Swoon - a - Rama

Great article about the artist Swoon.

Old is New

                (click to enlarge)
You are no doubt wondering what I've been up to lately.....on a bit of a mania (yikes!), albeit a good one. I have come up with lots of new pieces cause I am simply exploding with ideas.

I've been teaching my private lesson students (at the store) and that is just so much fun- I adore working with people one on one, we accomplish so much and I can tailor the class precisely to their needs. In fact, most of my students come with a specific project in mind and I work with them to accomplish it, "releasing" them once they are confident to proceed on their own. I feel a bit like a Mother Bird, pushing them out of the nest, watching them fly. And they are brilliant of course, capable of so much more than they ever imagined. When I was a kid my Grandpa Hoffman used to say that I should be a teacher. I hope he is watching now as I enjoy this so very much.

In other news, I am more obsessed with texture than ever before. I'm using the Wood Icing paste and it works beautifully with my stencils, so that is quite nice, yippee! These are a couple pieces I finished this week. The techniques here are similar to the ones I am offering in my Three Times Charming class at Art Unraveled in August. Check out the website for details regarding all the classes - still space in both of mine!! And I hear all these people say "Phoenix in August?" Well, guess what, St. Louis is August is ?!? too, as are many areas. So seriously, I welcome the chance to stay in Phoenix making art with other fun peeps - what could be better? I will also vend my stencils and introduce other new items (hint - can you say rubber stamps? They coordinate with the stencils). Yep, you heard it here first.

Well, I gotta boogie and get outside for my walk before the weather turns too beastly. We are having an early hot spell. I hope this does not mean we have been propelled directly into summer? But you never know, we are in St. Louis, after all.

More TV

I did a little spot on Great Day St. Louis last week. As usual, the people were super nice which helped me relax and do my best. You can click here if you want to watch my segment. There is a cooking section right before hand, but it's pretty interesting, so you might like that too.

My show in Springfield, IL was excellent and I sold a good amount of work. Sadly, the weather really sucked(can you say rain!), but the art patrons of Springfield braved it and came out to support the art fair - such a really super group of people, I just adore them.

John and I brought home a wet tent which is now strewn around our basement as it dries. Ugh, what a mess. You gotta be slightly touched in the head to do this biz for long. I'm in my 6th year, wonder what that says about me.

Hey baby

Jill Berry and I were talking 'music' the other day. Not really talking, ya know, but emailing. Appears we have quite similar taste which is kinda cool. Jill's hubby has a band and she knows lots more about music than me, so she turned me on to some new groups and I ordered a CD (yeah, I am kinda old school like that, still buying CDs. Although I did download some tunes too). Anyhoo, I got them off this site. It is way cool - a site with independent music.
So yesterday I got an email from the company telling me that my purchase had been shipped. It was such a delightful clever communication that I thought I would share.....

Your CD has been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow.
A team of 50 employees inspected your CD and polished it to make sure it was in the best possible condition before mailing.
Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CD into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.
We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved "Bon Voyage!" to your package, on its way to you, in our private CD Baby jet on this day, May 17, 2010.
We hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. In commemoration, we have placed your picture on our wall as "Customer of the Year." We're all exhausted but can't wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Sigh...
We miss you already. We'll be right here at http://cdbaby.com/, patiently awaiting your return.

Is that not the cutest? Makes me want to pop over there and order again. Which I suppose is exactly what they want (ha) but good for them! I enjoy competent smart marketing and hope I run my business that same way. 

(no affiliation and no, I wasn't compensated, I just think this is a neat company and thought I would share.)

Cool art

This is such very very cool Kinetic Sculpture. Check it out here.  I cannot imagine how the artist even conceives this type of work. Absolutely amazing.

Finally, an iPhone Camera class

I just realized that my friend LK Ludwig is teaching a class on the iPhone Camera and a tons of apps that she uses. Woo hoo do I ever need this! It sounds absolutely excellent and what a terrific price. And well duh, I mean come one, it's LK!!!! Anyhoo, just boogie on over HERE to check it out.

Weekend recap

So my friend Corinne Smith was in the show with me this past weekend. We are actually 'art fair' friends which means we really don't know each other that well. But I like her a lot and sense that John and I would hang out with she and Steve if we lived near enough to them. They are both very funny and we shared some laughs. I adore Corinne's abstracts, so click here to see her website and check them out.

Here is a pic of my booth on Sunday after we popped the top off. It was looking a little spare as I had sold some stuff (good) and hadn't spread things around yet (bad).

And here is an art fair patron that I rudely documented on my camera - I simply couldn't help myself. I mean check out that rain bonnet! I haven't seen one of those in probably 35 years. Seriously. What is so funny is that she wore this on Sunday which was the totally sunny, no wind day.

And finally, two of the pieces that I recently finished. I like these two a lot. They are 8" wide by 16

tall, painted on MDF in case you are wondering. 

I am currently getting ready for another show this coming weekend, Springfield, IL if you happen to be in that vicinity.

Great Mail

Got 2 really fun packages in the mail today. Geez, I know the nicest people!




This fabulous card and stack of tunes comes from my friend Pilar who I know only from the Internet (but really hope to meet in person some day). In addition to her other artistic talents, Pilar has a knack for picking out cool music and she never fails to introduce me to interesting musicians I might not have found on my own - because I am old and living under a rock. Ahem.

And that little vintage camera keychain actually lights up (tiny flashlight?) plus makes a neato sound when you depress the shutter, just like the real thing - it makes me want to act like a fashion photographer and keep pushing the button over and over. It comes to me from Carolyn, who I met at Valley Ridge. She is super sweet and I adored having her in my classes. We talked 'camera' and she has now loaded the apps I mentioned here on her phone. I guess she saw this and thought of me - how sweet is that!?!?  And now I will think of her every time I use it.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A Story for Mother's Day

I know this amazing Dad (a collector of mine) who contacted me last year to make a collage painting of his son as a gift for his wife on Mother's Day. This year he called again and asked me to update the family. It's so touching to watch them grow. 

To start the process the Dad writes a bit of text and sends it to me, along with a bunch of pictures. His text is poetic and heartfelt - it sums up his feelings about his children, the things they do together, likes/dislikes, etc. I use his writing as inspiration and then search thru my collection to find visuals that will help create a meaningful piece.

Here are this year's pieces. Each and every collage element is symbolic and specific to this family's story. And that is what these collages represent - stories. I love the role of visual story-teller. Inserting hidden parts into my works, little snippets that surprise and (hopefully) delight the viewer. Each and every time, I truly feel honored to have been 'allowed in' if you know what I mean.

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom and to all the Moms who work so hard making this world a better place.

When, oh when

Will I ever be able to put my feet up and relax? I keep telling myself....after VR....after class....after I finish the new commission....after the next show...
But the so-called 'after' never arrives. I will not subscribe to a theory of wishing my life away cause that seems nuts to me. On the other hand I am kinda wiped.
I believe I get a break after these next 2 shows.
I'm at Laumeier in St. Louis starting tomorrow then in Springfield,IL the 15th and 16th.
Then a break. And I'm really gonna do it, I swear.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone