Fodder School 3 You Tube Hop

[@willawanders]

Cheiron, being from New Jersey, your voice sounds like home to me. Your work is beautiful. Thank you for being a joyful Fodder Schooler!

[@cheiron]

Thanks so much Wendy! I definitely enjoy each and every month of Fodder School!

[@ninanavajas]

Fantastic!!! Thanks for sharing your FS journey. Love your art and the colour palette

[@cheiron]

Thank you so much!

[@sheilastyrebriere]

Beautiful projects Cheiron, I love seeing the creations from Fodder School🤗

[@cheiron]

Thank you! 😊

[@dorasanchez5075]

Your craft is inspiring. Cheiron. I love the colors. Thanks 😊❤🎉

[@cheiron]

I'm so glad! Thanks for stopping by!

[@XiomaraRivera]

Beautiful projects!❤👏

[@cheiron]

Thank you! 😊 Thanks for stopping by!

[@melodine707]

Great job! Love your pencil holders! ❤

[@cheiron]

Thank you so much 😀

[@25Prague]

Wonderful projects and very inspiring!

[@cheiron]

Thank you so much! Thanks for stopping by today!

[@gracier.369]

Inspired to try fodder school. Your projects are amazing! So pretty!

[@gracier.369]

Those houses😍😍😍

[@bonnerdebbie]

Thanks for sharing your Fodder School projects, they are wonderful!

[@cheiron]

Glad you like them! Thank you so much for stopping by!

[@dawnandtimdumm2633]

Love these so much!

[@cheiron]

Glad you like them! Thanks for stopping by!

[@christineb6524]

Kinda cool…gotta look into this a tad more ✌🏽

[@cheiron]

Would be a great holiday gift that lasts all year long…I call those the to me, from me gifts 😉

[@itsgoingtobeok-justbreathe4808]

you have such a wonderful color sense

[@cheiron]

Thank you so much and thanks for stopping by!

[@loveforpaper6203]

Wonderful video 😊

[@cheiron]

Thank you 🤗 and thanks for stopping by!

[@sharonlockwood1825]

Love how colorful your projects are.

[@cheiron]

Thank you so much Sharon! And thanks for stopping by!

[@terryhughes8814]

Love love love your video of Fodder 3! Please tell us (of all the things that one would ask!), about your surface you are workin gon. Is it a mat? I am in love with it!

[@cheiron]

Thank you! The surface is a photo backdrop from Poppy Bee Surfaces. I used it for the video but my normal work surface is the Tim Holtz glass mat 😉

[@terryhughes8814]

You are so sweet to share the information when you didn't have to. It is a lovely background to showcase your Fodder 3 art. I also love Tim's glass mat! Thanks again!

[@HandmadebyRenuka]

nice work.

[@cheiron]

Thank you so much!

[@differenttakethanmost]

WHY are/were you “afraid” to put anything in the book you made? Three years of Fodder school ✅ At least 36 creative techniques lessons ✅ Loads of Holtz “aids” ✅ You can make more books just like it or better ✅ I just don’t get the mindset 🤷🏻‍♀️ (that I see nearly everyday on YT)

[@cheiron]

That is the way I feel about it...no idea why!

[@rtd1791]

@@cheironI get it. Sometimes something is so special to us that we are afraid to mess it up or we think whatever we do with it has to be equally special. I do the exact same thing with art supplies, but especially fabric or the really expensive yarns, you know the ones that are 30$+ a skein. It is hard to find a project that is worthy. At times it is almost as though fantasizing about a potential project feels better than actually making it. Those feelings are part of a scarcity mind set that almost makes disappointment inevitable. The first method I have for accepting the abundance in my life is clarity of expectation. It is so easy to have hidden expectations, because so often our expectations come in the form of images and those images can be a flash. So I try to bring my expectations into focus mostly by writing descriptions of the images that flash through my head and what they represent in terms of my desires. (Credit where credit is due. My therapist taught me to do this decades ago when I was dating and dates rarely lived up to my fantasies. I transferred the technique to making art.) My first love when it comes to making is jewelry. And I always say that the best thing about being able to make jewelry is being able to remake jewelry. I break pieces down and refashion them regularly. Sometimes I take my Dremel to a piece and literally cut it up. The OP is right about your Coptic journal. You already have the skills and tools you need; if you put something on a page you end up not liking you can gesso over it and start over. It’s amazing how many times you can do this. You could even deconstruct the journal and reassemble it into something else altogether. I have observed your work over the years and I know this to be true. The other method I employ to embrace my abundance is to make practice meaningful. A big hang up I have (not saying you do) when it comes to making art is that what I create will not be worthy of the supplies that I use. So I started giving away my practice pieces. I do this by putting art in geo caches. I put bits and pieces in caches and leave them for others to find. The other way I give away my practice pieces is through donations. I found one of the most comfortable ways to practice fabric surface design was on undergarments. Because then I wasn’t wasting anything. I could wear my practice. Only I made so many practice pieces that I made more than I can practically store. I have more than 60 pairs of panties. I know. Ridiculous. But then I learned that shelters are always in need of underwear and socks. So I still practice on underwear and socks, but I donate the clothing to shelters. Boxers are fun to work on. My point isn’t to get other artists to donate their art, but rather to find a way to make honing your skills and learning about your supplies so meaningful to you that you cannot ever view practice as wasteful. This way when I make something that ends up disappointing me it becomes practice in my mind and if I am pleased with a piece then it’s what I intended all along and it is the final piece. Thanks to @differenttakethanmost for the question. It really got me thinking. Obviously. I’m even going to journal about it. 😂

[@rtd1791]

Do you think Fodder School is worth the time and expense even if you don’t learn any new techniques? I have been following the hashtag on Instagram for over a year now and it looks like so much fun, but I haven’t seen any techniques that I don’t know how to do. I have been trying (and failing) to stop watching tutorials about techniques I know how to do already and to stop taking classes for similar reasons. I have this problem where I feel as though I have to learn everything possible before making. I have had this realization that there is no substitute for experiential knowledge. I know I need to make more and spend less time learning. But that somehow feels wrong. So wrong. Maybe I need to learn through making. I don’t know. I am both confused and a bit stuck at the moment. When it comes to art, I am both a dilettante and this gluttonous, gobble monster when it comes to learning “techniques”. When I saw your name pop up in the hop I decided to ask you if FS is worth the time and money, because you are a very experienced maker with an admirable skill set. And I dig your style.

[@cheiron]

I think it is worth the time and expense for sure (I look at it as a monthly treat to myself!). I know a ton of techniques but I definitely have learned a few new ones in FS. For the months where I have done the technique somewhere in the past, I look at it as an opportunity to have some creative time. I always learn a new tip or two in any lesson, or different way to do something. It is time that I enjoy. Maybe take it and set a time each week to work on the lessons!

[@rtd1791]

@ Thank you for your considered response. I appreciate your perspective.