In the grand scheme of life, we humans talk a lot about dreams. Dreams in the literal sense of sleeping fantasy, dreams in the broadest sense of hopes and wishes and aspirations, dreams as an unattainable goal of how life should be...The Xarata Project started out as my dream.
When I started this project a year ago, I don't really know where I thought it would lead me; if i thought it would save me from continuing in a career(i use the term loosely) that I despise or if I had some grand dreams of changing my life overnight. Now I realize that I had allowed myself to sleepwalk into some mundane and colorless world of merely surviving, and all I really wanted was to dream in COLOR. The Xarata Project dusted off my equipment, procured new materials, and put the pliers back in my hands. It was Puff the Magic Dragon's paintbrush, Dorothy's Twister, Pippi Longstocking's lemonade tree, and Tinkerbelle's pixie dust all rolled into one. I took my dreams and begged the Sandman for a little magic, and he happily painted my dreams in color.
The thing about magic is that it's concentrated and unpredictable, much like my projects in the past year. Letting myself make whatever I wanted was good- it kept things from getting mundane and helped me figure out what I'm good at, what media I like to work with best, and thanks to blogging, it also helped me figure out what other people liked best. Now it's time to stop dreaming, and find some focus.
Year 2 of The Xarata Project is going to be marked in Glass & Metal- the things that I like best. The main purpose of Year 2 is to build myself a real inventory- consistent items that have a relationship with each other, a theme. I also intend to use this year to improve certain skills in handling these materials- like my stone setting.
My headbands, hairflowers, and featherpens will continue to be produced and sold on http://xarata.etsy.com/, but the new stuff is going to be some of what I do best, and it's going to require a little more detail and a little more skill. I don't intend to quit my other media of fabric and feathers and sketches, but the weekly projects have to be glass or metal- so look for lots of extra posts this time around.
About Me
- Xarata
- Every night I curl up with a warm little dog and wake to a kiss from the kind of soulmate only found in fairytales, and I realize that it really doesn't take a whole lot to make me happy...