Artful Sunday

I had my little art group, with some additions, over for an Artful Sunday. Of course we ate: appetizers, antipasto, salmon salad, crackers and fruit salad. Great group and good food! The mission for the day was to cut our own stamps, and some of us did that and some did not. But a good time was had by all!

I am taking a relief printing course with a local printer, Carol Sanchez. She is great, and last night we just got an orientation and started cutting on lino and wood. I did not care so much for the wood, but loved the lino. Next week we will make our first prints! Can't wait, and brought home homework!

I am a docent at a relatively new gallery, 516 Arts in downtown Albuquerque. Tomorrow night we are showing a collage film for a local film exhibition. Should be interesting. If you are in the Albuquerque area, they have a fantastic show on collage and drawings that will be up until the end of May.

Another Artful Sunday

My hand carved stamp: original pencil sketch, first impression in upper right (not exciting at all...) next iteration in the bottom middle, two prints in the middle and the actual stamp in the bottom left. Not my best work, but I enjoyed it.

Six of us got together at my house for an Artful Sunday and we had a great time, great food and great art!

Wanna see me run a red light?

Caught by the Red Light Cameras:

got my notice in the mail yesterday. Bad girl!

Since there is an arrow to turn right, I may look at this view closer in Photoshop and see if the arrow was still green and/or orange and then think about fighting it. The fine is $69 and a friend of mine got hers converted to community service, so I may try that also.

Better news:


more altered book pages

My studio FAT CAT Baby Cakes

Journal Pages

Can anybody guess what this is?

Getting ready for a show

I am getting ready to enter a show and went through my stash and found two WIPs that I will try to enter. I better hurry, as the deadline is May 9, but having a deadline makes me work harder! Sorry about the pink basting thread!

A New Experience for Me

I tried accupuncture today. I am still not sure about this.

I went in to see if she could help relieve my foot pain.

That went well, but it must have really stirred up some major toxins in my system. My foot felt better, but by the time I got to work I was nauseated. And felt yucky.

I went home and slept for 2 hours, woke up loggy and with a headache. The headache persisted until abut 8 tonight, and I am finally feeling better.

I am amazed that my foot feels so much better (there is still a little pain, but nothing like it was causing me!

I am posting some of my altered book pages, I am still enamoured of the Derwent pencils!

This is a sketchbook page that I colored with the Derwent pencils.

I made an interesting discovery today

I was gessoing some pages on an old book, and put wax paper between several pages. I guess that I did not let it dry enough, and when I opened the book back up, the pages were stuck to the wax paper. I let all of this mess dry, and then made my discovery.

After all had dried, I peeled the pages off of the wax paper. Much to my amazement, they came off and were very usable. These are the pieces, and I plan to use them in collages!

After the disaster of the sticking pages, I scribbled with Derwent Watercolor pencils on the remaining book pages. The colors and textures were very interesting and I will do more pages and then embellish.

There is also the most interesting resist effect on the left side of the pinky/purplish page seen below.

I have been doing spring cleaning and found a book that I forgot that I owned. The Decorated Page by Gwen Diehn. Great book, even though it came out in 2002 (it was one of the first altered book books that I ever bought). It inspired the glueing, gessoing and coloring that I worked on today! Looks like she has a new and improved book which I will have to add to my wish list on Amazon!

I just can't get enough of this site!

see more crazy cat pics

Follow the link, all of the pics there are great!

I am not quite that bad in the morning, but almost!

Happy Sunday

Spring is finally here!

Cherry Tree on my balcony blooming means that spring is here!
And I am ready for it. It has been a windy spring, and the usual harbringer of spring, the plum tree that I look at from my computer setup, had the usual coverage of pink blooms blown away. Tried to take a picture but it looked so pitiful that I decided to use this picture instead.

I needed this!

see more crazy cat pics

This is a great site. After the funk I have been in, I laughed out loud at these animal pictures!
Especially the one above, and there is a great one about colored chickens....
We all need to laugh everyday!

4000 is too many- bring them home!

I attended a vigil acknowledging the 5th anniversary of the war last Wednesday.
Yesterday, I was devasted to hear that a new mark had been reached. 4000 young americans have lost their lives in the Iraq war.
The program that where I heard this figure stated that MOST AMERICANS DID NOT KNOW HOW MANY AMERICAN SON AND/OR DAUGHTERS HAD LOST THEIR LIVES! That fact blew me away also.

Best Birthday Present this Year!

My mother ordered The Painted Quilt by Linda and Laura Kemshall for my birthday. The book came this week and I have been drooling over it ever since! Fantastic pictures, processes and ideas.
This makes me want to take their online courses! This has given me the jumpstart that I needed.
Thank you Mother!

Latest art

I was fascinated by an article that I saw in Cloth Paper Scissors, Winter 2005. I came across the magazine (after more than a year and a half!). The article is Ancient Passage Layered Mixed-Media Collage Art by Kim Grant.

Below is my base, watercolor paper with gesso on both sides, glue gun squiggles, then painted with Gold paint (steps 1-4 in the article)
Collage layers added. I used a jungle theme instead of the oriental theme Kim Grant used.
Steps 5-8 in the article.
This is very wet paint, with rubbing alchohol applied. It really does not look this bloody!

I am off work tomorrow, so I plan to finish this piece. I have other papers and a leopard picture to add!

BTW- I have had to disable comments, as I am getting hit with spam replies!

Studio cleanup

I had a great visit with my mother for the last two weeks, and she left today.
While she was visiting, I had not done anything artsy, except for the last of the tying on the snugglie for my bedroom, which Mother and I both worked on.
My studio is also the guest room, and so for the last two weeks had been doing double duty (but to admit it, it was really messy before Mother came). After she left today I went to Target and checked out their storage stuff.

This is the before...

And after, with Baby Cakes checking it out...

I found a great PURPLE stoage rack, and a stainless steel rack.

Put them together today and now have before and after pictures.

I discovered that I really have a cutting table underneath all of that stuff!

And I know that I will just pile it up again, that seems to be part of my process!

March/Easter Freebies

Lisa Volrath http://countdown.tentwostudios.com/index.html, is at it again. I love her freebies, and her current batch is for March/Easter


I am finishing up a snugglie for myself. I basted last night and my mother tied today, and we are about 2/3 through. I very rarely make anything that I keep, so this is different for me. These are my favorite colors, red, yellow, orange.


Here is a closeup of the flannel- it has buttons, needles, and thread! How appropriate!
And since it is still cold here (may snow tonight) it will come in handy.

It has been a while since I posted

Grandmas New Toy

I have been busy visiting with my Mother, who is visiting for two weeks.

We have a new toy! I had a stairlift installed and we are playing with it.

The cats still do not know for sure what is going on,

and they do not like the beep that it makes!

Tomorrow is my birthday

Since I won't be home (I am meeting my son, who lives in Dallas at my Mothers, and we are having a mini-family reunion) I thought that I would post this picture, taken shortly after I was born. I have never been this small since then!

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

I am a great admirer of the art and spirit of Lesley Riley, and am inspired by her artistic quote of the day. So I am copying her. Found the link and I am now posting the art quote of the day, just under my phases of the moon link!
Busy week at work, and I am getting ready to go to my Mother's to celebrate my birthday. My son will be driving in from Dallas, and it will be a mini-reunion! Enjoy the art quote of the day!

Time Flies

Boy, it does not seem like ten days since I have posted. Been busy, and doing some art.

I have been concentrating on the ancestor's photos (I am scanning and identifying as many people as my Mother, Sister and I can), and have been doing some sketching. I have not been too faithful about an art project a day, but that was negotiable. I figure that the scanning and working with photos counts for a lot of art, even if I am not producing output at this time!

I bought three old cabinet cards at an antique store, and after I got involved in this genealogy stuff, I posted the descriptions and names of the people that were written on the back of the cabinet card. Anyway, I am posting the picture here.

The cabinet card says: Cushman Arcade Studio, Springfield Ohio

On the back in pen is written: Uncle Al Gaines and Aunt Lou and in pencil : For Mother

Another Friday, no disasters

I said that I was going to hide on Friday nights, but went to a great Brigid/Imbolc celebration and managed to get home without incident!
I found the neat moon calculator on the right. It will always give me the phase of the moon. As I was arriving at the ceremony tonight, there was a fingernail moon, and it was breathtaking.
Busy weekend ahead, and hopefully I will have time to do some art, as I have fallen down on my promise to do some art each day. Does surfing the web at work and looking at art blogs count?

First Update, Creative Everyday 2008

Cold Shoulder from Baby Cakes- this new quilt (a birthday present for my son) must be comfortable, as BC only roosts on the most comfortable perches in the studio.

Here is the quilt minus the cat. Hope you enjoy it and have a great birthday DB!

Day One: sketches in my journal, too sloppy to post here.

Day Two and Three: working on the Crown Royal snugglie (see above) and a quilt for me! I found some great flannel that has spools of thread, needles and thimbles, and it is in an orange/red colorway, plus it was on sale! What more could I ask?

Pictures will follow tomorrow!

Friday is the PITTTTTSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Next Friday I am coming home and hiding (see my Jan. 19th Friday the 13th posting). I had plans for this Friday, and as I was waiting for my friend Pamela to meet me and go gallery hopping at First Friday, my car got hot, steam was coming out from under the hood and water was leaking out. Even one of these would be bad, but all three were catastrophic! We went to a 7-11, got water and put it in the radiator. Seemed to hold, and we limped to my local repair shop (it was now 6:30). They could not work on it until Saturday AM, so we went to a movie, as neither of us was up for the trip downtown to see art!
We saw Atonement, which was a very strange movie. I had a lot of trouble understanding the mumbling english accent, but would give it a medium rating. I enjoyed the movie but do not know that I would watch it again.
Keep your fingers crossed and hope that my car does not cost an arm and a leg! I got paid yesterday and had some overtime and a large expense reimbursement, but I did not want to spend it on my car!

On another subject, I have joined the Creative Everyday 2008 group. Still working on my creativity and intention.
http://www.creativeeveryday.com/creativeeveryday/creative-every-day-2008-.html

Click on this image for more information.

Artful Quilters Webring

I have been meaning to join this webring for several months, but never remember when I am at home, and do not want to join from work! (even tho I do surf the web from work). You can follow the link to the right and get to some fantastic sites!

What do I want for the coming year

Our topic for this Thursday's yet unnamed Women's group is "What do I want for the coming year?"
I have given up on New Year's resolutions, so glibly manifested after a glass of champagne and then guiltily discarded by mid-January.
But this year I am really going to concentrate on time. Recently I was talking to my 84 year old mother and realized I AM ALMOST 60!!
Fifty Seven (going on 58 very soon!) sounds so much better than ALMOST 60!
As a child my grandmother always told me the older you got the faster time went. If time accelerates any faster, I will be 99 before I know it.
Increasingly, time goes by in a blur, like the calendar pages in an old black and white movie.
I was born in 1950, and Halley's comet and the new millenium seemed vast distances away in the future. Since both have come and gone and we are currently in late January, 2008, I feel like I am losing my "time grip". Monthly magazines arrive in about 3 weeks, and my semi-monthly paycheks roll in with regularity (I don't mind this...)
The only way I can think of to control this time warp (isn't that a song from the Rocky Horror Picture Show?) is to become more intentional. I already have a structured life, but need to have more intention about how I live and enjoy.
I work in a high tech and high stress enviornment where I am the expert, and I use my artwork to relax from that grind. I have always loved creating and need to get some balance between work and recreation.
If I can plan and live my life intentionally I think that I will enjoy life more, even if I cannot create more time.
Quantity vs. Quality- quality should always win out.
By setting my intention, I manifest my desires--whatever they may be.

Much better week!

Well, after my faux Friday the 13th last week, my week was much better this week! Long and busy, but no disasters.

I have joined an Altered Book Round Robin with some women from the Art-e-zine site. We are using small board books and I started my book with two spreads in it. Can't decide if I am through or not, but I have two weeks to decide that.

I could have sworn that yesterday was Friday the 13th!

After a LONG week at work, went to dinner and to play cards at a friend's house. While we were heading home, going through an intersection, this HUGE white pickup runs the red light right in front of us! Luckily the car to my right braked quickly and I was able to swerve and miss the idiot by no more than a few inches. He did not even slow down!

Then I get home and inside my house it is 39 degrees! It was only 15 degrees outside! Cold air is coming out of my vents. I immediately turn off my NEW FURNACE, and look around. PNM (Natural gas supplier in NM) had turned the gas off to make repairs in the area. By now it is 10:30 and the service man does not arrive until 12:30. In the meantime I am building a fire in the fireplace (my only source of heat!) Fuzzy will not even come out of whatever hidey hole she is in, and it is very cold. Luckily I have an electric blanket on my bed, so the cats and I repair to the warm bed. By the next morning it is only 60 degrees (although that is a great improvement over the 39 degrees from the night before). I called my HVAC guy and he can't make it until noon. When he gets there he tells me that the whole winter (I had a new furnace installed in April, 2007) the air conditioner has been running when the heater is running!

Does this look like a cold cat?

Anyway, the furnace has been repaired, and the cats and I are roasty toasty warm! Hopefully my huge electric bill will go down too!

Wishing you you warmth and happiness!

Pay It Forward Challenge

Judy at http://cheerytomatoproductions.blogspot.com/ has inspired me to join this exchange:

“I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, which is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.”

Envelopes and Furry Aliens

If you have ever received a snailmail from me, you know that I try to NEVER send a plain envelope. Since all that I get in the mail now is bills, I would be very pleased to receive one of these envelopes. I put on a return address label (I use a separate white stickon label for the to address), and then color with sharpies (front and back are decorated). I get to practice some freehand patterns and try out different color combos.

As I was sitting and playing, my two furry aliens (aka Baby Cakes and Fuzz Bucket) were playing around. Fuzzy seems to be giving me the evil eye....
and then she is only a shadow, Baby Cakes is looking for her!

Let's see if this egg hatches!

Get your own egg here!

Gratitude Sign

Got this email from a very good friend today, and want to pass it along...


Ever wonder how to say thanks when you saw a military person in uniform? See a simple way to do it from across a room or as you are passing by. - skip
And when you can, say it outright - rk

Check This Out: The Gratitude Sign

http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/fullmovie.php

Seems like a very simple thing to do, and even though I am adamantly anti-war, I plan to take up this gesture.

I am still scanning, cropping and identifying old family photos to post on Ancestor.com. This is so addictive, I can't stop!

Can I count photoshoping as my daily art process? If I can I am set for the year!

Happy New Year, 2008

Atop the Arc de Triomphe,

with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

Jan 1, 1972

Tulierres Gardens, Paris France

Dec 31, 1971.

I spent the weekend at my Mother's house. We went through her photo albums and I relocated two pictures that were taken New Year's Eve 1971 in Paris . I am no longer married to Larry, and in fact he died in 2003, but that was on HELLACIOUS New Years weekend. We danced down the middle of the Champs Eleysee (??) with a magnum of champagne! Parisians definitely know how to celebrate the new year.

My christmas cactus is in full bloom.

Merry Christmas

I have had a very low key Christmas this year. I intentionally withdrew from "Commericialized Christmas" and made charitable contributions in my families names (with a few gifts for my nieces). I got all of my obligations fulfilled without setting foot in a mall! (My sister is the shopper in our family and makes up for my mother and I...).

I worked Christmas eve to let my co-workers have the day off with their families. It was a very low key day, as almost no one was there, so work was not that bad.

Since I had to work and could not go to my Mother's house, I was able to attend the Christmas Eve service at my church First Unitarian of Albuquerque. I assisted with the Children's service at 6:30 (I was the head candlelighter in charge of about 20 little candle lighters!). The Children's service was charming and chaotic, as only a church full of children can be! The adult candlelight service was very nice, and much less chaotic.

Then this morning I dragged myself out of bed to go to Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge to see the birds. If you get there before dawn, when the sun comes up, the birds, en masse, take off. It is very thrilling, and they fly almost overhead.

I discovered that bird pictures MUST be taken with a telephoto lens, but here are three that will give you an idea of what it is like.

A huge flock of snow geese taking flight just after sunrise.

Believe it or not, the small black speck in the top of the tree is an Eagle!

Three Wise Cranes? Taken from my car.

I saw four eagles, three deer, lots of ducks, geese and sandhill cranes.

Now to finish off this day, I will attend a Christmas potluck at church.

In the spirit of the season, here is some a beautiful renditon of Pachabel's Canon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGrhzCgy_bg

Three things

Pokey Bolton of Quilting Arts asked for you to send in a picture of something homemade that you had made for Xmas. I sent in a picture of the collage that I made for my friend Marion, and it is on the Quilting Arts blog. (Of course it is on my blog too, but this is almost like being published.)

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I hid out at home today and found this great story in some of my genealogy stuff:

Grandma’s Apron


When I was a little child, grandma’s garments made little impression on me. Her apron was a big affair of dark printed cotton, slow to soil, and edged around with bias tape. It’s uses were limitless.
The apron made a “basket” when she gathered eggs from the hen house late in the afternoon. If there were fluffy, yellow chicks to be carried to the back porch during the sudden cold spell, they made the trip peeping contentedly in Grandma’s apron.
When those same little darlings grew into henhood and liked to peck and scratch among Grandma’s flowers, she merely flapped her apron at them and they ran squawking to the chicken yard. And I can see her yet, tossing cracked corn to the hungry flock form her apron.
Lots of chips and kindling were needed to start fires in the big ivory colored cook stove in Grandma’s kitchen. Sure she carried them in her apron. Vegetables and fruits, too-lettuce, radishes, peas, string beans, carrots, apples, peaches, all found their way to the kitchen in Grandma’s carryall.
While things were cooking, it was a handy holder for removing hot pans from the stove. IF the men working in the field weren’t too far away, the apron waved aloft was the signal to “come to dinner”. At threshing or company time, when the long dining room table was crowded with hungry folk, Grandma hovered about passing aromatic dishes and flipping the big apron at pesky flies. When Grandma came to visit the apron stood ready to dry childish tears. IF the little ones were shy, it made a good hiding place in case a stranger appeared unexpectedly.
The apron was used countless time to stroke a perspiring brow as Grandma bent over the hot woodstove or hoed the garden under a blistering sun. In chilly weather, Grandma wrapped the friendly garment around her arms while she hurried on an outside errand or lingered at the door with a departing guest. Hastily and a bit shyly, it dusted tables and chairs if company was sighted coming down the lane. And in the evening when the day’s work was done, Grandma shed her garment of many uses and draped it over the canary’s cage.

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I got a strange call from my son today. I was expecting that he would receive his christmas present today. He did get the box,but the present was for a friend in Florida. I had them in identical boxes, and just put the wrong address on the boxes. She and my son have had "issues" in the past. so it may have been a freudian slip! Anyway, he was very puzzled over why I had sent what I did! Can't say much more or the secrets will be out!

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Snow may descend, so I don't know if I will make it to my Mother's house this weekend, may have to postpone until next weekend. Either earley or late, Christmas is still Christmas!

Sue's scalloped corn

I took a dish to our "Non-denominational Seasonal" pot luck today. It was from a Weatherford family reunion, and I loved the way it tasted. Somehow, it got put away, and I found it the other day (I have not been a Weatherford since 1999, so that shows you how long it has been rattling around). Anyway I found it and decided to take it today. It was a great hit, so I am posting the recipe here.

It was given to my by Donna Enger.

Sue’s Scalloped Corn

1 Can Corn, undrained
1 Can Corn, cream style undrained
2 eggs
1 Box Jiffy Yellow Corn Bread Mix
1 Stick Butter (melted)
8 ounces of Sour Cream (I did not have sour cream so I used cream cheese instead)
2 cups shredded cheese of your choice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Mix the first six ingredients together with 1 cup of the cheese
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, the remove and top with remaining cheese (for the potluck I did not top with cheese until I got it to work)
Bake for another 30* minutes

*(to take this to our potluck I only put the casserole back in for 15 minutes, let it cool and then spooned it into my crock pot. When I got to the office I put the cheese on top and turned the crock pot on low until lunch time!)

The funny thing about it is that I copied it onto the back of a family tree for the Weatherford's! So I was able to flesh out that limb of my family tree without contacting my ex-husband! Winner times two!

Christmas Tree and Christmas Cactus

This is the closest my furry aliens (a.k.a. Fuzzy Bucket and Baby Cakes) will allow me to have. This is in my studio, so note the iron, covered server and sewing machine). I love the fairy lights and may leave them up all year round.

I am so excited! I have had this Christmas Cactus for years ( I just CANNOT trash a living plant, have to wait until it dies!) and it has never bloomed. And now that I have moved it into the jungle window (see above) it has buds on almost every branch! It looks like it is going to be pink.

Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I have started a revolt against "Commercialized Christmas"! I have decided that only kids under 12 are going to get Christmas presents from me this yerar (well, there are few exceptions and they are not getting purchased gifts...). I just finished capes for my nieces, black with the hoods lined in pink with silver stars! They should love them, as they are both very DRAMA QUEENish! The photo above shows my latest creations, left: Goddess of the Frozen North, middle St. Frigidita, right, St. Floridita. Fun and easy to make from Sardine tins!

I am also making my christmas cards this year.

December Countdown for Free Downloads

Go to this site and get a download of images after you put a link on your site! 25 days of downloads, you can't beat that.

http://countdown.tentwostudios.com/