Natali Stoiyanna Erkaraman

My life as a recycling artisan

  • Third week

    3 weeks start a routine. My ☝️ weekly task cycle is in its third round. It has a momentum but I only can hear 👂 little cricks cracks…

    Knight 🎠

    First knight is coming out of shadow.

    Paint 🎨 station

    I used almost half of the paste on the Queen 👸 and King 👑. I need to polish maximum before it got all dry. To do so I needed paint knifes and today I used them on my second knight 🎠 and it helped a ton.

    My biggest missing piece was my painting knifes. Now I have a useful set of six. I picked a tool set of 3 knifes, ☝️ brush, fine sand, and my box of acrylic and paste.

    My first tool, an envelope ✉️ opener
    My selection of knifes

    This is Wednesday and I got a seat for my kid for a daycare 🎉 the days (Wednesday/Thursday) full time ( am 🕘 🕕 pm) 2 hours walk 6 hours of mytime 💪

  • Recycled ♻️ 🌳

    My garden 🪴 has some 💀 tree stools. I started to restore one ☝️ of them.

    I put my dough in a recycling plastic fridge bag and placed it in the middle of the stool. I flatten it as a disc of wood 🪵

    My paper mache was mixed with a special glue for wood 🪵 and outdoors

    I cut the plastic bag, and open up the dough. I placed a flat rock on top of the it. I felt the 🌳 🥰 cheers 🥂 of nature, she likes 👍 what I’m willing to achieve and supports me.

    My 🙏 Little flower 🌸 and lemon 🍋 seedlings 🌱 are outside now, in these last few days of March.

    Some stools can be designed as a seating area. A hill, that you would like to throw a blanket, and lay under the shade. Read some, chill some, under wild flower breeze 🐝 🌺

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  • Recycling ♻️ studio

    What is it?

    A studio fixing things with recycling materials and put some spark of art in it.

    A studio for good 😌

    A studio that you bring your trash 🗑 and come out with something you can be proud 🥹 of.

    I started a new restoration of a ceramic stool. This time my mashe should stand on rainy weathers and nature.

    This stool will stand on a dead 💀 🌳 stool in our garden 🪴 next to the hammock. This piece will lighten it and make it live again.

    I found this stool on the street in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. They were twins 👯‍♀️ but unfortunately I had not enough hand to carry nor enough space to keep them both.

    It starts to shine ✨ again. The garden stool is covert with mush, too. I’m 🤔 not sure if I want to stable the two together on the floor, instead of leaving dead 💀 cut as a flat surface and put the ceramic stool on top of it.

    I refilled the holes and smooth it with a thin mush and glue mix. I used some acrylic paste on the areas I will paint 🎨 details

    This submarine idea 💡 is a great 😊 start for my Etsy shop, where I actually will start introducing myself.

    I can’t remember on which post I found that my studio is just so looks a like a submarine and especially the yellow submarine in the song 🎶 it is just as is told in the lyrics of the song. When it started to be my son’s favorite 😍 song, I browsed the song and found out that it is about an old house 🏠 which has a wild engine system running under?!

    I am looking for my engine? What is it? Recycling, restoration, building, modeling, writing ✍️ painting, planning, being in nature? Feeling the nature and understanding how forgiving can she be…

  • Blink of an eye 👁

    My time in the studio is not enough to roll a snowball. This week’s challenge is to increase the time I spend at the studio.

    I want to finish the old mashed paper on the second restoration project for our garden.

    I reloaded the well for Checkmache. With that dough I can complete first knight and give a start to first bishop.

    My seedlings 🌱 are not in any good condition. My mimosa tree has died. I have a few wild flowers growing and a few lavender seedlings 🌱 showed their little heads from under the dirt. the best of all are the lemon 🍋 seedlings.

    All I want to do is lock 🔒 myself in and let my hands 🙌 do what they are willing to do for a month, 2 months… Just me myself and I.

  • I do

    I do the worst art ever. So ugly that it is only interesting 🤔 in being so. Only part that is still worthy is its childish side, if it is visible

    I’m on my momentum, going, trying, getting there. I am not in the very beginning. I’m in the 3rd week now. I can say I’m experienced on paper mache art. I gave a start.

    I don’t expect to be super on some sort of business but I just want to be ok 👌 Build a life routine, and be happy 😃 by solving problems around it. By making, building and splashing paint

  • Paint 🎨 station 🚉 is opened

    Here is my first ✅ restoration of a broken ceramic I love ❤️ it was an old gift 🎁 from my old friends and it was broken 😞 in pieces a few months ago.

    I fixed it with paper mache and painted it to similar colors. I also add a little pot in it for a real cactus 🌵 💕

    If you brake it 🏺 it can never be the same again but even better ⚡️🤭

    My paints, and fillers arrived. I brought together what I already have and here is my has it all paint 🎨 station 🚉

    I’m building up my first paper mache piece. These are all test pieces I have tried with paper mashe. Little cups, beads, balls, plates, a frame, and a cube vase. I pressed the mashe in a glass made cube vase. I painted their base. Now I’m waiting for drying.

    🤞

    But which colors sound I use? Do I feel any blue? do I feel happy? Energetic? Mystic? Funny or elegant? Not elegant that’s what I’m sure. I feel colorful but also deep and dark… I feel funny and serious 🧐. What can I add to this test piece to make it more interesting, more me? What makes it different from the others, or let’s say from many others out there and makes it look special?

    I can’t say it as if it is a missing bead. I can only say they are done by me if it is enough to make this piece special for someone.

    First colors and lines
    My paper palette 🎨

  • Task rabbit 🐰

    Second week”s ✅ favorite 😍 task was trying a new technique. My first try was a bit sour.

    Can take me somewhere else. Let’s leave this idea 💡 to rest.

    On the other hand, candle holder is working pretty 😍 well . It also requires very small amount of mush. And I can do it on the table in my dining area, like solving sudoku.

    Amazon’s recycling envelopes ✉️ are durable against water 💦 I experienced it while trying to mush them in my paper well. Didn’t worked, I couldn’t break them apart. So I believe it will be a great fit under these fences.

    Either I cut the negative areas, or leave the paper as it is. Smooth light will come through. ⏰ I will try leaving some on and some off.

    Checkmache

    I have finished and send first pieces of checkmache to fully dry:

    • ✅ The Queen 👸
    • ✅ The King 👑
    • ✅ first pawn ♟
    • ✅ first rook 🗿

    I started a new group of

    • The King 👑 2 ⏰ needs to model
    • First Knight 🎠 ✅ I covered the bottom with mush. Drying for the weekend. Then I will wait for next mashe circle ⭕️
    • Second rook 🗿 ⏰ needs plastic pot and model.
    • Second pawn ♟ ⏰ waiting for the next mashe circle ⭕️

    The week flew by. I’m waiting, I’m playing… what am I doing? Where am I going? I have no map, no compass 🧭 All I have is instinct. All I do is trying to hear my hands 🙌 they want to do so much. They want to say so much, they want to try really hard and see what will happen…

    My brain 🧠 should see and do something about it. Like open an Etsy store, talk to a florist neighbor, reach out Westfield social network, bazaars, farms, marketplaces…

    I should put my mind in to how I pass my art to others, and open up space for new ones to come.

    It looks so far from today but there, is the pathway. All I should do is walk that way.

    The one I need most is nobody but myself. I need me to be with me. I need me to be in charge. I need to hear my voice, my call ☎️ to action. It all starts with finding me, being me.

    I need to clear the fog 😶‍🌫️ see what makes me hide 🫣 understand what scares me 😱

    Is it so silly 😝 what I’m working on? Is it worthless? Is it all same old story I’m repeating… it may or may not be, but it makes me smile 😊 when I’m on my usual responsibilities. It makes me smile when I heard something upsetting. I can laugh 😂 at something that usually makes me piss off.

    I catch the time. I feel the time passing. I feel traveling in the same train that everyone is on. Mondays, Fridays, 7 days in a week and a month is almost 4 weeks. I can see what I can fit in time. What marks can I leave on time and space?

    Now, and here, I realized I feel lonely and abandoned but also strong 💪 and capable.

  • Say my name

    My corner is sprouting. I put together my first sculptured models on a shelf. Looks brilliant 🤩

    Paint 🎨 stand

    I ordered some black and white paint 🎨 to go with the classic look of chess ♟ and I will be trying some model past to smooth the look. Gold and silver sheets can actually be used on jewelry 💡

    Sculpture

    I started the knight 🎠

    I needed to ✅ dry the well and mush another bowl. I also save some shredded mush to use on my recycling stool project. 📌 Which needs to be clean 🧼 I’ll use outdoor water resistant glue for this project.

    I have enough mush to finish the knight and then I’ll make another well on third week.

    Tomorrow is the last day of this week. For the weekend we are attending to a wedding 💒

    Gardening 👩‍🌾

    I saw a deer 🦌 tonight, eating the onions 🧅 that old house owners had planted once. She looked at me as she is giving her thanks and wishing a good night 🌙

    My lemon 🍋 seedlings 🌱 are growing strong 💪 the mimosa is sitting in a new pot where he will grow all summer long.

    Wild flowers 🌸 are here and there. But no any lavenders yet. In my second attempt I put them under the sink, in a zipper, on wet paper towel. The seeds sprout but when I transfer them in a little pot, it didn’t work well 🤔

    💭 where did I go wrong?

    Name me

    I want to call my studio with its name. I want to call my work with a name. I want to name what I’m up to.

    • Dry – a recycling art studio
    • Kuru – a recycling art studio
    • Keten Helva – handmade paper lightings
    • Checkmache – a paper mashed chess set of pots
    • … – restoration of ceramics
    • … – florist planting on thrift objects
    • … – paper sculpture, candle holders for gardening. Garden decorations

    I want to spend more time in my studio. 🧐

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  • Do what you do

    It is coming together. I started to see them coming, like the appearance of a ship 🚢

    There comes; The King 👑 The Queen 👸 The Rook ♟ and a pawn ♟

    First 4 pieces

    My next model will be the knight. I’m exited about it. I can’t wait to try the pattern effect of dots. The holes are a bit tricky though, this will be challenging 🌝

    Knight
    Bishop

    The King’s down hole 🕳 is not in right dimensions. It should at least able to cover a candle 🕯 🫙 jar. So I will go on to double kings. With doing so I will be able to copy gameplays from chess books 📚

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  • Tuesday isn’t too fast 💨

    I felt the hours passed through Monday to Tuesday.

    ☝️ day is, 3 hours of my time. When I complete of these tasks I set for today…

    30min for preparing ✅mush paper from well. And then goes;

    ✅The Rook, The Queen (✅outside, ✅beads, ⏰ inside), ✅first ♟ body and ✅2nd ♟ head. The King 👑 is still waiting for his ⏰earrings. Today could be more of a day in the well.

    The Rook all ✅ finished and needs to dry 🌚. I didn’t stick top rocks and eyes to let myself play around more after coloring 🎨

    This happened to be the first piece of my chess ♟ set. Which also starts the game from a1,1 square of the playing board. What a magical coincidence ✨ that I haven’t ever could planned!

    The Rook ♟

    I start to see The Queen’s eyes 👀 I haven’t set yet but I know they are shot down. She had little ears and her holder will be her crown.

    The Queen 👸

    I realized my feelings getting exited and scared 😱 and may be a little bit what the hell am I doing with this chewed trash 🗑 must be all a joke.

    But It is not. It is there getting bigger and bigger, more real every day. As long as it makes me be there and doing it, it should be leading me to a success point. Because happy life is all about doing everyday the same shit that you love to do and love the problems as well as the goods. Let’s wish for the best to happen.

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