Classroom Volunteer – Behind the Scenes

Certain pieces of artwork speak to me. When I saw bananakin‘s original CLASSROOM VOLUNTEER it screamed at me. Maybe it was that adorable little grin and giant hand? Or maybe it took me back to school? You know, the fun years, when I was constantly raising my hand to volunteer to pass back graded tests to fellow students. Or stay after class to help and organize.

I’m kind of the same way now, but way more selective when asking people if they need help. Either way, after months of asking and trying to figure out how it may work, I set out to recreate CLASSROOM VOLUNTEER. I gathered a little fabric stash and thought out ways to make the new piece unique while keeping the style.

One of my original ideas was to incorporate movement. After testing fraying, I decided to tuck that one away. I had sticky, gluey fingers and I wasn’t willing to risk this special-to-me fabric.

Why is it special? Because I dyed it! The background fabric is tie-dyed and very thick. All of those tiny blue stitches provided lots of finger pokes trying to find out where the needle was about to pop out.

Thick fabric and I are now in an embroidery stand-off.

The main features – face and hands – are also hand-dyed. That fabric truly provided an amazing shade that I didn’t know I needed when I made it, which was a stunning surprise.

Combining the two was magic. Seeing him bring it all together and include both of our work will never get old. Now, when it came to naming it…I struggled. There were a couple of reasons. He uses ALL CAPS on titles, while I decided lowercase was what I wanted for mine. [Side note: as a transcriber is a very difficult habit to take on.]

So, I kept it simple.

Classroom Volunteer includes a bananakin animation that features my physical hoop for the original collector + five profile pictures that can illustrate your emotional state. 😉

Classroom Volunteer is in the collection of thematthewa

Creative Paths Collide

For many years when it came to being creative, for me, that meant making photos. Creating in a dark room was inspiring. Photoshop not so much. Even when it came to selling cameras, I was more equipped to tell you why to stay with film. Given that was nearly 20 years ago, but hey…I’m back to having a film camera again!

Growing up if a school project could be a diagram instead of speaking, I was down that path real quick. One that sticks out is a book report I did for Indian in the Cupboard that was a shoebox display. Teepee, Indian figurine, and all. A lot of ideas got pushed aside, but some have stuck in my head or were found mixed in with old school work my parents kept. [Bonus of being an only child?]

When my husband found NFTs, I saw them being for traditional artists. After scoping it out and digging in, I saw that mayyyyyybe every artist can make their own path. Imagining ways to combine what I enjoy is kind of mind-boggling. Exploring ideas and digging up past projects provides a rush of creative thoughts. Though I have to remind myself to push forward and not get stuck behind having so many f*cking ideas.

As you can see, this isn’t a “Wow, I’ve made a lot of sales” post. It’s an “I’m happy to have found a space to be creative, even if I feel like an outsider” post.

I’m thankful to each person that’s collected my work.
I’m thankful for realizing that art is what you make it.
I am thankful our paths somehow merged here.
Some for the first time. Some from many paths ago.
We each create differently. And that’s truly amazing.

While I’ve been creating for a long time, the outsider/newbie intimidation is there. Going into post-production at 19 made me the youngest in most rooms. Even when the talent was younger than me, I was still somehow “the young one.” After lots of years in production, I never found my voice. I thoroughly enjoy it, but not being able to express myself creatively stalled me. Though if you put me back on a Foley stage, game on. Or I’m down to run a machine room full of tape dubs. Melts my cold heart and freezes my hands thinking about it.. and how cold that room was.

Tangent aside, I’m thankful to the artists and collectors that have reached out and allowed me in their DMs.

My list of art to collect continues to grow.
Some 1/1s. Some cats, that are pixels.
Some kid art. Maybe a VideoFeeling or Thought.
A cloud at some point.

There’s collabs brewing. Some may be real. Most could be dreams.
Projects are continuing and that’s what matters.