May TIF - What do I call what I do and why

Sharon B's challenge for May

"I hate that what do you do question as I have often wondered how to describe my various creative activities.
How do you describe yourself as an artist? One moment I am doing one thing that could be described easily as Art and the next I am doing something else that is craft! One moment my curiosity has lead me to to look at something quite strange as beautiful like the mould that grows on food in the fridge and the next I am looking at something most people would find familiar and boring and finding it fascinating like the bubbles in the washing up water.
Have you noticed that the term maker is being used to describe the activity of various people who may in the past be referred to as crafts person, or applied artist? For instance the British Crafts Council provides some interesting and thoughtful reading but in the Makers in Focus which looks at the working environment of West Midlands people producing crafts, the term ‘maker’ is used to encompass practitioners who variously describe themselves as craftspeople, or applied artists.
One of the ways I try and make sense of what I do is by defining what ever it is, as clearly as I possibly can. I think most people do that. The way I see it is if you can’t talk about what you do, or haven’t taken care in how you think about what you do, how do you expect others to respect the way you spend your time? Or how do expect people to respect what you make?
OK there is a few questions in the passage above but this month the challenge question is what do you call yourself and why?
Hopefully this will have everyone scratching their head but if you don’t like the challenge question you can elect to use the colour scheme instead. "

April TIF

Change – I really don’t have a problem with change, in fact I look forward to change for me it is an opportunity to reinvent myself. My mother once said to me that I am like a chameleon because I adapt to change very easily almost blending in with my surroundings, hence the chameleon in this piece.

There are three parts to this piece, the changing of the seasons, the chameleon and the change from day to night.

The changing seasons - Having lived most of my life in a coastal town the changes of the seasons were always so subtle that one season melted into the next barely noticeable. A few years ago I moved inland where the changes of the seasons were so outstanding. In spring I noticed blossoms on trees everywhere, the grass started to turn from brown to green, summer with long hot days clear skies, then autumn when the leaves on the trees turned to yellow, then red suddenly it was winter with crisp chilly mornings, fires, hot bowls of soup.

The chameleon – blending in with surroundings, for protection, for me a chance to do different things meet new people see new places.

The change from day to night – every new day brings with it new beginnings, new adventures changes and challenges making like interesting.

What's happening in the studio.....

I was inspired by a picture I saw in a frinds house, the picture in her house was in colour and the pots were filled with flowers.

This piece I started some time ago, I pick it up when I have nothing better to do.

This piece was finished (at least the embroidery was completed) some time ago. I thought I might make a bag but unfortunately I did not measure carefully, so now it is just a piece of denim with embroidery on it. Perhaps some day I will find a use for it.......

April TIF - Change

Change and what it means to me.....I love change........ someone once said to me that the only constant is change. How true this is; my life has been one big change; I have with every change grown and been able to reinvent myself. My mother once referred to me as being like a chameleon, because I have always managed to blend into the surroundings I find myself in.

I am about to experience yet another change in my life, in July I will be moving to the UK with MDB, starting from scratch with a clean canvas. We have just purchased a flat, I will be looking for work in a new country, I will be shopping in different stores, I will brave weather I am not accustomed to. Commuting will be a new an adventure (or misadventure, as I have been told taking the train into London at peak times is a nightmare!). Well what ever it will be new and exciting.

My April TIF is not finished yet but soon will be......