Artful Adventures

Special Treat

 

Today Gary showed me this, what appeared to be a bundle of papers tied up with yarn, didn't have a clue at first glance what it was.  Well, what a treat it is!  His aunt passed away in January, and we inherited her recipes, all glued into handmade books that she had made!  The covers were mostly cereal boxes, flattened out, then filled recipes she had taped or glued onto the pages which consisted of everything from more cereal boxes, to paper bags, junk mail, or large envelopes that mail had arrived in.  Nothing was wasted in her house! 

Each one is neatly labeled, one was even made using an old shirt box for the covers, and all sewn together with bits of yarn into the holes she had punched into these pages.  I remember Katie once talking on her blog about how her Mom, and now Katie herself, saved cereal boxes and any other box that they got their hands on-now I really know why!  This is the type of thing that could so easily have been thrown away, and in reality is such a treasure.  Sometimes, (ok, most times) I get so hung up on doing things "right" and trying to get it as close to perfect as I'm capable of, that it takes some of the joy out of creating go flying right out the window.  This is such a perfect example of a straightforward approach of getting the job done, making it functional, using materials at hand, and not stressing out about it.  It wasn't made to stand the test of time, or win a prize, or to question the ability of the skill level needed to create this.  Instead it was done to serve a purpose, has such great character, this is so much better, perfect in fact!  I never could get any of her recipes to turn out right, maybe now I can:) 

This was just too sweet to not share, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!  I ran into a blog post on Beth's blog today, asking her readers to send her suggestions of pictures they'd like to see her take today.  I'd like to ask my readers to find a treasure in their house, old or new, that they'd like to share-like I just did with the cookbooks.  Take a picture, post it, and tell us what makes it special to you.  If you don't have a blog, just leave a comment to tell me, and if you do have a blog leave a comment with the link so I can go see.  This could be fun!  And don't forget to go over to Beth's and give her some ideas!

Necklace, anyone?

 

 

If you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Amanda before, now's your chance!  She's having her first blog giveaway right now and if I were you, I'd be running over there to sign up for it (I did!)-she's giving away one of gorgeous (and I do mean GORGEOUS!) necklaces!  And while you're over there, she had a birthday last week, you could flood her with belated birthday wishes, too!  Amanda is a good friend of mine, and I'm fortunate enough to live close enough to her that if weather permits, we can get together occasionally and "art" the day away.  Now that spring's officially here, we can start doing that again, although spring in WI translates into you never really know what the weather will be like.  For example, they're talking 7"-8" of snow starting tomorrow sometime.  The good news is that it doesn't stick around long now.  The giant allium is already up a few inches, and I noticed the bleeding hearts poking through in spots, too.  So soon, very soon, spring will be here to stay!  Will try to get some studio pictures up tomorrow, at least that's the goal, so see you then!

Growth

 

Now isn't this the most innocent, unassuming, walk right past it & never give it a second look, kind of potted plant?  You couldn't be more wrong:)  When I first bought this plant about 15 years ago, it had 1 little stalk and was in a 4' pot.  What you're looking at in this picture is not the plant at all, but the flowers that grow after a winter dormancy.  When they open, the flower is a gorgeous burgundy almost calla shaped bloom-that smells like the most rancid rotting whatever that you could ever imagine thing, which is why it also goes by the name "corpse lily".  You don't water it all winter, the bulbs form in bone dry soil.  After they're cut off (as soon as they smell) then the plant grows, and grows, and grows.  Much like an artist, give us the right tools, the right mindset, cultivate our style, and we grow.  Yep, we may produce some stinky stuff in the process, but can thrive if we take care of our needs, learn, and grow.  A growth that can actually be measured daily, as the flowers can be!  If you want to learn more about the plant, it's at The Flying Pig right now for entertainment as it was wintered there, and you can see more photos of it here.  And for even more history and to find out why it's called the plant that only a mother could love, go here and be amused:)  It is spring after all, time for some plant knowledge! 

Even though spring is almost here, it's not nearly far enough along for this peony bloom, not to mention that I've never seen one colored quite this this.  But it's a good example of how things change.  If this bloom were an artist (and that's how I'll refer to it from this point on) you can see that it's changed, some may say for the better, some may not agree.  But this artist has changed her style a bit, enough to still be recognizable as that artist, but has learned new things, new techniques, has morphed into whatever she is today, and who knows what she'll be tomorrow, but still has & always will have, the same roots, same essence that makes her what she is, it's just that today her work looks a little different, mediums have changed, skill levels increased, and different tools used to make her work look like it does today, instead of that plain peony that her art used to be-now it glows a bit, and has a little more confidence, but humble enough to always remember where she came from and not let go of everything, see that touch of original color left?  That's needed to remember who she is, was, and will be.  Still with me? There's a point to this, really!  If you click on over to my friend Debi's blog, The Junkin' YaYa , you'll see that she does a biweekly feature of an artist, and this week it's me!  She had a computer crash and lost the images that I had sent her, so she chose the ones that you'll see on her blog instead.  It's all pieces that I had done 6 or 7 years ago, how things have changed!  If anyone had told me back then that today I'd be painting or making jewelry, I'd have laughed in their face, seriously.  But you know what-I am doing those things!  Most of us look back at our older work, say a quick "blech", and quickly get away from it.  But you know what?  This is where I started, this is what my art was built on, so in all honesty it would be foolish for me to not look at these as a measurement of sorts.  If I'd have chosen to stay stamping, fine, but I didn't.  But I also wouldn't have learned anything new if I hadn't figured out how to do those pieces first and then move on, step by step, inch by inch, and sometimes even a step or so backwards.  I've often heard artists say that they're embarrassed by their older work, or can't believe they used to do______fill in the blank with whatever, but we all had to start somewhere.  And this was my somewhere!  So where did YOU start?  I'd really like to know!  To end this post , one day last week, we went over to the Flying Pig for a cup of coffee, and as we're sll sitting there talking, we noticed that we were each wearing a different pair of Solmate Socks.  It's a line of socks that has mismatched pairs, which is just too much fun!  They say "Life is too short for matching socks", and I have to agree!

Treasures!

 

This past week, the mail was good to me, but so were my friends:)  For Christmas, a friend of mine, Tammy Vitale, got the equipment needed to make her own beads.  In just over 2 months look what she's making already-a goddess bead!!!  She was generous enough to send it here to live with my growing collection of special little things, all things that were gifts to me that one of these days will be turned into a necklace of my own.  Thanks Tammy, she went to a good home!  And while we're talking about Tammy, be sure to click here to read an interview that Tammy did as a guest artist for the MMCA Marketplace blog.  It's a great interview, you'll enjoy it!   

An old friend of mine was cleaning out her closets and decided to get rid of broken and/or jewelry that she wasn't going to wear anymore, so she boxed it all up & sent it my way.  It's funny how a pile of someone else's cast offs can look & feel like such a treasure, but it really is a treasure to me.  Something I can rummage around in, and pull a piece from here & one from there, and put something together that's wearable-now that's fun!  It's funny though, I don't think I've ever owned that much jewelry in my life, let alone have that much laying around to get rid of.  As good of friends as we've been for well over 30 years, she was always a girly girl with tgeh perfect clothes, make up, jewelry and wore about a size zero.  Then there was me, just about the complete opposite, but we did have fun!  In the box with the jewelry, she also sent along an old photo album with every page filled with her family pictures of her ancestors.  That's here for a visit, long enough for me to photocopy or scan the pictures and then it's out of here!  A generous act on her part to trust me with this, but it makes me nervous to be responsible for someone else's treasure, and it really is a treasure.  Another project for me to get done relatively soon and then send it back to it's home.  Even though I have a ton of old pictures, having some "new" ones to play with is always a treat, isn't it? 

An invitation----

As I've mentioned before, I have art for sale on my own shop page, within the cyber walls of MMCA Marketplace, a very cool online business set up to help us artists get as much exposure as we possibly can. The Marketplace is accepting new applications, so if you're thinking of looking into a new & different online venue, read on, go check it out, and see what you think!

 Invitation to Join the MMCA Marketplace

You've been hearing all the buzz lately about the up & coming MMCA Marketplace, and now we'd like to extend an invitation for you to join in on this exciting online marketing venue. If you are an artist who is committed to producing quality, original art, we welcome you to apply for membership now while we're doing an open enrollment.

Applicants are judged on quality, style and value to ensure that our Marketplace can effectively represent you, and so that we can offer "something for everyone" who comes to the Marketplace to shop. We strive to represent those artists who are devoted to their work and are constantly refining their skills. Artists accepted into the Marketplace will be coming together with the current members, adding to the already widely varied background of styles, mediums, and pricing, making it possible to offer our clients quality art in the medium of their choice.

While our standards are high, our membership costs are not. Benefits of belonging to the MMCA Marketplace include:
•Your own shop page including your branding logo and short bio
•Local, Regional and National Press Campaign
•Website, blog and contact links listed on shop page
•20 images with short product descriptions with Buy Now buttons
•Featured Artist rotation on Marketplace Blog

Some of our more recent promotions are:
•We made headlines in local, regional and national publications
•Our artists participated in a gallery exhibit in Central Pennsylvania
•We advertised in a nationally published magazine

To accommodate various budgets, we have three membership options. If you believe you belong with us, please consider submitting an application.
Marketplace Application

New Jewels

 

After what seems like forever, there's finally some new art to share.  Six new necklaces to be exact, that are listed over in my shop at the MMCA Marketplace online shop.  I was going to wait for my new DVD from Sharilyn Miller to see if I could quick learn some new techniques to incorporate into these, but it got hung up somewhere in Minnesota, most likely due to a snowstorm.  But it was fine, I used a few new to me techniques from this DVD instead, and now I can concentrate on learning more for the next round.  But first I need to get away from the jewelry for a little while and get back in the studio & sling more paint.  I hadn't worked in that room for a week or so, and when I walked in there the other day, it actually felt welcoming, I'm hoping this is a sign of good things coming! 

 

These past couple of months I've had such a hard time concentrating on making art, at first because I was worried about this blood clot, but I can't control it, so I'm trying hard to not think about it, whatever happens, happens.  But being blasted non stop by the media about this recession makes it difficult to think about anything else.  Yes, there's the option of turning off the TV, not watching the news or reading a paper, but it's not enough.  A good friend of mine is losing her business, and foreclosure proceedings have started against both her business property & her home.  Another friend's husband lost his job before Christmas and neither one of them has been able to find full time jobs.  And we just sit & watch our hard earned 401k shrink at an alarming rate.  And I'm sure that you all have similar stories & experiences, and it breaks my heart to see these bad things happening to good people.  So what do we do?  I say we try our best to keep a positive attitude, hope & pray that this starts to turn around and keep people in their homes.  The good news is that most of us have such a stash of art supplies, that we can keep working, creating beauty if for no other reason than hoping it'll bring a smile to someone's face.  We can keep working to get better at what we do, move forward, and someday soon look back & say we did it-we survived!  So lets have some fun, create, share, learn, and hang on for dear life.