A walk in the woods with Max, etc.

Max and I went to the town park again on Sunday, and enjoyed a crisp fall-like morning walking through the woods. I tried to take lots of pictures of the sights along the trails, but my camera needed to be recharged and it was kind of dark, so many did not turn out very well. Still, I wanted to post what I saw...
fungi-covered tree stumps and "tree-man" a big dead tree with a face on it and his branch arms open wide - see? It's really so beautiful at the park in the early morning. There are very few people - mostly dog-walkers, and it it so quiet... just the sounds of geese and crickets and nature minding its business. This is only our second visit to the park, because we usually go to the local school grounds, which are much closer. But it's so much more peaceful and there's so much more to see (for both of us) on the hiking trails and along the river, that we're going to start to go more often. Rumor has it that they even plow the trails in winter for cross country skiers and crazy winter dog walkers like me.

I got back to basics last weekend and made some simple greeting cards. Before I began to pursue mixed media art, I was an avid handmade greeting card designer, and I still love to make cards, though I don't spend enough time doing it anymore... these are simply stamped & punched...

Extreme makeover...

Due to an overwhelming number of requests to see my new hairdo (okay - one request, and I'm not even sure who it was, except that they obviously know me), I am postponing my previously scheduled blog and posting some photos here. After taking (and deleting) about 60 pictures with my digital camera, I am now sitting here asking myself - when did my nose get so big... (okay sisser, don't answer that) and my lips get so small... and where did that extra chin come from.. and have I always had buck teeth...and those circles under my eyes???? AND why did I bother having my hair cut and then coloring it when it's framing THAT face!!! Of course, I am colossally cheap when it comes to self-maintenance, so the total cost of cut & color -- with a tip for the hairdresser -- was only $30, but maybe investing in a giant hat & a pair of sunglasses would have been better.
So these are the best of the pictures, taken just moments ago. Last week, the color was what I call "blackish-red," in spite of the fact that Clairol Natural Instincts calls the color nutmeg. Upon hearing the name, my husband said it should have been called "nutjob." In addition, I had blow-dried it and styled it in a flip-under, which looked utterly ridiculous.
My husband's keen and unfortunately accurate comment when he saw me was that I looked like Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp version), sans top hat. So now I have opted not to dry & style my hair, but to scrunch & spritz instead... and since this is a wash-out color, it has mellowed a bit over the past week. Still this is why you will be seeing more photos of artwork and fewer photos of me as the years go by. To my online artist bloggers who participate in self portrait challenge - you're all very brave & more beautiful than I fully appreciated before.

A shrine to Dambi

Anyone who reads my blog with any regularity (that would be both of you :>), will be familiar with Dambi, the name I gave my paternal grandmother (before I could say Grammy) that all of the grandchildren were then forced to perpetuate. Well, this shrine is a tribute to her, and was made almost entirely with items of meaning that came from Dambi or that remind me of her for special reasons.

I found these wooden house boxes at a local dollar store, and they've been sitting in my studio for weeks -- sometimes it takes months, or even years before things get used so this was not so bad!! (the box in the background is what they look like unembellished). They probably would have sat longer, but I was making gift tins for a class and I had to wait for paint to dry. I decided to give a quick coat of paint to one of the little houses, and I could see immediately just what I wanted to fill it with. So I gathered small items from my sewing box - a box made by Dambi and passed on to me, and I began to place them in the little compartments. Once my tins dried, I abandoned this project for awhile, but over the weekend I felt compelled to finish it. It's simple, and quaint, and encompasses so many memories of my creative grandmother...
The backs of the compartments & roof shingles are pieces of an old fabric that covered a small vanity bench in Dambi's bedroom. I inherited the bench, but could not bear to throw away the fabric when I reupholstered it. I loved the burgandys, & pinks & browns in the floral pattern, and the texture of a good upholstery fabric. It was extremely faded on top, where exposure to sunshine & derierres wore it out, but underneath, the fabric was still bold and beautiful, and small pieces have made it into several of my works.
In the triangular roof cubby is a manufactured label that says "Fashioned & handmade by Lillian." That was Dambi's given name, and I have a packet of these labels that she used inside of items she crocheted for her six grandchildren SIDEBAR: anyone else familiar with headhuggers? These were little granny squares sewn together into ridiculous little potholder hats that we thought wer just wonderful when we were little dorky kids.
Other items of note include, in the lower left box, a garter fastener, as Dambi always wore stockings - never pantyhose - "your privates need to breathe", and a bobbin from the old Singer sewing machine with foot pedal in a flip-up cabinet and wrought iron legs that I also inherited - and altered(a later feature).
And for some reason my sisters and my cousins used to refer to Dambi as "Lilliana Rosebud" - I don't remember the story behind this, but it always made Dambi laugh, so the addition of a dried rosebud seemed appropriate as well. All of the other items - thimble, old measuring tapes, buttons, wooden thread spools, came from her sewing box - a treasure trove of collage materials & usable sewing supplies. And in the top center compartment sits a tiny copy of an old photo of my grandmother, when she was still Lillian VonKampen, not yet Dambi.

End of summer blues...

It goes by so fast...summer...life...

This is a favorite summer photo from about 35 years ago. I'm on the left, then my cousin Susan, my sister Cheryl, and my cousin Bonnie, seated in age order. I think I was about 7 years old in this picture, so I am guessing that somewhere in the background is my sister Jennifer, age 1, too young to sit by the pool in her navy & white sailor bathing suit with the red belt... and my cousin Frank, who would never have a navy and white sailor bathing suit (thankfully), was not yet born. There are days when it feels like that was a million years ago, and other times when I feel like it was yesterday that we were at my grandmother's pool, spending endless summer days swimming, eating homemade chocolate chips - that my grandmother (Dambi) baked in her hot kitchen while we were swimming! My grandfather (Opa)would stand in the low end of the pool and toss a ball to each of us to catch as we flew off the diving board.

Studio Friday - Artist's Block

"You've heard of 'writer's block'. Well as an artist, I sometimes suffer from "Artist's block". What is this you ask? It's when you sit and sit and can't come up with anything. This can go on for hours, days, weeks even months sometimes. --I want to know how you break free of Artist's block! " ~ Gabi

These days, I don't seem to ever have artist's block - mostly from having so little time to get into my studio, so that when I do, I have little notes and sketches that have accumulated in my pockets and my purse and my journals,of all the projects I want to create... but even so, I do find that certain activities make my juices flow better...

One is making art in one of my art journals. Since they're meant for experimentation rather than a finished project, it's easy to just say "what if" and to put the paints, etc. to paper.

Other sources of artistic inspiration that always work for me:
1. taking a walk - I get more ideas just walking than almost any other way;
2. flipping through my favorite art/decorating/food magazines;
3. making an artist's date with my friend Debbie. When we commit to one another and bounce ideas off of each other, we never leave without having made some art;
4. re-organizing my art room. This always sparks ideas, as I rediscover items that I forgot I had.
...and on this topic, there are also things that cripple my creativity, even if I have ideas, so I try not to do them too often, such as:
1. compare my work to that of other artists - particularly with the accessibility of online sources, there are days when I surf a few of my favorite artist sites, and instead of becoming inspired, I get the "Oh, God, I'll never be as good as that," blues;
2. deadlines & commitments - this is tough for me, because I do make my living as a graphic artist, and I also teach classes, so I have lots of deadlines & commitments. But there's nothing like a looming deadline to make me feel like, "I don't want to make that today, I'd rather do this other thing." So essentially, I'm very immature. In this case, I try to achieve balance, by allowing myself some real play time within my work time -- and I remind my childish self that I am so lucky to be making a living at something I love!
3. Rules. This is another curious problem, because this works both as an inspiration & a paralyzer for me. If I am participating in an ATC swap, for example, I like having a theme or some rules/limitations to work within, as long as the subject matter is open. When I am planning a class, however, I don't like being limited to a particular set of materials or a limited list of companies- I mention this because I teach at retail stores, and sometimes this is a very real dilemma for me, since they have to be able to purchase materials for sale. My problem in this case is that I inevitably find the perfect embellishment, or final touch that is very difficult to find, or that comes from a retail vendor who is slow, etc., and I hate compromising my final design because of some vendor who can't deliver.
Wow, so much to say on this topic! - I can't wait to see what others have to say.
And to my few but faithful regular readers, I am in the throws of our convention season at work, so my hours are long and my blogging time is short. I apologize for not posting more often. Hopefully my schedule will slow down again to normal pace in a few weeks and I'll be able to post at least a few times a week.

Tin-tastic gift tins...

That's the name of the newest class I'll be teaching at Stampassion in the fall. My inspiration came from Lisa Kaus, whose "tinnies" were featured in recent issues of Somerset Studio and Somerset Home. It was love at first sight for me, and I made a few small tinnies at Easter for family and friends. I think they make wonderful gift tins for the holidays, so I've adapted them for Christmastime. We're also doing a generic all-year style tin as well. I envision these filled with holiday baked goods, or even small gifts - like candles & lotions & coffees & teas.
Fortunately I have a friend who works at a school and is able to get the large tin cans for me, so that I don't have to go 'dumpster diving' or eat 4,000 pounds of canned peaches in order to supply these for class.

Fall Faeries...

These little (3x5) matboard hangings are for my upcoming Fall Faeries class at Art Connection in October. I made them this weekend, and was very pleased with the results. I wish I could say that this was entirely my design, but I actually adapted them from a sample featured in a recent issue of Somerset Studio. I believe the original artist's name is Lori Lundy - so whereever you are, Lori, thank you for the inspiration! In addition to the matboard, they include vintage collage faces, glass beads, scrapbook papers, shipping tags, wire, fabric/satin leaves, fibers, eyelets, etc.
Because they can be used as miniature window hangers, I decorated the backs with collage papers and rubber stamps. If you're local, Art Connection is located in Socha Plaza, Scotia New York - call 518-384-0550 to reserve a spot in class.


I am also doing a new spontaneous collage mosaic class at Stampassion, in Latham, New York this fall. I forgot to scan the samples before dropping them at the store, but they're pretty wonderful, if I do say so myself. See the link at the right for Stampassion phone number and class schedule.

eek! I've caught the ATC bug!!

I've resisted it for a really long time, but I was recently invited by my talented friend Marilyn, to join a newly organized artist's trading card swap, and I had great fun making my first three trading cards. The scan isn't the best, because I decided to make the cards from transparency film, and the reflection doesn't photograph well. I'm teaching a class using plain & preprinted transparencies, so it was a natural transition for me to tackle my first cards as transparencies, and I also wanted to try something a little unique.
The small format is a lot fun of when you want to create something, but don't have lots of time, or when you want to try a new technique in a small way...and swapping them means that you get to share your ideas and techniques, while receiving someone else's ideas & techniques in return.
For those who may not be familiar with artist's trading cards (ATCs), they are miniature pieces of art, always 2.5 x 3.5", but can be created of virtually any material, and they are typically swapped with other artists. They're a great way to show off your work and share new techniques with like-minded individuals.
In other news, I am struggling mightily these days with time management issues. I want to do so much, but there are only so many hours in the day, so every day, every week, I end up feeling stressed and frazzled. I really need to re-order my priorities and eliminate the things that just fall way at the bottom of the list (housework perhaps? I'd eliminate sleep if I didn't require so much of it!) - I am just so bad at figuring out what is most important when it ALL seems important. AAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaahhhh.

Illustration Friday- Play

I love to incorporate play into my work; in fact, I think that play is an essential part of being a creative person, whether it's playing with techniques, or just maintaining a playful attitude. I actually made this shadow box a couple of years ago, and it sits on a ledge outside of my office, to remind my co-workers of my mantra. It was made with acrylic paints, old news clippings and old game pieces.

Studio Friday- desert island

...if I was stranded on a desert island, what 3 art studio supplies would I bring with me?

This was like the Sophie's choice of art supplies - which beloved items can I leave behind and live without?? As you'll see from the photo, I chose my paintbrushes, watercolors, and colored pencils to accompany me to paradise. My logic was that I could paint or color on native items, or somehow manage to make paper out of the elements I found there. Watercolors would be very good on an island -surrounded by water- but I forgot my pencil sharpener, so hopefully I'd meet some friendly natives with sharp tools. This really was very difficult. I wanted to bring many, many other items - rubber stamps, ink pads, acrylic paints, decorative and watercolor papers, collage materials and other ephemera, to name a few!!!

...but I have often found that when I limit the number of items I allow myself to create with, I become very creative with what I have, so I'm sure I'd be able to make art without all of the stuff in my studio - but I should not have admitted that in writing!!

Inspire me Thursday... on Tuesday

I've never participated in this before, but wanted to give it a try. I'm a graphic artist by day, so I chose to do a digital collage since that format lends itself well to black & white. This is just a fun little circus collage. I used a free online translation program to translate the french headlines, so they may be somewhat incorrect, but everything sounds better in french.

Note for those who've been following my blog: (especially Debbie)... Mozilla conquers Explorer... I downloaded the Mozilla browser this morning and like magic, no more photo posting problems, so hopefully, I'll be blogging more regularly again.

Artist's date last Friday...

Finally, I am able to post a picture!! I do not know what the problem is/was, and at this moment, I don't care! I am still unable to post the two pictures that accompany my Studio Friday blog, but I will do it eventually because the my mom's stick people are not to be missed!
This is the mixed media collage that I created on Friday, at my friend Debbie's house, during our kinda-monthly artist's date. It's my second attempt at Misty Mawn's background and collage techniques, as published in the spring-summer edition of Cloth Paper Scissors. My first attempt was very colorful, but more harsh, and lacked the number of layers that make Misty's pieces so rich and engaging. This is an improvement, but I still have to work on technique. I cannot exclaim enough how satisfying it is to create all of these subtle layers and watch what emerges.

Studio Friday...my creative roots

I just thought about that the other day, that I have my creativity from both sides of my parents. Both my grandma's are/were inspired and creative. Does it run in your family too? And from who did you have it or better who else in your family was/is creative. Mom/dad/Grandma/grandpa/uncle/aunt... -anke

I've mentioned her several times already since I began blogging in May, but she bears mentioning again. My paternal grandmother, affectionately nicknamed Dambi by her first grandchild (me- it was my attempt to say Grammy, and it stuck), was definitely my biggest creative influence. She and her two sisters could all draw, paint, sew and cook, among other things. She 'armed' me with my first paints, paper, and oil pastels, and when I was 5 years old, I painted this picture, while sitting in her "tv room." - I suspect I had a lot of assistance from her at the time, but as the years went by, she insisted that I did it almost entirely by myself. Dambi also taught me to sew and embroider, and along with my dad, taught me to appreciate nature - trees, mountains, birds, etc., which fuel my need to create and leave my mark upon this earth.

And just last weekend I was telling my mom, who insists she doesn't have a creative bone in her body, that one of my most powerful creative memories as a child was watching her draw stick people. From a very early age, I was fascinated with watching people draw. I considered it pure magic to watch a pencil or paintbrush in hand touch paper and, like a magic wand, make a face appear, or a flower, or a whole scene. So last weekend, I asked my mom to draw my favorite stick lady & stick man. She also insisted on drawing a stick dog and house, to complete the 'masterpiece,'. (Footnote: when asked what the dog was, my 2-year old niece said "bug" so perhaps I had a somewhat unrealistic memory of my mother's talents as an illustrator - and I'd be a little bit worried if my sister's house actually has bugs that look like that!!) When my mother finished, we both laughed hysterically, and I confessed that these were not quite as charming as my childhood memory. Still, with my mother's creative influence, I can repair anything in my house with duct tape and safety pins!

the dog days of summer...

I've always wondered what this phrase meant, since the dog days are not at all suitable for dogs, so I googled it, and learned that it has to do the constellations, namely Sirius (not satellite radio and not the animagus from Harry Potter), but Sirius, the dog star.

Webster's dictionary defines it as- 1: the period between early July and early September when the hot sultry weather of summer usually occurs in the northern hemisphere; 2: a period of stagnation or inactivity

That's my lesson for today, kids. It is brutally hot & humid out there for the second day in a row. I walk Max at 5 am, and even at that hour there is no respite from the humidity. It's like swimming through the air.

In artful news, I've been invited by my talented friend, Marilyn Rock to participate in an artist's trading card swap, and I am now super-excited about working in this small format. I'll be posting pictures of my creations once I complete them.

The soundtrack to our girly weekend...

That's Liz, on the left, and me on the right, displaying our "life is good" stickers during our female bonding weekend. Liz is a real life wonderwoman, to put it modestly. She's a mom of three boys - one set of twins, and a third. For our annual weekend, she baked 5 quiche and 2 cakes, and made the whole gang the most amazing girl-power CD, which is now the soundtrack to female bonding... among the tunes on our cd are...
I am woman (Helen Reddy)
Unwritten (Natasha Bedingfield)
Respect (Aretha)
Girls just wanna have fun (Cyndi Lauper)
Man, I feel like a woman (Shania Twain)
We are family (Sister sledge)
This one's for the girls (Martina McBride)
and about 18 other fabulous girl-centric songs...
She is truly an amazing woman and an amazing friend, and when we met, I knew she would be the perfect addition to our group (she's the sister I already had two of, AND she can cook - and she LIKES IT!!!) ... but seriously, she's such a fun person and has all her priorities in order, and I'm fortunate beyond words to have found such a wonderful friend.

Studio Friday - studio music

"The vast and various sounds that surround us in our studios and add to our studio experience.
What kind of music feeds your creativity while in your studio or, perhaps it's sounds that fill the empty spaces while in your studio."-naomi

feel the rain on your skin
no one else can feel it for you
only you can let it in
no one else, no one else
can speak the words on your lips
quench yourself with words unspoken
live your life with arms wide open
today is where your book begins
the rest is still unwritten
--unwritten, by Natasha Bedingfield

I also love this topic - I wonder if everyone else's musical preferences are all over the map stylistically, like mine are. I posted a picture of my number-one, all-time favorite voice on the planet - James Taylor, and my favorite of all his albums - Hourglass...I listen to a lot of JT, especially in summer.

The other picture I posted is the cover of a cd that my husband ordered for me after hearing this group on acoustic radio. They're called Girlyman, and they have this amazing harmony sound, and he was right, I LOVE them.

When he gave me this cd, I listened to it non-stop for weeks. There's not one song on it that I don't like the sound of. I stopped at their website, and listened to their newest cd, and now I have to have it. Honey, if you're reading this, please feel free to order it for me!!

Other sounds in my studio...
Alison Krauss & Union Station
Natasha Bedingfield
ELO
The Bee Gees
Rascal Flatts
John Mayer - I actually love to listen to him in my studio because his music is very mellow & conducive to creativity for me.
The official soundtrack to female bonding weekend...this is a cd of all women/girl power songs compiled by my wonderful friend Liz. It's an excellent cd, and I've been listening to it since she gave it to us last weekend.
...thank you naomi for such a cool topic.

life is good...

I'm back from girly weekend, and it was eventful -and fun- as usual! I personally think it was one of the best, so far, in spite of the fact that two hours after our weekend began at my sister's, I had an accident that gave new meaning to our official beverage, the bloody martha (see my 7-11 post). While slicing fruit for the sangria, I managed to slice my left thumb -I'm a lefty, so I'm not entirely sure how this happened (and this was BEFORE we had cocktails!) It was a small but relatively deep cut and it was over a knuckle, so my sister and my friend Liz accompanied me to the Emergency Room at the Metro North Health Center in Framingham, where I received four stitches and a splint to keep it immobilized. I'm supposed to have the splint on for five days, but I've removed it (on day three) because I have no patience for infirmity and I want to be able to hit the space bar instead of the letter 'v' every time I type!! I was EXTREMELY lucky that I did not sever any tendons!! But the injury did not hinder our shopping day in Newport one bit...

This year's favorite shopping spot was the Music Box Annex in Newport, which carries a huge line of "life is good-wear." The optimistic message, bright colors, and simple line art drawings on great quality cotton were irresistible to us all!
For now I will post just a two pictures - one is of the candle-lighting ceremony that we do at the end of every bonding weekend, (we found that female-symbol candle during the first bonding weekend & it was the beginning of the tradition!)The other is my mom (center) me, left, and my sister, Jennifer in our life is good jammies.
There's so much more I would like to write about the weekend and the amazing, special women that share it, but I need to rest my thumb, so I'll post more tomorrow!!

...How about "Art Studio Sidekicks?" Originally I had "four-legged" in the title. However, I know there are not only 3-legged-once-4-legged sidekicks out there, but also all sorts of companions. I'm certain that there are artists with birds as their companions and I certainly want to see and "hear" all about them!"-Debbie
I absolutely LOVE this Studio Friday topic, and not just because Debbie is one of my best friends, but because my sidekick is another of my best friends - my dog, Max. He's a two-year old mutant 'mini' schnauzer -- mutant because he should weigh 12-15 pounds, and he weighs 26!! As a puppy, I was not at all hopeful that he'd ever be a good studio sidekick, as he never sat still, and his favorite pastime was chewing anything within reach of his puppy mouth - which was a good portion of the items in my studio. So my studio had a baby gate at the door, and I took to making a lot of art on the kitchen counters, well out of his reach.

But he's now a wonderful grown up dog, and when I am at home, he is almost never more than a few feet away, whether I'm in my studio, or anywhere else in the house. I will confess that he prefers sitting in the hallway outside my studio, or nearer the door, as I am known to drop lots of things when I'm in an artistic frenzy and he has a very good instinct for self-preservation. Here he is... sitting in my studio, near the door, and in the yard, where he would prefer I move my studio.

...and now my sidekick will be riding shotgun as we head out to Boston for our annual female bonding weekend!! No blogging again until Monday, unless I get obsessed and log on at my sister's!!

Mixed media techniques ala Misty Mawn...

One of my favorite mixed media artists was recently featured in an issue of Cloth Paper Scissors for her unique and multi-layered background techniques. Misty Mawn, who in my opinion is one of the most creative and multi-talented young artists in the mixed media art world today, wrote a jam-packed, fact-filled article with step-by-step instructions for making what I consider some of the most spectacular backgrounds. I've been wanting to sit down and try her techniques for weeks, but I had to wrap up some of my own art class planning first -- otherwise, I feared that I would like doing it so much that I'd never stop to get my classes planned!! -- And I was right! Last night I just neglected house & home, and went to town making a Misty-inspired mixed media piece, and I have to say, I was in my element. I did not have all of the supplies on her list, so I had to improvise with what I had on-hand, but her combination of painting, stamping and image transfers-to name a few-result in a textural background with amazing depth. I cannot wait to do this again!!! The imagery that I chose to add to my background is very much like Misty's --except that she is a much better painter, and her pieces are more well developed than this first attempt. I didn't want to copy, but her themes really resonate with me - winged women, birds, butterflies, gateways and openings, so it was difficult for me to imagine another way to go for my first try... and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! Thank you Misty, for your sharing your talents with us!

One singular sensation...

Pictured here in a sort of 'chorusline' are the art dolls that the students made in my class at Art Connection this weekend. Everyone had a great time dying fabric, molding clay faces, threading hair, and stringing beads. It was a very tactile class, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the students develop their dolls' personalities, as they added original elements.

Only two days until my weekend getaway with the girls. My friend Liz is busy making quiche, which will feed us at breakfast for two days (and then some.)Liz' quiche are always gooey and cheese-filled wonders, and my mouth waters for them as I write this. My sister Cheryl is shaping up our itinerary (eat, drink, craft, shop, repeat)and my sister Jennifer is organizing the sleeping and travel arrangements...which consists of "how many aerobeds do we have, and how will we fit them all into Cheryl's house?" and how many mini-vans and CRV's will we need to drive into Newport for shopping? Before our trip home, our itinerary includes a stop at the Container Store, which I am told is an amazing experience. I'll report back next week.

Photoshop techniques...

For those who requested it, here's how to get the spattered border & palette knife technique... The techniques are not hard but the instructions are long-winded because I want to include specific details for those who are not very familiar with photoshop...
1. open the photo you wish to play with - if you like the picture, I suggest doing a "save as" to make a copy first in case things go awry and you can't undo enough to get back to the original!
2. In the menu, go to image/canvas size, and enlarge your canvas width and height by about an inch each, so that you have some border area.(so if your original image is 4 x 5, you should make it 5 x 6 or bigger)
3. Click on the color box (the black/white box) in your main menu to select a color for your frame. If you click on the black box, it should bring up a color picker - to select a color that appears in your photo, use the eyedropper tool to "suck up" color anywhere within your image - i.e.,in my sample, I took the eyedropper tool & clicked on a pink thread spool to get that pink. Then click 'okay' and that color will be your default color. Now use the paint bucket tool to 'pour' your border color all around the enlarged canvas. You should have something like this now...

4. To make your border smaller and create white space around the whole image & frame, use the rectangular marquee tool (the dotted rectangle)to select your entire photo but only about half or less of your colored border (some of the pink will be outside of the marquee on all 4 sides.) Then in your menu, click on select/inverse and your marquee will now be highlighting only the outer edge of the frame. Click backspace to delete the excess border, like this...

5. Now the fun part... Once again, use the marquee tool to draw a rectangle around your image, where the image touches your colored border; again click on select/inverse. Now click on filter/brush strokes/spatter. Select a spray radius of 25 and smoothness of 7 - then click okay. Keep clicking on filter/spatter - which should now be at the top of that menu, to increase the technique. I wanted to post another sample picture here, but I sometimes have a terrible time posting pictures - like right now. Refer to yesterday's blog for what it should look like.
6. Finally, using the marquee tool again, select just your image (no border) and then click on filter/artistic/palette knife, and select stroke size 10, stroke detail 2, and softness of 0; click okay & your image should now look like a painting.
7. Repeat step 5 to make the edges even more edgy. That's it!
Now you can use these basic techniques to try all kinds of artistic filters... and of you don't like the results, just use the edit/undo or step backward features.

Studio Friday - a view from above...

For this week's theme, I stood on a chair in my studio and took several photos that were horrible looking when I downloaded them. My studio is a colossal mess right now with two classes in the works, as well as the craft project for my annual female bonding weekend. I'm not really vain about my space, but the mess was not a photogenic one. So I kept one of the pictures, but gave it some artistic flair in Photoshop with a splatter filter for the edges and a palette knife filter for the image... a much more artistic mess now. The picture is of my colored pencils and my tool-turn-about, which is really a utensil holder from Pampered Chef.

I should also mention that when I say studio, I use the term very loosely to describe the teeny tiny spare bedroom that houses my monumental collection of papers, rubber stamps, ephemera, plastic body parts, chopsticks, pine cones, tin cans, game pieces, beads, fabric, etc. that eventually find their way into my art -- but studio sounds so much better!! I mean, who would want to participate in teeny-tiny bedroom Friday??

PS - If you want the step by step instructions for the photoshop technique, let me know.

Meet the bonders...

...well some of them, from several years ago. I wish I could say, "yup, that's me, the leggy, gorgeous blonde in the middle." Instead I will say, that's my sister Jennifer. I'm kneeling to her left, and my sister Cheryl, our hostess, is standing above us. My girlfriend Liz is to the left of us, and on the right are my mom, kneeling, and her sister, Maryann, standing. We were obviously posing at the enlarged map of the "T," Boston's subway system. Without my sister Cheryl, who has lived in an around Boston for more than 10 years, as our guide, we would not all be looking so happy and confident at the map. We'd be perpetually lost in the city. Our official invitations arrived in the mail yesterday, and I'd post our agenda, but it's filled with private jokes that only the bonders would understand.

Cacaaaaw!

Eight days to bonding weekend!

Today I'm posting some pictures of my bonding journal. I designed these journals a few years after the first annual bonding weekend, as a way for each bonder to take back some memories, inspirations and memorabilia. I found the 3-ring binders at our local dollar store, marked down to 3/$1, so I bought about 20 of them.I later discovered that the special discount price was due to the fact that no sheet of paper was pre-made to fit this binder. I had to hand-cut & punch all the papers. Then I designed a totally female cover, using a collage of copyright free images. The covers are laminated and attached to the binders with eyelets.

Each year, when we arrive at my sister's house and settle in, we take out our journals and laugh at the notes & quotes & photos from previous years. Some years, the bonders are asked to bring famous female quotes or a recipe to share with the group, and these are added to the journal as well. My journal also contains each of the invitations & itineraries that my sister mails to us each year, as well as books of matches, postcards, chopsticks, & found objects from years past.

The official beverage of female bonding weekend...

...is the Bloody Martha. In early summer 2001, I was watching the still law-abiding Martha Stewart (or the Martha Stewart who hadn't been caught yet), and she was making red sangria. To be perfectly honest, I was more enamored with the wonderful apothecary jar in which she tossed the ingredients than the recipe itself, because, let's face it, Martha makes everything - except perhaps prison (and her own hair) -look stylish. Still, to have a bit of fun, I visited Martha's website & downloaded the recipe. I also took some liberties with her original photo, and made a recipe card for all of the bonders - which I've featured here.
...Well, the Bloody Martha was more popular than a hot stock tip. Everyone loved it, and we've been making it ever since. My sister Cheryl even found the same stylish apothecary jar at Crate & Barrel in Quincy Market during our shopping trip that year, so our Bloody Martha's are as pleasing to the eye as they are to the palate. Of course, we're always looking for new ways to celebrate, so feel free to share your favorite (alcoholic) beverage recipe, and I'll share them with the bonders this year.

Tote-ally fun totes!!!

As I mentioned yesterday, the arts & crafts project for our annual 'female bonding weekend' is going to be a decorated tote bag. While I could let this be a free-for-all, and let everyone just make their own thing, this group (with only a couple of exceptions), is not very artsy-craftsy, so I'm being a control-freak and making up kits. I will allow for some flexibility, but not too much!! Here are the kits I've done so far (I have to make a dozen.) The items are not yet attached to the totes, but I've photographed some suggested placements for those in our group who lack imagination or who've had too many Bloody Marthas (recipe to follow in a later blog). I think these bags would look great painted, too, but our weekend is so packed with activities that our craft project really has to be quick & easy...




Since this is the 10-day countdown to bonding weekend, I am going to try to post a little something on the topic everyday. Tomorrow I may feature pages from my bonding journal, or the recipe for a Bloody Martha, the official beverage of Female Bonding Weekend. - stay tuned!!

Busy weekend planning classes...

I've spent the better part of my weekend, including Friday, planning classes that I'll be teaching later this summer, and I can't wait to post some samples, but my camera hook-up is at my office, so it will have to wait until at least tomorrow. The first class is one using transparencies, inspired by the Somerset Studio book, Transparent Art.
The second project - totes for tarts - I'll be teaching to the attendees at our annual 'female bonding weekend.' -- My sister Cheryl began this tradition from her home outside of Boston more than 10 years ago. It's an annual event that includes an arts & crafts project on the first evening, and then lots of shopping, laughing, eating & drinking all weekend. Each year is a little different, with planned and unplanned activities. Most years we've trekked through the city of Boston, but last year, we rode into Newport, RI, for some new shopping territory to conquer. The group varies slightly from year to year, but always includes my two sisters and me, my mom & her two sisters, and a wonderful group of friends who add to the fun and flavor of the weekend. We all stay at the Ritz-Cheryl (also known as my sister's home) & we inflate our aerobeds each evening. We each keep a bonding journal that we add to from year to year -- a 3 ring-binder packed with notes & photos & trinkets from our travels. I will post photos of previous bonding adventures as the date approaches, and I'll take pictures of the totes to share with you after the weekend is over.
Today's photo is one of my favorite journal pages... I may even have posted this already in a previous blog, but I love it - the color - the messages, so if I've already shown it, I apologize for the re-run!

ingredients for achieving balance...

8 parts sleep
2 parts exercise
7 parts work
4 parts fun & relaxation
1 part introspection
2 parts everything else
(note: your own ingredients will vary based on the flavors you enjoy in life.)

Fold gently. Bake at 75 degrees in the sunshine. Enjoy with a glass of wine or a very cold beer.

I planted these shasta daisies more than a year ago, and the have finally bloomed. It took a great deal of patience for me not to rip them out and plant something else, because the plant without flowers is rather stalky and unattractive. Now, I love how they peek around the corner of our house so cheerfully. --A lesson in how patience rewards us.

Studio Friday -"seven layer salad"

"... using 7 layers to produce a piece of art. Have you done anything using only circles or only triangles (squares etc.) I loved the challenge of creating with the brush in our teeth! Maybe creating only using pieces of Matt board for the impliment to apply paint! I do that with my students at school and they produce some really interesting things."

I did not have time this week following the fourth of July holiday to create a new piece of 7-layer art, so I am posting some greeting cards that I made awhile ago...some have seven layers, some have six. They're made with a variety of textured papers, and topped with rusted metal shapes that are bound with wire and beads... the papers were in a "paper by the pound" pack that my generous friend Sharon Green gave me, ages ago. The papers in these packs come in all shapes, sizes, imprints & textures, so they are very easy to layer into a collage or on greeting cards.

Oceana - the art doll

Here's a look at the second version of an art doll I've designed for an upcoming class... I've named her Oceana,for her blue gown, and wavy hair. Her armature is made from a stick, and wire for the arm, so the class is called Stick Figure Femme, and is being offered at a new art store and studio in Scotia, New York, called the Art Connection. The first class will be held on Sunday, July 16, and a second offering will take place on Saturday, August 12.

The first version of this doll was inspired by a stick that had an arch-shaped branch for an arm, rather than wire. I featured it in an earlier blog entry.

I have to say, although art dolls are not my first art form, I absolutely love the creative process once I am involved. It's so much fun watching them "come to life."

For those who are interested in process, her face is polymer clay with Pearl ex pigments, her clothing is a muslin strip died with Dye na flow, and patterned with rubber stamps, her hair is multilayered strands of fibers and yarns, and hanging from her wire arm is a seashell from a previous trip to Sanibel and Captiva Islands in Florida.

"Because I'm worth it..."

...I spent $7.95 (plus tax) at Walmart for Loreal Preference, #UL61, ultra light ash brown (ultra lightening no brass technology) - which was supposed to turn my dark brown hair a very, very light brown (almost a dark blonde) and instead, turned it, well BRASS!!! I look nothing like the model on the box (okay, I looked nothing like her before, either) but neither does my hair. I suppose I should not be surprised at this result for a whopping $7.95 (plus tax), but all those Sarah Jessica Parker commercials really convinced me that I would be fabulously happy with the result. Maybe I'll just paint some Golden acrylics in ochre next time, with a #2 sable brush.

So while we're on the topic of brass, here are some great keys that my husband found for me at a recent auction. He brings back some fabulous treasures for me to incorporate into my artwork. They were apparently rusty pieces that some old git found with a metal detector.