patterned wire to form the bail. I cut a little miter join into the end of the cut off spoon, inserted the pattern wire and brazed them together with silver solder. I used a small ball-peen hammer to texture the bowl of the spoon. The shape of the tail is only limited by my imagination and skill. (I have some old sterling spoons I can't wait to cut into.) I got so sidetracked with this yesterday. Oh well.

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Suck It Up Buttercup. There's a Fairy Tale Kingdom Out There.

The Shadows

A Cauldron Full of Wishes

Bill's Mermaid

Everyday People...Everyday Crowns

With Awe

Angels Among Us

Prayer Feathers

Raindrops and Roses and Whiskers on Kittens...

An Exercise in Mermaid Tails

Author's Note

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