artist • author • teacher • agent provocateur • firebrand
I have just finished printing four possible covers for The Motif Maker’s Zine volume #2, a zine focused the Unicorn, as motif. In an upcoming post, I will share two quilt tops that feature Unicorn prints derived from the this same collection of prints.
In the meantime, here are two printed hankies for you viewing pleasure.
Stay tuned!
A Zine is a short & sweet version of a magazine. This printed material is often made by individuals, be they artists, activists, enthusiasts, fans or groups. These booklets are traditionally created by way of photocopy machines, an easily accessible and generally inexpensive means of printing.
On March 31 of this year, I went to a Feminist Zine Festival held at Bernard College in NYC. The Zines at this event ranged from 4-12$, more or less. I was so excited about what I might learn and whose Zines I would collect, I arrived early.
I am glad that I did because I was able to nab the brightly colored Zine named ‘Making Your Mark’ at upper right, in the photo above. That Zine is subtitled, ‘Women, Queer & Gender Non-Conforming Tattoo Artists in their Own Words’. It was printed under then Diaspora Savant Press. But I purchased Zines from many interesting people on topics like body positivity, breast cancer, trans poetry, and penpal Zines for incarcerated women and gender non-conforming people.
Then, I got bit by the bug!
I buckled down and began creating a Zine of my own, and I am calling it, The Motif Maker’s Zine.
Of course my Zine needs to be an artful exploration of motif, textile design and printing. I am drawing and lettering the entire Zine myself and I plan to release three at once, ASAP. I have two Zines complete and have started a third! I find I like communicating by way of drawings and written word. I like the format and I hope you do too.
So, please stay tuned. This will be fun.
Being bold with friends is a delight and a gift.
We walked through Times Square, myself as Genderless Fae, with Rachel as the Wonder Woman she is. We talked with strangers, made conversation happen, had our pictures taken. Some knees were prayed over! Because you never know what may happen at Times Square in NYC.
We met up with Charise (no photos) and Joules too.
It’s so much fun to get your freak on and have fun in public. So glad to have awesome pals who are willing to create fun and be outlandish.
I have been skittering down a rabbit hole of exploration into Motif Making. Its been fun. Check out my insta to see a fuller picture of this print and it’s fellas.
I am creating a Zine, an artistic, hand written and printed offering, called the Motif Maker’s Zine. These will be 16 page booklets that speak to how to make and use motif in your printed work.
And, while I do that, I am printing hankies using the motifs discussed in the Zine! I hope to get all of this into my Etsy really soon!
In the meantime, I am updating this website, simplifying it, and learning to maintain it myself. I have been disheartened by social media and look forward to occupying this space again.
My life has been morphing and shifting. I am studying to become a personal trainer! I love working out and I would like to get an additional Special Populations certification, so that I can work with cancer patients who want to engage in fitness.
I have broken up my Instagram accounts! I now have an Melly Testa artist insta, my breast cancer advocacy insta and my Flat_and_Fit insta. Please follow me there!
And hello. It feels good to use this space again.
I am feeling lost artistically. Politics and the state of our nation have me down. And, I now have a part time job which distracts me. My art isn’t keeping me afloat as it has in the past. I keep trying to stir my pot, try new things, stir things up. Mostly, I am telling myself that this shall pass and that an exciting bell will ring soon. My ears are peeled.
In the meantime, I am trying new things. For instance, I am informing myself about Common Tern (I recently got a tattoo of two Common Terns, so I am hot on the topic). So this weekend, I took out my three ring binder of drawings and images and began combining as many as possible into a single image.
This piece combines Common Tern, which uses the east coast of the United States as nesting ground, with drawings of chairs from Upholstery Yardage Sheets. This is a visual pun that describes me, an armchair birder! Then I added a drawing of a New York City skyline and the City Hall Subway station. Living in the city, I sometimes forget that Common Terns are living near and around me, as this is a city surrounded by water, marshes and beaches!
I know art can’t be my end all and be all, its just, sometimes you need to show up and do the work! So here I am, showing up and doing the work! And I have to say, its not all bad!!
Years ago, I began working on a series that I call, The 20. This centers on the Audubon list of Common Birds in Decline. Because I love birds so much, I decided to highlight these common birds and to give them my voice as an artist. Common Terns are coastal birds whose habitat is being lost to humans and climate change. If you live near or visit the coast, please clean and remove any detritus you find! Especially plastic.
Since I first created the ATC in the upper right corner, I have thought of this image as depicting David and I.
My good Man and I have been married for just over 24 years and we’ve decided to get tattoos to celebrate (our appointments are in less than 2 weeks!!). I have chosen the Common Tern image. This image is so loving, shows such connection between the two birds, it communicates the love I seek to honor. David plans to get a portrait of our good feline, Peach.
So all three of us will be present in the honoring of our time together! That’s what I call family.
I have two handprint embroidery kits in my Etsy right now. Consider this to be a mini prototype class, for two, in a private FB group. I hope to make into a full online class, with your help. Are you game?
This online class, held in a closed FB group, will consist of video, photographic and written content, covering: knife edge finish, use of stencils, transfer pen, fill stitch recommendations and more. You will also have access to me in 2-10 minute Live FB Videos, where you are encouraged to ask questions and I will share similar and related work.
Each kit contains a Melly Handprint of a Rose / Love handprint, a hank of handyed embroidery floss in an array of sparkling colors, 2 6 strand DMC floss per color, 18″ long each, scrap handprints in sheers, velvet and more. There are samples of my favorite needles too.
Just to let you know, a friend, A, is getting married soon. David and I both enjoy this person very much. And, I would like to make a gift for him. I am embroidering the third ‘I love embroidery’ kit while creating your video content. It is my goal to make this gifty-embroidered-square ooze with a NYC graffiti like appeal.
This will be a lovely, intimate, learning experience and I hope you might be one of two to purchase these kits! This is a new idea for me, one I hope to make into a full blown online class. If you are interested in eventually taking this class, let me know in the comments and I will start printing more kits!! Heck! I would love to.
Please join me. I assure you, this will be fun!
Embroidery kits! Containing handprints! Threads and more!
Recently, I have been on a quest. I am cultivating enjoyment. I am exploring what makes me happy and I am following those leads. Cancer, as much as it happened 7+ years go has greatly affected me.
The waves of healing, self introspection, the acceptance and embrace of my changed body, while standing present to my husbands needs, its taken a toll. I feel gratitude in that, I am now at a place where I can look out over the landscape of change and feel calm. I am willing and able to sort through the aftermath without tremors of anxiety, worry and fear. Just, open, gentle curiosity.
I am also letting go creatively. I am allowing myself to work in series. I am encouraging myself to mess up and make mistakes. I am trying new things and exploring old methodologies. It feels amazing. Cancer and its aftermath kicked up some pretty deeply ingrained PTSD and I am happy to say it is abating.
Please join me in celebrating this. It feels great to be printing nudes again. It feels great to go on a creative tangent and pile up the work. Let’s be happy together.
(The voice over volume is low, turn the volume up, if you are interested in hearing about the techniques used to print the piece in the video)
I am printing, making, steaming, embroidering. All the things I love best. The weather is changing, it is cooling down. Change is in the air. All is well.
It is coming up on ‘Pinktober’, or ‘breast cancer awareness’ month. I am in strong dislike of the commercialization, sexualization, and pink washing that occurs because this is a disease that (predominantly affects) female breasts, though -men get breast cancer too-!!
Of those diagnosed, one in three will go on to have metastatic disease, the only breast cancer that kills. As we move into the ‘pink month’, remain cognizant -a very small amount of money is given to fund metastatic research. Be judicious, research pink product$, inform yourself. Remember, we are already aware.
I am printing female nudes in groups of eight, with one image from that group appearing with scars. As I begin printing the eighth figure with scars, that ratio feels much too constricting. I am grateful to heal and calm myself in the making, but I am also reminded that way too many people are affected by this awful disease.
Metavivor is a great place to donate $$, if you are inclined.
For a long while, perhaps a year or more, I have been having a hard time artistically. I needed to get a part time job, and I did. Its a good job, I like it. As in most things I do, I jumped fully into the job, started taking more hours, I began volunteering for more work. Until I felt a huge void. I was experiencing a lack of focus on my own art, and it hurt my feelings. I became disconcerted. Grumpy. I made things, but nothing was stirring the well.
So what do you do when making art has become difficult? How do you reconnect with your art and begin engaging with it in a manner that bolsters and supports making? Often, in the past, I have changed media, swapping out dye for watercolor and paper. This time, I have begun cleaning (I am destashing and selling on Etsy, please check it out). Cleaning is magical, it moves energy and makes way for different things to come forward. I love cleaning. 
Then, a few weeks back, my good man and I went to see the David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night. As we walked through the galleries at the Whitney, I was amazed at what we saw and touched to my very core at the depth and veracity of that mans’ work. I felt the spark of the burning creative fire, that I have been longing for. I could see a pathway to my own creative endeavors forming. I listened.
So, when I got home, I soda soaked cloth. Searched out imagery that I have been wanting to work on. Cut some freezer paper masks. I cleaned, and got ready to let the creativity flow. Geez, it feels good to turn a corner.
Please check out my Etsy! I would like to continue to make space for this change. There are artworks, purses, a bolt of fabric, and other supplies and all are priced to move. Help me make more space for change! Thank you.
Melanie Testa