Posts

Showing posts from 2011
Image
Once again, a giant THANKS to Seth Apter for including my response(s) in the Christmas Day edition of The Pulse. Check out the amazing series featured on his blog, The Altered Page - engaging and inspirational! Happy Holidays to all and best wishes for the coming year!

Tis the Season

Image
After late nights and long weekends, my husband, Jim, finished his paintings in time for the gallery opening . As with any date in December, the weekend was packed with arts events and it wasn't as populated as previous New Editions Holiday shows . But what do you know, one of the attendees was the art buyer for the University of Kentucky Hospita l . The major renovation includes a mindset that embraces the 'art heals' philosophy; according to Herald-Leader reporter Tom Eblen , UK Hospital is a notable art museum. They continue acquiring works to showcase Kentucky's amazingly talented, diverse artists, the most recent being nine of Jim's 18x18 mixed media pieces! What an honor! Take a moment to enjoy his work while I digress... I am not the only one who feels unprepared, behind schedule, frazzled and, well, tired. I know I'm not. But even after years of experience, I'm off the grid, out of the loop, in an oddly egg-shaped orbit that has taken me far

Have Heart

Image
A while back I won a shrine kit from the magnificent Kristin Hubick at Retro Art Cafe . If you aren't familiar with the Coffee Break packages, the Flaming Heart Milagro Shrine kit includes (3) 1/8" Masonite pieces, along with a small crown and cross, which I decided not to use in my design. After painting, stamping, drilling holes and other fun stuff, I glued the pieces together, further embellished, of course, and wire danglies. The finished piece measures roughly 5" x 4" with a 1" square opening - perfect for my message, have heart. I sent the photo to Kristin and she entered it in the " I Love Retro Art Cafe " contest she has posted on Facebook. The deadline isn't until December 3rd, so there's still plenty of time to see just how much fun you can have with these nifty snap-apart kits. I just received the Baroque Door Shrine Kit (ATC sized) that I ordered, hoping to finish it before the end of the month. Fall crocuses were just ahead of da

Backgrounds and then some...

Image
I was fortunate to be featured on Seth Apter's latest edition of The Pulse . If you haven't been there yet, check out the amazing variety of artists on The Altered Page , now talking about their favorite tools and/or techniques. I could spend entire days wandering around the blogs he has graciously shared over the months - such fabulous art! My favorite part of the creative process is diving into, or on I should say, a white surface and it just so happens I've been working on backgrounds for the past several weeks. I grab as much 'stuff' as I can scavenge in my studio (not difficult!!), like coffee cup wrappers, gift wrap, tape, sewing patterns, corrugated paper, wholey paper (of course - a must on every piece - available at my pal Saluda Jane's Random Arts !) glass bits, punchinella, whatever. Then, along with molding gel and several other textured media, begin the layering process. And layering and layering... then grabbing sponges, bottle caps and a s

The Flea Market Arrived

Image
A couple of weeks ago, Trina at the The Paper Flea Market , had a water-damage related sale - the deal was $10 for a Priority Mail box. I love surprises and have done business with her before so I didn't hesitate. The biggest surprise was when I realized just how many treasures were jam packed in the box... I can't imagine the value of the amazing stuff she sent me, but I suspect it would fetch quite a bit more than $10!! Game pieces, fabrics, tons of papers, post cards, playing cards, photographs, an entire book... I love the vintage school work - who doesn't remember practicing the alphabet on ruled sheets (that were white at the time:), or the visual method for learning vocabulary - always my favorite. These days every credit card comes with a reward or point system which has done away with the exquisite paper trail of old. The stamp books are a fave - I remember a really, really long time ago when my mom collected Green Stamps. She redeemed them for counter-top applianc

Stacks and Gifts

Image
Seth Apter's latest collaboration on The Altered Page , is the admission of our proclivity to stack. Hop on over to his blog to check out the myriad ways creativity can be piled! I immediately thought of the paper I use to protect the drawing table. Once a project is done I add the paper to the pile accumulating on a side shelf and tear off a new piece. Yes, it's brown kraft paper, but, the sheets are also a journal in a sense. I can leaf through them and see what I was working on, sketches and doodles, stamped images, holes sliced out, lists, color experiments and a host of other information - phone numbers, names, dates - because having two teenagers necessitates the answering of the phone while working in the studio. It also serves as alternative, readily-available gift wrap - what's better than recycling?! After I finished the box (below) I wrapped it with the paper I'd used and tied it with recycled sari ribbon. It may look a bit odd, but people who know m

Mildly Creative - and Then Some!

Image
by Ken, August, 2011 Somewhere along my search for inspiration I ran across Mildly Creative . The proprietor, Ken, may or may not have a chronic illness, but his insights as a 'Quirk in Progress' run parallel to my own thoughts and beliefs. What is better than affirmations from a like-minded creative?? Two of his recent posts hit home in a particularly relevant manner. The Courage to be Boring speaks to those of us who don't lead socially exciting or outwardly adventurous lives, but derive our meaning and happiness from our internal passions... such as writing and art. One of my favorite quotes: "The best thing I ever realized is that I’d rather be boring than bored." Limits on energy and resources due to chronic illness often force this practice though it's considering it a choice is a fine idea. My other recent fave, Doing and Failing is Better than Wishing and Waiting may sound logical and fairly obvious; however, I wonder how many creatives, aside

On the brighter side

Image
A big challenge when blogging about National Invisible Illness Week is avoiding rerun mode when discussing life with chronic illness. As in, wow, I was going to post every other day but suddenly it's Thursday! Oh well, a crazy barometer and the crazier schedules of the mom-taxi passengers, and so on... I decided to focus instead on a couple of CI folks who chose to contribute to the positivity flowing in cyber world. The first is Michael Nobbs , a British artist, writer and tea drinker diagnosed in the late 1990s with ME/CFS/PVFS (otherwise known as Myalgic Encephalopathy/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome). The debilitating fatigue that derails many a creative endeavor is Michael's daily existence; his philosophy, however, is about sustaining creativity in blocks of time based on available energy. He counsels that devoting even fragments of time to one's art leads to a collective body of work. He focuses on prioritizing, or as he says in his fr

Invisible Illness (Next) Week

Image
Though the national Invisible Illness Week doesn't officially launch until September 12th, I decided to post today because, well, I'm having a flare, probably like half the population. Yes, it's a stat; nearly 50% of us suffer from a chronic condition. It is very difficult to remain still when my dreams are so alive and energized. And when there are dirty dishes, laundry and chores that seem higher on the priority list than working in the studio, though usually not! The IIW website is a wealth of information for those of us dealing with the myriad conditions that may go unnoticed, unless of course you happen to play tennis like Venus Williams (Sjogren's Syndrome) or golf like Phil Mickelson (Psoriatic Arthritis - both just like me!). In one of my favorite articles , founder Lisa Copen writes about the fact that living with illness doesn't mean choosing giving in! Next week I'll be writing more about this year's theme, Deep Breath, Fresh Start, the modus
Image
How very cool to get an email from Seth Apter with the cover photo and news that the book will be hot off the press in a few short months - March 2012!! Knowing that my words will be contained within those pages is such an honor! I was one of a hundred artists who wrote - in detail - about art, process, inspiration... come to think of it, I was rather brutally honest - it will be interesting to see which of my thoughts appear in print! Seth, as I'm sure most of you know, is an amazing artist, writer, blogger and host of the fabulous blog series The Pulse. The Style File , launched early in July, is the first of six collaborative projects that asks artists the question, "how would you describe your artistic style?" Seth has gifted the art-blog world with an incredible opportunity to peek into the creative windows of a multitude of diversely-talented artists. My own descriptive was featured in the third installment. If you haven't yet visited The Altered P

The making of a box

Image
In a post a while back I mentioned that the owner of the corner market has been kind enough to give me (by the dozen!) Swisher Sweet boxes. They are the most durable of all cigarillo boxes - sturdy enough to withstand paint, sanding and gluing, but without the complexity of a wood cigar box. Textured backgrounds are my most favorite part of creating. I've benefited from so many others' blogs,articles in magazines and books, workshops and tutorials... I decided to document and share my process. After a light sanding and coat of gesso, spotty pumice gel and some molding paste, I sort through the (exponentially growing piles) scraps left from previous projects and I save even the smallest bit so I don't have to do much ripping. Golden's Clear Tar Gel is so great for gluing, a habit I formed long ago, though there is likely a better (cheaper!) adhesive? It's actually cool to look at this photo and see history, tissue, strip from a wedding piece, pa

Buried Treasure

Image
Thanks to Seth Apter for drawing the art-blog community closer together - again!! He is so amazingly generous; blog world is definitely a better place because of Seth and all his efforts. Here is one of my favorite 'oldies'! deadlines. all the years I worked at our agency we lived by them. we had drop deadlines too. nice language. get it done or drop dead? think about or do little else until the deadline arrives and the project, thing, action is complete and one can resume living. It has been nearly five years since I've lived - and died more than a few times - in that world. other than paying bills on time, washing socks when everyone starts yelling, and stocking the fridge with the basics, I don't have deadlines. doctor's appointments don't count because you all know that passing the hours in a waiting room is enough to kill anyone. I am fairly self-propelled, albeit somewhat tardy on occasion; my daughter says we put the 'pro' in procrastination. cal

Lobsters, Lighthouses and Legbones

Image
Maine is the only New England state I hadn't had a chance to visit - until this week. The photos I'd seen, friends' stories... there are no disappointments. Though I grew up in New York (state) I've lived in Kentucky for so many years that it is truly a refreshing memory zing to step into this climate (a couple dozen degrees cooler as well:) and culture. A couple of hours on a sailboat offered a splendid vista, the coastline and legendary lighthouses are as amazing as I'd imagined. And to think that some of the oldest buildings in the country are in this area is fascinating. My sister and brother-in-law drove up to Acadia yesterday and the photos are incredible. The original Acadians were French who were driven out by the English. They sailed down the coast and ended up in Louisiana, and Acadian morphed into Cajun along the way. I'm glad my mother is a history buff:), I mean, who knew?? There are so many photo opportunities that it's almost overwhelming. I