And now a word about my nephew......

I often blog about my talented niece Abby, 13. But, now it's time to spread some love to her brother, my equally-talented and uber-cool nephew Josh, 17. Besides being an apparent ladies' man, if Facebook must be believed (and it must), he is charmer to young and old, and a fun-loving, normal high school senior. He's also a 'guitar-bud' to my son Alex, 20, his cousin.

Besides being musically-oriented and a former football player and cross country runner, Josh is incredibly artistic. He has taken ceramics, photography, digital art and more, but every time I go to their house, I am struck by his charcoal drawings.

Here are three, including a self-portrait. He has multiple ribbons from art shows and much other work, which I hope to feature here in the future. He definitely has a variety of career options, and right now is considering Geology as a major at Indiana University, where his dad works.

His artist-wannabe auntie admires him for many reasons; his drawing skill is only one.

Table art. Wall art. Art art

I changed my dining area table top from late summer harvest-y colors finally to something a little more holiday-ish. I went with gold, red, and black and white with black toile, and later that day I hung this newly-framed signed and numbered print called "Taksaka." It all matches beautifully. I call it my falliday table. I figured I can leave it until after Valentine's Day if I'm feeling particularly lazy in the decorating department. I used to change my tabletop monthly. This is my apartment in Columbia, not my house in Leesburg. Happy Fallidays!

An Art Retreat- Staycation Style

Finally, something resembling art to talk about for this blog! With many glorious days of vacation ahead of me, I made a list of all the art projects I want to do, gathered my supplies, and gathered my niece Abby, 12 (13 in a couple weeks), and we started creating.

I had not had time to enjoy Carla Sonheim's new Drawing Lab book, and since the class I took from her a few years ago at Art & Soul is still one of all-time favorites, I decided to do some of the exercises with Abby. We tried single-line drawing, vine charcoal, faces, and we used a ceramic poodle and ceramic cat for our animal drawings. We did the Picasso pets and Modigliani faces.

We forgot to try drawing each other with the wrong hand! I still have my portrait someone did of me in class. The person whose face I drew with my wrong hand and without looking, left class early, shortly after receiving her sketch from me! LOL. But seriously, if you want to have a lot of fun with easy-to-follow exercises while learning to draw or improving and expanding your drawing skills, get Carla's book!

We painted watercolor backgrounds, talked about Artist Trading Cards and Zentangles, and like hunter-gatherers, cut out magazine stuff and collected trinkets for collage. We then wore ourselves out and had to watch five straight episodes of I-Carly while lounging. I have always loved Miranda Cosgrove since School of Rock is one of my favorite movies. As I had driven 13 straight hours Friday, and about seven Sunday to an out-of-state Blythe meet, with another seven hours coming two days after 'Art Day,' you could say I was worn out.

But, not too worn out for a huge antique mall, of course! I took Abby to North Webster, IN, scene of so many summers during my childhood and her father's. Abby is really my great-niece, but that makes me sound old. Her dad is my nephew. When we were kids in the 1960s and early 1970s, we always went "up north" to the lakes in Kosciusko County, riding from our homes in central Indiana. But I digress.

The North Webster Antique Mall is HUGE and is in a former favorite dimestore of mine called Rinker's. Rinker's hadthe best selection of water toys around, plus clothing, candy, gifts, etc. The Rinker name is still well-known via Rinker Boats, and the Rinkers were from my hometown of Anderson, so they, too, were just "lakers" once upon a time.

I saved my favorite booth for last, which is full of Shabby Chic goodies. I always save it for last. Before we got to it, I was carrying plenty of strange stuff, and Abby had a great, old, small Samsonite hard suitcase in mint condition. If I had know how much she would have liked the SC booth, we would have gone there first! Abby found a second case, a large, square, Tiffany-blue satin train case, also in excellent condition. And with two suitcases, as Abby told me, now she has a collection! Poor girl doesn't stand a chance coming from a collecting family--dolls, model cars, Fiestaware, Coca-Cola items, granite ware, kitchen advertising/tins, stamps, coins, jewelry--her great-grandmother, grandfather, aunt, great-uncles, great-aunt (me) have been collectors most of our lives.

We trotted off with our goodies to a re-sale shop, another antique shop, and then, being practical, off to the spa for some pampering. I got a long-awaited hi-lite with 'my girl,' and Abby got her toes and fingers painted an nice Twilight-like shade, called Lincoln Park After Dark.

After that we joined my daughter, Adrienne, 27 in a week, for some more retail therapy. I knew I could bribe Ade to drive with the offer to fill up her gas hog. We hit Fazoli's first, a favorite of all three of us, and inhaled our food as Adrienne had taken over the "whistle and clipboard" from me, and was hurrying us along so we could get to Glenbrook Mall.

Abby and I made a bee-line for the bookstore. The darling smarty-pants was volunatrily reading Hamlet in the car, and then bought Romeo & Juliet. Ade, of course, went to Abercrombie & Fitch. Then we all hit Trade Secret's 50% off going-out-of-business sale, where Abby was able to get a bottle of her new polish color, and Ade and I stocked up on hair products. Sad they are going out of business, but great sale! Maybe it is just this mall location? Or an uninformed clerk?

We then hit a few stores trying to stock Abby up a little for back-to-school, including Forever 21 (I was the only one who bought anything. How appropriate!), American Eagle, and we pretty much closed down the mall. Too tired to hit Border's after.

And we knew we'd be getting up early for Day Four: a trip to The Indianapolis Children's Museum to see the Barbie retrospective. And added surprise: Rock Stars, Guitars & Cars, which I also enjoyed. At the museum we met my Blythe friend from Cincinnati, Libby Sherman, and her daughter Phoebe, same age/same grade. Libby and Phoebe looked like Living Barbie Dolls, and were just as sweet. A good time was had by all (I think). Abby and I were a little worn out, and I was grumpy about not looking like a Living Barbie. Hey, what if YOU had once been Miss Beaver Dam? We got some clever Blythe pictures, and shopped until we dropped in the gift shop.

Then it was time to drive Abby to her home, south of Indianapolis, where I got to see my very talented great-nephew, her brother Josh, for a few minutes. Josh and one of his bands were contacted after a You Tube video and offered some free studio time! Very exciting.

Before I left, Abby and I dug out her massive 1990s Barbie collection, and I helped her find shoes and clothes that would fit her new Blythe doll I gave her. We also found a few little Kelly trinkets to fit my Wonder Frog, and a Barbie sheepdog that looked just like my late mother's dog named Bonkers.

All in all, the four days whizzed by, and while I felt a little Bonkers with all the driving, we had a great time, and I was excited to hear about Abby's plans for her suitcases, art and Blythe. You go, girl. And she will, be going, that is, to one of my fave places, Portland and Seattle, missing the first three days of school to go to a conference with her dad. But well worth it and quite manageable for this excellent student. So proud of you, Miss Abby!

What Is Art?

I haven't made anything lately that I would normally classify as art or even altered art, so I haven't had much to post about. But then, like Carrie in SATC, I wondered: what is art?

Is it spray painting?

I certainly felt artistic and got covered with enough paint and turpentine to qualify while DIY-ing some home improvement to all this dollhouse furniture as evidenced by the before and after pictures. You can see and read much more on my Blythe blog.

Is it food? Salad? Veggies?

I have been trying to eat better lately, not that I don't love salad anyway. But I've been talking to a nutritionist about headaches, sluggishness, sinus pain and puffy eyes, and now in my pantry I have hemp powder, stevia, sunflower seed "peanut" butter, almond milk, goat yogurt, spelt bread and more. So far, so good.

Is it flowers? Is it a pink, vintage pillow? Is it toy robots and little collections? Is it folding a tiny piece of paper into a realistic little box and being happy with the results? All these things seem beautiful to me. They were created by someone. Does that make them art? They give someone else pleasure. Is that art?

What about shoes? Are they art? Are beautiful shoes a work of art? Carrie would say yes.

What about these Manolos? What makes people (and characters) go crazy for them? Why did these shoes start out in a store at $585 when others are $85 or $58 or even $19.99? What makes them sell on ebay for $360? What makes me covet them, even gently used, at an elegant re-sale shop called Chic to Chic where, after sleeping on it, I dash back in search of them still, for $149? Is it because they are art? Is it because they are couture? And what makes a shoe couture? Is it because they are cool? I have to say these must be some kind of work of art because they fit like gloves (gloves for feet?), they aren't painful, and as high as they are, they still feel good. Can that be the art of the shoe?

What is art to you?

Yay Me! (again) and Thanks to Shonna of Twisted Figures

The above goodies are winging their way to me, courtesy of Shonna Bucaroff of Twisted Figures. I entered a drawing on her blog for her '100th Follower' celebration, and somehow her cutie son drew my name out of a jar.

You might recognize another piece of Shonna's art, "Busy Bee," which I bought from her Etsy shop and blogged about here. Shonna also turned me on to Suzi Blu's Web site and art classes. Love this style! Thanks, Shonna.

My mini paintings for a 'girly' swap

These original paintings by me- and much of the credit goes to the styles of Kelly Rae, Suzi Blu and Shonna Bucaroff- are 4" x 4," and I made them for a personal swap of "girly" style pages with Malin Walkeby of Sweden. I finished them up about 2 a.m. last Sunday before hitting the road for several days for work.

I had great fun doing them, having been doodling faces for weeks in my journal. When I saw Malin's faces and girls on Flickr, I knew we had to swap. She also encouraged me to join the Marie Antoinette Mail Art group, and I have 18 pages of 4 x 4 Maries to make soon for a fat book in that group.

The backgrounds of my pages were the first thing I made, actually using rubber stamp in and a blender brush. Then I added texture by stamping over punchinella. Next I drew my girls in pencil, then filled them out with watercolor crayons. Next, I painted titan buff acrylic right over the facial features I had just drawn. I finished off the facial features with gel pens and more watercolor crayons, using water to smooth. I added paper, brad and button accessories as well as some vintage embellishments: sheet music, book pages, assorted goodies and beaded lace. Finally I stamped on some messages, put my info on the backs and six hours later I was done.

I received Malin's wonderful pages last night when I got home from my multi-state trip, and I'll post those very soon.

I have lots of wonderful artsy (and wordsy) news to share-coming soon!

The Usual Memorial Day Weather is Good for Something

I could have predicted clouds and rain today in Indiana. It is always yucky on Memorial Day. 'Yucky' is a very specific meteorological term describing gloomy holiday weather- specifically on the three long weekends of summer. I know it's not summer yet; that's probably what's always been wrong with Memorial Day anyway. I can remember so many Indy 500 races that were rained out on day one, and occasionally, on day two. Race Day Sunday was beautiful in the Hoosier state, but today looks like something out of Dungeons and Dragons. No offense meant to you fans of dungeons, dragons, dark, dank, drab or dangerously dreadful.

The yucky weather is perfect, however, if one wants to stay in one's slightly dark and not too dank basement making art. So I did. I can't post pictures of my first two projects. One will be unveiled Aug. 22 on Creative Therapy, and the other is a 1:1 swap for Heather Robinson of Creative Solace. Heather is a design team member for my art friend Kris Hubick of Retro Cafe Art. I sent a picture of my finished work to Kris to see if Heather would like it. Seems that she may.

I spent the bulk of the day finishing my son's scrapbook. I have kept a book for both children, recording in pictures their lives from birth to age 18. For my daughter's graduation in 2001, I stayed up all night right before her open house. That doesn't seem too unusual to the insomniac in me now, but it was quite unusual- and stressful- then.

So my son's book is done with 11 days to spare until graduation and 19 whole days until his open house. Sometimes I amaze even myself. I may have amazed my son, too. He looked at his scrapbook- page after page of adorable-ness, hour upon hour of labor- and he grunted.

A breath of spring arrives!

Just when I thought another snow flurry in Indiana in March would leave me stark raving mad, this lovely little breath of spring arrived in the mail from Rachel for The Faerie Zine Bunny/Spring ATC swap.

Rachel makes the loveliest boxes and sells them in her Etsy store. We are also doing a 1:1 box swap- can't wait! Gotta get my cards and boxes done this weekend and will post pics. My other ATC parner is Patty, Eclecticarchivist.

And I really can't complain. Although it is gloomy today, it was sunny and 60+F degrees yesterday. Just a little tease.

Also another bright spot received are the two blog awards (top right) that I received last night from Lisa Kettell, who is one to always share in her bountiful art tidings.

Some New Art & A Little More Circus

Although I have a gazillion specific projects due, from book reviews to hand-made book pages, I just wanted to play last night. Okay, so my idea of playing on Friday night is staying home in the basement and maybe getting pizza delivered. But, it also means getting paint all over and making art. I figured I'd better try some techniques from Art & Soul before I unlearn them. So "Fashion Victim" was created on an 11 x 14 canvas out of acrylic paint, magazine collage, marker and beeswax a la Anne Grgich. The entire canvas is covered with bits of paper before painting and making into something else. Oh yeah, the entire canvas is also covered with glue, lots of glue. That is her technique, in fact, to make an color-washed "ice rink" to move around the papers by mixing coffee with cream and PVA glue. You can use the glue to protect images you want to keep, and then paint or collage over the rest. Then the glue dries clear, and voila! There are your images again.

The 8 x 10 painted canvas is called "Spring in My Soul." I just love bright colors and wanted to try a sponging technique as well as granular gel medium to make the flowering trees. The garden stroller might be me; haven't decided. Her dress is paint, collage, charcoal, gel pen, tissue paper, beeswax and a piece of a vintage earring. I can't explain it. I just like it.

The next art adventure, making circus book pages, had to wait until today. Some more circus ephemera arrived in the mail, including more vintage popcorn bags and tickets- enough to make 28 all-original 5" x 5" book pages for The Faerine Zine's circus book. I took a break in the middle of those to inspect my outside flowers and take some pictures. Have to find a suitable spot for some outdoor prom pictures tonight. Must plan ahead, as 17-year-old boys are not patient.

Dreams of Printing Presses Danced in Her Head

7 rms, great view, no BRs, no BTs, piano room, nursery, indoor garden, nice roof, priceless. This lovely little abode, about 18" tall, is the creation of The Seven Shabby Sisters of Shabby Cottage Studio http://www.shabbycottagestudio.com, of which I am one. A Shabby Sister, that is. See that nursery slash laundry room with the three little kittens on the right? That's my room. Hard to see, I know, but I am hoping a combination of pictures will be enticing enough for the publishers from Quarry Books to take a second look.

The house was created for an art call for collaborative efforts to be including in an upcoming book, organized by published artist L.K. Ludwig http://www.gryphonsfeather.typepad.com. Our house was organized by SCS owner and shopkeeper and house-assembler Gail Schmidt http://shabbycottagestudio.blogspot.com. Gail finished the overall house exterior, the intricately-shingled roof and the trims as well as cutting all our rooms to fit exactly after we mailed them to her. That required a lot of engineering. We will hold our collective breath regarding publication.

Meanwhile, my two recent Marie Antoinette pages are for the same book and another collaborative effort, that one organized by Lisa Kettell http://faerieenchantment.blogspot.com. Tonight I got to "know" one of the other five contributors to that a little better by writing about her.

You can check out my interview with the cheery Ann-Denise Anderson over at ZNE Dollz http://www.znedolls.com and see her springy works there and on her blog Whimsical Fancy at http://whimandfancydesigns.blogspot.com. Can't wait to see her Marie pages now that I've seen her work! Wish us luck on publication.

If Idle Hands are Bad, I'm Looking Good

It was another one of those weeks that just would not end. Having an overnight meeting in the middle of the week just makes five days last forever. I could not wait for Friday night to get home and organize my studio. A week of mail and art supplies had piled up, as well as a bunch of stuff from vacation. I can't work with a mess about me, so the first order of business was putting everything away (so I could get it back out. I know, I know.)

My first batch of supplies from Hannah Grey had arrived http://shop.hannahgrey.com, and I was ready to see what I could make with the stash. As a Design Team member I have 35 days to make something with each of the materials I receive. So, I used the HG blank tag book, collage sheets, Paris charms and ephemera to make this circa 1947 notebook from Paris Fashion Week. I imagined what kind of notes a young ingenue interning with Mlle. Coco Chanel might be taking, along with fabric swatches and sketches she might be keeping. The good news is you can buy all these supplies and more at http://www.hannahgrey.com.

I was hoping to work on my 28 original pages for the Arte du Blythe fat book I am hosting. I am 1/7th done, which is not much! I have some supplies and art gathered but realized with other deadlines looming, I needed to move on to something else.

As one of six artists asked to be in a Marie Antoinette 8 x 8 round robin, I realized I only had a few days left before I needed to mail my pages due to leaving for Art & Soul http://www.artandsoulretreat.com April 30. I'd had this wire dress from from Stampington sitting around and knew I wanted to use it. Thankfully, the muse kicked in and one of my pages is done, which is 50%, a lot better than 1/7th!

The multi-talented Lisa Kettell http://faerieenchantment.blogspot.com is hosting the Marie book with plans to either submit it for publication to L.K. Ludwig for her book on collaborations or for Lisa's own second book. Either way, the pressure was and is on. Every artist is so talented, and without slighting anyone, least of all Lisa, I must say that Debrina Pratt's http://whimsicalworldoffaeries.blogspot.com artwork makes me crazy with excitement! Knowing my Marie pages would be alongside hers was very intimidating. Debrina's style is just one in a million. I love her colors, her characters, even her use of fonts. See what I mean? I'm just crazy about her. But, baby Marie came out all right, so on to page two and the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say.