Generosity

When I started blogging, I knew that it would be beneficial for me in many ways...to keep an art journal of my thoughts and ideas...to sharpen my photography skills...to hone my writing technique.  What I didn't anticipate was the community and connectedness that would occur...

About two weeks ago, a package arrived at my doorstep...from one of my readers who was the happy recipient of my collage coaster giveaway...Christie had read my "stillness" post which featured my lovely antique teacup...she knew what she had to do...I quote from her note...

"When I saw the brown & white English teacup on your blog, I knew what I wanted to send to you - you see, my parents collected that pattern more than 50 years ago when we lived in England.  Each weekend they would go to the market in a nearby town...and they slowly collected lots of dishes in so many variations (toast racks, tureens, pitchers, etc).  I have been moving these dishes around with me all my adult life.  I decided it is time to share and pass some on - so here you are - a little creamer.  I'm afraid the sugar bowl met with a sad end..."

Tears filled my eyes...I could not believe the generosity of a soul whom I have only met online...it was not only a wonderful gift...but a wonderful note...I will cherish both...

The creamer is charming...and fits in beautifully with my small collection of treasured brown and white ironstone...

 

Linking up to Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday...another wonderful online soul who has given me so much inspiration over the last year...Each photo in this post was edited with kk texture minus 43...which added the right amount of warmness during these cold winter days...

 

 

No explanation

Sometimes there is no explanation...sometimes things just remain a mystery of life...

On Saturday, I was feeling the garage sale/junking itch...but I was holding strong...not scratching it...I have plenty of "raw materials" for art and project ideas...best to leave it alone...

So with a little extra time, I figured that I would tackle another area of the basement...you see, I'm only dealing with a small section at a time...if I tried to do it all, it would be too much...and then nothing would get done...

There was an unlabeled box in the pile...I opened it up and behold!  Yard Sale Treasures!  I have no memory of this haul...but it certainly had all the types of goodies I would pick up...

amber bottle, two english ironstone platters, a dictionary - a pronouncing dictionary to be exact (a dictionary that deals exclusively with the correct pronunciation of a word) and several vintage metal embroidery hoops...

another large dictionary with exquisite detailed drawings, an old metal frame embossed with delicate flowers,
a couple of vintage wood oval embroidery hoops...

All the joy and thrill of the hunt without leaving home...it satisfied that junking itch quite nicely...but now my curiosity was piqued...I can't recall this adventure at all...

and it just proves that you never know what you might find...even in your own house...

beyond Beyond

In 2012 I participated in Kim Klassen's class, Beyond Layers...it was a class about sharpening your skills with Photoshop...with a sidekick of inspiration and creativity boost for your artistic life.  And there was the opportunity to share your work with others in the class...from all over the world...
With the start of 2013, Kim decided to build on that initial class...and has started beyond Beyond...

I signed up immediately...this year, there's just a once a week prompt...providing a challenge...idea to try...food for thought...a creative kick in the pants...its the perfect nudge for me...especially since my word for the year is "essence" and I want to focus on what my art is about...

Class started yesterday...and our first challenge was to change our perspective with taking a photograph...look at the subject from a different angle or viewpoint...take our time...don't be rushed...edit the results...see what works and what doesn't...which all tied in neatly with Kim's closing advice...be present...

Paring down to what is important...to the essence...I think I may be on the right path...

Do you have a word for the year?...has it motivated you yet?  do tell...

Journals, take #2

Sometimes I find that when I get going on a project, its tough to stop...

Last week, back to cleaning out the basement (I know, you must be thinking...this is either a really messy basement or a really big basement since this cleaning never seems to stop...believe me, its both!)  Came across a box of three-ringed binders...courtesy of the Southern Man (who is a retired judge)...how many binders does one need (especially if you are through with that work thing!)  but interspersed among the plastic and vinyl binders were five old waxed cardboard legal binders...those I rescued...

Since they are already bound with book binding tape...with paper fasteners attached...
and all setup for 8-1/2"x11" paper, all I do is add a little finesse and make them into

Each cover design is a combination of one of my vintage art cards mounted on a scrap piece of Midori paper...
with a little embellishment underneath...

 

Just as I did for the garden journals I made, I used recycled papers, again bound together with the paper fastener which makes swapping out pages so easy...a sheet of patterned wallpaper is the cover page...and a library card pocket is glued on the front inside cover.

 

Now that I've given you the idea...

why don't you see if you can find some of these old binders and make a journal of your own...

would love to see what you come up with...

 

FYI...since I'm getting so many comments with "noreplyblogger" as the email address...which prevents me from responding to your comment directly, I will be leaving my reply underneath your comment here on the blog if there is no email address activated with your profile...I want you to know that I read every comment and appreciate your support...

Putting all my eggs in one basket...

Excuse the cliché...its neither a basket...

nor all my eggs (though I do love my vintage blue teal egg darner...)

but it seemed appropriate to describe the marketing of my art this year.  In the past, I've done 3-4 events each year, a combination of art shows and vintage shows...but this year, I've decided to do one gig...The Farm Chicks Show.

Held in Spokane WA from June 1-2, The Farm Chicks Show is touted to be one of the best antique/vintage shows in the country.  I'm taking the approach that since there's such a vintage vibe to my artwork...and I have this knack with junk...that this would be a great venue for me.











So already I'm in high gear...and thought I would tempt you from now until June with periodic peeks at what I'm creating for the show...

Today's peek...vintage garden journals...

Made from the covers of a damaged set of 1908 encyclopedias, I combined the collaged covers with recycled papers to create one of a kind journals...

The complete tutorial on how I constructed these journals can be found here...

I like using the metal paper fasteners to bind them since you can easily add or remove papers at your whim...

Inside I've added a few extra touches...like card pockets, a cover page cut from patterned wallpaper and a couple of wax envelopes to store seeds or pressed flowers...


















Each cover collage is different and combines vintage ephemera with garden inspired papers...often using pages from these encyclopedia volumes...

Want to know more about the show...visit The Farm Chicks Show Facebook page for details...
people do travel from all over the country to attend...you could too...

and just to inspire you even more...linking up to Funky Junk Interiors SNS...

Camaraderie, part 3

Last Monday I had my first photo shoot...as the photographer, not as the subject.  An artist friend of mine - Lisa Myers Bulmash, asked me if I would take some photos of her artwork...she admires the photos on my blog and thought I could work some magic for her.

First of all, I was extremely flattered...I think I do ok with my point & shoot but its no where in the professional arena...and I have learned a thing or two with Photoshop...but again, I'm still in the novice stage.

Second, Lisa has taken photos of her work for her blog and she's done a great job...I think she just needed a little nudging...but it gave us a chance to hang out for a morning and talk shop...always a benefit for an artist!

Winter in the Pacific NW can be very gray...and thus was this day...which made shooting with natural light a challenge. 

So we propped up white boards...and suspended canvases from string...and knelt down on the floor...ever under the watchful eye of Lisa's dog, Moxie...

Lisa's work is multi-dimensional...both in its physical construction and in its interpretation...I wanted to examine the layers of materials...and the depth of meanings...

And to thank me, Lisa gave me a print of this stellar collage...

Lisa will have her first solo art exhibit in May 2013 at the Mountlake Terrace Library...

find all the details HERE 

it will be on my calendar...how about yours?...

stillness

There is something about the stillness of January...after all the hubbub of December,
it seems as if the world wants to quiet down...

The mornings have been silent...and chilly...a moment frozen in time...

the spider web seems to mimic the rusty springs of my garden art...

Inside the house, the christmas decorations are put away...but the skeleton keys that were hanging on my grapevine tree are still around...and the amber bottles now hold dried seed pods instead of cedar branches and tiny glass ornaments...

 

Nothing too bright, bold or brash...time to reflect and plan...

 

And gear up for the next project...

On my nightstand

Its been a while since I've mentioned what I'm reading...I love to know what others are perusing...
always sparks a great discussion...

 

Most of the time I read before bed...it is such a comfort for me...I feel that a good nightstand should hold plenty of good reads, an adjustable lamp, special mementos and a small vase of flowers or greenery...

 

I usually have an assortment of choices...books, magazines, catalogs, sections of the sunday paper...

here's the current round-up...

The Life of a Bowerbird was a special present...haven't really had any time to absorb it yet...I want to relish it...

and I'm sure I'll be sharing details from it in a future post.  The Black Box is my current book...nothing too intense but good writing and an interesting protagonist.

 

Earlier this fall, I finished up the trilogy of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo...great series, intriguing characters, intricate plot lines.  In between those books I read two others that I'm sorry I wasted my time on...and am further dismayed that they have captured the public's attention...

 

A couple of months ago, Fifty Shades of Grey was sitting on the library check-out counter...after I had just heard on NPR that the New York Public Library had a waiting list of 500 people for the book...I figured I would pick it and see what all the buzz was about...I kept waiting for something interesting to happen...all the while yelling at Ana to run...very fast and very quickly away from this man...I guess she didn't hear me since there are two other installments...neither of which I will read...

 

Gone Girl is beyond a mystery to me...its currently #1 on New York Times Bestseller List and has been on the list for 30 weeks.  Though there is an interesting plot device which kept me engaged with the characters, after you learn the real truth about this married couple, I wanted to throw the book across the room...a tale about the psychological abuse that a couple can heap onto one another is the top fiction choice in the country...its a sad statement...

 

 

 

On a brighter note...today marks the three year anniversary of my blog...and I've just reached 300 followers...I'm thrilled and delighted that so many of you follow along...as I share my artist's life and view of home, work and community...I am honored that you take a portion of your day, reading about mine...

 

And I would love to know what you're reading...
so I can add it to my pile!

One word among many

I've been cogitating on my word for the year...its a popular activity among creative types...I did it last year, choosing the word, begin, and liked that I had a touchstone to return to throughout the year...

This time, I'm having a difficult time coming up with the one word that describes what I want to express...
there are so many words...but I can't seem to find the right one...

I decided that I wanted to spend the year getting to the heart of what my art is...initially I thought of distill...
and then it was enhance
then hone
          enrich
              simplify
                 
I wanted to focus on what was important...to spend my time, my energy and my resources most effectively (can you tell that I was an Econ major...can never get away from that cost/benefit analysis!)

So I considered scrutinize, examine and purge (all a little too harsh)
       as well as heed, extract, quintessence, essential, integral and fundamental...

Why isn't there a reverse dictionary...where you put in the definition and it gives you the word?

I want to spend the next twelve months getting to the heart of my art...whether it be multi-media...or photography... or design...

so the word I have settled on is essence...

Other artists I know have chosen balance, continue and explore...what about you?

Winding down

With the start of 2013, holiday festivities here wind down...with our New Year's Day open house that brings together friends, food and fun...

December can be a tough month for celebrating...for some its Christmas, others Winter Solstice, or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa...but the Southern Man and I decided that you can't go wrong with New Year's Day since the calendar begins anew for most everyone. 

It is a Southern tradition to eat hoppin' john (black eyed peas and rice) and collard greens for good luck...the Southern Man was in his glory preparing these savory treats...I tended to all the other details.  Keeping in mind my holiday theme of simple and natural, here's a few ideas I used in setting the buffet table...

Two hefty candle holders and three ironstone plates make a lovely tiered dessert display...

The vintage letter holder that organizes my monthly bills found double-duty holding cocktail napkins next to the chex-mix...

The wire framework from a hand food mill holds a bowl of cherry tomatoes with room underneath for the broccoli florets while a wire colander rounds up the baby carrots...

the set of ceramic "thimble" flower pots that I received from my sister as a christmas present corrals the silverware...

Today's been a slow day of cleaning up, taking down the decorations and packing it all up for another year...after removing the lights and the ornaments from my grapevine tree, I put it in the garden to add a little winter interest...now that's double-duty!








The sun is shining brightly here, heightening my mood...and with my office all cleaned up and my work table totally cleared, it seems as if 2013 is filled with all sorts of possibilities...

A new year awaits...

 

One could easily substitute "year" for "day"...

today starts a new year...

I hope yours begins well and serenely...