Thursday, December 27, 2012

Genius at Work!

Look close - it's only 1/2 a tree!  The solution to years of frustration moving furniture around in a small space to accomodate a large Christsmas tree.  All it took was 2 hooks drilled into the wood part of the wall.  Genius :)  A new tradition is born.


Monday, November 19, 2012

Christmas Angel

Celebrating a completed piece of art to add to our Christmas keepsakes.  She'll look pretty with a nice red or green candle placed close by.  First effort at painting wings.....I want to do another one!

   

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Agnes de Mille Quote

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique.  And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost.  The world will not have it.  It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable, nor how it compares with other expressions.  It IS your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.  You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work.  You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you.  Keep the channel open.....No artist is pleased.  (There is) no satisfaction whatever at any time.  There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive."

Agnes de Mille  1943

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Childhood Home

Living in Kenosha, Wisconsin was like living in Mayberry.  In my memory it's a place suspended in time, full of wonder and magic.  It felt as if both of my parents were fully present; we had a dog and the neighborhood was full of friends.  My mother was close to her family and you could feel that extended family connection. This is the house we lived in.  It was such a fun house, complete with library, hidden staircase and a laundry chute.  I just wanted to honor this memory, this moment in time by posting the house in my blog:


Thursday, September 27, 2012

New Wheels!

Look what an angel brought into my life - new wheels!  An angel named Brenda. Well, not brand new, but new enough to last a good long time and take me on many an adventure.  It's so much fun to think - where shall I GO?  No more worries.  I'm still pinching myself.  Oh, for those who want detail, it's a 2001 Chevy Lumina with only 26,200 miles on it.  I named her Whinny.  Isn't she beautiful?

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Christmas Angel PIP

Painting in Progress......already thinking about Christmas and going for making my own Christmas cards this year.  The sketch is on plastered cradle board.  Going to Grand Junction to visit my sisters, and then will be excited to come back to this project.  I have high hopes it will be beautiful!


Best Buddies

I love this picture of Paul and Chloe!  It's SO CUTE!  Nuff said - you can see the love......

 

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Page 6 of Faces

This one was so hard,  but I persevered and finally finished.  I was going for intimacy, a connection between 2 people, the look of love;  something along those lines.  I'm calling it a success, but I really need to work on HAIR.  I see so many mistakes, but I'm calling it done.........


Painting in Progress, Update #3

It's feeling pretty stiff.  Hoping a few plants will loosen things up.  I love how the wall came out and I do love big shapes.  Am itching to paint his (maybe her) face so this is not so ugly next post.


Saturday, August 11, 2012

Face #5 - Carlos

Thought I'd practice this face in my brown bag book before doing the "big" painting.  Messed up the proportions on the right side of his face, but I still like it.  Actually like this composition better than the one for the painting, but too late to change that unless I want to start over.  It'll be fine.  The graffiti was really FUN to do!


Saturday, August 4, 2012

Lesson 4 - Diary of Faces.  Charles Frederick Goldie (1870-1947) depiction of Joan of Arc.  No one really knows what Joan looked like.  I wanted her to look more warrior-like, but also wanted her to look 19 which is how old she was when she was put to death.  I think she looks 19, but I did not accomplish warrior-like.  I really love painting Saints :)  Did not put this one in my Book of Faces because I want to hang it on the wall.


Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Face #4 - Poland

It took me an entire Saturday, but I was flying high with the way the arm and scarf came out.  That was a challenge! The face was practically a breeze after that.  Alison named her Selena.  I'm not sure Selena is a Polish name, but what the heck..........


Saturday, July 14, 2012

Face #3 - China

I left the black space on the right side of the left page to put a poem or word in later........


Monday, July 9, 2012

Diary of Faces Pg 2 - Dominican Republic

My first attempt to paint a dark skinned person.  What fun!  There are so many colors in dark skin.  I made the mistake of using tissue as the background and it gave me such trouble I had to stop painting before I could alter Niya's rather pissed off expression.  I think Niya is tired of working so hard.  I can relate to that.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Not much time to paint today, but did fix the sky.  Not that much of it will show, but makes working on the painting more enjoyable.  Corrected the boys chin.  My Italian friend Dottie says Italians don't have pointy chins.  Learned something new from her!  Scumbled some dark into the wall for more texture.
With the leftover paint and some inks, made art papers for the Family Tree book I'm working on..............
And then made a few tags just for fun.  I do enjoy making cards and tags............
That's all for today!  Happy 4th of July!



Sunday, July 1, 2012

Painting in Progress, Update 2

Trying to create a textured wall and like it so far.  Like the cool background as I hope it will make the wall recede once I start painting the boy. Not sure about the color of the sky now, but since most of it will be lost once I get the plants in the window, I'm not going to worry about it just yet.  I'm using my downstairs window as a model because I would like to paint from life, but I may have to change the blinds.  Blinds don't look very Italian.  This is lightning speed progress for me!

 

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Painting in Process Update 1

Looking kind of ugly and scary, but had a blast painting today.  Here's where I stopped today.


Saturday, June 23, 2012

Painting in Progress

Many projects are in various stages of completion - plaster boards, tableleg dolls, memory tiles, family tree collaged book pages, book of faces..........my brain has so many ideas popping around and just can't seem to focus on just one thing.  Today I decided to paint.  It's been so long since I've done an actual painting I thought I had better do one before I forget how!  Here's what happened in the studio today.  Remember I am working blind, but am pleased with the direction this one is going.

Phase 1:

Phase 2:


  

Grandma Gusta

Oh my goodness, I got so wrapped up in researching my family tree that I have forgotten all about blogging!
It was exciting to find tons of information about my very mysterious Grandmother Augusta. My father's mother.  I had only really seen her in pictures as an old woman.  Uncovering a young "Gusta" was so much fun because not only do I look like her, but her family is the one that is traceable back to the late 1400's in the USA.  All of my other ancestors immigrated to the US in the 1800's. It's inspiring to learn about their journey here and how much they must have sacrificed and struggled to start a new life.  I've also had the pleasure of meeting 2 new cousins on my mother's side and I think I have tons more to discover.  Here is a fabulous picture of "Gusta".  My she was an immaculate dresser! A true Southern lady.  Isn't her hair fabulous?

 My computer has been freezing up since last October.  FINALLY Dell gave me a new motherboard and YAY! my computer works.  IT IS SO NICE to have a healthy computer again.  June 1st I had a cataract removed and I am walking around stunningly BLIND waiting for the eye to heal so I can get a new eye glass prescription.  It's very hard to be patient when your vision is messed up.  I feel so fortunate to live in an age when vision can be repaired and altered with glasses!  3 more weeks - Life is Good :)

  

Friday, May 4, 2012

Ancestor Search


I've been quiet and engrossed in completing a project I've been wanting to do for at least a dozen years.  My geneology is such a hodge-podge.  My dad never talked about his parents.  Mom just threw pictures in a box and what a mess it was to sort through.  I'm not a scrapbooker, but I did want to put something special together for my kids.  I ordered this great geneology chart from www.misbach.org at least 10 years ago.  They are still available on that website.  This is what I've discovered so far through my wonderful cousins, MaryAnne and Lee who have always kept in touch with family and by using Ancestry.com.  What a wonderful website!  So far I have unearthed 2 great grandparents, four 2x grandparents, six 3x grandparents, four 4x grandparents and one line that goes back to the late 1400's.  It's quite blowing my mind and become a mission.  Discovered we have a bizillion distant cousins in Fitgerald, Georgia who have been online uploading family trees.  Now this is a fabulous gift from the age of technology!
  

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Book of Faces

Started a Book of Faces using the brown bag book.  This is Claire.  She is quite proper and serious.  I'd like to tell her to loosen up and have some fun.  The old page I used in back of Claire is not strong enough alone as a ground.  Had to stop working her skin colors because the paper was breaking up.  Put some pearls on her and had to call it good.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Journal Book 5

This book is made from thin birch wood, plaster and acrylic.  It was a great learning piece.  Texturing the plaster before it dries is super important and I will pay more attention to that on the next book.  Love ♥ the feel of it in my hands.  Not sure if the cover is finished as it looks so formal, like it's waiting for a title or a drawing of some kind.  It's on simmer for the time being......... can you see the butterflies flying?  Unless you know they are there, they don't stand out.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

The Collector

Self discovery today.  

It feels like:
  •          finding something on a treasure  hunt!
  •      a puzzle piece clicking into place
  •     a fuzzy picture suddenly zooming into focus
  •     the unconscious suddenly becoming conscious

and once discovered – headsmack!
OF COURSE - I am
WHY WOULDN’T-  I be
I know exactly  WHY
This thing morphed into my being
because I grew up surrounded by it.
Because I witnessed the living of it.
So much a part of me I couldn’t see it.
Until now.   

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Jewelry Tangent

There is so much to learn and so many lovely creative tangents to take.  I am told by my friends that I'm a "collector" and I do have a collection of junk jewelry acquired through years of browsing garage sales.  Inspired by a coworker who was wearing the most beautiful lanyard, I decided to do something with my stash.  The missing ingredient was silver beads and as luck would have it, Michaels was having a big bead clearance.  Here's what I came up with.  Jewelry making is not my passion, but I'm pleased to have something pretty to hang my security badge on:

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Patron Saint of Zero

We've been joking about this for months at work - that we needed a Patron Saint to balance the bank accounts.  In our financial computer system, it needs to net to 0.  Some days we are so pulling out our hair to find that entry error that is throwing us off.  I found a wonderful artist on the internet who started dreaming up Patron Saints of everyday problems.  I thought it was such a fun idea.  Her name is Rogene Manas and you can see her work here.  Finally this week I made one - to pass around to whoever is out of balance and is about to commit hari-kari.  Here she is (I wish I had made her eyes green.  Oh well.....):

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Wallhanging

Probably should finish this wall hanging properly, but am impatient to move on so I just slapped it in a frame to enjoy until the spirit moves me to sell it.  I found an upholstery fabric sample book in a neighbors trash while on a walk and these pieces came from that.  The jewelry piece was an old clip-on earring find at a garage sale.  That was an exciting day!  The mate earring adorns one of my beautiful felted baskets that I would not part with!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

New Page Added to Fabric Book

Recently discovered the "Quilting Arts" magazine.  The birdies on this month's cover had to go in my fabric journal book.   Have been wanting to try out the "reverse applique" technique (found it on the internet) using stacked fabrics and big shapes.  It worked out awesome for this page.  It is screaming for my inktense pencils, but don't have them yet.  When they arrive I will update this picture:




Spring in Colorado

The air smells so clean today
The sky so clear and crisp
Gentle sun is already at work
Shape-shifting snow to puddles
On newly shoveled cement.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Ummm.....Don't know but I like it!

This one came out so cute, but apparently not everyone sees what I see.  Judy saw a pretty bowl, Shad sees grass and a tree.  What do you see?


P.S.  I saw the top half of a very cute tennis shoe!  Anyway, the green bit came out awesome.  There is lace embedded in the wax with a sheer piece of aqua fabric under the lace.  Cool, right?

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Brown Bag Book

Love, love, love this brown bag book - finished it today ♥  The pages are all crumply and soft inside.  Used some beads on the spine which was super fun.  This one will be really fun to journal in.


Survived

Survived turning 60 this weekend.  That's a milestone!  Took a few days to assimilate myself to that number, but I guess I am.  So many loved souls turned up with a special way to celebrate mwa - love that! Guess I better wake up and make the next decade count.  This was one favorite gift from my sweet friend Karen:

Digital Magic

This is beautiful to see and hear.  Enjoy digital magic by Philip Scott Johnson:

500 Years of Female Portraits/YoYo Ma

Friday, January 20, 2012

Incense Stick Technique

This was quick,  fun and it smelled great while doing it.  Handmade paper - holes burned in using an incense stick.  Feels good to work in wax.  I was dreaming of the lovely smell of bees wax and had to turn on the griddle for a day:

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Unnumbered Book

I am having a whole lot of fun making journal books.  The possibilities are endless.  I even dreamed about making a book last night - it had such cool textures.  I want to take a class on bookmaking or maybe I should just search the internet for a great new book on the subject of bindings.  I LOVE the bindings and can't wait to finish another cover.  Please post a comment if you know of a good resource!