Yikes, it's April 1 already...

And I did say I was going to get my act together and do my Ta Da list for March, so I am sure you're all holding your breath. So. exhale!

I co-taught the second in a three-part series of art journal classes with my friend Marilyn;
I took a class at the Troy Arts Center in carborundum printing;
I celebrated Marilyn's birthday, along with our friend Melanie, at The Pottery Place in Stuyvesant Plaza, where we made sterling silver jewelry pieces out of sterling silver clay (more on that in a future post);
I attended the opening of an art exhibit featuring work by my Art-Round-Town friends Marilyn and Carole Fults at the Jonesville Store;
I taught myself how to tie dye in preparation for teaching the birthday craft at Avery's sixth birthday later in April;
and I had dinner with my friend Debbie, and we brainstormed some ideas for greetings to go with her new line of illustrated postcards;

I also have a lot of half-finished canvasses and a lot of artful messes around my house right now. I am in a bit of a push to get some of them done for upcoming exhibits, and to get others done just because the sun is beginning to shine in upstate NY and as much as I love my art I also love my garden -- digging in the dirt, planting, and pruning; inhaling deeply the fresh fragrances of spring -- the grass & soil, lilacs & rainstorms. And just plain sitting out on my deck in the sunshine with a good book and a glass of wine.
Breathe.

Carborundum print #1, fyi.
A brief explanation Carborundum grit is a fine metal-like sand. Mixed with white gesso & spread onto a piece of matte board, you can "draw" into the surface. When dry, it is an extremely hard, strong and textural printing plate. Apply oil-based printing inks, lay the plate onto a heavy watercolor paper and run through a printing press. You can get several prints of different intensities before re-inking the plate.