The Weekly Fluff

It's time once again for my weekly visit to Faded Elegance.  Since I've been playing with metal lately,

I gravitated to metal details today.

Tick, tock...If you seem something you like...don't delay!

Faded Elegance

Historic Downtown Snohomish

http://www.fadedelegancestyle.blogspot.com/

Many hands make great Art

Last year when I decided to focus more of my energy on my art, I found connections with two like-minded souls,




 Lisa JonesMoore     and

Wendy Lee Lynds. 

Though all three of us could be classified as "multi-media artists", our approach, technique and outcomes vary greatly.  Both Lisa and Wendy have new shows and workshops on the calendar and I wanted to pass on the good word!

Lisa is offering these
hands-on workshops:






 “Beeswax Collage: Celebrate Spring!”
(Course #ArtsNow C420) - April 10 - $115
Learn the basics of working with collage and warm beeswax
Edmonds Community College/ ArtsNow
www.edcc.edu/artsnow, Register and Info: 425-640-1243

“The Painted Page: Celebrate May!”
(Course #10.0332) - April 24 - $57
(Spring quarter catalog coming out SOON)
Collage and paint free-form books
ASUW Experimental College, UW Campus, Seattle
http://www.exco.org/, Register and Info: 206-68-LEARN

“Cabinet of Curiosities” - May 15 & 22 - $80
Make an inspiring and memorable cigar box assemblage
Arts Council of Snohomish County, Everett
http://www.artscouncilofsnoco.org/
Register and Info: 425-257-8380

Wendy Lee has new work that she is showing at the Arts Council Gift Store in Everett.  Opening reception is Thursday, March 11 from 6-8 pm.









Wendy Lee also has plenty of workshops on the calendar:
intuitive collage books
     sunday, may 23, 10-5pm
composition 101: using collage
     sunday, july 25, 10-5pm
juicy journals
     saturday, november 6, 10-5pm
All classes held at the pacific northwest art school, whidbey island.
more info at http://www.pacificnorthwestartschool.org/

This is only a smattering of what these two fantastic women have in the works - visit their blogs to get the whole story!
Wendy Lee Lynds - www.badabling.blogspot.com
Lisa JonesMoore - www.jonesmoore.blogspot.com

Thinking inside the Big Box

A business friend of mine, Janna Lufkin, is a contributor to a facsinating blog, Lifestyle Insights.  One of her recent posts praised the hardware store, There's style in them thar aisles.  I couldn't agree more!  Keeping your eyes in focus and your brain in gear, you never know what you might find at the hardware store and how you might use it.  Last week's episode of Project Runway had the designers shopping at the hardware store as the source of materials for their outfits - the finished projects were astonishing - some in a good way, others not.  It all depends what inspires you!


A Eureka Moment hit me while at Lowes last week.  As the seasons change, there are many items that are reduced for sale to make room for new stock.  And sometimes these items linger too long in the aisle...until one day, one of the managers finally says to move it and get it out!  This was the case with a stack of metal fireplace screens.  Now anything that's metal immediately captures my attention.  I took my time and looked over the display model...mmm...there just might be some possibilities here.  I grabbed three boxes from the pile.  Of course I heard a round of comments and remarks about why anyone would want three fireplace screens, but I ignored them.  The price on the screens had been marked down to $23 - and now there was a big sign proclaiming 90% off last marked price - for $2.30 each, I was willing to take a chance.

Of course, this was the one time that I had driven Monty's cute red Hyundai instead of my Subaru Outback - but no worries, the boxes all fit.

To begin my project, I took a screwdriver and a hammer and popped out the rivets from the hinges on one side of the screen.  I now had one of the side panels free.  I noticed that the remaining two panels formed a nice free-standing "L" -potential display fixture for art shows...but I'm getting ahead of myself.

With the rivets removed, there was a hollow opening on each end of the panel.  I threaded a length of jute twine through the holes and tied it off.  I love jute and use it for everything; there is a variety of thicknesses, textures and colors & it gives the "casual/I just threw this together/oh, it was nothing" look that I like.

Now I was ready to hang my new organzing/inspiration/decorative panel.  A few magnets to hold three vintage postcards - completed.  A christmas ornament hanger twisted into a small "S" hook to display a well-loved clockface - accomplished.  Ingenuity and pluck put to the test - passed.

I have two more intact screens and one partial remaining...I'm thinking garden-themed organizers...I'll keep you posted.

Art...from around the World

My friend Sue sent me an email yesterday, forwarding on a request from her nephew Tim.  Tim is studying Art at the University of Wis - Stevens Point (where I happened to have graduated from myself!) and has put out a call to the world to assist with his latest art project.  Here's the solicitation, in his own words...




I am writing to you for your help in creating a FANTASTIC ART PROJECT!!! It’s easy and fun and will help me make the GRADE!

My name is Tim Vermeulen and I am a second semester art student at the University of Wisconsin--Stevens Point. I am asking for your help and participation in a project I am undertaking.

As part of my foundation courses I am required to create a 360° drawing. Rather than choosing to draw all sides of an object I am electing to draw (create) from all sides of the globe. With your aid I would like to collect various ephemera/items from around the world as part of my idea of a "360° World Vision."

The way this request works is that I have sent it to a group of friends and family. In turn, I ask each of them to forward it to anyone they know who is residing abroad (living, studying, on long term leave, teaching, volunteering, etc.) and would be willing to participate. From there I ask that each person who receives this message MAIL back something to me for my artwork. I am hoping to get something from all the continents and as many countries as possible!!! Think outside the ‘borders.”

A participant could use any envelope, of any size, and include inside of it anything they would like. It could simply be the postmarked envelope!
Here is a list of ideas of things one may choose to include (do not feel limited):
Envelopes
Matchbooks
Napkins
Photographs
Candy Wrappers
Postcards
Original Artwork
Poems
Maps
Receipts
News Clippings
Leaves
Wrapping Paper
Pamphlets
Buttons
Horoscopes
Quotes
Flyers
Ticket Stubs
Shoelaces
CDs
To Do Lists
Notes
Stamps

As I disclaimer, I would ask you to please not include anything of value to you, or anything you wish to keep as these articles will be incorporated into the artwork, and not returned. If postage is an issue, just indicate somewhere that you would like to be reimbursed and I will readily send a few American dollars to your return address

If you intend to participate, please mail your envelope to the address below no later than April 3, 2010. Please indicate from whom you received the request so that I may trace it back to myself. I will also be forwarding digital images of the final project to those who choose to participate so that they may view the fruits of their labor.

Any questions? E-mail me at: celloboy09@sbcglobal.net
Many thousand thanks (in advance) to all of those who forward this or choose to participate!

So once again:
Mail me an envelope with “stuff” to the below address by April 3.
Send this email on to some of your friends who might be willing to send me an envelope—spread far and wide.
Wait for a wonderful piece of art to be created and I will email a photo of the creation.

THANK YOU!
Play for peace,
Tim Vermeulen
501 Reserve Street
Room 141
Stevens Point, WI, USA 54481

Being a multi-media artist myself, I love the concept of this project.  And even more, I love encouraging people, especially young people, to follow their passion - and you must admit, Tim sounds passionate about his project.

Tomorrow I will start my envelope - though I could probably easily fill a box!  I'll include everyday ephemera from life here at home as well as my travels to other countries.  I'll probably throw in a good measure of "vintage" items - Tim seems like just the person to appreciate this kind of old stuff.
I hope you'll join me...and as cited above - Play for Peace!

The Weekly Fluff

While at Faded Elegance today, pink caught my attention - perhaps it is because spring is teasing us and the first blush of blossoms are appearing.                                                                  

 

Get in the pink today!

Faded Elegance

Downtown Historic Snohomish

360-568-5333

Where's the Boeuf?

Those of you who have seen the movie, Julie and Julia, may remember that the dish of Boeuf Bourguignon held a distinctive role in the script - it was the perfect entree for a special dinner, sure to impress a certain guest.  Though I am not much of a carnivore, from watching the movie, my appetite was whetted and my curiousity piqued.
An aside - I tried to find the original Julie Powell blog posting on cooking bouef bourguignon from the Julie/Julia Project, but alas, no luck.  As my sister will attest, I am not very good at finding things on Google!  Julia Child photo courtesy of Fairchild Archives.

A couple of years ago, we came up with a system at our house that simplified the dilemma of the evening meal or know better as, "Its 5:00pm and what are we having for dinner tonight?!!  We spend either Saturday or Sunday comprising a menu for the week, gather all the ingredients together, do the grocery shopping and if we're lucky, prep whatever can be done ahead of time and then the weekly menu is posted on the fridge.  It sounds more involved than it is - we can usually get it all accomplished in about 2 hours and then there's no fretting about what to eat after coming home from a hard day of work.  We often double the recipe for an entree and freeze half so that the weekly menu is a combination of fresh made choices as well as selections from the freezer - so there's no complicated cooking every night of the week.  And Saturday night is always "Chef's Choice" - aka- leftovers.  We usually like to include one new recipe to try each week and so boeuf bourguignon was a natural choice.

I remember watching Julia Child, The French Chef, on PBS growing up in Wisconsin - I even remember my mom owning the cookbook from the series...whether or not she ever made any of the recipes I don't remember but she was always game for new things so she might have...

I checked out the cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1 from the Everett public library and added the recipe to the weekly menu.  When Monty and I did the grocery shopping, we made a few adjustments to expedite the process - this was already a three hour recipe!  We used frozen pearl onions instead of fresh (they are so small- peeling them did not seem as if it would be easy) and we bought fresh mushrooms already sliced.  And so on Sunday afternoon, we began...

the meat...




the vegetables...

the anticipation.

the pearl onions...

the mushrooms...

the wait...

the end result...it was quite fabulous!
Bon Appetit!

March 3 - thanks Julie for finding the original Julie Powell post on making this wonderful dish...hers was not so wonderful but I'm sure she perfected it!
http://blogs.salon.com/0001399/2002/12/11.html