All My Stuff

If my studio space was a soap opera, it would be called “All My Stuff.” I’m in the process of taking an inventory so I know what I have to work with for my show in the fall. And I have to say I’m embarrassed by all the things I’d forgotten about, and therefore haven’t used yet.
There’s that set of rusted stove legs I bought when I was up at Mary’s boat last summer; various (and mysterious) electrical components; a pile of dolls; and tons of scrapbooking paper of course. It’s obvious I’m more of a collector of things than a user of them—at least at this point. But when you think about it, all that stuff is just raw potential waiting to be explored …exciting and definitely quite daunting. But like Emily Dickinson said: “I dwell in possibility…”

It isn’t snowing indoors

I don’t know what the weather is like in your neck of the woods, but it’s brutal here. Snow, snow and more snow. Not to mention that it’s –23 degrees centigrade outside too. Rather than post one of our many photos of this winter’s ongoing snow crop, I thought I’d share a recent picture John took of Amy, our amaryllis—yes, there is some color in the Great White North even if it happens to be indoors.
Amy usually blooms in a pair, but I decapitated her mate when I was aggressively organizing our recycling. This really upset me because it was just carelessness on my part (although her broken blossom did manage to open after I put it in a glass of water). Nevertheless, I was determined to find out whether or not there is such a thing as floral first aid, so I went straight to Wikipedia. It was there I discovered that Amy isn’t an amaryllis after all. Apparently she’s a member of the Hippeastrum family. But I don’t think I’ll rename her Hippy. Amy is much too elegant a lady for that.

Thimpking

When Emma was a little girl, she used to refer to “thinking” as thimpking. I try to remind myself of this when I’m tempted to take myself too seriously, which happens way more than it should, quite frankly.
Lately I’ve been frustrated because I’m in the middle of several projects where there’s no end in sight. I know self-help books tell you to congratulate yourself after taking even baby steps toward a major goal. But I’ve never been much good at that I’m afraid. My all-or-nothing nature can’t relax until things are neatly tied up …or not so neatly as is often the case.
Still, you do have to take a break from striving once in a while, and that’s where playing with pixels comes in handy for me. I can often finish something in Photoshop in one sitting—and it’s become a form of art therapy for me.
So what does thimpking actually look like? Not sure that I know, but I took a stab at it anyway. (Oh, who am I kidding? I just needed an excuse to fool around!)

How to become Royalty

Those dropdown menus where you have to click on your title always irk me because I don’t feel like a Ms, a Miss or even a Mrs., so I don’t see why I have to choose one of them before I can continue on.
However, if you’re ordering tickets from the Royal Opera House in London, England there’s a lot more flexibility when it comes to describing yourself. Under “title,” you have a choice of over 125. You could be a Countess, a Baroness, a Marchioness, a Princess or even a Queen ...not to mention their male equivalents. My one quibble with this fabulous list is that there is no Empress included. I mean, if you can be a queen, why not an empress?
I also couldn’t help wondering whether or not people enter in fake titles just for the fun of it. I’ve always loved “The Emperor of Ice Cream,” a line from one of Wallace Steven’s poems, and I’d be tempted to go that route if I was booking opera seats myself. I know the Emperor would be too busy taste testing the sweet stuff to be bothered with a mundane task like ordering tickets, so the Empress would have to do it for him.

Moo Challenge #42

When I was looking through my photos to find buildings—this week’s Make a Moo or Two theme—I thought about something Jean Luc Goddard once said. He believed that great movies wouldn’t be made until film was as cheap as paper and pen. That’s kind of the way photography is today. When you have a digital camera, you can just keep taking photos until your card fills up. Sooner or later you’re bound to get something you like, and occasionally you may even come up with a great photo.
What I found from looking through my files is that most of the pictures I’ve taken are of my family, my dog, my friends and nature. But I did come across one of the Boston skyline (top) and another of some buildings in Seattle. Both photos were taken in 2006 when I happened to take separate trips to the U.S. I remember at the time being excited about seeing the Atlantic and Pacific oceans within a few short weeks of each other. Next time I do this I want to bring home water in jars from both places and use it to paint with.

True Vision

My friend Brenda Shackleford has several pages featured in L.K. Ludwig’s True Vision: Authentic Art Journaling, so I just knew I had to read it. Whether you keep a journal or not, you’ll be inspired by this fascinating book.
It’s packed with wonderful art, great quotes, and exercises you’ll want to try right away. I particularly liked the sections on incorporating automatic writing into your work and how to use patina on paper.
But the best thing about True Vision is that it makes you believe your journal can be anything you want it to be. Since journaling is something you do for yourself, it’s a voyage of self-discovery, and there’s not much point to the process if you’re pressuring yourself to produce pretty and finished-looking pages. If you feel this has been holding you back from exploring your real self, Ludwig’s book will give you an enthusiastic push in the right direction. (And you might want to check out her blog too).

The Creative Plateau

I feel like I’m stranded on a plateau lately with my work and I don’t like it one bit. This is partly to do with what is going on in my life right now. Because I’m pulled in so many directions, it’s difficult to settle down and think clearly.
But there’s more to it than that. For a while now I’ve been feeling I need to stretch myself creatively, and I’m really not sure where to go next.
Take Photoshop for instance. I haven’t been able to spend much time on it recently, so I made an attempt last night to do something different. This basically involved using the blur tool to smooth out the banding in the Leonardo drawing above. I could feel myself resisting the process though. Quite frankly, I’m fed up with effort, I just want results.
P.S. John came into the room as I was finishing this post and read it over my shoulder. His advice? To get off the damn plateau, just jump.

May I?

Do you feel you need permission from something or someone to do your art? I think I must unconsciously believe this because there always seem to be a number of hurtles to clear before I finish a piece. This is probably a mixture of wanting it to turn out right, and thinking that the more I play around with it, the more likely this is to happen.
John finds my creative process amusing and decided that he wanted to shoot a video of me putting this assemblage together. Aside from the fact I need a manicure and sound like I’m on helium, it was kind of fun talking about how I put May I? together—mainly because it sounded straightforward and was anything but. I know I’ve said this before, but I'll say it again: if we really knew how long things were going to take us, we probably wouldn’t bother.

Moo Challenge #41

Last week at Make a Moo or Two the theme was frost. I know all about that because the weather here has been cold and frosty for weeks (not to mention all the snow). I didn’t have time to rise to the challenge, though, because I was too busy. Fortunately I seem to be back on track now with the latest Make a Moo theme: circles.
The first thing I thought of was a color wheel, so I used one that I’d scanned from a 19th century book on color. My original plan was to incorporate an artist into the image. That effect didn’t quite work out, so it looks more like a target than anything else. But at least I managed to come up with something circle-ish.

What happens when you organize...

You know you lead an exciting life when your idea of fun is watching a Mac and Cheese bake off on the Food Network while sorting all your paint into categories. That’s what I did late Friday night, and I must say I found it extremely satisfying. I love organizing and reorganizing my art supplies. It’s become a ritual before I actually get down to producing something. (And I love anything to do with food—just as long as I’m not the one who is actually cooking it.)
While I was looking through my paints, I came across these two drawings David had done as a little boy. Before he was two, I gave him a set of Crayola markers and a stack of blank business cards that he drew on endlessly—when he wasn’t busy decorating the walls inside and out, that is.
I wish I’d put a date on the back of these drawings because I don’t know when they were done. I do know he was writing his name before he turned four, so I’m guessing that he did them sometime around then. Since drawing was only one of David’s many interests, I was surprised when he told me a couple of years ago that he always knew he was going to be an artist. I think if I’d known that was where he was headed, I might have tried to “educate” him about art. In retrospect, it’s probably a good idea that I didn’t because David naturally found his own way and blossomed.

Before and After

My friend Andrea loves this print and asked me if I could do something to brighten it up because it had faded over time. Her husband really dislikes the picture and I have to admit that I’m not that crazy about it myself. But Andrea is a sentimental soul. It used to hang in her parents’ front hall, and now she has it in hers.
At first I wasn’t sure whether or not I could do anything with the print in Photoshop. Not only was it faded, but it also had water damage and a greenish cast. Because of the size, I had to scan it in sections and then piece them together. After that, it wasn’t that difficult to fix up.
To correct the damaged areas, I used the Clone and Spot Healing Tools. To enhance the color, I used Hue/Saturation, and gave the print more light with Levels and Brightness/Contrast. To remove the greenish cast, I played with the Color Balance, and then finally applied Curves.
There’s something satisfying about giving an old photo or print new life simply by using Photoshop. It’s an intuitive process really. You just keep playing with different things until it all comes together.
Next I’m going to fix the wood frame. It’s had some rough handling over the years and will be a bigger challenge for me than refreshing the print. Because there’s no “undo” command with hands-on stuff, there’s no room for mistakes. (Wish me luck).

Voyages

I’ve always been drawn to boats of any kind, particularly ocean liners. My mother’s father was the captain of the Lizzie May, one of the last sailing ships in Britain, so I guess it’s in my genes. My mother told me about her sea trips with him to Ireland and France, and how he once brought her back a dog that she christened “Dandy.”
I never knew my grandfather because he died long before I was born. But we spent several months in his hometown of Connahs Quay in Wales when I was a little girl. I vividly remember the overnight train ride to Québec City, and then boarding the ship for Liverpool.
The Franconia II was a Cunard passenger ship (see postcard below) that was built in 1922 and retrofitted during the Second World War to transport troops. I think we were on one of the last trips the ship made before it was scrapped in 1955. Because of engine trouble, it took the Franconia twelve days to cross the Atlantic instead of the usual six, and a lot of people got seasick including myself.
Nana (my father’s mother) immigrated to Canada with her family over a hundred years ago, and I wished I’d asked her about their voyage while she was still alive. However, what I did discover by doing an Internet search of passenger lists was that Nana arrived via the Virginian on May 31st, 1907 as a fourteen year old. Apparently the Virginian was one of the ships that heard the distress signals from the Titanic but being 170 miles away was too far away to offer any assistance.
I can see now why people get hooked on history and genealogy. I’m sure I would too, if I just had more time. Maybe one of these days...

Taking the day off

Even though I had spent most of the weekend working, I still had an extensive to do list for today. But when I woke up this morning, I felt completely burned out. My mind refused to do anything and informed me that I must take a break. In my opinion, Monday isn’t the right day to do this, but no matter how hard I tried to push myself, I didn’t seem to have a scrap of motivation left. I finally gave up and spent the day resting in the nest of myself.

The Teapot Queen

The theme for tonight’s ATC meeting in Toronto is beverages, and I immediately thought of “tea” because I drink so much of it. I also have a great set of teapot stickers, and this seemed like the ideal opportunity to use them. After all, they’ve only been sitting around in a drawer for the last eight years or so.
To make my ATCs, I started with a Limited Edition stamp and drew in the face and hair with a black marker. Then I scanned my lady and colored her in Photoshop. The last step was printing out the ladies and adding a sticker to each one as a teapot crown.
It’s actually quite easy to get a cartoon-ish effect in Photoshop. Just start with a scan of a black and white drawing. Using the Brush Tool, put each color on separate layer that’s in Multiply blending mode. When you’re using a lot of colors, this may seem complicated, but if you do everything on one layer, then it’s harder to fix your mistakes or to change colors. Just give each layer the name of the color you’re using to make it easier on yourself.

A New Journal

On January 1st I started my tenth 3 x 5” Moleskine journal. I usually choose the unlined notebook rather than the sketchbook since my pen seems to work better on thinner paper. But this kind of paper is not as good for doing art because the images tend to show through on the other side.
Not that this bothers me. My journals are just for myself and I don’t often show anything in them to other people. I like the fact that I don’t have to produce something finished or “good.”
Recently one of my friends asked me if I was afraid to let her look at my journals because she might read something unflattering about herself. But I said no, and explained that I mostly focus on creative ideas I want to explore, and running on endlessly about things in my life that trouble me. While I don’t mind sharing my ideas, problems are another thing entirely. I prefer to keep them to myself.
I always start with the art though. So far in my new journal, I’ve stamped 40 pages and expanded on these images with my own drawing. Here are three illustrations from pages I haven’t written on yet. I have no idea what entries they will end up “illustrating” and it really doesn’t matter. I just like the fact that they’re already there.

Moo Challenge #40

This week at Make a Moo or Two, the theme is angels, a subject close to my heart. Emma and I are in the tenth month of our mother/daughter writing pod, and my ongoing project is a novel about angels. I’ve been doing quite a bit of research on them and have collected plenty of images, so I remembered Gustave Courbet’s words when I read about this challenge. He said: Show me an angel and I will paint you one.
Like hands, wings are surprisingly difficult to draw, and in the end I borrowed two angels from a fragment of a 15th century altarpiece (displayed in Basle’s Kunstmuseum), and then engaged in some Photoshop-ing.
Even though it took quite a bit of time, these angels just would not be transformed into something new. They seemed to like themselves just the way they were, but since they are angels they did allow me to add a little decoration.

Anxiety

Sandy and I are both celebrating the start of 2009 today. When you have young children like Sandy does, it makes good sense to begin the New Year on the first day back to school after Christmas. But I can no longer use that reasoning myself since my children are adults, and have been for a while now. However, because I’ve been feeling apprehensive and anxious about 2009, I needed an excuse to put it off until I felt like it. (Thanks Sandy!)Normally I’m gung ho about making a fresh start, but I feel like I’m dragging a lot of unresolved issues into 2009 …things that should have been sorted out last year and weren’t. There’s no getting past it, though, I must apply myself—and pronto. Still, I can’t help regretting that January is such a serious month, especially when I’m in the mood for fun and games, not work.

Lola

I was searching for an image to represent a fresh start for my first ATC of 2009, and I immediately thought of an open door. But on my way to find one I came across this picture of Lola L. Jackson I’d scanned from Mary’s vintage photo collection and used it instead.
I loved the way Lola is all spiffed up and ready to play with her blocks. Then I began to wonder whether or not Lola might have started tossing them around when the photo shoot was over. She looks a little testy about having her picture taken to me.
Sometimes I feel that way about a new year. I have the feeling I should be motivated, gung ho and organized, when what I really want to do is putter around for a few days, and not think about anything at all.

The Color for 2009

The Pantone Color Institute has chosen Mimosa as its color of the year. Considered to be the global authority on professional color standards, Pantone says: The color yellow exemplifies the warmth and nurturing quality of the sun, properties we as humans are naturally drawn to for reassurance. Mimosa also speaks to enlightenment, as it is a hue that sparks imagination and innovation. Best illustrated by the abundant flowers of the Mimosa tree and the sparkle of the brilliantly hued cocktail, the 2009 color of the year represents the hopeful and radiant characteristics associated with the color yellow.
Whew! I’ll bet some poor copywriter had to go through several rewrites to come up with that! But Mimosa looks like a great color, doesn’t it? And I couldn’t help thinking of my friend Sylvia when I read those words. Sylvia told me the only thing that has stayed in her mind after the art classes she’s taken over the years is: you can always fix a problem piece by adding some yellow. Whether I use this advice or not, I always remember yellow whenever I hit the wall with something I’m working on, and I thought I’d pass it on to you.

Resolutions

I’ve been reluctant to make New Year’s resolutions for a while now. The reason for this is because I used to make far too many, and it was discouraging to tally them up on December 31st and realize that most of them hadn’t been accomplished. In fact, one memorable—and difficult—year, I didn’t manage to achieve anything on my list.
It’s not that I’m against goal setting. Far from it. But the Universe often seems to have an agenda that doesn’t dovetail with mine. I even wonder if wanting something too much drives it away—at least in my case.
I’ll give you an example. Ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted to have my own solo art show. For years I did all the things self-help books tell you to do in order to reach your heart’s desire. I visualized, wrote down my intentions, did affirmations, thought positively, took action …and one New Year’s Day I even wrote down my negative thoughts and then burned them on a snow bank. (Embarrassing to admit this last one, but true). I finally came to the conclusion that it just wasn’t going to happen for me, and got on with doing my art.
Then this fall our regional art gallery phoned and asked me to submit a portfolio. Shortly afterwards, I was invited to have a solo show in 2009. Since this seems to be the way my life works, I’m only going to make one resolution this year: keeping track of all the things I’m grateful for on a regular basis.
The first “item” on my list is you, dear reader. Thank you for reading my blog, and all the best to you in 2009.
P.S. If you need a little New Year’s cheer, check out the Beckoning of Lovely video on Lisa’s blog.

Moo Challenge #39

Alice in Wonderland is the two-week theme over at Make a Moo or Two, and it took me back to the time when I was a little girl. I always thought it would great to be Alice because she had so many adventures, while I seemed to be stuck making mine up. She also had long hair, which I desperately wanted and was never allowed to have.
I remembered this image of Alice where she discovers that she’s wearing a crown and I wanted to use it mainly because I really like Queen for a Day scenarios. (As it turns out, this one is actually from Carroll’s second book, Through the Looking Glass, though).
My childhood copy of these two books combined-into-one had Disney-ish illustrations, and I much prefer Tenniel’s original illustrations from the 19th century, which you can enjoy if you go to Goggle Books online. And if you want to use Alice-themed Photoshop brushes (or “rub-ons” like I did here), visit Tartx for her free downloads.

A Rave Review

At one point during university I had a part time job in a bookstore. Abby Hoffman’s Steal This Book was popular at the time, and believe me, people did (steal the book, I mean). I remembered this on Friday when I was well into my Boxing Day Read-A-Thon with Susan Tuttle’s Exhibition 36: Mixed Media Demonstrations + Explorations. I thought to myself that it really should be subtitled: Buy This Book. Why? Because you’ll love the art and you’ll be inspired by the writing too.
For example, Terry Garrett—one of Tuttle’s featured artists—shares four mixed media pieces based on his “guardians,” the keeper and protectors of his ideas for art-making, and then he explains how he came to make each one.
This story behind the visual story has always fascinated me, and Tuttle and her team of artists are as articulate about their process as they are talented. It’s hard to distill the effect this book had on me in a paragraph or two, but it made me want to go more deeply into my art, and really, what more can you ask for? So my opinion is: you should buy this book and immerse yourself in the experience too.

Best Wishes to All

I thought I’d post a photo of the star on top of my Christmas tree to wish you all the best today and throughout the holiday season.
I didn’t realize until I had the photo up on my computer screen just how much a star resembles the human body. This one is made of birch bark strips wrapped with twigs which remind me of blood vessels and nerves spreading energy all over the body …the anatomy of a star, perhaps? Anyway, enjoy your holiday and I’ll see you soon.

Christmas Prep

I have to admit I get anxious around Christmas. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the significance of the season, or the chance to spend time with family and friend, but I think the added pressure of all the preparation causes other things that trouble me to surface as well. I realized tonight that I actually think of Christmas as the end of the year rather than December 31st. This may be why the highs and lows in my life seem to be going on simultaneously.
But in between the tree decorating and house cleaning, I managed to find time to make this quick card for my stamping group buddies. I used Martha’s stars and an image from B-Line that reminds me of my friends out in Blogland too. How enriched my life is by the connections I have made with all of you! Of course, looking at my card, I can see that the line of friends does not include any men, which is certainly an oversight.
Speaking of men, or man in this case, John has been shoveling snow like crazy since Friday. He had to do the driveway twice today, and then reformat Lily’s outdoor maze yet again. The bench on our back porch (always my benchmark) has a snowdrift fifteen inches high. Yes, it’s definitely going to be a white Christmas.

Moo Challenge #38

Christmas is the challenge this week at Make a Moo or Two. There are many things I can think of that relate to the holiday season: family, friends, food, Santa, Christmas trees, carols, ornaments and so on. But the image that came to my mind first was an angel.
For the last few years I’ve used an angel on my Christmas card. However, since my printer is coming to the end of its long, lovely life, I won’t be doing my own cards this year. I feel guilty about this because several of my friends have already sent me beautiful handmade ones. Sigh. If only I’d been more organized, I could have designed and printed mine months ago. But somehow it’s always December before I even come up with an idea for my card, and now it’s too late.

A Mug Shot

I think the reason I enjoy altering vintage photos so much is because they provide you with a blank canvas. When you don’t know who the person is, you feel free to interpret him or her in whatever way strikes your fancy at the moment.
Although most old photos are obviously posed like this one, it’s interesting that the subjects rarely smile or look happy. It’s more like a form of documentation than anything else; you not only find out what the sitter looks like, but also get some idea of position or social status from the clothing worn.
While I was working on this young man in Photoshop, it struck me that he could have been posing for a mug shot. Then I wondered what an artist might do a hundred years in the future with all those old passport and I.D. photos of us. I suppose by that time a program like Photoshop will be able to turn something flat into a holographic image or simulate its dimension and texture.

Wings

I had to miss Friday night’s ATC meeting because of another commitment. It was too bad I couldn’t go because I always enjoy the evening.
This month the theme was “things with wings.” I had planned to use a stamp of an airplane I like, but my weakness for diagrams of any kind took over and I ended up working with this illustration from an old encyclopedia.
When I’m trading, I always use the same design for everyone, but some participants make sure each one of their ATCs is different. Check out Martha’s blog and you’ll see what I mean.

Moo Challenge #37

The theme this week at Make a Moo or Two? Presents …or in my case, a present. I didn’t realize until tonight how much wrapping a gift is like making an assemblage. Because I usually admire the way a gift is presented, I think this is why I can always wait to open one too.
When I was growing up, we got our stockings in the morning on Christmas Day, and then opened our presents about four in the afternoon. My friends felt sorry for me, but I never minded the delay. For me, one of the pleasures of Christmas is looking at all the gifts under the tree.

The Amazing Chiyogami Contest

How much paper could you use? Or more specifically: how much do you want? I'm thinking that winning a huge stack of gorgeous Chiyogami from The Paper Place in Toronto sounds just about right. Now even though I'm planning on winning the contest myself (I could do a lot with those 637 sheets of paper), it's also growing close to Christmas, and I know it would be churlish of me if I didn't mention it to you. (Of course the fact that I receive extra entries by posting this on my blog is beside the point).
I learned about this contest in an interesting way. Even though I have several sheets of Chiyogami from The Paper Place, and used one pattern on two ATCs I did back in June, I found out about the contest through my sister. Pam was at a craft show last weekend and was really impressed by Lisa Pijuan-Nomura's work. Pam told Lisa that she knew I would really enjoy her art too, and gave her one of my business cards.
Lisa visited my blog and left a comment so I visited hers. You'll love Lisa's blog: Girl Can Create. It's fresh and lively, and you'll really appreciate her art and writing style. And it was Lisa who mentioned The Paper Place contest on her blog, so naturally I had to be a copycat and do it too.
Good luck by the way. May the best man or woman win ...or the luckiest.
For complete contest details, just follow this link.

Recovering from the Sale

I'm still trying to recharge my batteries after a busy day at the Jolly Christmas Sale on Saturday. As far as I could tell, it was a very successful day for all of us. I had a great time chatting with visitors (including some very special blog friends), enjoyed looking at everyone's art, and sales were good.
Since I was focused on buying Christmas presents this year, I only bought one treat for myself: a necklace from Mary's steam punk jewelry line. One of these days, though, I do intend to win the lottery and turn my house into a wall-to-wall gallery filled with art done by all my talented friends.
I'm never sure what people will be drawn to at these sales. Because I think of myself as a maker rather than a marketer, I usually end up going with what feels right to me. But this doesn’t always work. For example, I had what I thought was the bright idea of making fridge art …small, reasonably-priced pictures that would be perfect as stocking stuffers …and I didn’t sell one.
On the other hand, people seemed to like my digital prints, mixed media, collage sheets and CDs. I also sold three assemblages, and all the black and white pictures I'd chosen from my book. You can see three of them on Leslie's blog (along with Listening to Verdi) and read her sweet words.
Carmi bought The Colorful Heart, which is part of a series I did on color wheels. And Nancy chose The Heart of a Poet on a little easel.
The funny thing is that when I was checking out the blogs of people who had been at the sale, I discovered Irene had scooped up the journal bag of Sharon's I had my eye on. I had to laugh about that. Obviously one of the benefits of Blogland is you can now easily find out who beat you to it!

Parting with my treasures

As an experiment, I’ve decided to sell some of my 3-D work and assemblages at the Jolly Christmas Sale tomorrow. It’s also an exercise in trying to part with work I care about, and haven’t wanted to sell up until this point. I really don’t know whether or not people will be interesting in buying one of my pieces, but it will be interesting to see if they do.
This doll—Angelica—is a favorite of mine. I made her as a Dollar Store Challenge a while back in Carmi’s Extraordinary Mixed Up Media Artists club. We were each given a tiny stuffed doll to alter. As soon as I saw it, I knew I was going to have to wrap mine in something. I covered the doll in tin foil, wound plaster strips around it, then painted and embellished to my heart’s content.
One of the reasons I loved making Angelica is that the whole piece just seemed to take on a life of its own. She told me what she wanted to look like, and then I went from there. That’s the way it is with most of my work I think.
If you’re interested in coming to the Jolly Christmas Sale, it’s from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow at the Zion Church Cultural Centre, 1650 Finch Avenue East in Toronto. For directions on how to get there, just follow this link.
P.S. To find out who is selling what, check out Carmi’s blog.

The Power of Nine

Nine of us got together this week to trade the 3 x 3 inch squares we’d made, and to have a festive dinner. Ludgera hosted the exchange and her idea was to use beige, white and a splash of color. As you can see, we all did very different things with the theme. This is why I always enjoy swaps—when I have time to join in that is.
I basically did the same thing for each one of my squares because it took me so long to come up with an idea in the first place. I’m not used to working with material (which is what everyone else seemed to be playing with), but Colette inspired me with the bundles and wrapped packages she shows from time to time on her blog.
Here’s the Power of Nine line up:
Top row: Daniza Benic, Colette Copeland, Susan Williamson
Middle row: Martha Brown, Katie Maxim, Ludgera Worms
Bottom row: Kim Simmans, Mary Ambrose, Susan Vendetti

Moo Challenge #36

When I read about this week’s theme at Make a Moo or Two, I didn’t think I’d be able to participate. Not only is it a super busy week for me, but also—I didn’t have a clue what to do with a monkey.
Then John sent me a link to a stock.xchng, a site where you can download free photos. When I checked out the monkey section, there were plenty of sweet ones to play with in Photoshop. I particularly liked the bigger monkey with the pink face and wise eyes, and thought to myself: “I didn’t know monkeys looked like that …how interesting.” But after I’d done my moos, I discovered that he (or she) is actually a baboon! Fortunately the little one really is a monkey, although I don’t know what kind. I guess the moral of this story is: if it doesn’t look like a monkey, it probably isn’t.

Another Dream

The most vivid dream I’ve ever had dates back to the 1970s. I was with a team of astronauts exploring an ice planet, and I saw colors I’d never seen before. The excitement I felt then remains with me today—and the frustration. How do you explain or depict colors there just aren’t any colors for?
While I was playing with this ATC in Photoshop last night, I remembered my dream, and wondered how I could express it. I guess all you can do is hint at an experience like that. Apparently the average monitor can display 16 million variations of all the colors in the spectrum, but not one of them gives an accurate picture of what I saw.

It is a dark and stormy night…

Yes, winter has come to the Great (and Getting Whiter) North. But it was a bright and artful day. I spend so much time in my art-and-writing pod that it’s good to emerge once in a while to be refreshed.
This afternoon I went to the One of a Kind Show where I visited Carmi at her booth, stocked up on some of her delicious cards (see above), and ogled her book art assemblages.
Then I cruised around looking at a ton of other stuff. For example: one artist had visual birch bark poetry for sale, and another was offering plaster holders cast from various body parts. But my favorite was the booth featuring an artist who makes portable puppet theatres.
After One of a Kind, I went to the Meta Gallery to see Paul Laffoley’s show. Laffoley is a visionary artist from Boston that I’ve been interested in for a long time, and David managed to get us tickets to hear him talk.
Laffoley spoke about his work for three and a half hours without taking a break, and I took copious notes. But I’ll have to wait until I’ve had a chance to digest everything (and recover) before I do a blog on him.

A Dream

Years ago I had a creative writing student who was a heavy dreamer. Every morning she would spend at least an hour writing her dreams down in a 3-ring binder—and she had filled dozens of them. Everyone in the class was amazed that she could remember her dreams in such detail.
Recently I was in the middle of a dream about designing a painting machine for Barack Obama when John woke me up with my morning tea. I rolled over and the dream evaporated. Yes, I know I’m spoiled with the morning tea thing, but I still wish I’d been able to find out what Obama’s painting machine really involved. Then again, maybe I was just dreaming about Photoshop…

Moo Challenge #35

When I checked out the Make a Moo or Two blog this week and discovered this week’s theme was “pets,” I just knew I had to use this stamp of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels I’d bought in Boston years ago because they reminded me of Lily. It’s always a challenge trying to find something small enough to squeeze into the moo space, but then that’s probably why they call it a challenge!

A Jolly Christmas Sale

A group of us will be hosting a Christmas bazaar, the Extra-Ordinary Jolly Christmas Sale, on Saturday, December 6th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Zion Church Cultural Centre, 1650 Finch Avenue East in Toronto. If you can make it, we’d love to see you.
There will be jewelry, cards, gift tags, tree ornaments and Christmas stockings for sale …along with prints, photographs, collage CDs, sculptural art, mixed media, and button embellishments. It’s a great opportunity to stock up on nifty stuff for Christmas, and to do some artful socializing as well.
Another sale—and one that’s coming up this week—is One of a Kind at the Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place, Toronto. Carmi will be selling her handmade cards and assemblages there from November 27th to December 1st. Check out her blog for more details.

Looking at stuff

While I was watching Dancing with the Stars tonight, I flipped through the Lee Valley Christmas Gift Catalogue. (Since my first real job after leaving university was working as a catalogue copywriter, I’ve always had a weakness for them).
Even though Lee Valley is basically a tool company, they always have lots of other nifty stuff for sale. This time there’s an African instrument called a Kalimba you play with your thumbs, a flashlight that looks like an alien head, copper mesh ribbon, a Christmas tree removal bag, an Edwardian style glass display case and a volcanic deodorizer,
But my favorite by far was the Aquitaine Sundial Ring. It’s an adaptation of the one Eleanor of Aquitaine gave to Henry II in 1152, so that he would know when to leave the hunt for their love trysts. You suspend the ring by its cord, and the light shines through a tiny hole onto the inner surface where the times of the day are engraved. It’s like something you’d read about in a novel!
P.S. This ATC was made from Hermine’s free download of November 16th.

Twitching

I’ve always thought the word twitching described what happens to the muscles underneath my right eye when I’ve been spending too much time in Photoshop. But apparently it has another meaning as well. My friend Jeanne says it’s a term birders use to describe the uncontrollable spasm of excitement they feel when they see a new—and rare—species of bird.
A couple of weeks ago, Jeanne and her husband Steve braved the elements to see this Desert Wheatear in Kent, England. Presumably they were twitching during the experience, so I couldn’t resist turning the photo she sent me into today’s ATC.

Moo Challenge #34

The theme this week at Make a Moo or Two is using a technique, stamp or material for the first time. In other words, to try something you haven’t done before. My intention was to tint some of Mary’s lace with dyes I’d bought at the Creative Festival with Daniza, but then I got all caught up in Photoshop and decided to create a digital moo tag instead. This is something I’ve been intending to do for a while because I love tags. However, since I knew it would involve work on my part, I’d just been putting it off.
Once I’d figured out the template, though, I felt I was good to go. But how “to go” was the question. This time I decided to do something abstract because I’ve been wanting to experiment with painting in Photoshop for what seems like forever, and this was the perfect opportunity to jump in by using a set of brushes I’d downloaded from Bittbox. If you’re into Photoshop like I am, you can download some of their free (and terrific) brushes right here.
To finish off my tags, I used a couple of Flourish brushes designed by Christina Lazar Schuler. All in all, this was a very satisfying project for me because I learned something new.

Blogging Continued

If you’re a regular reader of Ronna’s blog like I am, you always get a kick out of the pictures she posts …everything from painted hay bales and desserts, to her drawings and painted ceramics. Ronna says she looks on her blog as an ongoing daily newsletter of her life, and that the process has sharpened her appreciation of the world around her. Instead of putting off an opportunity to photograph something interesting like she used to, Ronna shoots it on the spot so she can share the image with her readers.
Another blog I keep tabs on is Lenore’s. I really love what she does with photography, and she also has a Flickr account, which showcases her artistry with this medium. After blogging for most of this year, Lenore feels her blog has taken directions she didn't think it would take, and she wonders if others feel the same way.
Well I certainly do. I started blogging in 2006 because Carmi told me she thought I would enjoy it. In the beginning, I looked on it—in part—as a way to promote the book I’d started working on. Finishing my book has taken me a lot longer than I thought it would, but it’s been percolating away in the background and is almost done.
In the meantime, I’ve been continuing on with my ongoing ATC project. Today’s ATC is the 156th I’ve posted since January 2007. The main image I used was a free download from Hermine’s Place on November 10th, so thanks for the inspiration Hermine.

Officially a teenager

I forgot to mention that yesterday was Lily’s thirteenth birthday, or as my father pointed out to me, she’s now a 91-year-old teenager. Lily’s girlfriend Carin took this picture of her sleeping a few months ago, so I thought I’d post it to illustrate her second favorite pastime: catching 40 plus winks.
What she really likes best is eating. Because it was her birthday, Lily sampled Mr. Noodle, part of a grilled cheese sandwich, and a stir-fry of green beans, asparagus and bok choy. I know, I know, should I be feeding my dog stuff like this? Probably not. But I couldn’t help thinking about my grandmother as I was doing this.
One Christmas, Nana—who was ninety at the time—asked my uncle to make her another martini. “But Mother, is that wise at your age?” he said. My grandmother fixed him with her cold blue stare and replied: “Look Ken, I could be dead tomorrow, so I’m jolly well going to enjoy a second martini, and I’m going to do it now.”
Enough said.

More About Blogging...

Brenda, June and Leslie left comments last Sunday when I wrote a post on what to write about, and I’ve been thinking about what they said on and off all week.
Blogland is a huge community made up of thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands) of smaller communities, so it’s really a refection of what life itself is like.
I agree with Leslie when she says that most of us are interested in specific types of blogs, ones that tend to dovetail with our interests and have a “personality” that speaks to us. I don’t know about you, but there are so many fascinating blogs online that I could be reading them 24/7—and still feel I was only scratching the surface of what’s out there. Since this is impossible, I rely on my instincts to be my guide.
For example, I read Brenda’s blog because I’m nosey and I want to know what she’s up to. She doesn’t post much and she’s comfortable with that, although she did mention the average blogger might be intimidated by the so-called professional feel of certain blogs. I know what Brenda means. I keep thinking I should tart up mine with more graphics and maybe a video, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.
And I have to admit that while I’m drawn to visuals on other people’s blogs, it’s usually information, and writing style that keeps me coming back. I read June’s regularly because she has a wry sense of humor I always enjoy, and Leslie’s blog because she tells me about things I’d be really interested in if only I’d known about them! She is also responsible for reviving my long dormant interest in music. I’ve listened to J.J. Cale and Eric Clapton playing After Midnight, so many times I’m wearing out my speakers …not to mention driving John and the dog nuts. Oh yes, writing about blogs and blogging tonight makes me want to visit a whole bunch of my favorites and just forget about the dishes.

Moo Challenge #33

Over the years I’ve certainly got a lot of mileage out of Mona Lisa, so when I read that this week’s challenge over at Make a Moo or Two was Paris, I immediately thought of her …oh, and the Eiffel Tower too. Much as I’d like to have been more creative with this theme, I also wanted to christen this Tim Holtz ATC stamp by using it to make my moos.
While I’m on the subject of Mona, if you have a few minutes, check out this video on YouTube that demonstrates how to render her using MS Paint. The process looks incredibly complex to me, but it’s fascinating to watch the process artist Jason Baalman goes through to reproduce her.

In My Journal

As I was flipping through my journal tonight, I realized that I don’t just use it as a place to go on and on about what’s bothering me; it’s also where I put down my ideas. Now I’ll admit that I don’t/can’t follow through on most of them, but the process of brainstorming is so pleasurable that it’s really nice to have some record of this. It gives me the feeling I’m accomplishing something worthwhile even when I’m really not. (On the other hand, I’m sure I’d thrive in an alternate universe where the only important thing would be to have ideas—and not to feel under any pressure to follow through on them).

What to write about?

John has been reading several different blogs for a few years now, and he told me today he’s noticed that not only are some bloggers posting less frequently, but also that others seem to have stopped altogether. It’s made me wonder if blogs in general have a certain life span, or if other things in life interfere with keeping one regularly as they sometimes do with me.
There are a whole host of sites out there on how to blog—over 97 million of them if you Goggle this topic—and several of them recommend you should be posting at least twice a week, or else readers will eventually drop away. I try to post more often than that, but it’s not always possible. Personally I think you should blog when you feel like it, and let the whole question of readers just take care of itself. Blogging should be enjoyable, even if it’s not always easy to know what you want to write about (or what other people might actually want to read).
Speaking of blogs, on November 2nd Hermine Koster posted this vintage image, which I turned into an ATC using Photoshop. Hermine mentions that she scanned the image—one of a group of postcards from her grandfather’s store—and that she will be offering more on her blog in the future for you to download free …as long as you don’t resell them. I think it’s worth checking out this resource because it’s always fun (at least for me) when you get a chance to work with someone else’s images. Plus you’ll enjoy her artwork too.

Moo Challenge #32

What springs to mind when you hear the word party? This is the Make a Moo or Two theme this week, and I have to admit the first word I thought of was “food” because I love sampling what other people make. The next words on my list were friends, fun and family, and I decided to celebrate this visually by using some different fonts …you know the ones—you download them because you have to have them and they’re free; then you never end up using most of them.
If you’d like to play with the ones I’ve used, here are the free links:
The food typeface is called Broken Ghost and you can download it from DailyFreeFonts.
Bleeding Cowboys (!), the friends’ font, is available from dafont.com.
And last but not least: fun. You can find the Turbo Ripped font at Font River.
P.S. I’d scan these with your antivirus software before installing them just to be on the safe side.

A Book Worth Having

Quite honestly, I could spend all my time reading about techniques rather than applying them, especially when there are so many great books out there. A case in point is Altered Surfaces: Using Acrylic Paints With Gels, Mediums, Grounds & Pastes by Chris Cozen. Cozen, part of the Golden Acrylic Colors' Working Artists program, is a wealth of practical information. She covers Gels and Pastes to create surface texture and pattern; Fluid, Airbrush and Heavy Body acrylics; Interference and Iridescent pigments: and Grounds that give the surface of your work “tooth.” Even though the emphasis is on Golden products, if you’re a Liquitex fan, I’m sure that many of these techniques will be transferable.
Altered Surfaces is a short book—only 50 pages—but it’s crammed with all sorts of ideas to try like using different mediums with stencils and stamps, doing Glass Bead transfers, and staining crackle paste for a more dimensional look. But what I liked best about Cozen’s book is that after reading it, I finally understood the potential behind all the painting products I own, and this has given me the confidence to get more mileage out of them.To find out more about Chris Cozen, check out her website.