Molly Murphy

When I begin a new project I always have to start with the question What am I making?  The debate between functional and decorative is of prime importance for native artists.  Often the styles and techniques are rooted in traditional forms and the forms dictate the content or style.  So when we deviate from functional objects and begin making decorative art we cross a line into a new place as artists.  Recently I began to experiment with creating pieces that are not in a way functional objects.  In the past when I wanted to tell a visual story I felt I had to at least give the impression of function, hence the many boxes, sewing kits, etc.  Now I am choosing to, at times, make pieces that are in essence, painting.  Wall mounted decorative art pieces.  You wouldn’t think it would be that difficult to cross that line, but I still feel the compulsion to make my efforts function.

Both new pieces, and several still in the works, have been made available through Lovetts Gallery in Tulsa, OK.

This is a canvas mounted image, beaded on hand-dyed wool.
The horse imagery was for me about the sound and energy that horses radiate when they run together.  I was thinking of the horses this spring when thunderstorms rolled through, wondering if the horses ran and ran during the storms.

This view shows the side and back of the piece and how it is mounted on the canvas and wood frame.

A width of velvet ribbon trims out the edge and has a clean finish.

This small piece was an experiment to prepare for a much more ambitious piece.
Because once you have tried an 8″ by 8″ prototype, what is to stop you from going 4 feet by two feet?  Piece of cake.

Images of finished piece next time.

Prep drawing, graphite does not always scan well.

My newest piece, commissioned by a gallery in Tokyo.  This is the original drawing in my sketchbook, the general idea I began with.  The gallery wanted a purse that would be about the size of a traditional mirror bag portraying a ledger style image of a native man and a horse.  I find that  it helps immensely to have a detailed drawing to guide the general image and preserve details that would be sorely missed.  However, I always choose to draw in black and white.  The process of choosing beads has as much to do with bead quality as color.  The luster, size and overall quality of the bead  are as important as color shade.  Sketching in color is just an exercise in futility since I can’t mix the color of the bead.  Which is why I buy so very many colors of beads, every size and luster.  Utilizing so many disparate types and sizes of beads, as well as a very long list of colors, can make final decisions on color time consuming and confusing.  I think the variety is worth the effort.

New directions for jewelry.

This spring and summer I prototyped adapting commercial slap bracelets to beaded cuffs.  I have had requests for cuff bracelets in the past and always declined making cuffs on spec.  Custom order?  Sure.  But cuffs made from stiff metal or prefab forms tend to have a bulky profile and difficulty fitting random clients.  So I demurred, until Waylon at Lovetts Gallery gave me the push to try slap bracelets. 

These are the first successes.   Each was inspired by mesoamerican artifacts. 

I volunteer at the Gilcrease Museum every week in the vault in the Anthropology Department.  In exchange for my help performing condition statements and generally helping get the Plains Indian Artifacts up to date I have the chance to handle and learn about an amazing selection of Mayan, Olmec, and Aztec artifacts.  It makes me giddy. 

Celtic and Racing Stripe Patterns

Piet Mondrian Inspired Slap Bracelet, flat

 

For those who are asking what is a slap bracelet…

 

Slap bracelets are metal bracelets that are milled in a manner that when flat have a curve, like a soda straw cut lengthwise.  The curve imparts tension.  When the flat bracelet is hit with a small force (slapped against a wrist) the tension is released and the metal snaps into a coil.  The lateral tension is converted to longitudinal tension.  Or, it snaps from flat to coiled around your wrist.

 

 

 

There has been a large element of troubleshooting with these bracelets.  First, adapting a commercial product for handmade work that it was never intended to be paired with always is complicated.  Trial and error reveals numerous ways to tweak the design to come up with a final method.

 

 

The biggest factor is the transition from flat to coiled.  Nothing can be glued or attached to the metal base.  It has to change from a long straight piece of metal with a curved profile to a flat coil.  So the metal bracelet has to be in a sheath that allows the metal to move in both directions.  Commercially this has meant a plastic sheath, sometimes with a rubber or lightweight fabric decorative cover.

 

I problem solved by cutting open the plastic sheath, removing the metal bracelet, cutting it to a shorter length, trimming plastic sheath to fit shorter bracelet, and finally fabricating my own fabric outer cover from microsuede.  The beadwork is made in a separate panel, edged, and then sewn to the fabric sheath.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Concentric Circle, flat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Now Concentric Circles are coiled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New style, inspired by plains indian beadwork. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And on the wrist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last, but not least, new earrings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A challenge that has so far eluded me is to document the process of my work.  I have never photographed each step in the process of making a substantial piece.  Recently I established a relationship with a Gallery in Tokyo, Japan. The negotiations across time zones and languages inspired me to endeavor to record the basic process in a series of photographs. 

The piece Hot On A Cold Trail II depicts a wolf in a snowy nighttime landscape.  There is something fascinating about being in a very wild, quiet, snow covered landscape at night.  A rare experience, exhilarating.  The wolf is searching, whether for a real wolf or a spirit wolf is up for interpretation. 

I begin all boxes with basic sketches of the box.  Next I make paper patterns out of graph paper to use for determining cloth and wood panels.  I refer to each side of a box as a panel.  Each panel is made independently, and is complete on its own.

This image shows how I transfer a drawing, in this case the wolf head, to wool. I use tracing paper basted to the fabric panel. I carefully cut out the area of the tracing paper that I intend to bead next, leaving the background paper as my boundary.

Now you are making progress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He is getting bigger!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Work faster Molly!  You have a deadline!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t stop to cook dinner, just power through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After beading the central figure I can move on to land and skyscape elements.  On all the boxes I keep in mind the three dimensional effect of where the panels meet, however, with landscape elements the correct order and density of background elements is critical. 

All four exterior panels laid out in sequential order.

 

I tend to keep the panels side by side and work on each in stages.  I probably work on each panel six different times, building it up a little each time, making sure that all the exterior panels are worked on in a cohesive manner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now all the interior and exterior panels have been completed, trimmed, and laid out to make sure I didn’t lose track of the sequence at some middle point. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I neglected to take pictures of the part of the process where I cut the 1/8″ birch veneer plywood to shape, glue the corresponding exterior and interior beaded panels on the wood, sew edges of fabric around the wood, edge, and then interlock the edge stitches to form a seam.   I realize I skipped a lot of phases, especially parts that are less than self-explanatory.

Sorry.

I was busy, doing all the above. 

Also, when I reach the last ten percent of a project I am not very excited anymore.  I really have to push to finish, especially if I have not broken up the time with other projects.  Once I finish the piece I am all kinds of happy again and will talk about it and take pictures and smile, but not the last ten percent.  Next time, I will photograph the glue and edge work, I promise.

 

But we can fast forward through two days where my hands hurt real bad and I complained a lot but no one listened.

All done, so proud.

 

 

 

 

 

It is finished!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went a little different route with this box.  Normally my boxes would just have a lid.  The lid may lift off completely or be a hinged lid, but always on the top of the box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This time I decided to make the side of the box the opening.  It is hinged and has a magnetic closure at the base.  It makes a delightful snap sound and feel when it closes.  To open you would apply slight pressure at the seam where the powder blue beads meet on the side panels.  When the box opens you can see the interior showing a night sky filled with stars and wolf paw prints spiralling to a north star.  Wolf on the sky path.

 

This piece just shipped to the Little Coyote Gallery in Tokyo, Japan.  I look forward to my pieces having international homes.

In the spring of 2010 I was selected to participate in the Traffic Signal Box Neighborhood project.  Each artist proposed a plan to decorate a large metal traffic signal box.  From the proposals the arts commissioners for the city picked ten designs that would provide decoration, conversation, and inspiration. 

Proposal Model - Parfleche Container

My general plan was to paint the rectangular traffic signal box with patterns and designs taken from late 19th century plains parfleches.  Parfleches are functional rawhide containers painted with colorful and often elegant abstract designs.

My final design used two distinct patterns.  Seen from one angle the TSB has one appearance, coming from the opposite side of the road a different pattern.  The experience of proposal, the education about exterior public art, and the reality of painting in a busy urban environment was a great learning process.  Painting in a rainstorm with traffic flying by fifteen inches away is challenging.

Final results…

Parfleche Container - View One

And a second view…

Parfleche Container - View Two

My traffic signal Box, at the intersection of Broadway and Madison, near the entrance to the University of Montana.  Very proud to have a permanent mark on Missoula.  Public art is rarely profitable, but the feedback was incredible.