Mondays with Marly - Transforming Spaces

BY GUEST BLOGGER MARLY from Studio 28

I admit it. Both Angie and I are addicted to home renovation shows. We love to see how unappealing rooms turn into beautiful, stunning spaces. We have had our share of renovation experiences here on Spring Street, and although they are stressful to go through, the end result always makes it so worthwhile. I bought this little house on Spring Street twenty years ago. I was delighted that it came with a downstairs apartment as it provided extra income to help with the mortgage.  Being close in proximity to two large universities has always made it easy to find tenants, but after a flood caused some damage in the spring of 2008, it was the time to renovate and upgrade the apartment. We also wanted to reduce the size of the apartment so Angie and I could have more studio space downstairs and access to our storage space.

I always love looking at before and after shots, so I thought I would let you see the renovation process we went through that summer.  I’ll focus on the galley kitchen section of the downstairs apartment. It’s always a bit nerve wracking when the workers come in and totally gut what was previously there. No turning back now. Thankfully, we had a contractor that we knew and could trust!

As in the most dramatic renovation T.V. shows, the contractor informed us that the wiring and pipes behind the walls were a nightmare. The small kitchen ceiling was hiding twelve junction boxes. I could see by the look on the contractor’s face that this was not a good thing.

Obviously, a previous owner had been a bit of a “do-it- your-selfer” with very little knowledge or expertise! Also, the plumbing was old and pipes needed replacing. Ah yes, a bit of drama and added dollars to keep things exciting!

Now that the wiring and plumbing were fixed, we could focus on the fun stuff!

Angie and I decided to save some money by designing the new space, purchasing bathroom and kitchen cabinets and accessories, and by doing all the painting ourselves. After the summer was over, I really didn’t want to see another paint brush for a very long time.

How exciting to slowly see the transformation taking place. Here is the final result. I even had fun making a collage (seen on the far wall) from Japanese papers and the left over paint from the kitchen walls. Talk about art that matches the surroundings!

We were so pleased and excited about our new, sweet, little downstairs apartment. And we were able to reclaim some room downstairs for ourselves. All the work has really paid off! We still can hardly believe its the same downstairs each time we go down to our studios. Just wish we didn’t have to rent out the apartment! We could take turns living down there. But it is that time of year to rent it out to another grad student....we are now screening through tenant applications! We’ve had great tenants, so far! Wish us luck on finding a new one!

Mondays with Marly - Three Metal Collage

BY GUEST BLOGGER MARLY

You can see more of Marly's work at Studio 28 - Waterloo,  Canada.

Oh dear! We’ve been so busy with summer projects and get-aways that I almost forgot that its THIS Monday that my next guest blog is due. Where does the time go? Its been fun having time for new projects like updating the little kitchenette in the front apartment and putting in a perennial garden in the front of the house. And we had a little get away to see Sting perform with the London (England) Symphony Concert Orchestra here in London (Ontario) on Wednesday night. Wow! What an amazing concert!

Not much time for the studio these days, but I’ve managed to create a few new pieces in the last while that I thought I’d share with you. I’ve grown to love working with copper and bronze clay along with fine silver clay. Although bronze and copper can be a bit more difficult to work with sometimes, the result of three metal colors in one piece is really worth it. Both Angie and I have found working with Hadar Jacobson’s bronze and metal powders to be our preferred choice. You can mix just the amount that you need, and the clay when it is first mixed is supple and very easy to work and manipulate. I currently am working with the three metals in a collage form that looks like a little temple. I like the form and hope there is lots of room for playing with texture and shapes within this format. Here are some of my initial pieces using this format.

I purchased some tree stamps at the art clay conference last year and decided to make a few pieces using this tree design.

The next two pieces incorporate some “Lake Huron Series” earrings that I had left in my “odds and ends” box.

I’m looking forward to playing with more copper, bronze, and silver soon. Just a few more projects....like clearing some space in the studio and I’ll be on my way!

Mondays with Marly - Stepping Stones Part 2

By guest blogger Marly

A major heat wave has hit Southern Ontario. Nothing like it since 2007.  I gratefully bow to our little window air conditioner which is managing to keep the house comfortable and cool. A perfect kind of day to write a blog entry since its way too humid to venture outside. In my last blog entry, I wrote about some early artistic adventures...weaving, printmaking, picture framing, and watercolor.

Around 2005, my color palette started to change. The turquoise blues and greens that predominated my earlier work shifted to warmer colors...maroons, reds, browns and earth tones. I realized how much I loved doing collage and started to integrate watercolor and acrylics with photos and Japanese washi papers

 

I decided to take an early retirement from teaching in 2005 so I could make art and travel a bigger part of my life.  I took a course in fused glass and fell in love with the process. I very quickly started to experiment with collaging different colors of glass together.

It didn’t take long before I fell in love with dichroic glass and the way it reflected colours.
I started to make jewelry pieces using this specialty glass.

In between creative adventures, Angie and I travelled to the southwest in my camper van several times between 2005-2007. It was there that we discovered the silver metal clay community and took some introductory courses that got us hooked on creating metal clay jewelry. It wasn’t long before I started experimenting with previous art mediums and metal clay. Could I put in some of my collage art into a metal clay frame?
I discovered that by laminating miniaturized versions of my collages, I could, indeed, include my art in metal clay jewelry.

I really feel drawn to making artisan jewelry right now. My work in various mediums has always been small, so translating my art to jewelry seems like a good direction to pursue. I also love the personal nature of making wearable art. So many people have told me how they think of me when they put on a piece of jewelry that I’ve made. Its feels good to know that people enjoy wearing my creations.

My art experiences have truly been stepping stones. All of life’s learnings can be built upon and used in many ways. So embrace the desire to learn something new. Trust that pursuing new experiences and having the courage to leave your “comfort zone” will only broaden and enhance the creative spirit within. Here’s to the journey!

Mondays with Marly - Stepping Stones - PART 1

By guest blogger Marly
Marly and Angie own Studio 28 in Waterloo, Ontario

I must admit I used to feel rather sheepish about my seeming lack of ability to focus on any particular art medium for any length of time. But the wonderful thing about seeing the decades go by, is that I've gained perspective. I am able to look back on the bigger picture, and I've realized how each shift in focus provided context and good insight for the next step (and art medium) in my life. Stepping stones... each experience building and informing the next.

In the 70's and early 80's, a college room mate taught me how to weave and I fell in love with creating tapestries and learning how to operate a loom. I even opened a weaving shop in the nearby tourist town of St. Jacobs.
 

I quickly learned that trying to pay the bills from weaving was an arduous task. Oh, I loved designing the first placemat and seeing the colors and patterns slowly emerge, but then to weave five more of exactly the same thing to make a set was absolutely painful. Boring. My little shop was in an old silo....no air conditioning in the summer and I felt like Rapunzel locked in her tower, literally sweating over my loom, watching the shuttle go back and forth and back and forth...Not exactly the perfect dream job I was hoping for. Although my loom sat in my living room for years, I finally admitted that my love of weaving had waned.  I sold my loom, and vowed that I would NEVER try to pay all the bills from my artistic endeavours again. Below you can see a picture of the Village Silos, where various artisans still sell their wares today, including the weaver that took over my store!

 A few years later, I became involved in a photography and picture framing studio and loved pursuing the craft of framing and purchasing Canadian art prints for the store. An acceptance letter to teacher's college sent me in a different direction for a while. I was fortunate to be given a teaching contract here in Waterloo, but I missed picture framing. I still knew my framing suppliers and contacts and they were happy to give me framing corners and mat samples to set up a little picture framing business in my newly acquired house.  So I was a teacher by day, and a picture framer evenings and weekends!  A welcome supplement to help with my mortgage payments! Although I had to give up my custom picture framing business a few years ago when a big framing manufacturer bought up the local company I dealt with, I still love cutting mat for artwork and find that the skills I learned come in handy for all kinds of art-making.

In the late eighties and early nineties, I had the opportunity to learn more about printmaking and joined a group of nine other artists to do group shows together at various local galleries. Those were wonderful years. Our group, called the Spiral Art Makers, seemed to have a similar approach and aesthetic to our print making and we learned a lot from our collaborations together.

 

 During this time, I realized how much I loved to piece things together in collage form. I would often take a print and cut it up, rearrange it,  and add odds and ends from other projects to create something new...a process that I still find totally addictive. I went through a phase of creating art pieces around earrings I no longer wore. An early introduction to the metal arts!

 

Ohhh, but watercolor was something I always wanted to try! In 2000,  two good friends, Rose, Jenny, and I decided to combine a camping trip with a watercolor course at the Haliburton School of the Arts. It was called Watercolor for Dummies. Perfect! Kind of took the pressure off!! And we learned a lot! For the next few years, Thursday night became the time for Rose, Jenny, and I to get together in my studio for some watercolor play time (accompanied by glasses of wine and good music.)  The artist that had the biggest influence on my watercolors during those years was Jeanne Carbonetti. I felt a deep connection to her abstract and spiritual approach to art making and poured over her beautiful books to learn more about her techniques.

 

O.K...that's enough reminiscing for today! It's off to the garden to plant some more flowers. Yes, the ones that have been patiently sitting there for two weeks! Stay tuned for Part Two of my art journey. The 2003-2010 period! Coming up in two weeks!

Mondays with Marly - Taxes and Beginnings

By NEW guest blogger Marly

Marly and Angie own Studio 28 in Waterloo, Ontario Canada.

I’m sitting at the table amidst piles of last year’s receipts coaxing my shy and often timid left brain to step up and make sense of the numbers, tables, percentages, and schedules that make up my income tax return. As I look over a receipt from one of myToronto suppliers, my right brain merrily skips into my head and says, “Remember on that particular trip to Toronto you also went to Massey Hall to hear the Canadian Songwriters Tribute to Neil Young.”  “Oh yes!” I enthusiastically respond, “What a great
concert!” Which inspires me to go over to my computer and click on iTunes...a bit of music in the background to help me get through this tax thing would be perfect! Oh and while I’m here at the computer, I might as well check my email. Ah yes, an email from my dear friend Ruth inviting me to be a guest writer on her blog. What a great opportunity! How exciting!  But wait, now I need to write something!  How does one begin? Looking back at the pile of receipts on the table, I decide that, indeed, this is the perfect time to think about my first guest blog entry.

So let’s go back to spring of 2008. Angie, my good friend and business partner, and I have dabbled in metal clay for a few years, but its when we spend three days with Celie Fago in her lovely Vermont studio, learning about the tear away technique, doming and keum boo, that our excitement about this incredible medium really takes off! 

Lentils Made at Celie’s in Vermont

During our time with her, we are introduced to bronze clay which Celie has been testing for Bill Struve and Rio.  We also learn that she will be teaching the first introductorycourse in bronze clay at the PMC conference that summer. Mmmm.....another exciting opportunity presents itself. Angie is lucky enough to make it in Celie’s bronze clay course which fills up within days of its posting. It is in this course that Angie has the very very good fortune of sitting beside a lovely British woman named Ruth Baillie.  Both of us continue to enjoy her company during the course of the conference, discussing seminars and people we have met each evening over a glass of Ruth’s very own Birdland Merlot. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Ruth, Angie, and Marly at PMC Conference 2008  

First bronze projects by Angie

First bronze project by Ruth

Little do we know that when we say our sad goodbyes at the end of the conference, that we will all be together again in a few months. Wait...what’s that? Oh dear...the left side of my brain is wringing her hands, glancing over to the pile of now neglected receipts, and telling me in a very forced whisper that there are tax deadlines to meet.  I guess, the next chapter of our adventures with Ruth have to wait. But, at least now I know what I’ll be writing about in my second entry. I really wish I had invested in that nifty “receipt reader” thing that Ruth talks about earlier in her blog. I might be a little less reluctant to go back over to the table. Maybe, I should go online and learn more about those receipt
readers, or perhaps go for a walk on this beautiful, sunny day to clear my head a bit before I get back to the numbers...isn’t there some dirty laundry that needs attention?...and so it goes.

Introductions - New Guest blogger Marly

I want to introduce you to a new guest blogger - my great friend Marly.  

Marly is an artist who works in fused glass, metal clay and lots of other things too.  She and Angie own and run Studio 28 in Waterloo, Canada (near Toronto).

Lake House View

The photo below shows Marly in my studio last year, when she and Angie were visiting.  While we were together, we had an incredible time making some collaboration pieces - three pieces with each of us contributing to each piece.  The process - and results - were amazing. Here's the link to the final blog post about our metal clay collaboration projects so you can see what we came up with.

Anyhow - I won't tell you too much about her, as she'll be doing that!  She will be blogging on alternate Mondays in her new slot "Mondays with Marly". So one week it'll be "Mondays with Marly" and the next it'll be "Monday's Millinery Musings" with Jennifer.  (Now why Jennifer's name doesn't begin with an M I'll never know!! Maybe she should change it!!!)

 Garden Window

I'm delighted she agreed to join our little band of bloggers, so we get to hear a little about "inside the artisan Marly".

See you Monday Marly!