That's the world I want to live in.
Imagine a world where we are not afraid to speak up or stand out. Where we encourage ourselves more than we support others. Where we use our intuition to guide our lives and the organizations we lead. Where we live by our own standards of beauty intelligence, wisdom and skill. That's the world I want to live in. I have always been amazed by our ability as human beings to imagine and make tangible what we see in our minds. Our whole world was created this way and who knows how many other worlds will evolve like this. If we each imprint our unique imagination, experiences and quirks to everything we do, we will add to the rich tapestry of life. I've been wanting to draw again, but days pass and I get caught up in other activities, so I decided to commit to something that will get me going: I will make a drawing a day for one hundred days. I first heard about this challenge –known as #The100DayProject– from Elle Luna at The Great Discontent, but it began as a workshop assignment from Graphic Design professor Michael Bierut at the Yale School Art. Students had to chose a design exercise and repeat it every day for 100 days. It did not matter what they chose, as long as they did it daily and documented it. To make sure I get through my 100 days, I've written down my intentions: To wake up and exercise my mind To expand my visual vocabulary To make drawing part of my life To stop judging my work To stick to one thing for a long time To see more clearly and find my voice To move forward and see where this takes me To do things even when I don’t feel like doing them To do something that scares me To share how I see the world with others If you want to see what you can create with discipline and focus, I invite you to take the challenge. I will share my drawings on my blog every day. This is my first. Drawing 1. Soot. Silver ink on paper. 100 Days 100 Drawings Series. I find myself in the quiet moments. My paternal grandparents were Roman Catholics who migrated from Lebanon to Mexico in the 1940's. They settled in Mexico City, opened a sewing supply store, and had a large family. Every Saturday, my grandmother would cook copious amounts of rich Lebanese food for her seven children and their spouses, her thirty grandchildren and friends. Their home had plastic-covered velour furniture, crystal chandeliers, and wire beaded bonsai trees that adorned coffee tables. At weddings (there were many), my aunts and cousins looked stunning, embellished in long, colorful sparkly gowns, while my sister and I wore cotton frocks that resembled those in Little House on the Prairie. It was the 1970's and my mom had moved to Mexico from California. She sewed her own clothes and never wore makeup, fed us All Bran for breakfast and baked whole-wheat bread. The four of us lived in a rustic wooden house surrounded by forest and dirt roads. Although the life I live now is simple and calm, I hold dear the festive and abundant childhood memories of my beloved Lebanese family. My sister Vanessa is visiting from Austin. She is a healthy baking consultant who teaches people around the world to bake delicious pastries using natural sugars and alternative flours. Her Noble Baking movement has changed the lives of thousands of people who are hypoglycemic, diabetic and sensitive to sugar. This morning we talked about how much it's helped us to have parents who are self-starters. Both my mom and dad built their business from scratch: she as a textile artist, and he as a freelance architect. Their efforts gave us a beautiful home and access to a bicultural education. Had we had other examples, we would probably not be self employed. Vanessa began her business in 2005 in the kitchen of her apartment. She soon was teaching sixty students a week and now she has over 50,000 followers on social media. I had the fortune to sell my first jewelry collection in a local design fair in 2009, and since then I've created hundreds of one-of-kind pieces that now belong to wonderful people around the world. The path of the self starter is not easy and can be uncertain, but it is stimulating and rewarding. Thanks to the internet, we can now find role models beyond our families. I hope you find those who inspire you to do what you love and to start with what you have. You will embark on a great adventure! Many of you have asked me what is Metal Clay, so I took pictures to show you. As I shared in a previous post, Metal Clay is a modeling compound made of fine recycled silver mixed with an organic binder. Its putty-like consistency registers detailed textures and designs, as you saw in my latest pieces. Once dry, you can heat it for a few minutes with a torch until the organic binder burns away and you are left with pure silver. After the piece is fired, you can burnish it with a metallic brush and give it the patina you like. I have tried several brands, but my favorite is Art Clay Silver because it is easier to work with and shrinks less when fired. It is also the only one available in Mexico City (thank you, Iliana Carrillo for giving me a sample!). I finally found a way to transfer my more intricate drawings into metal. I would have liked to photograph the clay when it was moist, but I ran out of it before I took these pictures. There are many scary moments in the life of an artist. The first is when you accept that you are one. You admit that you are not willing do anything else. Then, you stick to your work even when the results don’t come close to what you intended to make. You solve technical problems that threaten to stop you: the paint cracks, the clay explodes, the soldered parts fall off and the stone breaks when you set it. Finally, you make pieces you are –relatively– satisfied with and show them to others. This part is unnerving because you know your work can improve. If you want to sell what you make, you realize you also need to show who you are, why you made it, and how you made it. This frightens you because you’ve never asked yourself these questions. So you dive in and learn to articulate what you discover. A daunting task because you are not a writer or a journalist. Still you continue, because the scariest part of being an artist is to stop making art. A coach once asked me: what did you have to give up to get to where you are now? I had to stop living my life through other people, I answered. Growing up I promoted the artists, writers and yoguis I dated, because I admired what they did but was afraid to do it myself. My biggest lesson has been to focus on my own path and ask, what do I want? I've learnt to listen to my own advice, and be my number one fan. Today when I admire someone, I take it as a sign to recognize those qualities within myself and find the courage to explore them. |
welcomeI am Jennifer Musi, the jewelry artist behind MUSIBATTY, and this is my blog archive.
Here you can find posts from December 2013, to May, 2016. I will no longer update this site. Please click on the link below to see my recent work. @musibattyOn Social Media
ConnectRespectI made this blog to share my work with you. I believe in generosity and I want to live in a world where we all inspire each other.
All of my designs and photographs are copyrighted. If you would like to reproduce them in any way, please email me first. Archives
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