Changes

Emma moved into her new place this weekend and it was one of those bittersweet life passages—for me at least. Sweet because we now have more space in the house, which has been topsy turvy with her stuff for the last couple of weeks. But mostly it’s sad to see her go because we’ve had so much fun together over the summer. She starts work full time as a corporate lawyer on September 8th and it’s unlikely that she will ever be coming home again to live.
I know I won’t be seeing as much of Emma in the future either because of her job, and I shed more than a few tears when I walked into her empty bedroom after the moving van left. I guess now is the perfect time to ease that empty spot in my heart by doing some art.

Moo Challenge #22

Well, it’s Make a Moo or Two time again …or in this case, make three. It’s surprising what a challenge it is to work on such a small scale. I would like to use rubber stamps more than I do, but even though I have a ton of them, I often don’t have ones that will fit.
This week the theme is flowers which I really enjoyed, and I used Dover clip art for for my images with scrapbooking paper as a background. I know I’ve mentioned this before on my blog, but it’s worth noting again. If you sign up for Dover's weekly newsletter, there are always free samples you can download. It’s smart advertising on Dover’s part because you can’t resist buying some of the books they’re promoting.

Whew!

I was invited to submit a portfolio to a gallery for a possible show next year, and I’ve finally finished putting it together. I knew it was going to take a lot of work, but I didn’t realize exactly how much. Because I make most of my income from writing, I’m always organized in that area. When it comes to art though, it’s a free-for-all. I have stuff everywhere and anywhere.
Trying to decide what to include was the worst part—well, not quite as bad as my computer/printer problems—but bad enough. I felt that I should include everything I’ve ever done in case just one piece might sway the board in my favor. In the end, I had to go with what fit the pages of my portfolio—that, or spend weeks obsessing about it. The piece shown is an assemblage made from a large light switch that we had to alter for Carmi’s Extraordinary and Exceptional Society of Mixed Up Media Artists. In all we had 25 challenges and this was number three.
Sadly, Carmi is too busy with the One of a Kind Show and other projects to continue organizing and running the club. But I for one am grateful to have been a part of it. Thank you for everything Carmi. You really pushed me to grow and develop as an artist, as well as providing me with friendships that will last a lifetime.

What does a geranium smell like?

I’ve never had a good sense of smell. The odd time an odor penetrates my awareness, a color immediately springs to mind …i.e. bananas remind me of purple, and purple smells like a banana.
For this reason, I’m mystified when one odor is used to describe another. I mean if you say something smells like a skunk, I certainly get that because I’ve de-skunked my dog a couple of times. But on the whole, I’d have to say that smell is uncharted territory for me; when I was trying to figure how to describe the odor of a geranium, all I could come up with was something visual.

Fun with Mary

I finally got a chance to spend a few days with Mary at her boat this week and had a fantastic time. I was surprised by how large the boat is. There’s a kitchen, a bathroom with shower, a bedroom and a living room/dining room. It was wonderful to fall asleep looking at the stars and full moon with the boat gently rocking.
During the day we were busy boating around the area, and going antiquing and junk shopping. We both picked up some nifty bargains. My favorite find? Three old cigar boxes for assemblage and two rolls of player piano paper. Mary zeroed in on some great stuff as well, including a couple of big bags of brass shell casings in different sizes. She could hardly believe her luck, and when we got back to the boat, she promptly started amputating Barbie hands and feet to add to them (see below). Being in on the action meant I got some of her stash, but fortunately she has enough left over to add to her Etsy store.

In every way it was the ideal get-away for me. Beautiful surroundings, great food and plenty of time spent chatting and making art. Mary worked on her jewelry and I mainly concentrated on assemblage, although I did try Ludgera’s wallpaper technique using black gesso. (Not that it turned out the way hers did, but I live in hopes).

The experience of retreating from the cares of everyday life, and focusing on art and friendship was really rejuvenating for both of us. I’ve come away from it all convinced we can have more fun and find more meaning in our lives if we make a pact with ourselves to live in the now.

Moo Challenge #21

Because I only have one image with wheels (the Make a Moo or Two theme this week), it was easy to decide what to go with. I’d already used this Tim Holtz stamp in my journal recently, but I had to cut it up and reassemble things so it would fit into the moo format. Even though it ended up looking busy, I like the combination of elements. There’s something appealing about an old map, a ticket, a tape measure and a vintage car.

To be or not to be

A couple of days ago I took this picture of a bee on Lily’s dog towel. The bee stayed there for ages and let me get close enough to take a good look at his wings (which looked a little chewed up in places to me). I thought he might have been injured, but after a long nap he got it together and flew away.

Argh...

I’m in an argh-ish kind of mood lately because I’m in the middle of a number of projects where there’s no end in sight. Not good for a closure-centric person like me. Have you ever noticed that what appears to be simple will inevitably become complicated? I remember writing an article a few years ago back that should have been straightforward but rapidly deteriorated. I started keeping track of all the phone calls I was forced to make and ended up with a total of 101, which has given me an aversion to anything containing 1-0-1 …i.e. Decluttering Your House 101. (Yeah, sure).

Moo Challenge #20

I’ve been doing the Make a Moo or Two challenge for five months now, but I was tempted to forgo this one: Schooldays—because I couldn’t seem to come up with something that wasn’t generic. Then I thought I’d try something based on the traditional school picture. I wasn’t that happy with what evolved from this idea. However, it did revive my dormant interest in designing my own line of rubber stamps.

Venus & the Streetlight

I’ve never had the knack of taking good pictures on any kind of consistent basis. Percentage-wise I probably get one decent shot out of twenty. That’s why I prefer working with other people’s images rather than my own.
John, on the other hand, takes plenty of great photos. I liked the ones he took of a blue sky with a streetlight and my plaster copy of the Venus de Milo, so I decided to blend them in Photoshop and add a map. Now John says we have to have a discussion about copyright issues.

Mother Nature

Tonight is our ATC meeting and the theme is nature. Even though I thought I was organized well in advance with my cards, after I’d cut everything out, things fell apart visually. None of my stamps seemed to work and the colors looked limp. So it was back to the drawing board for me.
I ended up scanning a Victorian postcard of Mary’s and then used an istock image for the face. Incorporating this really challenged my Photoshop skills, but I was pleased with the result.
After I’d printed out my ATCs, I decorated them with a glitter pen and added a jewel. To get around the fact that the effect is slick rather than organic, I decided to call my card “Mother Nature.” I usually think of her as middle-aged and voluptuous, but who says she can’t be young and sleek?

David's Opening

Tonight is the opening of Threshold Awareness, David’s art show at the Museum of American Glass in Weston, West Virginia, and we’re so excited for him! Emma drove down with David on Tuesday to deliver 29 of his glass bricks and to help him with the installation.
He is the first contemporary artist who has been invited to show at the museum, which has a 12,000 square foot space devoted to the history and display of factory glass in America. My grandfather was a factory glass artist—and David originally thought of being one too—so it’s interesting that this should be the venue of his first solo U.S. show.
For more information on the show and how David makes his bricks, check out the press release on his website.

Moo Challenge #19

I wasn’t sure what I could do with music, the Make a Moo or Two theme this week (mainly because I have so few musical images). But I do like this Rossetti painting called Veronica Veronese and decided to use it as the basis for a trio of moos.
I spent quite a bit of time playing with the image in Photoshop, and in the end changed very little—just recolored the background, highlighted the bird and added some handwriting of Verdi’s. Not very creative when I think about it. Still, the process of examining the painting was enjoyable.
Rossetti’s women always seem to be striking a pose, but they’re also strangely appealing and mysterious—like this particular model, for instance. Is she preparing to play her violin, wishing she knew how or distracted by the canary singing in its cage? I wish I knew.

Getting Organized

Whenever I make a serious attempt to get organized, something usually happens to derail me. This time it was my digital rodent—i.e. my mouse. Let me tell you, there’s been a lot of cursing about cursors going on around here. It’s always sobering to recognize just how dependent you are on your equipment, and the fact that it’s a long weekend doesn’t help any either.
I’ve been trying to figure out why things like this tend to occur at the wrong time, and I’ve come to the conclusion this happens when I’m taking myself too seriously.

Moo Challenge #18

What is your favorite theme? That’s the challenge at Make a Moo or Two this week. I had trouble making up my mind because there are so many images I like …postal stuff, numbers, words, faces, science diagrams, maps etc. In the end I decided to just rummage through some of my stamps and go with what appealed to me at the moment.
The theme that immediately presented itself was Sisters. I am very close to my sister Pam, and my friends feel like sisters to me too. Although, now that I think of it, I have several male friends and two brothers I adore, so I could just as easily chosen Brothers. Oh well, maybe next time.

Field Trip

It’s been months since Mary and I went to Active Surplus and Above Ground, so we rendezvoused after work to stock up on nifty bits and pieces. The first thing Mary did was open her trunk to show me all the amazing assemblages and figurines she’s been creating recently. I felt like climbing right in there with them. Can you alter a living person? Now that would be interesting.
At Above Ground I came across a display of Copic Markers. I’d heard of them of course—Debbie Olsen and Teesha Moore swear by them—but it was the first time I’d seen them here in Canada. There was a young guy beside me stocking up on them, so I asked his opinion. “I’m in love,” he said fervently. (I’m assuming with Copic Markers). But I resisted buying any because they’re pricey. I have the feeling that I’ll eventually cave on this one though. When I was a layout artist, I used markers all the time and I can see how much fun it would be to use them in my journal.
Then, at Active Surplus, Mary and I trolled the aisles searching for interesting objects to use in our assemblages and we didn't come away empty-handed. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with that door peephole, the temperature gauge and those old television tubes, but it makes me feel good just knowing I have them.

Celebrating

Why spend just one day celebrating your birthday when you can squander several? That’s what I decided to do this year, and I've been so busy partying that I've been too busy to blog.
People have told me in the past that they miss the birthdays they had as children, but I don’t. Having a birthday in the middle of the summer meant my friends were either on vacation, or I was. Celebrating is more fun now because nearly everyone is around.
Take the weekend for example. Carmi organized an art get-together at the Zion Cultural Centre in Toronto. Formerly a church, the space has fantastic lighting and plenty of room for everyone to have their own art table. After several weeks of family obligations, it was an opportunity to start working on some new art projects.
One of the highlights was watching Carmi creating felt embellishments. (Note to self: you will NOT become involved in fabric art until you’ve made serious inroads into all that paper you have).
Another highpoint for me—and Karen too—was being presented with a birthday cake and a bezel from each member of our art club (see above). This was a total surprise and now I have several new treasures to add to my art collection. I’m also thinking my new philosophy of life should be that every day is my birthday—and celebrate accordingly!
P.S. You can check out Karen’s bezels and the felting extravaganza on Carmi’s blog.

Watching Le Tour

Like Jen Worden, this time of year always finds me parked in front of the TV watching Le Tour de France. John and I have been fans for the last eight years, and I think this is the most exciting Tour yet because we don’t know who will win—the race is that close.
For the first time since 1997, there is a Canadian involved in the Tour: Ryder Hesjedal from Victoria, B.C. Out of 150 riders, Hesjedal is number 54, which I think is great, especially when you consider it’s his first year on the Tour.
Today was the seventeenth stage and featured the highest climb of the race: L’Alpe-d’Huez. Since I don’t have a photo, I thought I’d feature Cascade Mountain in Alberta just to give this post a Canadian flavour. Wouldn’t it be fun to see the world’s best cyclists zipping down Main Street in Banff?

Will's Children

It’s been a while since I’ve done an ATC so I decided to play with an old photo tonight to see what I could come up with. It’s a picture of Great Uncle Will’s children in front of their house in downtown Toronto.
About half of my grandmother’s twelve siblings immigrated to Canada from England in the early 1900s, and Nana and her parents were the last to arrive in 1909. That’s almost a hundred years ago and I wonder how she must have felt leaving what was familiar to her to come to a new country.
Somehow I doubt that Nana was homesick for long though. She soon met my grandfather and had her first child at the age of eighteen. Judging by the size of Will’s family, I’m guessing Nana had plenty of cousins to socialize with too. She told me they would go for a walk after dinner and then listen to music at the park. Apparently the musicians weren’t formally organized into a band. They would just show up with their instruments and start jamming. I wish I could have seen (and heard) that.

Moo Challenge #17

Mona Lisa (and friends) is this week’s theme at Make a Moo or Two. Did Mona have friends? She must have of course, but since we really don’t know much about her, I buddied up Mona with a couple of Lorenzo de Medici’s mistresses. (Hope she doesn’t mind).
I know there are children with imaginary playmates, but I don’t recall having any myself—though I do remember pretending that I was adopted at one point.
My real name was Cordelia, not Susan, and I had nine beautiful brothers and sisters. We all lived happily in a huge mansion with a greenhouse and private lake before we were cruelly separated from each other. The most fun about this imaginary world was drawing the elaborate floor plans. I even had my own sunken bathtub with solid gold faucets, and a separate suite for all of my dolls.