Sharing her evolution of "ARTS" Nicky Ruxton inspires us all

 
 

Mixed-Media Industrial Artwear - Nicky Ruxton with Ruxton Designs

 

I first saw Ruxton Designs at Cañada College Fashion Department's 22nd Annual Designer Show and Sale:

https://www.facebook.com/ArtistryinFashion The Designer Sale showcases unique hand-crafted jewelry, artisan dyed, woven, painted, and felted textiles. They also show antique, vintage, and re-purposed fashions.  I really enjoyed the event.  This is where local, independent designers and artisans are selling their latest creations.  (Mark your calendar for next year’s show, scheduled for September 28, 2013)


Nicky was exuberant and friendly and excited about what she creates and the people who admire it.  We chatted, enjoying her designs and how fresh her ideas were.  At first glance you see she clearly has a deep mixed media background.  But it wasn’t until she came to speak for our group that you learned about her art background and how these delightful creations came to be.

At the Haute Couture Societe in Stockton on Saturday February 2, Nicky gave a wonderful and enlightening retrospective of her creative background and transformation of her designs. 
 
One might call it a timeline of how her work has evolved, reassuring all of us in the room the we too can embrace our evolving “craft”.   

 


 Immediately one notices Nicky’s large smile and enthusiastic energy as she shared her journey.  We were nodding in agreement as sewers, crafters, mixed media novices - evolving in our own way.

Nicky as a young girl loved drawing & coloring.  It was not a surprise with her the exciting way she told of "Going outside the lines."  Nicky never had art classes growing up. Art was not  celebrated in her home.  She loved to draw and as a teen copied cartoons out of the Sunday paper. This deep love to drawing only grew, and she began her career using those untrained yet highly skilled ideas as a graphic artist. She showed some of her early work, and it was well done and professional.

Next she took her expert line drawings and reinvented them onto fabrics.  But this talk was more than technique and inspiration.  Nicky got personal and deep, talking of "her truth."  She spoke of her work as “weeds scattered out and still growing".
Nicky related back to sewing sharing how she too grew up in a home where her mom sewed.  She laughed as she identified with our world saying she understands the difference in craft scissors and sewing scissors.  This is where she experimented with tools and supplies and later sewing free forms stuffed "pillows"

Nicky was one of the “original” green up-cyclers.  She was always on the lookout for discarded materials she could “save” and use to create something new and “fun”.  She found some discarded cardboard and newspapers that she used to create inventive and whimsical boxes. Cutting out the scraps of cardboard she used gesso and paper Mâché techniques to create these fun free form treasures.

Nicky’s talk was refreshingly funny as she timelines her career and more importantly she shares some thoughts about life. You see Nicky has been learning all about “life” through her fingertips.  Through creating new and interesting designs to share and enjoy.

Next as a “lover of collages" Nicky began rubber stamping, stitching, ripped magazines and found objects to make collages from organic looking brown grocery bags.  Wittle stitching, she used “words” to tell her inner thoughts. In those journals she talked about philosophy and how her journey moved along.

She talked about how nice it is to not be over happy or sad but live in the “middle.”  Words of encouragement and a room full of nods showed many crafters desire this middle ground.

She also crafted “glue books.” Gluebooks” look like a cross between art journals and collage. Collect the paper you love from your daily life, and turn it into art by cutting out pictures, word collage pieces, and textures that you love to cover a journal.

Nicky attributes her feeling of success to “enjoying one’s self.” We looked at her beautiful and interesting “soul collage cards” and talked about dreaming.  

 I best understood SoulCollage^® by visiting the SoulCollage website.  They describe SoulCollage as a creative and satisfying collage process. You make your own deck of cards - each collage card representing one aspect of your personality or Soul. Use the collage cards intuitively to answer life's questions and participate in self-discovery. Joyfully deepen your understanding of the relationships between your personality parts, you and your family/community/world, and you and your dreams, symbols, and Spirit. The book, SoulCollage^® Evolving, tells how to make and use the SoulCollage^® cards individually and in groups.

This information came from: http://www.soulcollage.com/about-soulcollage

Last she showed her "self portrait" sharing how she reads the cards, questions a question and how to interpret them.
I'd love to make a collage on some notebooks so I'll keep you posted on an upcoming post.

Friday I'll write about the work shop, so check back!

Enjoy your Tuesday!  Jonelle'