The week between the holidays

I am not getting any work done. It is really weird being self employed because I love my work and want to do it all the time. This holiday thing is killin' me. You know? I pine for my studio.......in the meantime here's a pic of one of my favorite coffee mugs.



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Art Unraveled/Aug 2-9, 2011

I just wanted to send out a little reminder that it's almost time to register for Art Unraveled. In fact, you can send your registration anytime now. I am going to take at least one class myself; the lineup is phenomenal with lots of new teachers.  In case you are wondering about The Color Class, here is a blog post from one of my students from Squam last year. I am offering a full day class at AU, so it will be even better, yippeeeeeeee!! If you want to paint and understand color, this is the class for you!

And Stratalicious, well, what can I say, I love my rocks. Creating texture in the form of rocks is just funfunfun. I can't get enough of it.

 Any questions? Feel free to email me with the link in the sidebar.

And the party plays on

We just got home from visiting my family for Christmas. Lucky for me I was able to pop into St. Theresa's Textile Trove while I was in town.


I adore how they are decorating their walls as shown in these pictures. Oh how I like that place and you know I don't even sew. But I got a big hunk of oil cloth and I think I'm going to make an apron.


In the meantime I have lots of ideas for projects and classes and yep, even an online class.


So stay tuned as I get myself organized. I want to offer something deliciously different.
But right now I've got more Christmas celebrating to do.
Yippee!

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Baking and baking and.....

Yep, baking. I must have eaten who knows how many pounds of raw cookie dough this past weekend. Cause you know that's what you do when you bake? Or at least it's what I do. That's why I try to bake early in the day because then I call it breakfast. Seriously. Perfect with coffee.
 

Grandma's actual recipe

I made my Grandma's Thumb Print Cookies. They are my favorite cookie in the world.  I always put icing in the thumbprint parts, never jelly like some recipes suggest. I mean seriously.....

I am trying to save them for guests...

Tarp Heaven

Oh, be still my heart. Check out this tarp!!
I could see using it for all kinds of tasks.
Sanding for one thing. This tarp would help contain the sanding debris. And perhaps I could use it for a Sanding Station in my studio, rather than just sanding wildly wherever I happen to be, thus having airborne yuck yuck everywhere......in fact, my friend Dawson (check out her site, you gotta see her work, by the way!) called me out last week for sanding while I was on the phone. Ahem, what can I say - I am a multitasker.
Anyway, I don't have any affiliation with Lee Valley, but just thought this was pretty cool. It is a nice size at 32" x 32" and also a very good price @$4.50. 
And don't ya know I placed my order before you all rush over there and buy up their inventory.

Art Unraveled/Aug 2-9, 2011

Stratalicious

The Color Class

Site opens Friday at 10pm PST. Registration opens January 10th. Last year was my first time at AU and I really enjoyed the experience, so I am thrilled to be back and teaching two classes. Plus I think I will probably take a class or two - Linda has done an amazing job selecting teachers and classes. There are a bunch of teachers I haven't seen before and I feel like immersing myself in the thrill of being a student for a change.......yippeee....

ART UNRAVELED

Abstracted Letter Forms

Here are some pieces that I made for Christmas gifts (if you are in my family, stop looking n-o-w) and also for commissions. They are paintings made up of abstracted versions of names, so each family gets one painting for every member of the family. I made some of these for my stepdaughter's family several years ago and they were a big hit. I've played around with the idea since then and added some texture. I think it is fun how the pieces become puzzles and the viewer has to search to figure it out.
I kinda like these names, especially love how they look all pushed together, in a quilt-like fashion.

12-8x8 Abstracted Letter form pieces

These Boots were made for walkin'

My very first pair of Old Gringos. With Swarovski crystals, no less. Maybe I little over the top, but I actually think they are pretty neutral, black with brown stitching, golden crystals in silver bezels. They match everything I own.


And they feel amazing on my feet. I was dancing all around the house in them last night.
Thanks to Deb Trotter and Deryn Mentock for introducing me to Old Gringo boots. I can't really blame them for my boot obsession though; that one is all mine.
Giddy Up!!!



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And the winners are.......

Wow, between the blog and Facebook, we had a nice batch of entries. Thanks so much to everyone who played.

So, without further ado......

Prize 1 - Set #1 of my new baby stencils:  CINDY SWAN-EAGAN
Prize 2 - Set #2 of my baby stencils:  BUMBLEBEE
Prize 3 - Both of the clear stamps:  LAURA WEINRICH
Grand Prize - Container of Wood Icing and a set of large stencils: RH CARPENTER

Woo hoo, I am so pleased for all of you, yippeeeeeeee!!!! John and I are such dorks, we probably should have filmed this - we were all in my office, two cats sitting on my desk, one of them on the keyboard. John insisted that I make drum roll sounds when he pulled each name. As an aside, he wanted me to tell you all that he didn't wear his glasses when he pulled the names. 

If you are a winner, post a comment for me or email me with your address. Obviously I will not 'publish' the comment so no one else will see your address. And thanks again to all of you who took the time to link me up. I really appreciate your support in helping me spread the word about my blog.

Little gifties tied up with yarn

Aren't they cute? Cute stuff inside too but I can't tell.


Don't forget to enter the contest. Just one more day, scroll down for details.


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My yearly sick

I have been hit with my annual sinus thing. The one where I announce that it's too bad snot has no nutritional value. Ahem. Tmi I know.


This is not a bowl of chicken soup but contains the entries for the contest. Oh what, you say you haven't entered yet? Just scroll down to see details.
And back to bed for me!


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It's a Baby Blog Button

Ok, several of you have asked for it, so here it is.......a Blog Button. I have also placed it on the sidebar where you can grab the code.
And while you're here.....don't forget the CONTEST.

Holidaze are here!! Hip Hip Hooray for a Give Away!

It has been forever since I have given anything away and I am hanging my head in shame at this terrible omission.  But I've got a great idea! I am going to make up for it by offering prizes.  Multiple prizes in fact.
Prize 1 - Set #1 of my new baby stencils
Prize 2 - Set #2 of my baby stencils
Prize 3 - Both of the clear stamps
Grand Prize - Container of Wood Icing and a set of large stencils.
You can pop on over to Stencil Girl Products to see descriptions of all these products in case you don't know what I am talking about. I have also posted a Video there that shows how to use the Wood Icing and the stencils. It goes without saying (although I guess I do say it a lot because I have apparently turned into one of those people who loves hearing the sound of her own voice, oh please tell me it's not true) how much I love the Wood Icing. Rockin' texture that has replaced Molding paste for me which you will understand if you watch the video. 
So, you are probably wondering what you need to do to be entered in the contest.....
Link me up
Yep, that's it. Just put a link on your blog sidebar or Facebook or, well, I don't know where else you would put one, but maybe you all have clever ideas. Then leave me a comment along with the link so that I can check it out.
Mr. John will do the drawing for me on Sunday night and I will announce the winners right here on Monday, December 13th.

Origami

My grandson Aidan loves origami. To be honest, I have always had trouble with it. I think it may have something to do with following instructions. Ahem.


But I took Aidan to a demo this past weekend and I paid very close attention, we both did really. And we learned to make these sweet ornaments. We loved making them and Aidan even turned one into a tree topper which was rather clever.
Here is Jasper right before I hid them.



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What is Old is New

I recently took a trip back to my 'old' style work, that being mixed media more in the style of my Common Denominator series. In this case I made an abstract for a group show that recently ended.

Gentle Noble Earth, 20" x 20" on canvas (click to enlarge)

It was weird working on canvas after having done so much work on wood panel and claybord. It was also weird using Molding Paste (I found this huge tub of it when I cleaned recently). I have become so accustomed to using Wood Icing that I had forgotten how long it takes the Molding Paste to dry. Oy Vay am I ever impatient, ha!
So I took this piece to my Critique Group on Tuesday night. I kind of wanted to bring my encaustics, but I had already hung them at the store, along with all the rock pieces. I thought about not even bringing a piece, but instead grabbed this one at the last minute. It was the only new-ish work I had on hand and truth be known I didn't even want to discuss it because it was done already, varnished, had been in a show.
But then, just when I am least expecting it (and I say this not because my group doesn't add good input, but because I foolishly didn't think there was anything to say) I hear brilliant words coming from the mouths of artists who I respect.
And the feedback was all about words......you see that little white square in the middle? If you enlarge you may be able to see my words, from a vintage book page, random yet meaningful, done a la Humument,  meaning that I painted over the words I did not want. I do this in a very random, meditative way and it never fails to amaze me the messages that appear. Words have played a big role in all my work from the very start. I have always suspected it was my journalism degree kicking in, this compulsion to add commentary to everything I do. I have been putting little word 'captions' in my work for over 10 years now. They are wildly meaningful to me, sacred almost. Sometimes I feel like they are the true guts of my work and I simply can.not.stop. using them.
So anyhoo, two people in my group both locked in on the words. One felt they were 'shy' and the other suggested I use more of them for there to be a real impact.
Wow.
Wow.
Wow.
Slap self in head.
Amazing food for thought and now this sends my brain spinning in new directions.

Waxy Meltdown

In a good way, of course! I am talking about Encaustics! Yum. I have been aware of encaustics for years; to be truthful, I have avoided them because it is kind of expensive (for one thing) and I also didn't want to be distracted from my regular work.
Well. I had an opportunity to play a few months ago when my friend Julie invited me to her fully functioning encaustic studio. It was too fun for words. I was instantly smitten.

12" x 6" encaustic with collage

I have been playing on my own now. A lot - yeah, I'm a little obsessive that way. But you knew that. Anyhoo, here is one of my new ones, very neutral, also a mix of smooth and textured effects. And see those little round things? They are palette pieces, snipped from my dried palette - I have a lot of them that I've been saving just because they are cute. I actually didn't even use the painted side here (silly girl) as the back side had a look I preferred.

4" x 4" encaustic, click to enlarge

I posted this one (above) on Facebook and it was selected as the 'fave' by a number of people. That is my new baby stencil there at the bottom. Also at the top of the piece shown above. Wow do I ever love how those stencils work with the hot wax. Anyway, I like this piece too although it wasn't my fave, don't know why.
This one is maybe my fave. I think I mainly like the color, I was mixing the wax right on the palette and loved the way the colors merge up.

4" x 4" encaustic, click to enlarge

One of my favorite things about the encaustic work is the blowtorch. Whoa is it ever cool, well, not really cool, but you know what I mean.  Of course I am making John a wreck about it as I am sure he envisions his absent minded wife with a blowtorch and who knows where his brain wonders. I am careful and responsible though. I wasn't in the insurance claim biz 18 years for nothin'!!
If you also love Encaustics or want to try it for the first time, you might consider attending Encausticamp this year. I will be there (assisting Judy Wise,  oh be still my heart). I think it will be hothothot, literally and figuratively of course.

Of Girl talk and tmi

Remember the good old days? That was back when I used to say whatever popped into my head. Anything really, seemed like I was full of self deprecating humor regarding my escapades.  And I told lots of stories. Like here and here. Or here.
I was funny. Or perhaps only in my own mind (hmmm, note to self).

Then I started putting myself out into the teaching realm. And for some reason I thought I should conduct myself with a tad more decorum. So I tried to be serious. Talk about art, stick to sharing art related things. Reduce the number of cat stories and certainly eliminate my body issue talk.

But now I'm wondering if you'all (my reading audience, whoever you are) might miss me being a little more loose, showing my true self on occasion, vapid though it be? 

Thus the motivation behind this story. Shared on the day when most everyone else in the Cyberworld is having a sale. But I didn't think of that, so nothing is being sold here, just kick back and get a laugh at my expense.

You all know I have this TV gig on Great Day St. Louis, right? Duh, of course you know cause I talk about it all the time, it still friggin' amazes me that someone puts me on television and that folks actually watch. Or maybe I am simply so enamored with my own image that I am the only one watching the clip over and over, analyzing my hair color, whether I possess the ability to do my own makeup, blahblahblah. Yep, I am that vain, sad to say out loud.

Anyhoo, last Wednesday, I was set up to do my gig and John decided to go with me so he could see the set and meet some of the folks and, well, it was raining and he was going to drop me off at the door. Have I mentioned how much this man indulges me?
It was during the drive downtown when I realized that my front-snap bra had popped open and my, well, you know.....the girls were hanging out. Or down as is the case considering my age and the fact that I breast fed a baby many moons ago. OMG, I couldn't believe it, I mean this has never happened to me before, let alone right before a television appearance I mean Good Lord, like I needed something else to worry about.

KMOV -  set for Great Day St. Louis

Needless to say, I had to go through some unseemly physical gyrations in order to get them harnessed back into place - we were in a moving car after all. It would really be tmi if I told you that whole story but it involved me hunched over in the passenger seat, attempting to move the girls out of the way so I could see the little hookie device, while attempting to simultaneously move the girls back into their place. And to accomplish this entire maneuver without my reading glasses which I sadly need more and more frequently, that being a topic for another day. All while trying not to attract the attention of fellow travelers.

So we get to the show and I can't shake that nervous feeling it might happen again which is when I shared my story with Deb (she being the person who gets me miked up which often involves clothing adjustment hence my personal relationship with her). She absolutely snorted out loud, "Shut UP, girl, you gonna improve our ratings!!!"

And so the show pretty much went downhill from there. You can see for yourself as I glue a portion of the project to the tablecloth. And Kent Ehrhardt, the host, cracks me up, as usual. Watch the clip and pay attention to when I say "you need to grab your little drawers." Tee, hee, this one will go down in history, but at least there was no ahem 'poppage' during the show.

Countdown Calendar

This is a project I will demo on Great Day St. Louis this coming Wednesday. If you are in the St. Louis area, set your DVR for Channel 4 at 10am on 11/24. Come back here to get the details and make the project for yourself.

I think this could be used as a 'countdown' for whatever you desire. I am making two of these for my grandsons (don't tell them!) as a Countdown to Christmas. But I think they would be super cute for nearly any occasion; think about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Spring Break, End of the School Year, Birthday, etc.

Supplies:
matchboxes
glue gun
wrapping paper
decorative doo dads, as desired
scissors, ruler, cutting mat
glue stick or white glue
paint or colored markers
black marker or rubber stamps of numbers & ink
ribbon

1.  Decide how many matchboxes you need. I am using 25 since I am making a countdown to Christmas. Empty and discard all the matches and pull the drawers out.
2. Count out nine boxes (the outside sleeve part of the box) and glue them together using the glue gun. Then glue seven together, then five, then three.
3. Cut wrapping paper to cover each section of boxes. Here are the dimensions you will need for each section:
2-1/8" x 12-1/2"
2-1/8" x 10-1/4"
2-1/8" x 8-1/4"
2-1/8" x 6"
2-1/8" x 4"
4. Using the largest piece of wrapping paper (see above), glue it around the section of nine match boxes. Glue the next largest around the seven boxes, then five, then three, the one, until all the boxes have been covered.
5. I took some decorative ribbon and glued them around each section to embellish further.
6. After this is all finished, glue the sections together as shown to make the tree. I found the glue gun kept the overall tree more sturdy.
7. Embellish further if desired, see pom poms I added above. You could add glitter or whatever you want.
8. Using a red and green marker, paint the front of each of the match box drawers.
9. Number the drawers from 1-25 using either rubber stamps or simply write the numbers on the drawer.
10. Assemble the drawers randomly making sure that drawer 25 is on the top.
11. Gather tiny treats to put in each drawer - candy, stickers, erasers, etc.

Obviously, there are tons of options with this project so have fun and vary it as you wish.
Enjoy your countdown!!

How about a little trip

Part of the deteriorating wall around historic Quebec City

Chocolate Museum

The Wall

Pastry shop - I had Cafe au lait and a scone

Quebec City street

I never got around to sharing any pictures from our vacation. We went up to Canada, to Quebec City and Montreal, after I taught at Squam.  John flew over to meet me (I had the car) and we took off on a driving trip. I could not tell you the last time we had a 'real' vacation, one that didn't involve work obligations, visiting family, etc.; this was utterly divine!

Old Quebec City is a walled city, the oldest in North America. I was absolutely fascinated by the wall as you might have guessed, me and my rock thing. We walked on top of the wall in some areas and I imagined what it must have been like 'back in the day' when it was needed for protection. Such a concept to think about. Old Quebec City is fantastic for walking; I don't think we used the car once, walked to and from dinner each night which was marvelous and reminded me of when we lived in SF and used to walk oh-so-much, I adore that sort of lifestyle.

And I used some of my very rusty high school French, throwing out words here and there with my abominable midwest accent. I wanted to pretend that I was more sophisticated than I am, possibly of French descent of something more exotic than just being from Ohio, but ya know, I just can't pull that off. Ha!

Basilique Notre-Dame

So anyhoo, After Quebec City we went over to Montreal and had some truly stellar food which for some reason I didn't photograph. We went to one of those uber hip restaurants where you have to know where it is to eat there. Like they have no sign, just a pink light. It was jammed with people, tables crushed together and we sat next to a Canadian couple who were delightfully friendly.

I seldom pass the opportunity to visit old churches as I find them to be the ultimate in eye candy. Basilique Notre-Dame was no exception; for some reason I did not expect it to be so B-L-U-E and it just took my breath away, almost like Van Gogh's Starry Starry Night, that kind of blue with glimmers of gold. Ah, just gorgeous with inspiration at every turn.

My favorite pic

And how 'bout this biker babe? Is she cool or what? I want to be her, perhaps in my next life, that is the life when I will be tall and thin.
I bet she speaks French too.

Can you say Obsessive

Me, oh no. Never. Mwohahaha (evil laugh).

Anyway, last week I went to the monthly meeting of the St. Louis Collage Club and Barb O'Brien, one of our members, did a demo on patchwork  collage pieces. She was inspired by a Cavallini journal; you can click here to see what I am talking about - the Flora and Fauna ones all have patchwork backgrounds that are oh-so-sweet.
These are very easy to make and a great way to use up scraps.
Here are a few I have made and the steps to make them.

Step 1 - Gather a bunch of paper scraps, cohesive colors if possible, also get a few 'neutrals' like text, sheet music or the like. Use your paper cutter to randomly create squares and rectangles of all sizes.
Step 2 - Select a background - use whatever you have, doesn't need to be good paper, I used cereal boxes for mine. Cut to whatever size you want; a bigger one can be a motherboard.
Step 3 - Run your background through the Xyron to coat it with that sticky stuff.

Step 4 - Start your assembly by putting your pre-cut pieces down on the sticky background. Butt them up next to one another in a mosaic fashion. Re-cut pieces as necessary so they fit together.
Step 5 - Trim overhanging pieces.
Step 6 - Embellish with ribbon, Stickles, glitter, doo-dads, whatever.

Step 7 - Cut into smaller pieces, mount onto black paper (if desired, see John's b-day card from my last post) and assemble into greeting cards or just whatever you might want. I think they would make adorable tags for gift giving so I think I will pull all my old Christmas cards and make some tags.

The sky is the limit, this is a fun project to do while watching TV cause it is pretty brainless. And they are just so cute! I adore them. Thanks Barb (and Cavallini) for the inspiration.

Anybody wanna come over and make me stop!?!?!?!??!?!

An auspicious day

Birthday card I made for John

Today is my sweetie's birthday. It's a big one. I can't say how many years, but let's just say our health insurance will actually go down cause he starts Medicare. If you can believe, we are actually celebrating that too, haha. Anyway, we are off to party with the family, having a big old fried chicken dinner, yes we are. It will involve gravy (the white kind), need I say more?

So Happy Birthday baby, to my lover and my best friend, my hubby John. He is truly the best man I have ever known. I feel so lucky he is mine. 

Linky dinky do da

See this........



.....it's my book. On Amazon. How friggin' cool is that??  I can barely stand it I am so excited, hee!! Anyhoo, just wanted to share. And yeah, you may want to pre-order. But you may also wanna wait cause I am going to offer some uber cool sumpin if you order direct from me. Just saying.....

When one door closes....

Those of you who read my blog regularly know about the juggling act called 2010. In addition to writing my book; I have taught locally and nationally; I have been a partner in a retail operation; I have participated in outdoor Art Fairs around the Midwest; I designed and promoted a line of stencils; I did monthly TV gigs for Great Day St. Louis.
I wore myself out.
Yep. I just said it out loud. I have been wiped. The juggler whose game never came to an end. Lots of people suggested this would happen to me, but naturally I poo-pooed that. Because I thought that I could do it all. And yeah, maybe I could.....for awhile.....
But you know what?

I'm going vertical now. And loving the red.

I no longer want to do it all. I want to focus on the things that mean the most to me, are intrinsically rewarding; the stuff that makes me jump out of bed in the morning.

So I am trying something new. I am saying no.
Several months back, John and I went to a book signing of Anne Lamott. I love her and had never seen her in person, but I hung on every word and could have listened to her speak all night long. She said something that resonated with me sosososo much. She was talking about how she used to say yes to every opportunity that came along, how she was so scared to say no because it might not be offered again. Uh huh...sounded so familiar to me. But then she finally learned to say no. And....this is the part that got me....she said, "NO is a complete sentence."
Wow.
I have thought about that a lot.
And I resigned my partnership in the store. I am still exhibiting and teaching there, just not partnering.
I have also decided that I will not do as many shows next year, possibly reduce to only one or two.
Instead, I am focusing on doing what I love. Teaching, designing, making my art, developing new ideas, techniques, products to share with others. Because that is what I love.
And you know what?
My brain has kicked back into gear. It's as though a weight has been lifted. I feel alive and fresh and new, with ideas coming every minute. And the opportunities, oy vay, it is exciting. I will say Yes to the ones I adore and will say No to others. It is such a feeling of freedom.

Red Rocks

And the rocks continue

Finally. I have some painting time and it is simply mahvelous, dahling. Oh my oh my, I am like a pig wallowing in, well, you know....Except I don't really wallow in the paint, it just looks like it sometimes.
I am moving further along with my rock series. I love finding ways to create texture by poking, prodding, scraping the mediums. Fun!
See the send to last section - the one right before the bottom.....glued some more Mica onto the painting, a process best saved for closer to the end as the beautiful finish dulls down if you get paint on it (you can 'fix it' by gently using alcohol though).
And that red part? Palette knife work.

And psssst, wanna know a secret? I have brand new bouncing baby stencils on the way......you'll be the first to know, so stay tuned.

Rocks, rocks, all the time rocks

You can see that I have abstracted my rocks.

Here are some completed images from my prior post. A funny thing happened while I was working on them. It was last Sunday. I was all wound up, just a bundle of energy, jazzed about my rocks and felt like I was on top of the world just exploding with new ideas. John walked into the studio to tell me it was time to leave for the kids for Halloween. I gushed out about the new work, like I tend to do and John inspected it, then commented, "well, they're not done....."

This was inspired by the Wall around Quebec City.

 Splat. That was the wet blanket I imagined that he threw; it enveloped me. Butbutbut.....I sputtered, then got defensive about how I was trying to be more neutral. Then I got mad. Naturally I pouted during the 20 minute drive to the kids house. 

More Ruggles Mine inspiration - see the little Mica circles? Bought those from Dan Essig when I was teaching at Art Unraveled.

But Monday morning, when I walked into the studio, it was all clear. And he was right. They needed more work. Which I believe I have accomplished. These are now done. I am hopeful you can click and enlarge them, give it a try. Lots of interesting texture.

And yeah, I did apologize to John. Right after I thanked him for his honest feedback. See, he always says he doesn't know anything about this, like he thinks his feedback couldn't possibly be valid. But his heartfelt response is very helpful to me (once my ego moves aside) and I hope my rude reaction never discourages him from speaking his mind. Geez, I know I am a pain but criticism can be tough. And despite what we say or how we behave, we artists have thin skins, don't we?

I know, I know.......

It has been forever. I apparently took a blog sabbatical as I have been struggling to find my painting mojo, oh where oh where has it gone? Actually, it isn't the mojo itself that is missing; it is simply this thing called L-I-F-E that has intervened.

Lately I seem to find my inspiration at the exact moment when I have to go take a shower cause we have theater tickets. Or it is time for us to celebrate Halloween with the kids. Or even time for a lovely dinner that John has created for me.

These are the rock paintings that continue.....

 
Geez. I feel ugly and ungrateful when I am like this and I understand why so many artists have chosen alternative lifestyles. Cause 9-5 is just damn difficult. It's not like there's a switch after all and oy vay, if only!!!
Cause you see, I had been telling myself (all year) that I would immerse myself in a new series. After the teaching. After the shows. After vacation. Blahblahblah. It was my carrot, my reason for living (ok, I'm being a tad drama queen about this but seriously).

And more, a closeup of one, see the Mica?

And another, I love this one, I really let loose on the composition.

The inspiration, sitting on my work table at all times.

So here I am, weaseling a little bit of time here and there, between classes and this and that. Trying to find meaning in this pile of rocks. Puttering along like everyone else, grateful and extremely possessive of each and every moment I spend in my studio, always pining for more and feeling the hunger.

Life is good. Bountiful. Wonderful.
repeat three times


 

Rock It

On the way to Squam I stopped at a Mine. Yep, a real Mine. Thankfully, it was an open Mine, meaning you don't have to go down through a shaft or into caves or anything like that. In fact, it is called the 'mine in the sky' because it is on top of a mountain (of sorts). Anyhoo. I loved it, Ruggles Mine. Big big thanks to my friend Lyle, who told me to stop there.

So.....if you've been reading my blog for awhile, you certainly know how much I love my rocks. I collect them from everywhere and have a dish of rocks in my studio which inspires a lot of my work.
Like here.
And here.
And here. (my river rock stencil) 

Well, I am on another 'rock binge', painting all sorts of geological-referenced things, this time more from a stratum vantage point. Lots more of these pieces in the works, I think you might see this for awhile, hope it doesn't get boring. Obviously it doesn't bore me, tee, hee.......

I feel therefore I am

A husband's friend (thanks David!) sent me a link to this amazing website that has a goal of 'harvesting' human emotions from weblogs. Basically, whenever a weblog post has the words "I feel" or "I am feeling" this site extracts and saves the information. Once you recover from the freakish Orwellian nature of this project, it is kind of cool.

You need to click on the applet to get the whole story - check out the 'Madness' area, a visual representation of posts, dots and squares and all sorts of colors, flying around on the screen. By moving your mouse over an area, you can see the geographic origin of the post; by clicking, you can see the actual phrase. Another area called 'Murmurs' is a scrolling screen of posts, one after the other, sort of mesmerizing. There are other sections as well, all showing a different view. Truly fascinating.

I feel like a voyeur and some of these make me smile while others are sad.

Now I am going to watch to see if my post shows up.....

Still amongst the living

Yep, I am still here. Good grief, it has been a ride these past few weeks. Between renovating our bathroom, participating in an Art Fair, going to NH to teach at Squam, spending a week in Canada with my sweetie and hosting a visit from my parents I feel a little like a whirling dervish. I have done little art except for writing in my journal, that being the Teesha-style journal that I made awhile back.

Judy inspired me when we were roomies at Squam. I was so envious of the dedication she has to her journal(s) and observing her made me think about what prevented me from a daily journal habit. Seriously. I thought about it a lot and tried to figure out my issue. I came up with a lot of friggin' lame excuses ranging from lack of time to exhaustion from making my 'real' art to need time w/the hubster to blahblahblah. It really doesn't matter because they were all just excuses. And aha (as in Oprah aha moment) it hit me. I have a choice. To journal or not to journal. My life. My choice, if I want to journal, I simply need to choose to do it. Duh.

And so I do. I have carved out a time in the evening - that time when John and I sit down with a glass of wine to decompress - I pull out my journal. Am I an everyday journal writer? Not quite yet, but I am working on it.

Recalling Squam

The students in my 'Nature of Klimt' class blew my mind with their work. Wow, talk about making a teacher feel proud!



And I even got to take a class this time, from the brilliant Jen Lee. Getting to spend an entire day with her was sweet! And I am totally inspired to do more writing and share my stories with the world.

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