Behind the scenes at American Artisan

I have never been a camper. Although I love the outdoors and could hike for hours and hours on end, I much prefer to return to creature comforts at the end of each day - pool or hot tub - glass of wine - big bathtub - cushy bed. You get the drift, I'm a Princess.

So, why oh why would I select outdoor art fairs as a source of income you might ask?
God only knows? What I do know is it seems a lot like camping......

Thursday I drove to Nashville to set up for the show. It was hot. Damn hot. Insanely hot. I had been sickly for several days due to this Calcium/Magnesium pill my Doctor had suggested. If you don't know the side effects of magnesium, I'm not going to mention it here, but let's just say I was weak.

I did manage to set up my tent without hurting myself or anyone else. No emergency personnel required. Whew. It was brutal with heat of mid 90's and a heat index over 100. I drank crazy amounts of vitamin water/gatorade/regular water. And I have found a miracle snack...........Flattened Bananas from Trader Joe's. They are only 90 calories each and have very low (if any) fat. They are chewy, semi-dried bananas and have a wonderfully intense flavor. I swear they give me a burst of energy.

The photo shown is the tent city we all built behind our booths. I have a full shade awning attached to the back of my booth, but we had all day sun exposure, so this convoluted structure was necessary in order to maintain shade (and our sanity). Sitting outside for 3 days


straight, wearing completely sweaty clothes, ugh. How delightful. Lucky for me, I had some amazing F-U-N neighbors and that made it bearable.
Mucho thank yous to Beverly, Henry, Jason, Theresa, Janice, Marie & Rhonda. Your humor made it all bearable. Thanks also to the staff of American Artisan and of course to Nancy Saturn. What a class act you all are.

American Artisans

Its Thursday so I must be heading to Nashville for the American Artisans show, an invitational art fair sponsored by a gallery extraordinaire. If you're in the area, I'd lovelovelove a visit, we'll be in Centennial Park (where the Parthenon is) on Friday-Sun. You can click the link for specifics.

Thought you might enjoy seeing another new piece, this one 30" tall by 10" wide, on claybord (click the image to enlarge). I have all sorts of madness planned for my return (I have a break between shows, yippeee!). So stay tuned for an instructional Flip video; more class previews and maybe, just maybe, I'll throw in a contest for good measure!

Class Idea - Repetition Warhol Style

This is one of my new class ideas, using the power of repetition to explore subject matter. Andy Warhol did this, although he use screen printing, and I have always been drawn to repeated topics. For this particular class, claybord is treated as "scratchboard", starting with black instead of white. And, instead of screen prints, we do stencil cutting (layered stencils to create more detail) and build surface texture with molding paste. Plus the usual carving on claybord and then layer after layer after layer of acrylic paint and paint markers. The effect is very "3D" in that the flowers look extremely textural and real. I have a variety of subjects to choose from, so not everyone has to use flowers.

I'll let you know when I have a venue set up. And, if you know of a spot that might be interested, just let me know so I can do a formal proposal.

Stay tuned as I post more new class ideas.

Words of Wisdom

Last night we met my step daughter & family at the Farmer's Market to select items for dinner. We brought the bounty back to our house and fixed a feast that (by some miracle) we enjoyed out of doors (balmy evening with no rain and no bugs, if you can imagine that!).

After dinner, we all hung out in the studio and my grandsons wanted to paint. On canvas, naturally, because I have taught them well, tee, hee. Aidan (age 7) had an idea in his head and immediately set to work.
He chose colors outside of his normal palette. When I questioned this, he said he wanted light colors, all pastel. He painted quickly, without hesitation, his small canvas on the table rather than the easel.

When finished, he placed his canvas up on my big easel to dry; his piece was alongside a couple of my abstracts which he inspected carefully. He finally said, "so, Yia Yia, you mainly just paint whatever you want, don't you, with stuff floating around?" He was talking about a couple of my geometric works, with foil squares.

"Yep," I said, trying to conceal a smile. And oh, if only it were so.....how easy he made it look and sound. To be seven again and to flit in and out of that precious art zone, how glorious it must be.

I'm heading to the studio right now and am going to paint whatever I want.

I've been tagged....

Lelainia has tagged me (as she was tagged by Catherine) to answer this question -

What are you about right now - if you had to write down the things in your head at this exact moment in time, what would they be?

So, here goes.....at this moment, I am about....

Ideas, darting round and round in my head like fireflies. Need.to.harness.
Grand kids
Classes, fantastic new ones that I am eager to teach.
Disappointing rejection.
Geometric subjects
Gentle breezes
Claybord, oh glorious claybord - the discoveries of my continued play.
Cats
Architectural drawings
Dreams of houses
My next show, American Artisan in Nashville, TN
Sleep
Books, reading Seven Days in the Art World, which is fascinating
Cherries
Coffee
Glass beads gifted from my friend Mary Smith
Color, a new triad of paints that I just ordered from Blick
Upcoming beach vacation
Farmers Market
My book, ok I just said it out loud
Hummingbirds
Champagne Mangoes
Sewing on my new machine
Mom & Dad, I miss them yet can't find a weekend to visit
Shows, inventory needs plague me (its good, I know)
Walking, one foot in front of the other, feeling the earth
Sunshine
Spider webs
Klimt, Jasper Johns, JMW Turner, Hundertwasser
Painting all day and all night
Breathing
Being
Me

Ties that Bind

I am so proud to have made a charm for this utterly glorious doll that is being raffled off to benefit Ovarian Cancer research. The project was organized by Kris Henderson, Aileen Roberts and Jan Brown - they gathered an amazing collaboration of women - click here to see the blog which includes a gallery of stunning photos (the doll is BIG!). And click this box below to buy raffle tickets. Who wouldn't want to win this!?!??!

Of cats and men

Oy, these cats are driving me insane. You all know that I adopted the adorable Jasper Johns a couple weeks ago, right? All was going fairly well (meaning minimal hissing) until we left for my Chicago show on Friday. My friend Karyl watched the kitties as usual and all I can say is, while the peoples are away the cats will play. Or, in this case, act out. Apparently there was a lot of pooping in the living room.
And who knows what else?
We got home very late last night and it seemed like the whole household had been turned upside down in our absence. There were smells. And 'tudes. BIG 'tudes.
Ugh, ugh and ugh. Not what I had in mind.
In the meantime, the tests of Jasper's stool (ok, ok, I realize this is a family blog) came back and he has roundworm.
Excuse me!?!?!??!?
Did I not get this cat from a rescue? Was he not examined by 2 vets prior to my adoption?
Ugh, ugh and ugh again.
He is now on meds, 2 types, one for all the bacteria in his stool, one for this roundworm.
Izzy remains on meds for her messed up butt.
Gil seems fine, just a little crotchedy (imagine that?).
And me.......well, I hit the Petsmart today and bought the following:

Black Lite to find the smells
Special guaranteed treatment stuff to fix the smells (once we find them)
Herbal stuff to put in the litter boxes to entice cats to pee & poop there
More herbal stuff (a spray) to calm them (you think I could get some of that??)
And a "boundary" spray to keep them out of certain places, I am hesitant to use this as it has lots of chemicals in in and I prefer to stay somewhat holistic.

In other news, I had a kinda crappy show in that I didn't really sell as much as I had hoped. Possible big sale to come though and I am hoping that will happen as it did with my recent Lousiville show.

The good news is that John & I stayed with Pam Sussman and that was a lot of fun. We thoroughly enjoyed spending time with she and Richard. Other good news is we hung out with Mary Smith and her hubby, Gary (he is toooooo funny!!). That made the show delightful in spite of cold weather and light crowds.

All in all a fine weekend.

57th Street Art Fair

In Chicagoland? Come see me this weekend at 57th Street Art Fair in the Hyde Park neighborhood. Although the website says the show takes place on 57th Street (which it does) there are also plenty of artists in the school yard where I will be. The lineup of artists is really strong so I feel sure this will be a great show.



On the Internet (duh)? Check out my interview at the MMCA Marketplace.

Easel Shot

Here is an easel shot which shows some work in progress. The two bigger pieces are claybords and the smaller ones are canvasses. Obviously not finished in this shot, I have since finished several of them and I will hopefully share them tomorrow (which I guess is today since I am up so late).

This is a nice close up of my easel (my own design) which John built for me. It leans against the wall and offers several heights for painting while standing or sitting. I use it for "viewing" too because I move my work around quite a bit and often will paint the pieces while they are on the table or on the floor.

And how 'bout this other shot, where Jasper Johns is inspecting my progress (and oh, don't I wish the real Jasper Johns was hanging out in my studio with me). I am so not used to a cat walking on my art tables as my older kitties pretty much know the drill. Jasper, on the other hand, is such a kitten. And I am apparently a soft touch since I grabbed a camera rather than that handy spray bottle that was sitting right there. The other day he climbed all the way up the easel, using the ledges as steps, and then embedded his claws in the top in order to hoist himself up to the window sill. Ahem.....

Here Kitty

Our cat family, is this not simply adorable? Or perhaps that is just a mama talking. Izzy on the left, Gilligan in the middles and Jasper Johns on the right.

And who let Jasper Johns sleep in the piano, good grief, have you no couth? He also sleeps in the bathtub (guest bathroom) and on top of the air conditioning vent in our bathroom. One of my friends suggests he was perhaps homeless and prefers sleeping on a grate of some sort. Hmmm. Could be true as we really don't know his history. I suspect he has come a long way in the last 10 days.

Needless to say, all these critters have us right where they want us.

June Read Along

You all know that I participated in this book, right?
Well, its not too late to get involved with the June Read Along. You can click here to find out more and join Sheri's salon (its free). Even though I'm in the book, I haven't had a chance to read it cover to cover. And I can't think of anything more cool than to do it along with Sheri!!! Yippppppeee!

Weekend update

I drove to Louisville and back on Thurs/Fri to deliver paintings. My friend Marilyn helped me - she and I met the collector and her husband Thursday afternoon to preview and try a variety of works around their house. They bought a 40x40; a 30x40 and a 24x24. Yippee! The paintings looked amazing in their fabulous home - oh my, it was one of those dream experiences where I kept pinching myself that my work would hang in such a location. I want to go back at some point and get some photos.

The drive over was rainrainrain and the drive home was all road repairs, ugh, so frustrating it took me forever to get home. I arrived back here at 3pm and had to be at Chesterfield Arts at 4 for the Studio Night activities during which I hosted a SNL type "Deep Thoughts with Mary Beth Shaw", a visual version of course. I had a huge, wall size board and I traced outlines of people on it, then decorated with symbols, words, quotes, etc. I was in a classroom with 3 other artists who had other activity stations, so we had an energetic crew. So much fun! I will say I was disappointed in the turnout, I mean this was a great community event (free, mind you!) yet attendance was fairly sparse. I soooo want the arts to succeed and thrive in our area yet it seems a challenge at times. I will say the children (and their parents) who *did* come were absolutely delightful and really GET IT!!! Hooray for that!

Tonight is the MO Coalition for the Environment fundraiser and I have 2 tickets. THE PLAN was for John and me to attend then I was going to treat my honey to a night on the town with a dinner celebrating my recent art success. But the Universe has intervened because my ankle is swollen to the point I can't stand well. I have no idea what I did to it, but an art event standing around all night is definitely out of the question. Seems like I will stay home instead, with a bag of frozen peas as my companion. And now my sweetie is pampering me(!) - at this moment he has run to Whole Foods to find some nice fish for dinner.

My Life: A Play in One Act

CHARACTERS, in order of Appearance:

#1 - Character offstage, never seen, his snoring sounds are heard through out

#2 - Raging housewife, suffering from insomnia

#3 and #4 - 2 cats

ACT I takes place in a Midwestern suburban home. It is dark, a rainy night. Scene opens on the 2nd floor of the house, in a U-shaped hallway which looks out onto the 2 story foyer and stairwell with two landings. 4:15 am

CHARACTER #1: guttural snoring sounds emanate from an unseen location

CHARACTER #2:
[crazed woman in nightgown emerges from a room, wielding a large spray bottle, she is shouting in a forced whisper]
"You guys, I've had eeeeeennnnnnuuuuufffff!" )as she starts wildly spraying a stream of water at 2 startled cats wrestling on the floor.

CHARACTER #3 and 4:
Cats scatter, one leaping off the top landing to a lower space, one taking the stairs. Both disappear.

CHARACTER #2: woman walks to rail to see if cats have gone and/or are still alive, spray bottle hangs in her limp arm. [her movement triggers the sensor from across the street neighbor's flood light and the area is suddenly illuminated to reveal her haggard face.]

"long sigh......" and she returns to the room from which she emerged.

The End

Jasper Johns

Lovely photo courtesy of Bud .

Ok, not that Jasper Johns, I am talking about our newest kitty. Named in honor of one of my favorite artists (swoon) and his "Gray" series.



Jasper is about a year old, rescued from a kill shelter over near KC. I found him through the Maine Coon Rescue group, although I doubt he is full MC - who knows and really, who cares, because we already just l-o-v-e him. He is shaking up our household in a big way. Izzy and Gilligan have been shocked out of their geriatric grief and are sitting up taking notice. Gil is playing with toys again (yippee) and Izzy has ventured off the couch to come upstairs every day since Jasper's arrival, this from a cat who normally only leaves her bed to eat and potty. And the peoples are laughing out loud at the antics of this wild man who quietly entered our life to unleash his playful personality, pounce on our bed crawl right into our hearts.

Honestly, its day 3 and I am stunned at how well it is all going.

eARThworks Art Auction

Click on over to eARThworks to see the auction items for the MO Coalition for the Environment. There is a lot of really cool stuff. You can scroll through the items and click on each one for a close-up and information about the artist. You can check out my donation too. The Auction ends with a Gala on Saturday, May 30th if you're local and wish to attend. You can buy tickets at the website.

Earring mania

I've been an earring piggy lately.
Can.not.help.myself.
I get a little bit of money in my hands (can you say award?) and whoosh, I'm off.....luckily my habit is not too expensive as I tend to prefer fun vs. precious metal and stones.
Anyhoo, here are some of the fabulous things I have gotten in recent days/weeks/months.



The ones at the very top, the elongated ones, are from Greg & BJ Jordan - they were mix and match, which was fun - you can find their website here.
The silver ones with the labradorite stones are by Phyllis, a silversmith from Louisville, KY. I am kicking myself because I can't find her card. She had a booth next to me at Cherokee Triangle and I loved both her and her hubby as they were easy going (and funny!) neighbors. Not to mention they didn't laugh at me when I put my canopy on inside out.
The credit card earrings are by Lisa Vetter of The Art Farm. Can you spell f-u-n-k-y? I love them, especially the fact they say "chase" which makes me smile.
And finally, the birds. They were made by Catherine Witherell of Happy Day Art. She's a friend of mine from Artfest. She actually made them for someone else and I whined until she made me a pair (didn't really have to whine at all as she is too sweet).
Anyhoo, hope you enjoyed the accessory show this morning.

Springfield Old Capitol 2009

Springfield Old Capitol

What a terrific show and I am not saying that just because I got a prize for "Outstanding Newcomer", although that made it extra nice. It was a great show because the people are super friendly; the show is well run; and the community supports the artists.

I was happy to be there, even though it was a little chilly (that being an understatement, on Saturday it was freeze-your-butt-chilly with a brutal wind to boot) and I found I had packed all the wrong clothes, I swear I am going to start packing fleece no matter what the weather forecast. It was so bad that I wore the same pair of socks three days in a row.

I shot a video that gives you a flavor of the show. It would be nice if I could embed it here, however, I've been working on this for awhile and Mr. Blogger is being a pain in the you know what today, arggghhhh. You can click here to see it on YouTube.

I also met some new artists, including the delightful, Corrine Smith and her hubby Steve. Corrine is also a mixed media abstract person and I lovelovelove her work. You can check it out here.

Momma said there'd be days like this

We arrived in Springfield, IL about 4pm with hopes of a leisurely set up followed by a short rest in the hotel and then a nice dinner. Instead, we hung out in a sleazy pizza joint with a bunch of other artists, drinking beer and watching the horrific weather. Just one storm after another - scary looking stuff, swirling black and gray clouds and high winds. Yuck. We were under a tornado watch (and still are) plus predictions of further storms (yep), high winds (yep) and hail (yep).

Everyone concluded that it would be safer to set up in the morning before the show. Meaning, we now need to get up around 4 am in order to stalk a parking space, schlep all our stuff to our spot, set up and be ready when the show opens. Not to mention I will then have to actually work the show all day long. I predict lots of coffee in my future.

Oh yes, what a glamorous life I lead. I am soooooo glad John is here to help me; thank goodness for that!

Springfield Old Capitol

I've had a busy week getting ready for the show in Springfield, IL.
If you're in the area, come see me.

This is the first time I have done this show and I committed to make items for children. That sort of caused me to re-invent the wheel to some extent (knocking myself out thinking of what "abstract works" children might like) and I came up with these small pieces. I even liked them myself (imagine that!). So then I made more of them to actually sell in my booth.

Here are a few examples.
They are very reasonably priced and will hopefully do well in this economy. Whatever that means?!?!?

I have found that folks have money when they want to have money.

Everyone is basically just like me in that they will find money for the things that are important to them.
Like art books.
Oh, sorry, maybe that's just me.

But I think you know what I mean. And sure, I have cut my budget in a variety of ways. Like I do a lot of my own grooming (cutting back on pedicures). And I clean my own house. Don't eat out as much. And don't buy expensive shampoo anymore.
But God forbid I would cut my book budget. Or let my hairdresser go. A girl's gotta have her standards.

Come see me this weekend at the Springfield Old Capitol Art Fair. I'll be in booth 129.

Collage Commission

You all know I love making commissions for people, I have talked about this before. I realize that some artists find if difficult (which it is) but I feel honored when someone allows me this privilege. Here is one that the hubby ordered as a Mother's Day gift for his wife.

Lots of magical synchronicity in the piece and I love it when that happens. Hope the Mom enjoyed it.

Squam Art Workshops

Woo Hoo, Squam here I come.
In case you didn't know, I will be teaching several classes at Squam this year, in the September session. I can not wait. Watch this video and you will see what I mean. Oooh la la.
There is a link in the sidebar that will take you directly to their site.
Come play with us!!

In memory of Merlyn

We said goodbye to Merlyn today. In the last few days his condition deteriorated significantly and we simply could not bear for him to suffer.

In my humble opinion, he was the cat of all cats, kind of our soul cat if you can imagine such a creature. Not to minimize our affection for Izzy and Gil, but Merlyn truly seemed to get us and offered an unconditional loving nature that I have never before seen in a cat.

We will miss him terribly.

Along for the ride

My friend Beth wrote about the roller coaster ride of life this morning on her blog and I'll tell ya, I can relate because it has pretty much been like this my whole existance. I remember telling John (on our first date if you can imagine), "it's a roller coaster baby, you need to understand that..." Yee gads its a miracle I didn't scare the man off.

These days, for me, its more like this kinetic sculpture I saw outside a restaurant on the Olympic Penninsula. I cannot remember where on earth we were (slaps self in head) but I was mesmerized and oddly felt as though I wanted to be within the art. It would rotate with grace in one direction then a breeze would move it in another direction all within an instant. Calm would come and allow just the tiniest of vibration - a mere sensation of movement or not, was it moving at all? Then suddenly a gust would cause it to spin.

Yet all was beautiful, order somehow maintained in the midst. I guess that's what I aspire to - when I grow up, I want to be this sculpture. Order and balance in the midst of a wildly changing and somewhat uncontrolled environment.

Art saves me.

And the beat goes on

Now that I am back home I'm tackling the enormous list that I made while at the show. It is full of lots of show related things such as more boxes for greeting cards (duh, can you believe I ran out of boxes for my faboo new cards - I sold out instantly of course. Slaps self in forehead).

I also want to have some shelving put in the truck so I can transport my paintings in a more secure manner. In recent years I have painted in just a few sizes, so it was easy to "batch" the works and pack them in the truck. My new abstracts are a variety of sizes(including the mongo 40"x40") and organizing them for packing was just a disaster. I felt extremely un-organized (not a good feeling for me) and was a wreck during the entire drive worrying about possible damage.

Yesterday I got lucky at our local Jo-Ann Fabrics (which is going out of business so they can reopen at a new location about 500 yards away). I bought a roll of headliner material. I didn't even know what it was, but some women in the store told me it is used as headliners in cars? It is foamy on one side and sort of nylon on the other. Seems very sturdy yet soft (won't scratch the work) and the roll/bolt is 60" wide. I got nearly 10 yards of it for less than $30. I plan to make pocket envelope thingies for the largest paintings. Then I will buy pipe insulation which will wrap around the edges to protect the frames from dents.

Sounds weird, doesn't it? I think it's going to work though. Pics will be posted once I get it together.

Musicovery

I found this neat music site this morning......it's called Musicovery, just click the link to check it out for yourself. The music is organized either by Mood or by Dance tempo. Geez, could this be more perfect! I think I invented this in my head, tee, hee.

Typically I listen to Pandora while I'm in the studio, mainly because its so easy. But this is much more sophisticated. With Musicovery you can pick by mood or dance tempo. Then, within that category, you can put a decade range. You can label your faves; you can mark tunes you don't want to hear again; you can opt to hear only less popular "discovery" artists (which is a fun way to find new music), and (if you have a mac) you can link all this functionality up with your iTunes library. You can also look at the play list you've been listening to and link to purchase options. I'm about 10 minutes new to the site, but it seems just way way way cool, specially for a moody Cancer moon child like me. Did I mention its free?

Only downside is the sign up page is in French, but I muddled through, so I'm sure you can too.

Cherokee Triangle

What a fun weekend I've been spending with my friend Marilyn and her husband. They are pampering me and I am simply not used to this during a show! It has been wonderful fun and I'm so grateful for their hospitality. Cause you see, I haven't really made that much money. So thank goodness my expenses are low. I think I will get calls on some other pieces now that the show is over. Keep your fingers crossed, ok? I am counting on it.

18 Years ago

Today I refer you to an old blog post which explains my sadness on this date. Yep, so many years later you would think I am better. And of course I am. But I allow myself a bit of wallowing this time each year. I wonder what it would be like to be mother of a 20 year old adult son - rather than memory keeper of my 18 month old baby boy. I will also pray that we don't lose Merlyn on this date although, with my sick sense of humor, I suggested to John perhaps it would be easier to just batch all tragic observances into one time frame.

Today I am driving to Louisville for the Cherokee Triangle show. If you're in the area, stop by and see me; I'd sure love to visit plus I am bringing cool stuff for you to see! I promise not to be sad. I'll be staying with my friend Marilyn which will be fun (yippee!) and so nice to be in a comfy setting rather than an impersonal hotel.

Art on the Spot Video

Several of you have asked about Art on the Spot and how it turned out. Thanks to Bud we now have a video, yippeee. He shows the "in process" pieces and the final result of each group of artists. It looks like I mainly drank and ate (imagine that, ha) but I really did work, tee, hee.

Studio shots

When the going gets tough the tough get cleaning.

With Merlyn's illness (and impending death - there, I've said it out loud) I don't seem to do much these days in the way of real art-making.

Many of my hours are spent enjoying his company because he is soooooo loving and insists on being with us each moment. Now he is curled up behind me (in my chair) so that my butt has barely enough room. He is losing interest in food so John and I are continually exploring foods for him to eat, ranging from tuna (straight from the can) to heavy cream to braunschweiger. I fear his days are numbered, possibly in single digits. He is still quite friendly though and spent yesterday hanging out with me and my friends in the studio.

And it was this visit of friends that prompted me to clean. I mean *really* clean. The studio was a disaster area, nothing like what you see in these magazines. Piles and piles of stuff on tables and the floor - projects in process; things I want to read; the box that I shipped home from Artfest; the art that came home from my show; on and on and on.

It took me several days and I got rid of lots plus I have a nice box to donate. I took little scraps of painted papers and used them as labels and think they are kind of perky, trying to cheer me up?

Stumble

I had the Stumble toolbar on my old computer and had (mercifully) forgotten about it when I got my iMac. Something reminded me this morning - possibly my commitment to avoid work at all costs?
Anyhow, I've been "stumbling" around the internets (wink) and am lost in all the incredible stuff you can find. I already twittered about one site, where you can make a sketch and it will be transformed into a kaleidoscope. Crack. Pure crack.
Then I found this mosaic, I think I ran across this a long time ago, but had forgotten, click on the link and then keep enlarging it - Van Gogh, Starry Nights. I found a book at the library's used book sale that has photo mosaics in it and they are so appealing to me.

Ok, ahem.

Back in the real world, Merlyn is hanging in there. He is persistent, but certainly no more than me. I am feeding him from a spoon now and also slipping tuna and tuna "juice" into his food to entice him. He is so friggin' hungry. Still purrs like a maniac. The drool is over the top though. Oh my goodness. He can levitate me from a dead sleep with his drooly kisses.

As far as me.......well....true creative energy is hard right now. I am organizing and cleaning the house and the studio. It feels good to purge stuff - piles and piles for recycle, donation, garbage. I am spending a lot of time just hanging out with Merlyn. He inspires me in different ways and I've written some poetry that I am not ready to share just yet.

The sun is shining. The lilac is in bloom. My li'l baby has eaten and is fast asleep. I will cherish this day and each one that follows because I love and am loved. Life is good.

Art on the Spot

What spot, you might say? Hmmm, I know very little. Other than the fact I will be at Chesterfield Arts tonight from 5-9 working in partnership (with an un-named assigned partner person, who oh who will it be?) using unknown materials furnished for me. I will not be allowed to bring ANY of my own stuff. None of my paints or cherished collage stuffies. No hair dryer, no spray bottle. No magic wand. Not that those things are magic, but they are my usual tools.

There will be 12 of us working. The pieces will be up for auction.

I hope this involves some sort of adult beverage.

Things go Better with Coke

I love collecting art from artists I admire. At a recent auction/fundraiser for Art Saint Louis, I was beyond thrilled to win a piece by Brian Smith.
It was slightly embarrassing to stalk the bidding form like I did, but I think you will agree it was worth it. The piece is back from the framers and I just adore the way it looks in our living room. It's an oil on paper in case you are interested, rich in color and texture. The way it plays off my Coke machine is terrific. The glass is by another friend of mine, Tony Cray.

This room is now filled with some of my favorite things. The Coke machine came from my grandfather's gas station and it is a treasure. The piano was my split from a divorce (I mean really, who wants practical stuff - I gave him all that just so I could keep my piano).

And you think I need furniture? Ah,that's over-rated too, ha! The other half of this room houses my big round puzzle table. And believe me, we spend more hours there than we would on any stinkin' living room furniture :-)

Peep peep

We all love Peeps, don't we? What's not to love? Pure sugar brings back childhood memories, ha. I actually prefer my peeps stale and immediately take them out of the box to facilitate the process, which I then inflict this on my grandsons as I perch peeps (unboxed) in their Easter baskets.

For the last few years, The Washington Post has done a Peep show contest and this year's winner made a diorama study on the famous Edward Hopper piece, Night Hawks. This is just the best ever master's study!

You can watch a brief talk from the peep artist here and learn more about her process - artistically and mentally - as she worked on the winning entry. It is quite interesting.

Show Schedule updates

I've updated the sidebar with my Art Fair schedule. There are a couple more shows I am hoping for (Kansas City Plaza and Memphis to be specific) but I will have to let you know about those.

I'm going solo this year, meaning the princess will schlep her own tent to the shows. It's the only realistic way we can accommodate Merlyn's illness because someone needs to be with him all the time. He is doing pretty well by the way and I am so very grateful for all your well wishes and prayers. It means a lot to me.

But back to the shows.....it's going to be a whole new ball game because John has always done the driving and the grunt work. I think I am up for the task though and will arm myself with amusing Podcasts for the driving. Now the grunt work is another story......geez, I can do it myself, but am somewhat limited by my height. Let's just say it's not pretty. Sometimes, after set up, I have pieces left over and that always troubles me. My main goal is to get the tent into its standing position without hitting any of my neighbors. Ahem.

I am hoping for a nice sunny day so I can refresh my memory before the Cherokee show and I also need to wash my mesh panels which are waaaayyyy yucky from last year's season.

Onward and upward.

Real Life Intervenes

It has taken me forever to write this post.
Somehow I can't find the right words.
Perhaps because I am blinded by tears rolling down my face.

This is a picture of my baby cat Merlyn. I say "baby cat" because he is our youngest. He is 13 years old. He is a lover. Completely unconditional with his hugs, kisses, purrs and kneads; he rubs my back when I can't sleep. Gives so much affection he is unlike any cat I have ever known. He has helped John and me through some horrifically tragic times in life.

And he now has cancer.
It is an ugly and aggressive cancer growing from his chin up into his mouth. It makes it tough for him to eat. Surgery is not possible due to the location of the cancer and chemo or radiation would be purely selfish on our part. There is no chance of survival.

So these days I am spending time with him. Coaxing him to eat. Providing a warm spot for him to sleep. Brushing his belly, grooming his face, just being with him.

I can not bear to think about it much. It's been many years since I have felt this much pain.

Artfest Recap

I am back from Artfest and it was glorious, oh so glorious. I taught 2 classes, both on Claybord. My students were genius I swear; I was simply blown away by the amazing work they created. It is incredible when I see someone resonate with new techniques and it is magical when I witness them utilizing these techniques within their own artistic voice. What a rewarding time for me as a teacher.

The me as a student got to take a class with Lisa Engelbrecht. She started out with black letter calligraphy then moved to some more informal alphabets ranging from the Sailor Jerry tattoo to a "scribble" alphabet of our own design. It was terrific fun and I can't wait to try to integrate this mark making into my own work.

If you missed Artfest, you can catch my Claybord classes at Valley
Ridge and Squam, both held later this year. I will be doing a 2-day "everything I know" kind of claybord class at Valley Ridge. I am looking forward to sharing all my tricks. The classes at Squam are one day each, just like these at Artfest.

Now that's a sandwich!

Tonight we took dinner to my stepdaughter and her family. We do this once a week, catch up with the kids over a nice home cooked meal that John and I bring to their house. It has turned into a wonderful tradition that we all enjoy. John and I were crazy busy today so instead of cooking, I stopped at The Art of Entertaining and picked up a couple frozen pasta dishes. One of them had shrimp which I felt certain the boys wouldn't eat that, so the other was chicken and sun dried tomato.

Aidan was quite adventurous, tried the shrimp and said he liked it. Ian.......well, that is another story. He is 4 and doesn't like pasta that much which always amazes me. And naturally he questioned the "red things"in the food. Neither of the dishes were cutting it for him so his Mom got out some salami and told him he could eat some of that. None of us were paying any attention to what he did next.

All I know is I heard Beth & Frank chuckling quietly. Which is when I saw Ian making a sandwich. He was methodically spreading a copious amount of butter on all sides of one piece of garlic bread. Then he got two pieces of salami and carefully put one on each side of the bread, where it stuck, due to the butter. I swear it was all we could do to not burst out with laughter.

Although I do think it's kind of creative to put the meat on the outside.

Marilyn Maye Tribute - "Java"

Imagine my surprise when my acupuncturist suggested that my sluggish morning hands and fingers - kind of like the Tinman, they need oil in the AM - was possibly due to caffeine.
Huh?
Seriously though, I have a number of very good healthy eating habits. But I will fess up to a coffee and sugar addiction.
Bottom line, I think I will have to learn to tolerate my stiff hands.

Habitat for Humanity

The door is done and I am delivering it today. It will be auctioned off with a bunch of others at the St. Charles Home and Garden show, proceeds to benefit Habitat for Humanity.
When I painted it I was thinking Headboard although I did leave the hole for the door knob in case someone wanted it for a door. I think it would be cool to use it as a headboard and to install a reading light in the hole part.
I am going to get another door today and make a headboard for the bed in our guest room.
And yes, I have crossed this off my list, yippee!!

No rest for the wicked

Ok, it's confession time. I thought that I would deliver my show, attend the opening, sigh with relief and somehow be magically transported to an exotic island paradise where my nubile body (stay with me, this is a dream after all) would frolic in gentle waves by day and paint fantabulous works of genius by night.

Ahem.

In actuality, it was on to the rest of my list. And holy canoli what a list it had become. Cause during my painting binge (the show and the Maplewood commission), I kept jotting down all the stuff I didn't want to forget and needless to say, I got reallyreally behind......

So, I have had no rest. None whatsoever. Been working like a crazy girl (good thing I love what I do!). Here's the list:

1. Paint door for Habitat for Humanity auction. Deliver no later than Friday.
2. Prepare classes for Artfest (actually, that's pretty much done, I don't want any of my students freaking out here :-)
3. Make art for Vending Night at Artfest.
4. Somehow come up with enough art for Spring Bloom show, supposed to leave on Friday for this one day show. Hmmm, have I mentioned that over 40 paintings are unavailable as they are in a gallery show right now????
5. Be available to participate with grandkids and family during Spring Break. This is listed as #5 but ranks much higher in importance to me.
6. Breathe. Exercise. Meditate. Breathe again.
7. Super secret stuff that I can't mention. Or I'd have to kill you. Suffice to say, it's overdue.
8. Commissions. Three of them, luckily the due dates aren't for awhile.
9. Plan more classes for my down time (don't laugh, once March is over, I will actually have some down time in April and yeah, I will use some of it to really relax).
10. Laundry.
11. Gather supplies for class I am taking at Artfest. I ordered all my teaching stuff from Akamai so I don't have to schlep it.
12. I don't have to clean house because my sweet wonderful hubby did the bulk of that (I helped a wee bit) this weekend.
13. Keep pinching myself because life is so very very good.

The Show, brought to you by Flip

My friend Bud used my Flip video recorder to film part of the opening. I can't get the editing functions to work on my Flip software, but here is some of the footage. Hopefully it will give you an idea of the show.......which was pretty sweet if I do say so myself. Philip, the fabulous artist/owner of PHD, outdid himself. A very class event!!

Thank you soooo much to my lovely friends and collectors who attended the opening. You all made it very special for me.

The Favored One

I shouldn't pick favorites; it's like children and pets I suppose. But I mentioned this piece a couple posts back. The one I did when I was sick and my brain was too tired to kick in and perform it's normal edit function.....I've been thinking about that so much - how to turn off that internal voice that second guesses and judges every move I make. I haven't come up with an answer as of yet, am going to have to keep thinking about it I suppose.

Anyhoo, this is the piece. It is 40" x 40" acrylic, collage, pastel & ink on canvas, framed. It's untitled, but I've taken to calling it "the favored one."

One final reminder (yeah, I'm pimping myself again)......my solo show opens tomorrow, that's Saturday, 3/07 at PHD Gallery, 2300 Cherokee Street in St. Louis from 6-10pm. Click on the link for other hours. And stay tuned for a video of the opening.

Countdown

You all will have to indulge me while I wallow around in the press for the upcoming show. I am absolutely pinching myself

Sweet, huh?

Circle mania

Here are some of the pieces for the show - all these are 24x24. Everything has been delivered except for the *really* big piece, which Heather is going to help me with today. Now all I need to do is finalize the commission (which is being installed next week) and I can actually breathe for a moment or two. Whew, what an invigorating time.

Sorry I have been so absent lately, but I got sick. Again. In the midst of the final painting frenzy, wouldn't ya know it? Crazy, but turned out to be good as my judgment brain was just too sick/exhausted to work and I managed to paint without interference from myself if you know what I mean. Turned out to be my favorite piece of the entire show. It's not shown here, stay tuned and I will share it next week.

Kingsford Goes to the Beach

Kingsford Goes to the Beach - Click here for more amazing videos

Creative Awakenings

It's here, it's here!!! Creative Awakenings: Envisioning the Life of Your Dreams Through Art. This is the book that I participated in, by Sheri Gaynor. It is now available and I have my very own copy which was sent to me by the publisher.



And oh is it sweet. I have to brag on myself just a little bit here because the background of the front cover is from the art I made and that lil gold fish (used throughout the book) is also from my art. He or she (the goldfish) symbolizes a "coming up for air" moment for me. It is incredibly synchronistic because Sheri has long used goldfish imagery in her workshops and even gives goldfish mementos to attendees. Of course I didn't know this till after I made the art. Don't you just love this kind of connection?

So anyway, back to the book. It is a *must have*. And I'm not saying that just cause I'm in it. Seriously, Sheri is a very skilled psychotherapist who is also an artist. She is my on and off coach, I only say on and off because she coaches me sporadically these days , mainly when I get so wigged out I can no longer deal. She is brilliant and insightful and funny to boot. Plus she is an artist. She gets it.

No matter what your aspirations or experience level, if you have a dream, grab a copy of Sheri's book and get to work. Sheri's book provides a guided process that will help you to not only set your intentions but to also move forward with your journey. Plus you get to read stories of journeys (like mine) and that of other artists such as Susan Tuttle, Katie Kendrick, Juliana Coles, Claudine Hellmuth, Jane Wynn and more.

I can't wait to curl up with a kitty (or two or three) by a nice warm fire and read this one from start to finish.

kittens inspired by kittens

A friend of mine posted a link to this video on Facebook and it just cracked me up, the kitten "screams" are the best. The commentary from this clever child is hilarious - she definitely has a future in entertainment, ha! And the book reminds me of a similar book I had when I was little, now I want to call my mom and see if she still has it......

Palette Pages - the sketchbook project

I signed up for this project called the sketchbook project, sponsored by Art House Coop.
I honestly don't know what I was thinking when I signed up, I mean gee, I was only painting for a solo gallery show, teaching a bunch of classes, trying to submit for upcoming art fairs, managing commissions, etc, etc. How I thought I might also be able to maintain a sketchbook is beyond me. But I really wanted to do it and plus I loved the entire concept and spirit of the project. So what the hey, I signed up.














The "sketchbook" arrived and it was this baby moleskin, smaller than what I normally use. It freaked me out cause I just couldn't draw that small and I felt so oddly inhibited. I drew a few things and promptly tore them out. So much for my "no mistakes" motto, ha!

Anyway, since I was painting every day, I decided to start saving my palette pages - the waxed deli sheets I use when mixing my paint. I always enjoy looking at them and thought it would be cool to save them in a more formal manner. I've scanned a few of them here so you can see what I am talking about.

I am such a paint freak that I really like them. Each one reminds me of a specific point in time and I can instantly transport myself back to the exact painting involved. I know this memory shall fade as the year goes by and I wish I would have left some blank space so I could do a tiny journal entry about the paints I used (yeah, I know that is waaaaayyyyyy anal) what I was working on, etc. Going forward I will definitely add commentary of some sort.

I'm not going to submit the journal for the official tour as it can't even remotely be categorized as sketching. I will also confess my regret that I didn't manage to establish a regular sketching practice after all. But I am totally grateful to the way the project propelled me to keep my palette pages.

Happy Valentine's Day

OWOH Winners

Using a random number generator, I have drawn the winners, yippee!!!
Congratulations to the following ladies:

First prize goes to purplepaint.
Second prize to Ellen Lyn.
And third prize to Artseyanne.

Thanks so much to all of you who stopped by - it was simply wonderful to receive such sweet comments. I really appreciate it. I met some interesting people and expanded my blog reading list (ha, whether this is good or bad remains to be determined, just joking!). What a lovely idea, thanks to Lisa for thinking of it!

Not my Candy - FDA recall

I was just perusing the FDA site to see if any of my "must have" peanut products have been recalled. I already had to toss a package of Z-bars (yeah, I know they are for kids, but what can I say) that Clif recalled voluntarily. I finished my peanut butter M+M's without incident, so I guess they are OK.
But anyhoo, I was reading the list and noticed a preponderance of candy named after excrement. Yep, it's true. Bear Poop, Bear Scat, Buffalo Chips, Moose Droppings, Cow Patties........HUH!?!?!? Now I would never say that people who eat such products deserve to be contaminated, but seriously folks.......

10,000 Hours

I recently read Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers: The Story of Success, and found it quite interesting. In the book, he talks about how and why people become successful. He references studies of IQ, upbringing, circumstance, and even date of birth - and analyzes their potential relationship to becoming successful. There are lots of intriguing notions, the kind that make you think huh, and then sit there and ponder the idea. I was especially taken by the concept of 10,000 hours. That is the number of hours generally accepted to be necessary to become an expert in a field - the number of hours you need to put in to become a master of whatever it is that you do. I don't know if I have 10,000 hours painting or not, but I suspect I do, having done this for awhile now. Am I a master? Of a few things, yeah, I probably am. Do I have a lot to learn? Sure I do!

This past weekend I was teaching a group of women - we were working on claybord and a couple people became frustrated with their work. They wanted to create beautiful perfect work the first time. I told them about the 10,000 hour concept. I don't know if it reassured them or not. Possibly it might have pissed them off. But I truly think it is something to remember. We are living in this *instant* society, where it seems like everything is available absolutely on demand, to the point we expect that we can somehow learn by osmosis without putting in the hours. Short cuts abound.

I revel in the process, the journey, hour after hour. Creating layers one at a time. Building texture. Feeling the paint, watching it dry, playing with dripping ink. It's what I do; it's who I am. I have many many more hours to travel.

And, as an aside, I sincerely hope it doesn't take 10,000 hours before I can conquer my FLIP camcorder. I filmed on and off all weekend and hoped to show a little vignette for you today. Flip doesn't play well with mac or perhaps MB just hasn't figured it out yet.

Running

I have 2 pieces in this show, opening tonight. John and I are going to the opening early, probably 6-ish. Then out to dinner to celebrate Valentine's a little early.

I'm working in the studio today, then teaching tomorrow. And again on Monday, when I am a guest artist at Visitation Academy. I will teach 4 classes of students which should be a lot of fun.

Plus commissions and more abstract work in between. Yikes, I continue to have a lot going on. For which I am grateful.

Feisty Females Radio

Yippee, it's up!!!  At long last (ha, third time was truly the charm) Sheri Gaynor's interview of me is up on her site.  Click on over to listen.  

Check out Sheri's site while you are there - her book, Creative Awakenings is available for pre-order on Amazon.  I'm thrilled that some of my art was utilized on the cover and I can't wait to see the book, which is going to be here very very soon.