The Key to Getting to Market on Time is......................... Part 1

After I began selling my Bad Bear Brooches, I decided I would expand even a little bit further into the world of Bad Bear Key-rings. It was not a massive jump from one to the other and it seemed to fill a gap in my market. A lot of men did really like my work but unless they were of a badge wearing age, they really were not going to go in for sporting a brooch. The key-rings did very well when I premiered them at my next market and so, I have continued to include them in the Bad Bear line-up.

I thought it might be interesting to share with you the full life cycle of one of these pieces that is destined for a market stall; from materials to making, from making to packaging and from packaging to placement. They go on quite a journey from beginning to end.

I’m generally in Dublin city centre on a Thursday and so, about a week before I am set to go to market, I can be seen going from fabric shop to bead shop to ribbon shop early in the morning. I have a well worn route that I take to make the most efficient use of my time. The night before I will have made a list of the most pressing materials I need and then I will make a small map of the shops I need to make a stop at. I do have a very good store of materials at home in my studio but you would be surprised how often you need to stock up on basics like felt squares and brooch backings. If you find yourself needing to buy more essentials it generally means you have sold your work so it is not a task I complain about. 

I find that in a bustling and jostling city centre, the haberdashery shop is a calming and quiet sanctuary. They are usually filled with intent shoppers looking for a specific coloured thread or a certain size of sewing needle. I find them to be a relaxing and enjoyable environment to be in.

I wasn’t always so comfortable I have to say. But I found when I made regular visits to these places, learned the lingo and got to know some faces, I soon felt right at home. I found going in over and over again, even for short trips, helped to build my confidence and I even have come to enjoy this aspect of my work. You also may feel a little intimidated by a shop that sells niche or specialist items. My advice would be to take your time, hitch a great big smile on your face and ask some questions. In most shops, they will be more than willing to help you with what you need.

After getting my loot home, my next job is to assess the stock I have left over from the last market. I will count my numbers, check my sales journal, assess what sold well the last time and make a judgement about how many of each item I could make for the upcoming event. I then will set targets for myself. I write a list of all the things I would like to have made by a certain day. As I finish making things I will check them off my list and assess where I need to focus my attention next. I always have priority pieces to finish first and then less important or irregular sellers lower down on the list. I find this helps to keep me motivated and focused in the run up to the market. Without clear and achievable goals I begin to panic so I try to make the time for this important step.

The next thing I do is roll up my sleeves, take out my materials and get to work. Over time I have developed some work habits that have helped my productivity. In regards to the key rings, I split the making up into several steps. I do all my cutting out first. I draw on and cut out my basic shapes from felt in a big batch. It can be fiddly work but if you do it all in one go I have found you can get a rhythm going that supports you to do it quickly and easily.

The next step is to embroider the faces onto the felt backgrounds. This is where I have to engage my imagination and have a confident hand while stitching each newly invented expression. Again, I try to do this part all at one time so that I can keep track of what I am making in terms of sizes and colours, but also to keep a momentum going rather than constantly chopping and changing tasks.

I attach the key-ring clasp, stuff the head and sew up the completed piece all in one go also. This last step can be quite technical and a little monotonous but you are on the home stretch so that helps to keep you going. When I see a full row of Bad Bear faces scowling up at me I feel it is a job well done.

Join me tomorrow for part 2 of this journey.

Where Bad Bears Move Forth to Conquer Fresh Domains

A couple of years ago I began to look at ways to get my art out into the world and also, I wanted to explore different options for generating an income from my art work. As Ireland has a strong tradition for craft and art markets, joining a market seemed like the natural next step to take.

The Bad Bear Pincushions were purposely made for my escapade into the world of market stalls. I wanted to make affordable items to sell so that people could browse and consider my larger investment pieces like the Snug tea cosies but could also purchase a token or a small keepsake of my work. I feel I have a strong instinct in regards to the packaging of my pieces; I think this came in useful when preparing to bring my work to a new market place. I feel it is another way or a further way to communicate your ideas and also your personality.

The Bad Bear Pincushions were very well received in the first couple of outings. Men and women alike seemed to enjoy their grumpy faces and the funny back story that accompanied them. I decided I would expand the range by making small brooches or pins using the Bad Bear faces. It turned out to be a great way to explore that already mentioned theme of individuality.

When I was getting ready for an up-coming market, I would spread out all my materials out in front of me; multi-shades of brown felt for their faces, every other colour of felt for their muzzles and backing, embroidery threads, accessories like beads, ribbons and buttons, brooch backings and my trusty circle template to mark out heads, ears and muzzles in numerous and ever changing combinations. I used to love going to some of the jewellery findings and bead shops in Dublin and come home with small paper bags of shiny brooch backings of different sizes to create new miniature personalities. It was a great way to use my imagination and my creativity; I tried to make each piece in under an hour so that I could keep the cost low and make them affordable for my customers.

I also put the same message from the pincushions on their labels. I declared that these were indeed very BAD bears. I can’t share with you what they have done; it is truly terrible, it really is better if you don’t know.

This sentiment used to drive kids crazy at the markets. I remember one small boy sidling up to me a couple of times, nudging me, and practically begging me to tell him what these Bad Bears had done to warrant such a warning.

I have to say I love this side-effect to the packaging. When people read the labels, I can nearly see in their eyes what they are imagining these bears have done. I think and hope for children, these things are still in the realm of school yard pranks and cartoon villains. They do seem to delight in the outright bold personalities they see before them. For adults, I think it is a good litmus test for how much news they have been watching or where their imagination takes them when bad deeds are mentioned.

I also like thinking about if the bad things they have done are People Bad Deeds or Bear Bad Deeds. What would a bear need to do to be qualified as “bad” in his/her bear community? This opens up a whole other world in my imagination and I can gladly play there for a while.

I like the really cross looking characters especially if they have a bow or a really mean pair of glasses. But I am also rather fond of the bears that look very sweet and innocent; you never know what is lurking under that cheerful façade! I hope you enjoy looking at their different faces and see if you can come up with at least one truly tantalising back story for one of the Bad Bear crew.      

 

Of Matters Good and Bad, Evil and Virtuous

I started talking about the themes of my art work last week and I will come back to them over the coming weeks. The themes themselves are quite loaded so I decided I would discuss them over time so as not to overwhelm and not to get too heavy all in one go.

Instead, the next thing I would like to show you is the collection of work I have made under the “Bad Bear” banner. As I started thinking about the story behind the Bad Bears I began musing about good and bad, about “evil-doers” and virtuous saints. These are not heavy or uncomplicated subject matter at all! (She says sarcastically) Blog Fail! The heavy themes prevail no matter what I seem do at the moment.

I got a book called “Toys to Sew” by Claire Garland a few years back. It has a lovely range of different soft toys to make for all levels of sewing capabilities. She had a pattern for a small felt bear in the book and it inspired me to have a go at making my own template for something similar. I measured the bear out using different sized circles and rectangles. It turned out a little wonky but I like my hand-drawn imperfect design. I cut him out from some felt scraps I had and set about sewing him together.

My first attempt had its difficulties and I accidently severed one of his little limbs off. I did a patch job with some purposeful broad black stitches. He began to look like one of Dr. Frankenstein’s creations. His face became sullen and cross-looking. I embraced his patched together body and added some cross-stitches to enhance his slightly beat-up and dishevelled demeanour. The unfortunate slip of my scissors had turned into a happy accident and the character of my bear was formed.

Sometimes if you can persist with a project or idea that doesn’t feel like it is going exactly your way, you can use the difficult developments to come up with a whole new concept. The perseverance in some instances is really worth the extra push; other times you can end up with a pile of rubbish but at least you gave it a go……right?!

When this dude was finished he looked like a bad bear, a bear that had seen and heard not good things, an un-virtuous bear. The idea of making him a pin cushion came soon after this. I thought you wouldn’t feel so bad about sticking a pin in him if you thought he was innately bad himself. I can have a dark sense of humour sometimes and I thought it was kind of funny. The alliteration was there with the double B’s and who can resist some good alliteration, I know I can’t. So the Bad Bears were born and they have been part of my repertoire ever since.

I would like to say for the record, I don’t believe that any person is innately good or bad. It is my opinion and I don’t expect you to agree or disagree with me. It is just how I feel about it. I am fascinated by the black and white beliefs around calling someone “bad” or “evil”. To label someone in a definite way without examining the reasons why their behaviour can be deemed as bad or evil is a foreign concept to me. I live in a world that has immeasurable shades of grey. I believe actions impact on feelings, feelings create thoughts and thoughts can lead back to actions; sometimes positive and sometimes negative. I think I would love to live in a world where things could be broken down into basic RIGHT and basic WRONG. I feel uncomplicated moral positions are unsatisfactory in the face of the mire and messy reality of the human experience. I believe we are extraordinarily complex and complicated beings.

I think the Bad Bears are an ode to a simplistic world view, the suppression of emotion and the importance of the impact that suppression has on our daily lives; an ode to the super-villains, real and imagined; an ode to wishing I was GOOD but only feeling I am BAD; an ode to impossible rigorous standards upheld by people who can’t keep them and who actively personally defy them; an ode to the lunacy that is “nature over nurture” or the thought that people are born rather than made.

To be bad or have bad behaviour, I believe, is to be human. I like to bring it out every now and again, dust it off and shine a spotlight on it for myself. I have received some strong feedback for these Bad Bears. Once, at a Christmas market, a customer was telling me that her daughter had just started sewing and she would like to get her one of the Bad Bear Pincushions but she was afraid that one of them looked like he had done time. Now that is a BAD bear! Other people have exclaimed there were no such things as a bad bear like there is no such thing as bad children, there are only bad parents. She was quite annoyed with me. Most people delight in their mischievous and wilful expressions and their outright personalities. I think what it comes down to is- who among us doesn’t like to be a little bit bad sometimes. Being good all the time is exhausting!      

Thematically Speaking Part 2

in·di·vid·u·al·i·ty

1.

the particular character, or aggregate of qualities, that distinguishes one person or thing from others; sole and personal nature: a person of marked individuality.

2.

individualities, individual characteristics.

3.

a person or thing of individual or distinctive character.

4.

state or quality of being individual; existence as a distinct individual.

Yesterday I introduced the subject of themes in my art work. As you can probably tell, the first theme I would like to discuss is Individuality. What do I mean by individuality? For me, the theme seems to arise from my own quest for individuality; how some times difference is thrust upon you and some times you seek it out. I have also had a lengthy battle with the value and worth of individuality. My exploration of the concept comes not from a certainty of merit, but as a constant ever changing question of importance and of longing. I have questioned its existence, its worth and its relevance to me. I have longed to feel valued, special and to know that, to be me, Sadhbh Lawlor, means something. Am I just another cog in the machine? Am I just one of the billions of life forms milling about? Can one person make a difference? If that one person does make a difference, does that actually mean anything?

The Snug I am showing you today is a good example of the theme of individuality in my work. A friend of mine came to me with this commission. She wanted a tea cosy for someone who is extremely special to her. She was very clear about what she wanted - from the overall design of the piece to the details that she wanted to include. She has seen lots of my projects over the years and knew what she was looking for from me. She wanted a simple unfussy exterior in the form of a flower and, concealed under the petals, all the important things in that person’s life. I got a list of all the hobbies, treats and personality traits belonging to the person and we discussed symbols or images that could signify these things. She gave me photographs of her immediate family which she wanted me to depict in embroidery. I had done this for another project to great effect.

I feel this form of customisation or personalising in my work has been present for a long time. I remember getting a hand-made Christmas decoration from my uncle who lived in America. It was a red wooden sleigh and he had painted my name on it. There was also one each for my brother and sister. Mine still hangs on our Christmas tree at home every year. It meant and means so much to me because it was made just for me. My mam cross-stitched for years and I witnessed her sewing people’s names, wedding anniversaries, birthdays, new baby congratulations into fabric, commemorating these special events for years to come. I saw first hand how much these keepsakes meant to the recipients and their appreciation for the time and effort gone into each piece. I am sure these are just a couple of the influences that contribute to the artist that I am. 

While in college my work was more inwardly focused. I feel it was a time of self discovery, even if only in a visual sense. You begin to learn how you make art. You make so much work over such a short period of time that your style appears before you; you can see the line of your pencil, the wash of your paintbrush and the forms your hands can sculpt. But after college I developed a kind of skill for finding the expression of other people. I observed, I filed away their likes and loves, I matched colours and tones to their personalities and I made objects that I thought would be of their taste.

Also my family are very important to me and I always wanted to make things for them that would mark them out as special. I think I wanted to say “I see you”. I see what makes us the same and I see what makes us different. I wanted to celebrate the differences between us. I didn’t always have a lot of money but I wanted them to have something of value. I wanted them to have something that mirrored their value to me.

When other people saw the customised work I had made for my family I got lots of orders for similar work. I have been shown great trust and openness by people sharing with me; family stories, friendship adventures, the heartache of grief and loss, the wonders of parenthood and unending samples of the goodness that humanity has to offer.  

      

On a bad day, the out pouring of love I have experienced through other people in their want to give something meaningful to their loved-ones is a pure blessing. In making all the different projects I have worked on I seem to have been writing, drawing, sewing, knitting and sculpting some of the answers to my most pressing questions. Does individuality exist?  I think so, my reading of all the different looks and requests I have gotten seems to signify that yes, we do all have different wants and needs, different aesthetic tastes and things that will mean something to us and us alone. Does individuality have worth or value? Again I have to say I think the answer is yes. The effort people go to to inform me of how their loved ones make them feel, how important it is to get the right colour, the light in their faces as they describe their mother or best friend or brother. All this says to me that individually we matter to the people to whom we interact and care for.

How is individuality relevant to me? As with everyone else, I am sure, the things that make me different are both the bane of my existence and the things that save my life all at the same time. I am in a constant struggle with my own self worth. In the tug-of-war that is this struggle, currently the side that says I am of value has the upper hand and the brute strength behind it, thankfully. It has not always been the case. In this regard art has saved my life several times over. The act of creation expresses to you, in physical form, your individuality. It serves as proof to a stubborn ego or hurt soul that you are yourself and that, yes, this does mean something. Other individual artists have been a beacon of light to me on dark days. The existence of their work is balm, the telling of their story is solace, and their imperfect truths are an immeasurable support.

Individuality is a broad theme for discussion in any artists work. I’m sure I have just grazed the surface of my own here but I did want to open up the topic for myself. Some days I do just feel like a worker ant milling about doing the necessary but on other days I also feel like I am at the centre of the universe, working and living purposefully.

Thematically Speaking Part 1

When I was in school, I generally had a frustration in English class. This frustration arose when we would get around to discussing the themes behind poets poetry, a writers novels or a playwrights plays. Themes- what were the ideas, the concepts, the issues behind the creative persons work? One of my English teachers used to sit behind her desk and rattle off the “themes” of a poets work from a photocopied sheet. I remember seeing many other things in the poetry, other hidden messages that had meaning for me. Sometimes I would venture them forward; I would raise my hand and share my personal insights. Generally, I was told; ‘No, that is not a theme in this poet’s work.’ So I stopped sharing my thoughts and I learned to feel stupid for not understanding the art that was before me on the black and white sheets of paper.

Self-Portrait

I’ve never really come back to poetry; my teenage spirit became wounded from my perceived lack of comprehension. I always wanted to shout at the teacher “But how do you KNOW? Were you sitting on the bench beside him when he wrote the stupid thing?” Of course now I understand that many people would have studied the poet in-depth and their findings would have been condensed down for our secondary education text books. I can also see that maybe my own emotional response to the poem and my exploration of that may not have gotten me the marks I needed to get an A grad in my Leaving Certificate. But how sad is that? You may get thousands of students who can spout off the top ten themes of Shakespeare or Yeats but can they tell you how the work makes them feel? I still think there are things in other people’s work that may speak to us and us alone, maybe completely unintentionally, but speaks to us none the less.

'Container' project. Notebook process work.

The reason I share this story with you is because I would like to share some of the themes of my work with you. I want to discuss the reoccurring threads that are woven through my art.

But I don’t want to insinuate for one second that the themes I see in my work are the only ones. You may see other things; feel other things about the pictures you see before you. I would encourage you to trust what you think about the work and your emotional response to it. It may be you feel happy or sad, intrigued or repulsed, invigorated or subdued. You might be surmising about the reasons I make the things that I do because you know me personally or you are making a judgement as a stranger. Some of your thoughts and feelings may tally with my own accounts but fear not if they do not match exactly.

'Container' project. 'Don't Judge a Container by it's Cover'.  Outside.

I am a huge believer in the un-conscious and un-conscious actions. You may be right on the money or an aspect of the work may be mirroring something back to you about yourself. I don’t think an emotional response can be “wrong”. Learning to trust and listen to my own guttural reactions to things has been one of the best tools I have learned for my art and for my life.

'Container' project. 'Don't Judge a Container by it's Cover'.  Inside.

Intuition and instinct can be sorely undervalued so I entreat you to use your own here. The understanding of art and the reasons for making it does not have to be the domain of educators, students and scholars alone. Art is not a mythical language that only the few enlightened ones can grapple with. I am telling you as an artist that I make things to express my thoughts and feelings and as we all express ourselves everyday, I completely trust your intelligence and your humanity that you will understand me.

(Unless, that is, I communicate terribly and that would be my fault and not yours!)

Self-Portrait.