Artful Adventures

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. 

A lot of Linky Love Today

In the last couple of days, I've been out & about online trying to play a quick game of catch up, in between everything else I'm doing here.  It's been fun so I want to share some of what I found.  First, did you know that Bernie Berlin of A Place to Bark Animal Rescue is running a charity auction on Ebay, with all the proceeds going to help build a new kennel for her animal rescue effort.  The auction consists of artwork that a lot of us donated to Bernie to help her raise funds for the rescue.  So if you want to add to your art collection, and help the critters at the same time, this is a great way to do it!  She's got the piece that I donated up for auction right now, so click & see, and make sure to go back often as many more pieces will be added throughout the month.  If you want to do even more shopping, go check out my shop over at MMCA Marketplace.  There are 14 shops to choose from, including Sue Minier who was featured in a recent Cloth Paper Scissors article with her beautiful fabric collages.  The one featured in the article sold right away, but there's plenty more to see-I'd love to own one of those myself!  And while you're over there, click on over to the MMCA blog and read Christine Goldbeck's book review, which is the first in a series to follow soon.  In the meantime, Andrew is doing his own interpretation of an advent calendar, as only Andrew would do, and also posted a photo essay today.  If you're not familiar with his blog, you'll be fascinated with the photos that he takes & the art that he makes.  My friend Debi, has a brand new website for her shop in Houston, Yaya Chique, if you're in the area, I'd be running over there quick to see her work in person!  And while your at it, check out her blog & see some of her home decorations.  Valley Ridge Art Studio has their 2009 line up of classes posted, how do you choose from this selection of some of the best teachers around?  Have you stopped by this blog yet, I love it over there!  It's fresh & fun, with recipes & tips in the sidebar and some wonderful free images to use, a very generous offer!  There's more, but just one more for tonight.  Last but certainly not least, Christi made a beautiful post about 29 days of giving and yes, she's giving something away for 29 days, but go read about it, the project is growing!  This should keep you busy for awhile, and if you find any fun or interesting links, let me know, remind me if I know them, but better yet everyone who reads the comments can then find even more places to pop into!