Who's the Fairest of them all

New products, yippee! Come find these mirrors in the booth Sat + Sun at Lincoln, IL - an art and balloon (as in hot air balloons!) festival. Come on out - the weather will be perfect and I am looking forward to being inspired by the beauty of the balloons.

Fear vs. Love

I completely believe the following to be true. I could not have said it better myself.

(copied from Daily OM, click this link to subscribe)

August 25, 2009
Fear of Losing What We Have
Seeing Beyond Fearful Delusions

One of humanity’s biggest fears is losing what we have. It is healthy when fear of loss helps us take steps to protect what we have worked hard to attain, but it is unhealthy to continue to fear something we can do nothing about. We need to remember that focusing our energy on fear can actually create what scares us, and holding tightly to what we have keeps us from participating in the universal flow of abundance and instead creates stagnation. Since we can only really control our thoughts and our responses, gaining proper perspective may be key to conquering such fears.

The letters of the word "fear" can be used to stand for "False Evidence Appearing Real." Fears of being separated from something or someone we feel we need for our security or happiness comes from a delusion—a distorted way of understanding ourselves and the world around us. When we understand that possessions are only representations of the energy at work in our lives, we can shift our attention to the right and proper place. We can stop fearing loss of money or success because when we understand how it is created, we can always create more. We can stop fearing loss of possessions when we realize that they are not the source of our joy or well-being but only icing on our cakes. And when we understand the energy of love, we need not hold anyone too close for fear of losing them for we know that love does not diminish when it is given or shared but expands beyond boundaries of time or space.

By focusing our light on our fears, they are revealed as mere shadows that disappear in the presence of mind and spirit. We can choose instead to direct our thoughts and creative power toward things of true value—love, abundance, peace, passion, and joy. These are energies that are always available to us when we place ourselves confidently in the universal flow of abundance.

All art all the time

Sorry I've been gone. We had a bad storm that knocked out our Uverse tower, hence no Internet and no TV. It was kind of weird, but in a good way. John and I had a lovely dinner with intelligent (hmm, maybe I'm going too far, lol) conversation. We typically have this strange habit of eating food while watching food shows.
Ahem.

Anyhoo, I am working on new ideas for my book and submissions for teaching gigs and shows. I'm experimenting which is fun. I feel kinda like a scientist when I am doing this. Sometimes it is frustrating though as I have trouble manifesting my grandiose ideas. But I truly believe that is all part of it, this struggle. I have found that managing a reasonable balance of spontaneous play along with implementation of your plan (or intent) is paramount. If only it were that easy, huh?

I was talking with some friends about this yesterday. There has been a lot of published information about letting go, feeling free to play, discovering your inner child, etc, etc, etc. Don't get me wrong; I think this is all very good stuff that we all need. But it has bred or spread this idea that art is instant and even easy - ie, that if that artist can let go, achieve some sort of voodoo altered state, and slop a little paint around, he or she will emerge an hour later with a masterpiece. Oh, if only!?!??

Its not really that easy. Yeah, the zone is great, that 'all the planets are in alignment' feeling, when the painting is easy breezy and perfect. Yeah, of course I love that - I live for that! It just doesn't happen on command and certainly not as often as I would like. But I digress...

Here is a lil video that I made the other day.

More claybord. I am obsessed, but you already knew that.

Amazing gift

Check out this belated birthday gift that I received from a dear friend (thanks, John!). Is it fabulous or what!??! You can see the little mica window from the inside as well. And holy cow, how about the binding. Utterly gorgeous. It is filled with a nice heavy stock water color paper, but I am hesitant to use it right now. It is currently sitting in our living room in a position of honor so I can just look at it.

And here's a picture of Jasper Johns. I couldn't convey how much I love this guy. He is not Merlyn, but he has definitely helped all of us move through our grief and I am so grateful for him. My friend Karyl joked that Jasper hit the cat lottery when we adopted him from a rescue group. Well, I think that we hit the lottery too.

Happy Weekend everyone!

Of swings and caves and slides

Art programming has been interrupted for PLAY, yippeee, as I've been entertaining my youngest brother, wife and kids who arrived here on Monday. Their children, my niece and nephew, are nearly the same ages as my grand kids, so it was one big ole play time as the kids all got to know each other. They got along famously, as you might expect, all speaking the common language of kid (and Wii and Star Wars).

The City Museum was probably the biggest hit of the visit. The word museum is a misnomer; it is really so much more than that. Imagine a fire engine, slides and airplanes (yep, real ones) all suspended amid a gigantic monkey bar structure. Imagine the world's largest pencil, that actually writes and erases, naturally we tried it! Imagine knotted ropes where you can swing like Tarzan, a 7 story spiral slide, indoor caves where crawling is necessary. It is just so friggin' cool you can not believe.

And you know what? Amid all this PLAY, I found inspiration at every turn. My mind is simply abuzz with ideas.

Welcome to my world

I always love it when bloggers (Misty, Beth, Judy) show snippets of their world. I have been so bad about doing that. I will try to change (my hubby can tell you how successful that is, snicker, snort)

The top photo comes from my office, just a few of my "things" - stuff that I like. I played in Photoshop to make the picture look a bit more dreamy. The glass globe is full of vintage Xmas things although it is year round decor for me. Those blue things are the feet we had to cut off my desk to fit it through the door. I couldn't bear to throw them away and kept all six for display.


Middle photo is Aidan, brave enough to try a plaster mask (I had done this years ago, but was reminded of how fun it can, thanks Misty!). Ian wussed out after watching his "brudah" suffer through the 10 minute drying time. Aidan was quite the sport though, passing time watching Sponge Bob (come on people, this is *not* a kids show, Beth & I were exchanging glances left and right as we instantly knew why we had not watched it before).

And finally, Jasper Johns. Patiently waiting.

If you wait, they will come. And surely they did, as shown in the final picture.

Hopefully you can see the bird if you click to enlarge.

a Banner Day

photo courtesy of Robin Hirsch, used with permission

For all you peeps not in the St. Louis area, this is Art Saint Louis, local arts organization extraordinaire. I joined when I moved to St. Louis six years ago and I have been delighted with the professional support, artistic exposure, friendship and fun I have found through this group.
So imagine my thrill when one of my paintings was chosen for a banner in front of the new (fabulous old) building! Yee Ha!
The banner on the left is "mine", so to speak.
Happy Friday everyone.

Is it August already?

I remember when I was a kid the summer seemed so very long. There were times when my brothers and I ran out of stuff to do; we whined aloud about boredom and my mom would literally throw us out of the house, forcing us to summon activity on our own. We usually went down to the creek to mess around with crawdads or would go to a friend's house to annoy someone else's mom. One summer I wrote a neighborhood newsletter, using the mimeograph machine at church to make copies.

I remember beastly hot weather - clothes stuck to my skin made it impossible to sleep at night (we didn't have air conditioning until I was older). I remember riding my banana seat bike with no hands, attempting to look cool by slouching in the seat with my arms handling at my sides. To my friend's house, to see the horses, to the ball field.....and up and down our street, over and over and over.

I remember adults telling me.......just wait till you are older, time will start to fly.

In just a little over a month I'll be at Valley Ridge, then at Squam. These are both new venues for me and I couldn't be more excited about the opportunities. Plus the Midwest/East coast road trip I will make to travel to these classes.

If you're thinking about taking my Claybord class, I've linked up some pics of student work from Artfest so you can see the magic that was created.
Artfest 2008
Artfest 2009
I don't know what it is about Claybord, I just love this stuff and I can't help but get really excited when I teach with it. Such versatility - it is really sturdy (masonite) so you can make stuff, books and shrines, etc. Does not have to be limited to wall hanging art. If you are thinking of taking this class from me, Valley Ridge is the ideal spot. We get 2 whole days, how freakin' cool is that!??!
Click here to sign up, I would love to have you!!

Hello lightness, my old friend

Framing the Light, 30" x 40" , 2004, copyright Mary Beth Shaw (click to enlarge)

I painted this in 2004. It was purchased by a lovely couple who had learned of me after winning one of my pieces in a charity auction (in addition to their "feel good" value, those donations are good for biz). I have kept in touch with them and they attended my solo show(at PHD) earlier this year.

We laughed about how far I have come since the day they toured my basement studio and then bought this painting right off my mantle. They loved how I frame my newer work (thanks, Greg). Plus the glossy varnish I am using now(I used satin on their piece) caught their eye.

So the painting came a visiting.........I want to talk with you again......

My oh my, what a time we had. I inspected it in detail and lovingly reviewed every single inch while applying the new varnish. I re-painted the sides black (it was previously a continuation of color which would have been distracting in the new floating frame). And I mainly just stared at it, marveling at how different- yet not- my work was, and is.

.....and a vision softly creeping, left its seeds while I was sleeping
.....and the vision that was planted in my brain, still remains......

Resilience

The word of the day, the week, the month.

In my last post, I mentioned (ok, maybe whined) about the economy and my recent poor show. You all realize I have had(and will continue to have, fingers crossed) a great year, but I mainly wanted to be upfront about the other side of this biz. I so appreciate the lovely comments you have all left.

One high point of last week's show was finally getting to meet Laura Lein Svencer in person. I've "known" Laura in the online sense for several years as our paths have crossed numerous times. She was just a couple booths away from me at the show and I stupidly forgot to take a picture of her booth. You can click on over to her website to see her work for yourself. It is simply wonderful. It never ceases to amaze me how collage artists can all be doing the same thing, yet not doing anything the same, you know what I mean?

Anyhoo, check out her site. You're gonna love her work. And I am thrilled she has agreed to participate as a guest artist in my book, yippee!

The Halfway Mark

I just realized that I have finished 5 shows and I have 5 more to go. I reduced my season this year; due to my gallery show (back in April) and teaching gigs, I didn't think I could handle my usual number of shows. With the "recession" (oh my goodness how I hate to utter that word out loud), I didn't quite know what to expect but I have been blessed with abundance all year long.

Until now, that is.



Geneva was not kind to me or to others. I know a few people who did ok. But not me.
If you read my blog regularly, you usually read my Pollyanna point of view and sure, I am all that. But today I am going to share some of the guts of this business with you and tell it like it is.



The booth fee for the Geneva show was $280. Gas costs were approximately $120 . I shared a Priceline hotel with a friend. My part was $140. I ate. Duh. Not a lot, my food was maybe $100 because I packed some of my own stuff.

I had one sale. $285. I think this was my worst show ever, like in all the years I've been doing shows. Peoria (click here for my write up) wasn't even this bad. Nor was that crazy Boca Raton Museum show, back in 2006. That's the one where the dogs were wearing better clothes than me.

Yep, I lost money. Sometimes I think that artists are just insanely optimistic. Doing the shows feels a little bit like gambling. Except its a lot more work. Drive 6 hours, set up tent. Sit with work for 2 days. Keep smile on face. Do not show desperation. Tear down tent. Drive home.

You should see the bruises on my legs, from bashing myself with tent poles (ok, ok, so I'm a klutz). My back and neck are killing me from the drive and the tension of it all. And I am just so thoroughly bummed out. My next show is Lake Geneva, WI. I am very pleased that I'll be staying with a friend and I've asked John to come with me. I know I can do the tent part myself, but I need him for emotional reasons as I'm feeling a little raw right now.

On a happier note, here is a pic of me and Crystal Neubauer. She is my new stalker. I say that with great affection cause you know years ago Beth was my stalker? And look at how we ended up being great friends! Anyhoo, I love it when folks come to see me. It is especially nice to see a friendly face when I am having a cruddy show. So thanks Crystal & Larry.

Summer days or daze

I haven't written anything substantive for awhile, so this is long overdue, this stream of consciousness hodge podge. Last week I mentioned that I was busy, well.....actually I was busy relaxing at the beach with family and friends. We went to the Outer Banks, which just happens to be one of my favorite places on earth.

Take one beach house. Add 2 kids, 1 dog, 8 adults (including one who is a pastry chef). Mix with steady wave action, low 80's, no humidity. Sprinkle with boogie boards and sand dunes. What do you get!??! Ah.......perfection on earth. Just couldn't have been any better.

This is me playing with my baby watercolor set and seaweed. I did a few "plein aire" paintings and that was fun for a change.


Here are "goodies" that Deb made for us. I ate a chocolate covered brownie with my coffee each morning for breakfast - can you say YUM!! And those almond cookies.....oh my!




Ian, age 4, was adorable on the beach. He is a little tentative (as you might expect) but this picture pretty much says it all.

And Aidan, jumping waves......at age 7, he was the optimal age for the full beach experience and we had to practically drag him out of the water he loved it so much.


I got back home and switched into art mode. I was just so inspired that I launched into a million things at once which is pretty typical when I get energized. Or maybe manic is a better word?

In addition to the "real" art, I've been decorating and painting - guest bathroom and bedroom.

As you read this, I am doing a show in Geneva, IL, then I'm home for maybe 12 days! I can't wait.

Head Case

Remember all those heads I made back in January, the ones that were centerpieces for a fundraiser? Well, I am teaching a class at Chesterfield Arts on Saturday, August 1st. Click here if you want to register. You'll find the class listed under the Adult section. I promise you it will be fun. There is something strangely addictive about decorating these heads. I think I enjoy them so much because I can let all my personalities come out and play, tee, hee, hee.....

Ties That Bind

I am pleased to announce Ties That Bind, the book (!!!) is now available. Remember the doll - you can click the link in my sidebar to buy auction tickets - well, there is a book now which shows lots of the art, plus inspirational writings. All the profits go to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Click here for a link to the book. You can preview some pages and also order a soft or hardcover edition.

The Scenic Route

I just finished reading the book, The Scenic Route, by Binnie Kirshenbaum. Lately I have had a tough time with fiction, preferring a steady diet of memoirs. This book, however, held my interest. Its a simple tale so beautifully crafted that I savored every single word. You can click here to find out more from the author's website. And me? I'm heading off to my library's website so I can request one of her previous novels.

Sorry for no posts, I am otherwise disposed at the moment.
Life is very very good right now.....more later.

Artistic Process and Progress

I like to read about how other artists approach their work. I am especially interested in how they think and enjoy watching the progression and development of their art.

Signe Grushovenko and her hubby Genna are art fair buddies of mine. I haven't even seen them this year, but I am proud to own one of their paintings. Check out Signe's blog to see a fascinating photo log; she has revisited the same scene (think Monet with haystacks) a number of times over the past years and it is cool to see how her work has changed during this time.

It made me think of something Jonathan Talbot told a class (back in 2001 when I studied with him). One of the girls in our class had made an especially successful collage. Jonathan congratulated her on the piece and told her to go back to her studio and make 50 more. I was a baby artist in those days and was kind of shocked when he said that. But I get it now.

Do it, do it and do it again. Own it.
Haystacks, baby.

You don't spit into the wind

I've been taking spitting lessons for several months now. Yep, its true. John is teaching me. I don't know what it is about men, why spitting comes so naturally to them. Its almost like women with the laundry buzzer, like why does it come naturally to me to instantly respond?

Anyhoo, when I first met John we jogged together and he would always spit while he was jogging. I had never spit in public before but I tried it and hmmm, made good sense. Especially while jogging. Lately however, I have wanted to be able to spit further, like really spit, maybe even aim my spit, you know what I mean?

John and I frequently walk to the creek that runs behind our neighborhood. It is a daily visitation for me, part of my walk, I always stand on the bridge and check out the fish. If John happens to be with me, he will spit way out into the creek and the fish will swim to the surface. I want to be able to do that too. He has tried to show me, but it never fails that I will get my spit all organized in my mouth but then completely s-p-r-a-y it all over with only a droplet or two even making it into the creek. And that's if I'm lucky. I am a shotgun spitter. John is a rifle spitter.

Today we were walking in a fine misty rain. It was lovely really, a cool morning and the mist felt delightful on my skin. I decided to jog ahead and took off running. Which is when I turned my head to spit to the left......and ended up spitting on my own shoulder.

.....you don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger and you don't mess around with Jim......

Demo of Claybord Techniques

Another Flip video for your pleasure......I will cover these techniques (and many many more) at Valley Ridge and at Squam this fall. Click on their links in the sidebar to register for classes. I am thrilled about teaching at both these amazing locations, oooh la la. The Valley Ridge class will be especially nice since it is 2 days and we can really get into lots and lots of stuff, the whole enchilada so to speak.

Color Play

Here's a little video on color play. These are new colors I recently bought and I really think I'm going to enjoy them. We'll work with several different Triads in my class at Valley Ridge - I am bringing a few of my faves and have hand painted color wheels showing all the various colors that result.

Just click on over to VR if you want to join us. I think there are still a few openings if you're interested. Its going to be 2 days of glorious Claybord, yippeeeeeeeee, I can hardly wait!!!