Leap dog...

It's Max's birthday today, and although he's four years old, it's his first REAL birthday, because he was born on Feb. 29, 2004. In spite of the 2,500 (or so) walks I've taken him on -- twice a day every day for four years -- in every kind of weather that the Northeast can dish out, it seems like just yesterday he was a puppy, and I was alternately in love and suffering from extreme sleep deprivation. Although he was an adorable puppy, he's an even more wonderful dog, and we have settled into a comfortable routine that suits us both. Most days, we head down to the local bike path at about 6 am and walk for 45 minutes or an hour, meeting up with his other dog friends and their owners, among them Tank, Jet, Bullet, Paige, Zoe, Kip, Scruffy, Buddy & LouLou, to named just a few. Then we return home for breakfast, a few rounds of fetch with his favorite toys, and he settles into his recliner until I return from work, when the routine begins again. He can sit, and he can retrieve most of his toys by name, but otherwise, he's not especially talented, and that's just fine with us. No human can greet you with as much enthusiasm as Max, and when he cocks his head just the right way, he'll make you believe that he understands just what you're saying, and it's fascinating. He is the reason that every day of the year, I go outside, breathe fresh air, and appreciate the miracles of nature.
This was Max as a puppy. Curiously, after his first grooming, all those dark markings disappeared, and he became the silvery charmer above.

I want to be in control!

...and sometimes, I don't get to be, and when that happens, I get all discombobulated...and grumpy...and sometimes, downright mean (mostly to my husband)...who is the reason I am not in control. (this time).

I like to plan and organize and check things off of my list. I like it when things happen the way I expect them to. And while I know that control is an illusion, I live quite happily within that illusion much of the time, until life pulls the rug out from under me.

The events that transpired were not earth-shattering, and in many ways, the change of plans worked in my favor, so I was surprised to find myself floundering. Now what do I do? I actually had a weekend free that was not supposed to be. I should have used that time wisely to accomplish one of the dozens of other things on my list...but instead, I wandered and squandered the time I had -- because I couldn't change gears quickly.

Now I'm wondering if I've always been this way, or if it's because I'm not as flexible and easy-going as I was at 25. I welcome a change of pace and I am refreshed by new opportunities, but I like to plan them, and anticipate them. I don't want them thrust upon me. And that's a problem.

I am reminded of this quote:
"If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans."

I must keep him in stitches.

(Here's a little digital collage I made today, just for fun.)

A sneak peak...

at the altered chinese chess set challenge...
For those who've just stumbled upon my blog for the first time, or those who don't commit every brilliant post I write to memory, I issued a challenge back in November, to the first ten readers who wished to participate. Including myself, the challenge began with ten participants, and nine were able to complete it within (give or take a week) our allotted time frame...

It has been a wonderful month at my mailbox (or more accurately, my front porch), where every few days, I was treated to another amazing work of art that began as a $2 Chinese wooden chess set and evolved into a unique work of art.

Here I have cropped photos to offer just a peak at a fragment of each of the amazing pieces I received. All of them are fabulously creative and entirely different, but I've made a few initial observations...

2 chose to retain the set's original Asian theme;
3 chose to keep theirs as a type of game;
3 went with themes evoking nature or used natural elements;
2 highlighted girls/women in their pieces;
2 are designed to be wall hangings

(obviously some pieces fit into more than one category here)

I want to publicly thank all of the participants for taking on the challenge. I issued it at an absolutely crazy time of year -- the winter holidays -- and everyone jumped in as though they didn't have a thousand other things to do. As I mentioned in my original post about the challenge, my plan now is to write an article about our experience (with the help of all of the contributing artists), as well as to create an art piece for each of the participants that also serves as documentation of everyone's creations.

My January Ta Da List...

I am continually reminded that the creative flow is a fickle process. Sometimes I have so many ideas for blog topics and art in general that I have to stop what I'm doing to write them all down so the don't forget them....this month has been the opposite. I think that my list of resolutions posted last month left me a bit paralyzed. I was struck with a sudden feeling of regret for having declared so much so publicly...oh no, now I actually have to try to DO all of those things --- otherwise I'm not the only one who will know that I've failed.

The purpose of my "declarations" is not to set myself up for failure, but to motivate myself by making my ideas more concrete and real. I blog a lot about this because I believe it so strongly. So why, then, am I regretting my ambitious new year's resolutions? Because some these resolutions, I've already discovered, are actually a lot of hard work, and that always strikes fear in my heart. Do I really want to work that hard? Isn't my full-time job, and home ownership, and teaching classes, and writing articles enough? Why do I want to add more to that? Maybe I don't. But I think I do...and I know I will not be happy with myself if the next eleven months flies by and I have not at least taken steps in the direction of my ambitions -- there, I said it. I am ambitious. And then I feel guilty that my ambitions are not all more altruistic.

But then I teach an art class, or make something with my own two hands and some paper and paint, and I am reminded once again, that even if what I do is not heroic, it matters.

Art matters.
Creativity matters.
to me, and to those in my classes. I see it in their eyes, and the expressions on their faces as they engage in the creative process.

So, on the creative front this month, I...
taught three "inchies" classes at Stampassion, and they indeed energized me and reminded me why I make art;
I had an artist date with my friend Debbie, which is also always a powerful reminder of how sharing the creative process makes it even better;
I participated in a monthly ATC swap, which is always a fun way to share art;
I had my first session (of three) for 2008 with my creative coach, Sheri Gaynor, and my focus was mainly the children's book I want to write and illustrate this year (which is the main reason for all of my paralysis -- this is major hard work!!!!
...and I worked with my friend (and event planner) Lori on a number of freelance design projects. Lori and I always work so well together, that this too is another really great reminder of why I do what I do.


I will leave you with a picture of Sammy the squirrel, a daily visitor to my back porch. He began visiting when I hung a bird feeder (that my dad made), and originally, I was annoyed because I would find Sammy swinging with wild abandon from the feeder, while my hungry little birds chattered noisily in nearby shrubs. But I also figured he's probably hungry too, so now I leave extra seeds scattered around my deck, and he hasn't needed to cimb into the feeder since. And talk about an ambitious, goal-oriented creature. You have to admire that!

Winter haiku...

Footprints in the snow
chilly march across my deck
for a peck of seed

Blah, blah, blog...

I think that sums up my blog lately. A bit lackluster. I am working on a number of art projects but they're not ready to be unveiled yet. So, I've decided to spice up my blog a bit by posting a nude photo of myself. Just click here.

I knew you'd look...and as you might have guessed, that's not me...if it was, I would be walking around nude everywhere, and I'd have a nude profile photo at the right. But it's a good segue into the story I wanted to share today -- another minor office catastrophe -- the kind that keep my colleagues amused and from which I escape, still employed, but with just a little less dignity than the day before.

I was at work one day, several years ago, and I received an email from one of my female colleagues whose office is just down the hall. The subject line was something vague, like "information for you" and when I opened the email, there appeared to be a photo attachment, named: "me-nude.jpg"

Well, of course, I opened it -- just like you clicked on that link -- and it unleashed some kind of nasty virus through my computer. I knew immediately what I had done, as my monitor blinked and my cursor flew around on the screen. And I also knew that, now, I'd have to tell my I.T. guy what I'd done...and how I'd done it. It went something like this."

K - "Hi, John, this is Kerri. I think I just unleased an email virus on my computer."

J - "Uh, oh, what exactly happened?"

K - "Well, I received an email from Nancy A. with an attachment that was named "me-nude," and well, as you can guess, I opened it, and bad things started to happen on my monitor."

J - "Why would you want to see Nancy A. nude?"

K- "I didn't exactly WANT to see her nude, but if I'm sitting at my desk and any colleague sends me an attachment named "me-nude" I'm going to look. Wouldn't you?"

J- "(laugh) No! I don't want to see most of our colleagues clothed! I'll be over in a minute to fix it, but first I have to send an email to everyone here to warn them not to do the same thing."

Great! Please tell this story to the other 85 employees here.

Footnote: Nancy wasn't sure whether to be flattered or a little scared -- probably she was both. She resigned the following year, and she didn't give me her new email address.

Not every dog is as lucky as Max...

Some need people like Bernie to help them find a good home, and people like us to help them do what they do.

Hi blog readers. Today, I added a button at the right to donate to A Place to Bark, a no-kill animal shelter in Tennessee run by artist Bernie Berlin. She rescues dogs and cats from certain death, brings them back to health and then finds good homes for them. This donation challenge is awarding the charity with the most individual donations at the end of January, with an additional $50,000, which would enable Bernie to do so much more for her rescue operation. The winner is not the person with the highest total donations, but the one with the highest number of unique individual donors, so three individual $10 donations from different people is better than one $50 donation. Please help. And if you enjoy a good cry now and then, visit her blog and look into the eyes of the recipients!

Two of my favorite philosophers

An uncanny likeness, don't you think?
I cannot take credit for this observation, however --- It was my friend Alison who pointed it out to me, and one quick google search later, I found these two images, which I could not resist sitting side by side. I should mention that I actually think Ellen is quite attractive, but isn't it amazing what happens when you place her next to Thoreau? She looks much better next to Portia de Rossi. And then of course, there are some of my favorite quotations by each of them:

Henry David Thoreau...
The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.

There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself

Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.

Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.

Ellen Degeneres
Human beings only use ten percent of their brains. Ten percent! Can you imagine how much we could accomplish if we used the other sixty percent?

In the beginning there was nothing. God said "Let there be light!" And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better.

I'm a godmother, that's a great thing to be, a godmother. She calls me god for short, that's cute, I taught her that.

My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She's ninety-seven now, and we don't know where the hell she is.
and the motto by which I've lived most of my adult life:
I don't need a baby growing inside me for nine months. For one thing, there's morning sickness. If I'm going to feel nauseous and achy when I wake up, I want to achieve that state the old fashioned way: getting good and drunk the night before.

See how they have the same powers of observation, too?

Size matters...

...and sometimes, smaller is better.

I have always preferred smaller formats in my artwork, from greeting cards to paint canvasses to my graphic design work --(I hate designing bus shelters and billboards -- and fortunately, I have a colleague who likes that work, so she takes on all of the "big" design jobs, whenever possible.)

So when I started following the latest mixed-media trend of creating "inchies," I was not at all surprised to find that I love them!!!! I think the trend originated with fabric artists, who began by making and swapping 1-inch by 1-inch squares of fabric, quilted and embellished with beads and fibers. I saw these miniature masterpieces for the first time last year on someone's blog, and I knew I wanted to try my hand at paper versions. I must confess that the first few I made were a real challenge. A one-inch square is a very, very small art canvas, so it's easy to overdue it. But a dozen inchies later, I was hooked!

I developed some design guidelines for myself that made working in this teeny, tiny format very satisfying, and I'll be sharing them in a class that I'm teaching at Stampassion (a wonderful rubber stamp and mixed-media arts store near my home) beginning this Saturday. This is the display board I made for the class, with my first (but definitely not my last) "batch" of inchies.

Shout, shout it out...

shout, shout, shout,
shout it out!

(Sorry, that was just a brief flashback to my cheerleading days, before my reindeer jump became a bunny hop.)

I have been waiting to post my annual list of things I hope to accomplish in the coming 12 months -- call them resolutions, intentions, goals -- my buddy Cindy prefers goals, and I think I agree. It's an action word - like "Dave Beckham scores another goal!!" Anyway, I digress.

I wanted to give some real thought to where I hope to see myself at this time next year.

First and foremost, I am setting a goal to be healthy and strong- both mentally and physically. I did not take the best care of myself in 2007, and at 43 years old, this neglect is beginning to take its toll on me. And let's face it, if we don't feel well, the rest of what we set out to do suffers. (Okay, it's January 4, and everyone in the world has made this a resolution, but I mean it.)

Second is my main creative goal for 2008. I plan to write and illustrate a children's book, for which I already have a story concept and ideas for the illustrations, which will be hand-drawn but with a cool digital twist. I have a lot of research to do regarding the children's book market, and how to get published, so I do foresee this project taking a good chunk of time. I hope simply to have a refined draft to present to a publisher by the end of 2008.

Beyond those two goals:
I will continue to develop and teach classes at Stampassion in Latham, NY;
I will treat myself to one good creative art class of some kind this year.
I will continue to seek magazine publishing opportunities that fit my schedule and whims;
I will create some mixed media collage pieces for sale and open an Etsy store on my blog;
I will develop a proposal for a class at a new venue - possibly something in the Troy, NY area, which has some wonderful alternative art opportunities - I am thinking of an art doll class of some kind, specifically.

...and that's it.
My creative coach, with whom I am looking forward to some new sessions in the new year, taught me not to make this list too long, because then, instead of focusing on the things that I did achieve, I might focus on the others that I did not, and feel failure when in fact I was actually quite successful. That is too true -- she is wise and knows me well (many of us, actually). This list of just seven things is probably already way too much, because some of these things are rather large projects, but I have listed them in order of their priority, so if something at the bottom finds its way into 2009, that's just fine with me!!

So if you have not already done so, declare a goal, an intention - something more than a wish - and work to make it happen this year! Just by bringing it into the open, forces start working to help you reach your goals!

My last ta da list for 2007

Holy crap, it's January 2008.

Why do I attach so much expectation to the turning of the calendar from Dec. 31 to January 1? It's just another day, another "x" on the calendar, another 24 hours in a lifetime of thousands, but I always hope to feel differently -- to be filled with more hope and promise and energy than I had the day before. And in some ways I do. Even if it is just another day, the dawn of a new year is a strong reminder of the passage of time, and the importance of using it wisely.

And I feel better about hanging up a new calendar this year than I often do, because I declared out loud (and on my blog - in writing) my goals and intentions for 2007, and I achieved many of them. Among them were getting my work published, and as of this month, my work has appeared in six different magazines: Somerset Studio, Somerset Home, Somerset Life, Take Ten, Artful Blogging, and Crafts & Things.

I will be declaring my intentions out loud again this year, but today, I am going to start with my December Ta Da list, which is modest, as the holidays took just about all of my time an energy. Still, here is a list of the ways in which I spent my life creatively in December...

I prepared for the holidays by decorating, cooking, and making handmade cards for a very long list of friends and family;
I planned a new class to teach at Stampassion in January this month - called Intriguing Inchies;
I made handmade holiday ornaments for the "stamper chicks" (which I have yet to share with them, as our holiday gathering was postponed to mid-January due to and ice/snow storm)
I made gift baskets for friends;
and I made ATCs for a swap - the theme was Portals (very fun)!
...I also took almost a dozen books out of the library - not one of which I opened this month -- why did I think I'd have time to read?
And an article that I wrote back in Dec. 2007 was finally published in the Jan/Feb 2008 issue of Crafts & Things magazine. I write this announcement with mixed emotions, as I had submitted the article to The Rubber Stamper magazine, but the magazine was sold to the publisher of Crafts & Things while I waited for actual publication. While this magazine has made improvements to its content in recent months, I was a bit disappointed with the photography that accompanied my article, which was small and did not highlight my samples as well as I had hoped. Also, I have been teaching classes at Stampassion for many years, and the Rubber Stamper would have been a better venue in which to highlight this article and project. Still, it was goal achieved, and I was even paid for my efforts, so that was quite rewarding.
As I write this, some of my work is also in the newest issue of Somerset Life, but I have not received my copy yet, so I haven't actually seen it. I will post a picture and a big whooptie-doo when I get my copy.

I wish you all a happy, healthy, creatively inspired new year.

Holiday wishes...

To everyone who finds their way to my blog during this season, I wish you all a peaceful, abundant, magical holiday season.

I wish I could have posted more frequently this month, but for me, "tis the season" to be overwhelmed with all that I still have to do, so blogging falls to the bottom of a very long list...I am sure many of you feel the same way.

I will leave you with a few pictures of my Christmas tree, which is a skinny little fake tree that I still think is beautiful and charming. I hope to blog a little during the next week, but if not, I will be back in January with lots of art & life.

Fa la la la la
la la la la!!

At the market...

Okay, this is one little shopper who would never bother me in the market - check out her pint-sized shopping cart. Apparently, this is a new grocery store near my sister's home outside of Boston, and they have little carts for the little people. I am sure that eventually one of these little munchkins would annoy me, but I just love this one!!!

Truth in blogging... addendum

I re-read my earlier blog post and realized that those of you who do not know my sister might conclude from my previous description that she is perhaps materialistic and spoiled, and since she does not have this forum in which to defend herself it is only fair for me to mention that along with her great haircut, beautiful manicure, and designer bags, she is one of the most caring and generous people I know, and she would break every one of her perfectly polished nails for her friends and family --- I know. Annoying, isn't it?

Also, I wanted to add this to my list of "some people who annoy the crap out of me"

7. I forgot grocery aisle hogs - those people who park their carts in the center of the aisle so that you cannot pass, and they look oblivious -- or worse -- annoyed, when you say excuse me while they're comparing brands of peanut butter. Of course, they're probably ranting on their blogs right now about the crazy woman who flies around the corner of each aisle as though she's competing in "Supermarket Sweep." (for the many who are probably unfamiliar, this was a game show before reality TV, where contestants had to rush through the aisles trying to end with the highest grocery bill... I would have been really good at this game. I do it without even trying because I love things like pine nuts, olive oil, and really good cheese.)
...and 7b. People who allow their children to "drive" the cart in the grocery store. That's like giving your twelve-year old the keys to the car. They can't steer, because after the beverage aisle, the cart weighs more than they do; they're never in a hurry, which means they're inevitably in my way; and they simply don't care --- if they even notice, the homicidal look I toss in their direction.

Okay, I swear I am done ranting for awhile. (well, it is Christmas time, so I may have one holiday shopping rant left, but not so far -- that just illustrates how far behind I am.)

My November Ta Da List

Wow. November came and went and I completely forgot my Ta Da List. This month has been busy with just about everything but art. I've discovered over the past couple of months that I'm doing a lot of reading and less of other things. While reading fills my imagination and is wonderful creative entertainment, it is also-- for me-- a form of avoidance. It fills my head with other people's ideas so that I can avoid making decisions... an making art... and making decisions about my art. I've been avoiding my studio lately, because I am feeling a certain loss of direction, or more accurately, I am heading in too many directions, and I'm still not sure on what I'd like to focus. I want to be able to combine my painting and mixed media with digital collage, but haven't quite worked it out in my head yet. I also want to continue with some writing projects which incorporate my art.
That said, these are the things I did accomplish on the creative front this month, beginning with the books I read, of course!...
The Seven Sisters by Margaret Drabble
Ada Blackjack... A story of survival in the Arctic by Jennifer Niven
Dry by Augusten Burroughs
Dave Barry is from Mars & Venus, by Dave Barry
Sula by Toni Morrison
I've discovered that I like to mix up heavy, emotional books with some light reading. I get very "into" the books I read, and they affect my moods, so Dave Barry was the perfect antidote to the rest of my picks.

When I wasn't reading, or raking leaves,
I initiated an altered art challenge, and I have lots of ideas for mine, but I have not yet done much, because I keep changing my mind!

I had an artist's date with my friend Debbie, but it had been so long since we've gotten together that we spent most of the day catching up and eating, with just a brief sojourn to her studio. We did get together again for a couple of hours later in the month, and I helped her to design and post a blog header, as well as to familiarize her with "new" blogger. (She is quite brilliant, and surpassed my technical expertise within minutes).

I designed a freelance brochure for my husband's company, which was a self-mailer with a CD pocket. I actually love taking on a few freelance jobs during the year because they're usually quite different from the materials I design in my "real" job; oh, and because I get paid too!

Truth in blogging...

My sister Jennifer's boss has come to the conclusion after reading my blog for awhile that my sister and I are nothing alike.

In some ways, this is absolutely accurate. My sister fancies herself somewhat of a princess -- by her own admission -- which would make me the court jester, or a serf, I think. For example, she has her hair done at an expensive salon and "mani-pedis" on a regular basis. I have had two manicures in my entire life and I've never had a professional pedicure. If I had better bone structure, I think I would shave my head, or at least wear a very short pixie cut, as I hate even thinking about hair maintenance. I am happy when my hands are not covered in bandaids from the minor injuries I regularly inflict on them - oven burns and minor knife wounds usually. My current "purse" was originally a vendor giveaway -- my sister's many purses are named after people like Kate Spade. Our local mall has some new stores this year, and we are both equally excited - she can't wait to step foot in Sephora, a store devoted to high end makeup, fragrances and skin care items. I am thrilled that I can now try on my L.L. Bean duck boots before buying them! I have a dog on whom I spend more money for grooming than I do on myself. She barely tolerated the pets she was forced to share a home with when we were children. I can spend an entire weekend reading a good book, and I would guess I read about 30-40 books a year. My sister recently confessed that she's reading a lot more these days too. She's finished three books this year.

But beyond these superficial differences, his conclusion is based on the fact that he knows my sister very well - the way that colleagues who spend many years working together do - and he knows me primarily through my blog, where I exercise the right to edit my thoughts so that readers see what I want them to see. Although we are different, we are also alike in many ways that he doesn't see, because I have crafted a certain image of myself here.

I do want my blog to reflect my authentic self -- who is, in addition to the artistic, nature-loving, dog-crazy woman I've portrayed, also a moody, self-centered, short-tempered, and contradictory individual at times. So I've decided that every now and then, I am going to share random details about me that I normally would not. By the way, I am not implying for one instant, that this is how my sister and I are alike-- that she can be moody, self-centered or short-tempered...just ask her boss.
I'll start with this list I've been compiling in my head for awhile -- That's right. When I'm not pursuing loftier goals like art and reading, this is the crap that fills my head...

(Some) people who annoy the crap out of me...
1. People who stand in lines while talking loudly and animatedly on cell phones. I think this is a form of noise pollution. Such people should maintain a reasonable distance from those of us who are forced to listen -- like stay at home until you're done talking. I don't want to hear your half of an annoying conversation that could have waited until you were in your car talking illegally while driving (which I also hate).
2. People who can't park their cars within the white lines, thereby wasting a space that I could have parked in. I may walk two miles a day with my dog, but I want to pull up close when I'm dashing into the liquor store!
3. People who don't have their cards and deposits ready at the drive-up ATM when they get to the window. Am I the only person who fills out the deposit slip and gets my card ready BEFORE I am parked at the window? If you're not ready when I pull up behind you, please pull around and get behind me.
4. People who don't use turn signals. When I'm tailgating, you'd better let me know that you're turning, or I might accidentally rear-end you.
5. People who have daily bowel movements at the office. Is this really necessary? How can you even relax enough to do this within such close proximity to your colleagues? And how do you manage to disappear so that it looks like I LEFT THAT odor when I leave the restroom?
6. People who are dieting and then explain in minute detail all the little bitty things they barely ate today. "I had green tea and half a rice cake for breakfast, then a lowfat string cheese for a snack, then the hard boiled egg - but only half the yolk for lunch, and 18 almonds - I must confess I like the salted ones, so I mix them with the unsalted so they're not as bad." Oh shut up. I had a turkey sandwich at 10 am, with chips and a pickle, and then in the afternoon, I tried to steal someone's microwave meal out of the freezer because, of course, I was hungry since I ate my lunch at 10 am. And I can't wait to get home and have half a pound of pasta with pesto sauce, garlic bread and a glass or three of wine.

So there it is...another side of me. I hope I don't run into any of you on the drive home...literally.

I looked up

from beneath the tree in my yard, through to the blue sky above, on another beautiful autumn day.

This tree (which came with my house, and therefore I do not know its species)is a visual delight in every season. When it loses it's leaves in the fall, these wonderful yellow berries appear. In winter, they turn red, then brown, and even when it is bare, it's a perfect silhouette of snow and ice. In spring, it flowers in white, but if you look closely at the petals, they are rose-colored in the center. In summer, the white petals blanket the ground and green leaves greet me again.

In spite of the fact that I am essentially allergic to the fall (mold, leaves, hives, itch, horrendous, two weeks, end of story!), this has been one of the most beautiful seasons I can remember. We've had perfectly mild weather in the day, chilly and crisp for sleeping at night.

Art stuff...
I organized one of my many journals last night =-- my IDEA journal -- and it was a good exercise to remind me of all the sketches I made and ideas I have for holiday projects and also for techniques I want to try. As this year rapidly comes to a close, I am looking back at the year to see what I've accomplished, and making my list of intentions for 2008. Those who know me or have followed my blog for awhile know that I used to dread (and avoid) making resolutions or intentions, because my logic was that if I didn't do them I would feel badly, whereas, if I never admitted to having them, I could not fail...

Of course, this was very skewed logic. I certainly wasn't fooling myself. I still felt awful when a year would go by with nothing to show for it. With the help of a wonderful creative coach, I was able to see this flaw in my logic. So now I declare my plans and intentions -- often quite publicly in this forum -- and just such a simple declaration makes them real, and is the first step to realizing them.

ALTERED ART CHALLENGE - A What?

We have a total of 10 participants, including myself, and I will be packing up the sets, along with brief instructions, this weekend. Because of the Veteran's Day holiday on Monday, sets will go out by the middle of next week. Thanks to all the participants!!

What IS an altered art challenge, anyway?

For anyone reading my blog who is not a mixed media artist, here's the deal:

There is no theme for this swap, and the goal is to turn the set into something unrecognizable as its former self. Some participants may create some kind of functional art piece; however, the end result can also be some kind of assemblage or sculpture, with no practical purpose. I do not supply the participants with anything except the same identical chess set. They can use anything at all to alter it and if they prefer to chop it into pieces, that would be permitted -- although women don't usually do that sort of thing, and all the participants happen to be women. The participants are primarily paper and fabric artists, so they will most likely use paint, collage, fabric, found objects etc.

Such a collaboration usually results in new friendships and new ideas, and makes me seem just slightly less crazy for having purchased a dozen sets of a game that I don't know how to play. Right?

OPEN INVITATION TO A MIXED MEDIA ART CHALLENGE!!

I know it would really mess up the whole calendar/time/clock/seasons thing but I would love to add an extra hour to every weekend. My Sunday seemed so leisurely, which is rare. That one extra hour seemed to multiply for me, and I felt both accomplished and rested for a change. In my extra hour (and then some)I treated myself to a budget-conscious shopping spree at two of my favorite dollar stores and the Goodwill store in town, and as always, I found many treasures. Here are just a few of my finds. My most exciting find were these portable wooden Chinese chess sets pictured here. I don't even play American chess and have no desire to learn to play Chinese, but the tiles and boxes were irresistible!!

I've never done any kind of interactive blog challenge before, but I am starting today. I have 10 extra chess sets to send off for altering... so here's the scoop!!

ART CHALLENGE INVITATION!!! - ALTERED CHINESE CHESS SETS!!! -SIGN UP NOW!!!!
I have a chess set for myself, a set for my friend Debbie, and 10 additional sets, so I can accept a maximum of 10 participants. If you agree to the rules below, and I hear from you within the first 10 people, I will mail you a chess set to alter. I anticipate that the sets will go out no later than Nov. 23, and possibly earlier.

THE RULES...
1. For the sake of contact privacy, click on my "view profile" in the upper right of my blog, and email me with your contact info (name, email address/mailing address). Don't leave your email or mailing info in my comments section, as that is public.

2. You must agree to return your altered chess set to me by mail, at your expense, along with a brief explanation of how you completed the project. I will take photos for posting on my blog, and prepare documentation in the form of a color printed booklet for all participants. I will return your altered set to you, at my expense, with the documentation, when the challenge is competed.

3. Depending on the results of this challenge, and the agreement of all participants, we may decide to submit this project to one of the major altered art magazines along with an article for publication. If this happens, I will make arrangements for the future return of all of your sets at that time. I had several articles published in 2007, and all of my items were returned unharmed.

4. Deadline: Because the holiday season is busy for everyone, and particularly artists and craftspeople, the deadline is Friday, January 25, 2008.

5. If you wish to participate, I'd like feedback on whether you think this challenge should be holiday related (i.e. for Christmas of next year -- or Valentines day 2008, since that will be upcoming, or if it should be anything goes, or if it should perhaps incorporate some other theme. I will share suggestions and we can see what is most appealing to participants.

6.As you can see from the picture, the set includes a wooden box and 32 pieces. You may alter it in any way you wish, using as many or as few pieces as you need to create your work of art.

7. If I don't hear from at least 5 people, I may decide to postpone this challenge to a future date, and I will notify anyone who signs up. If you think you'd like to participate, but the deadline presents a problem let me know. I am totally flexible with this project!! I am making it up as I go!!!!

That's all I can think of right now!!! I look forward to hearing from you!!! -- If you know of a friend or two who would like to participate, please send them to my blog as well.

Thanks!!!!!

Sisters...

My sisters and I got together for my dad's birthday on Saturday night. I cannot say enough good things about my sisters. We all have busy lives now, so we don't get together as often as we'd like, but when we do, it's the most comfortable of relationships, where we know each other so well that there is no effort at all involved in being together. They are smart, funny, energetic and just really good people.

It was a rather typical family gathering - a delicious dinner, a fabulous dirty martini (okay two) made by my sister Cheryl , my sister Jennifer making sure that everything runs smoothly, a little meltdown from my 3-year-old-niece, who has been battling all of the usual plagues of daycare, and quiet conversations as the evening wound down. I had also meant to stop on my way into town to take a picture of the Catskill mountains a little beyond peak for leaf peepers but still a breathtaking backdrop to my home town, but when approached the turn for dad's, I was anxious to get there, as I always am, and didn't take the moment to stop. I should have, because by the time I visit again, the mountains will be bare, or snow-capped. One of these years, I will actually slow down and take it in.