Artzy Diva

Pages In Progress 1.16.12

2012-01-16T16:02:00.001-05:00

A few journal pages in progress. I actually thought I'd finished this journal but there were 4 pages left incomplete! Today I'm adding collage elements. Will journal them when the mood strikes.

Where's My Groove?

2012-01-16T14:54:00.001-05:00

As we all know I have great difficulty keeping the Blog Groove going. Sigh. I never loose my journal groove, however! A peek inside one I'm finishing up.

2011-11-26T09:35:00.001-05:00

Spending the morning at the dairy barn. There's been over a dozen calves born i

2011-11-26T09:33:00.001-05:00

Spending the morning at the dairy barn. There's been over a dozen calves born in the past 23 days so lots of bottle feeding to do! Its been ages since I hung out in a cow barn. Not since my great uncle sold his farm in NH years ago. This is a real treat for the boy, who's getting to bottle feed some calves! The goats are being goofy, as goats always are. God I love being in a barn!

Soap Making

2011-11-23T18:24:00.001-05:00

i've been slacking this weeks thanks to feeling less than healthy. Life has been low key, with a lot of reading, sleeping, journaling and cooking. Today my boy & I did make a bunch of soap for holiday gift giving.
The yellow is goat milk and honey, the red caramel apple scented with aloe added and the blue is a minty scent with vitamin E added. I've laid it out on racks to cure for a few weeks before packaging.
Next up is fizzy bath bombs in a cafe mocha and cinnamon scent!

Journal Page 11/16/11

2011-11-17T21:00:00.000-05:00

This page is wider than the others in my Personal & Potent journal thanks to a fold-out. I love mixing up the size of my pages as much as I love mixing up the size of my journals!

The right portion of this page is a fold-out.

This is the fold-out the way it appears when folded down. The other side of the page peeks out enticingly from behind. I haven't journaled that part yet, so this glimpse is all you get to see for now!

Journal Pages 11/15/11

2011-11-17T01:30:00.000-05:00

I was in writing mode on the 15th, as you can see by these pages! I love it when I get in the groove and just keep going.

Journal Pages 11/7/11

2011-11-16T13:36:00.001-05:00

I was finally able to get some journal pages scanned, thanks to my hand healing enough to work with it easily! These are the three I did on 11/7/11. I am really liking having and entire journal painted and collaged so I can just pick it up and do pen work and journal writing any time I feel like it!

This one is actually in a different journal. I was upstairs and the skinny journal was down . I like having multiple journals in progress. That way, no matter what room I'm in I have something to work in once the mood hits!

I like how you can see the banana paper on the inside cover peeking out from behind this page.

I never know what I'm going to write until I start. For whatever reason the watch image on this page made me think of the snobby, society types who expect perfect behavior. Definitely not me at all!

Favorite Friday's, a tad late!

2011-11-13T13:11:00.001-05:00

ALL TIME FAVORITE FRIDAY: At 11:11 am on 11~11~11 my niece had her baby! His name is Travis and he's captured all our hearts already.

Musings

2011-11-10T18:51:00.001-05:00

A transformer at the end of our street blew so our power is out again. I actually enjoy the quiet and the soft light of candles. At the moment I have so many lit the place resembles Dracula's castle. Especially since a lot of my candleabra have skulls or gargoyles on them!

This cluster is one of the few without the 'Dark Shadows' overtone. I thought it looked pretty so thought I'd share.

New Arrival

2011-11-10T13:31:00.001-05:00

Looks like they'll be a new addition to the family either today or tomorrow. My great~nephew has decided it's time to make an appearnace. Got word this morning my niece is in labor. We're all over the top excited. This will be the first baby in the family since my son was born 10 years ago!

I have a cute, mini album all ready and waiting for baby pictures. Can't wait to fill it up!

On a side note, have cut my hand badly so having a tough time working on art, the computer or doing much of anything. It's throwing off my blogging groove, but I will make up for that as soon as I can with lots of yummy journal pictures & shots from the late 1700's graveyard the boy and I were wandering about on Tuesday!

Small Blessings

2011-11-07T14:29:00.001-05:00

Even though a huge section of this maple broke during the Nor'Easter, our prayer flags and wishing hoop came through undamaged. That's a blessing for sure!

You can see how large a section of the maple broke off.

Our Tibetan prayer flags, which have been hung for several years, and our homemade ones.

Our Wishing Hoop, made from grapevines I cut myself, and more Tibetan prayer flags.

Monday Musings

2011-11-07T12:16:00.001-05:00

The journal I started making during the power outage last weekend is all painted, collaged and bound. I don't usually fully collage one before working in it, but I wanted to spiral bind it with the Zutter so having it filled with images before hand was the way to go. I wanted the collage to come all the way to the left edge on many of the pages and there was simply no way to do that if I bound it first! It is rather nice to have a full journal all set for pen work and writing that I can grab any time I'm walking out the door.
The entire time I was working on creating this journal the words "personal and potent" kept running through my head. now I'm referring to this as my personal and potent journal. I tend not to name a journal because then it feels like I need to stick with a theme, but this one obviously demanded naming!
This is a skinny journal, only 4.5" wide by 8.5" long. I find skinny pages more challenging to work on, but am always up for a challenge as I feel it causes us to be more creative. It's the same reason I limit the amount of images and supplies I have near me at any given time. If I work with a smaller a mount of images, say a decent sized Ziploc full, it forces me to dip deeper into my creative pool. Plus, I find too many supplies, be it collage fodder, stamps, tools, whatever to be creatively stifling. If you have too much around you it can be overwhelming. Better to push the creativity by working with less than sit there going "Where do I start? What do I use?"

The front cover. the back cover has the same paper on it. I've had this wrapping paper for a while now and wanted to use it for something just right. For whatever reason, this journal was that "just right" piece.

The inside front cover. I haven't added my contact info yet, something I always do just in case a journal goes missing! I'm also going to add the words "Personal and Potent". Or maybe that will go on the outside cover. Not sure yet on that one.

I've been thinking a lot about Thanksgiving and planning my menu. This page has a bit of Giving Thanks in it. It also has a 60's psychedelic feel for whatever reason. I don't question what I do, I just do it!

The cool and slightly odd snail lady got me thinking about how slow moving I am thanks to pain. It also got me thinking how moving slow is often a blessing. You tend to notice a lot more when you go slow. As for the skull, well I just like skulls and add them in as much as possible!

Favorite Friday's

2011-11-04T15:53:00.001-04:00

Hallelujah! I can finally access the internet. The first thing I did was go in and edit the two posts I made with my phone because the formatting and some of the text is always lost when I post that way. I like this blog to look a certain way, to have some consistency in it's appearance and content, so blogging through my phone just doesn't cut it!
OK, who is this person I have become???? Words like Consistency and Routine use to be foreign words to me. Running amok, spontaneous and wild were far more familiar terms. Hmm, I wonder if I can be routinely wild or consistently spontaneous? It's worth a shot right?

Blast from the past: Journal page from 4/4/09

I've been super creative and busy this week,cranking out journal pages,mixed media pieces and mini books daily. The books are intended for holiday gifts. The broke artist's way of saying"I love you, but I can't afford a useless gift you don't need so I made you this stunning book for photos or musings instead. It's far better than a store bought gift, you just need to realize that..."

Blast from the past: Journal page from 1/19/09

Enough babbling. On to my Favorites for this week:

Paint The Town Exhibit at the Prints and the Potter in Worcester, MA. A great selection of works painted in Worcester. These artists really capture the essence of the city. If you live fairly local I highly recommend stopping by to see this. Then you can pop across Highland Street to The Bean Counter for the best coffee and pastries in the city!

Missing Missy: OK, we all know I am a sarcastic, wise ass. So is it any surprise I totally crack up over this encounter? Part of this was in Reader's Digest recently and I'd been meaning to look up the rest online and just today got around to it. This guy definitely is a kindred spirit!

Hmm, not too many favorites this week. Actually, my real favorite was just spending so much time with my family. Life doesn't get any sweeter than that.

Journal Pages & Musings

2011-11-02T16:15:00.001-04:00

Since the storm Saturday I've had internet access issues. To be honest, it's bugging me for one reason only: My inability to blog easily. Anyone that's been following me for a while will know that consistencey has always been a challenge. Now that I've found a way to blog consistently, something I wanted to do for myself more than anything, not being able to irks me. Isn't it amazing how something we tried so hard to make routine becomes something we don't want to live without? In my case, posting here on certain days has become part of my weekly rituals. Without being able to maintain that ritual throws off my groove! Does this mean I've finally been able to maintain scheduling in one area of life instead of running amok , completely schedule free, as is my norm?

I started making a new journal during the power outage. It's going to be spiral bound so I am painting and collaging all the pages ahead of time.
The banana paper is part of the inside front cover.

A few more pages in the new journal.These are skinny pages, something I find challenging to work on, but like the size because it makes the journal so portable.

I actually have two new journals in progress. The top page here is from the larger of the two. You can see a skinny page below it so you have an idea of the size difference. I like working in all different size journals.
It keeps me from getting bored!

Nor'Easter

2011-10-31T19:38:00.000-04:00

Thanks to an early season Nor'Easter our power was knocked out for over 24 hours. We're actually lucky to have it back since most of the town & the surrounding towns are still out. Saturday night I was making art by candlelight. Nothing can stop a creative soul when the Muse comes calling!

The Gargoyle's white hat is getting taller.

What's on my art table? The cat mostly. He is convinced I can't possibly create without him adding his energy, and paw prints, to the mix!

This cat is my biggest critic. He's always pouring over my works in progress, especially the journals, and doesn't hesitate to shred what he deems unworthy.

Halloween Greetings from Voldemort.

The Miniature Menace showing her true nature. Don't let the big eyes fool you.
She is the Devil incarnate!

I seriously need a shirt like this!

Awesome Mail

2011-10-29T10:00:00.000-04:00

Any day I get totally awesome Day of the Dead or Halloween ATC's, papers and such in the mail is my idea of an extremely good mail day. This delightful group came from Alaska. Bet those Muertos were chilly on the way here!

What's on my work table?

2011-10-28T13:21:00.001-04:00

What's on my work table varies moment by moment. Here's some of what's on it right now:

Lots of Dia de los Muertos & sugar skull images for ATC's and cards, Latte pens, ink pads and paper scraps. And that's just in one tiny section of my 6 foot table space!
What's on your work table right now?

First Snow

2011-10-28T11:03:00.001-04:00

It snowed last night. The heavy, branch breaking snow that we usually don't get as a first snow. Today the Jack O Lantern and Guardian Gargoyle wear hats of white.

Even though I am not ready for the deep, months long cold and snow, I have no choice in the matter so will just accept it for the beauty it offers. The snow did make a delightfully crunchy sound when walking on it. My late lettuce greens and radishes probably don't appreciate that sound though. In fact, they looked cold! I made a quick, make shift cold frame out of bent maple branches and heavy plastic. Better late than never....

Last 10 songs the i-Pod randomly played:

Black Hole Sun--Stone Temple Pilots

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy--Bette Midler

Bodies--Drowning Pool

Domino--Van Morrison

Dead and Bloated--Stone Temple Pilots

Dance Hall Days--Wang Chung

Dirty Deeds--AC/DC

Black Betty--Ram Jam

Animals--Nickleback

I Don't Like Mondays--Boomtown Rats

Can we say eclectic?

Favorite Friday's and Journal Pages

2011-10-28T01:30:00.000-04:00

Favorites this week:

This post on Halloween by Gris Grimley, who is an awesome artist. My son and I love the books he's illustrated. Our favorites are Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Madness and Gris Grimley's Wicked Nursery Rhymes.

(Kelly, if you aren't familiar with Gris's work, do check him out. You'll like it the way you do Gorey's. I guarantee it!)

This mural in Paris. You have to look at the whole, then the close up to really appreciate it. I'd actually posted this one last week, but my favorite Friday's post went off into the ether never to be seen again.

This blog on creating a Daily Heart for 365 days

Was playing around with sequin waste, distress powders and a few circular clear stamps so got to thinking about the nature of circles and spirals.
Not an unusual train of thought for me at all.

I'd run some metal exhaust tape through the embosser and loved the vintage tin ceiling look it created, so had to add it to a page. I colored it up a bit with alcohol inks.
Unusual for me is the lack of journaling on this page,
just the thought that came into my head as I looked at the photo.
"She had no shame. Just stood around in bloomers all day"

Journal Pages 10/18/11

2011-10-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

I'm counting the days until my new great-nephew arrives. He's due to make his first appearance in the world on November 10, but babies arriving on a specific date is like herding cats. There are no guarantees they'll do what you expect them to.

I'm still in cleansing and purging mode. The back of the truck is getting full of clothes, shoes, household goods and books to donate. Tomorrow I'll probably make the drive to the Salvation Army and drop off. I'll try to resist going in to see what vintage coats need rescuing, but as with babies and herding cats, there are no guarantees!

Done while sitting at Vincent's listening to the music.
Collage, Sparkling H2O's, Gellyroll pen, ink jet transfer

Done at Vincent's.
Collage and Gellyroll pen

Jack O Lantern

2011-10-26T19:25:00.001-04:00

An old fashioned Jack O Lantern, carved by my son and placed on the front steps to welcome the Ancestors and keep malevolent spirits at bay. you can tell Jack's getting a bit moldy inside. The boy just couldn't wait until closer to the 31st to carve it up! In our house we celebrate Samhain, the ancient pagan festival, and Dia de los Muertos, the Mexican Day of the Dead. and yes, he does like to go trick or treating too.

Journal Pages

2011-10-26T13:45:00.000-04:00

Today is going to be a babbling day. If you prefer to skip the babbling and go straight to the art, go right ahead. I'll never know....
It's been a busy week for me. For whatever reason, late autumn is the time I feel most compelled to clean and clear. For three days now I've been going through closets, drawers and cabinets cleaning them out and amassing piles of things to donate. Clothes and shoes mostly. Or rather boots. The women in my family seem to have a hoarding issue when it comes to boots. Especially black boots. I'm not sure what it is about boots, black boots in particular, that we love so much. This love, and hoarding issue, carries over to coats too. I in particular have a weakness for vintage wool coats that I find at the Salvation Army. Something in me cannot possibly leave a vintage 1950's red wool coat with black cuffs and collar or a 1947 full length black wool pea coat to languish, unappreciated, at the thrift store. So I, of course, buy them, usually for less than $10.00, give them a good cleaning and wear them with pride. And love. Lots and lots of love. But I digress...
What is it about late autumn that makes me want to get every nook and cranny of the house in order? I believe it's an instinctual knowing from deep inside. I know that the cold, dark days and nights are upon us and my time will focus on indoors. Somewhere inside I know indoors needs to be tidied up, swept free of summer's energy and made cozy for the long months ahead. For me, all this must be done before Samhain, October 31. As a pagan, Samhain is one of my most sacred and important seasonal celebrations. It's the time we say good bye to the harvest, give thanks for the abundance of summer, welcome back our ancestors and focus our hearts, minds and spirits on the darkness ahead. It's really a time of renewal and reflection for me and others who dance the spiral of nature based beliefs. Which completely explains why every year I am compelled to cleanse, purge and release that which is no longer needed.

Tiny journal pages, 4.5" x 7".
The one on the left was created using Neocolor II crayons on 9/30/11
The one on the right was created with collage and Gellyroll pens on 4/29/11

Another tiny journal page created with collage and Gellyroll pen on 10/9/11

Page created with collage, ink jet transfer, Sparkling H2O's, and Gellyroll pen
on 10/10/11

Mixed Media Monday

2011-10-24T22:56:00.001-04:00

A few mixed media pieces started this week:

There's Cinderella's little known Bar Hopping Slipper from her pre~prince days. She use to be quite the party animal before settling down with Charming and this is one of her favorite party all night shoes. As is typical for Cinderella, the other one is lost. It was created from an old bridesmaid shoe, beer tabs, a bottle cap, UTEE and molding paste.

The other pieces are paint and gesso transfers on masonite.

The shoe is finished, the paintings aren't. I love mixing things up so working on that shoe was a blast! Not to mention it was a neat use for an old shoe that had been languishing in the closet. I created another art piece from the matching shoe a few years back which can be seen here

The top front of Cinderella's Shoe

Side view of the shoe. I love the textural quality of this piece!
It's amazing what molding paste and can tabs can do.

Small, mixed media piece in progress.
Masonite substrate, paint, conte and gesso transfers

Missing Post & Mini Book

2011-10-23T22:18:00.001-04:00

Hmmmm, I have no idea what happened to my Friday post! It seems to have gone off into the ether and never found its way here. Ah well. It happens.

My niece was married yesterday and I've made her a mini book\photo album as part of her gift. I hope she enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it.

This was the first time I used my Zutter binding system and am quite pleased with the results! I'm planning to make a bunch of spiral bound books to give as holiday gifts. To me, a gift of creativity is the best of all.

I had this paper for ages now and thought a wedding book was the perfect use for it.
Not to mention my niece is quite the Princess. But in a good way...

The cover and a tag I clipped to the side telling them to fill the book with photos and memories. Just in case they have no clue what it's for!

Top view of the book. I used all different papers, added some distressing and inking to the edges and then bound it with the Zutter.

Journal Pages

2011-10-20T00:37:00.000-04:00

A couple of recent pages from the same journal I've been uploading photos from the past few weeks. This is getting to be one heavy, chunky, memory filled book!

The mini file folder stapled into the journal adds interesting shaped pages.

I love how you can see the tops of the other folder tabs peeking over

I'd left this un-journaled for a long time.

I don't tend to do 2-page spreads,

but this one just had to be done together.

Tuesday Night Journal & Music Fest

2011-10-18T22:34:00.001-04:00

I'm at my favorite Tuesday night journal spot, at My table, listening to the great acoustic music, soaking up the vibes and enjoying the atmosphere. Thought it would be cool to show a photo of the musicians I mention here so often, so here you go! Both guys are in many different bands and do a wide range of music. I like their originals the best. Missing tonight is Michael Thibodeau.

Can you see some of the cool photos on the wall? There are tons of them, all from ages past and of local folks. There's a reason I love this place. totally inspiring atmosphere.

This is Scott Riccuti, one of the best songwriters, singers and acoustic guitarists around.
Scott has played with Jim Caroll, Shana Morrison and many others

This is John Donovan. Another great musician.

Journal Pages

2011-10-18T00:30:00.000-04:00

A few recent and not so recent pages. I love making journals that have staggered pages, pockets, fold outs and envelopes for stashing mementos in. This journal has all of those.

I love this vellum envelope for storing ephemera tidbits.

Can you see the Bin Laden face? It's from a firecracker we had this summer!

There's also a bit of text from an egg roll package in the envelope. Had to keep it as what it said cracked me up:

P.S. In case of of emergency defrost 10 minutes and separate into individual pieces. An egg roll emergency? Goddess forbid!

The journal page beneath the vellum envelope.
You can see one of my skull lino prints peeking though.

I was having a bad pain day and feeling left behind once again.
Best way to get over it is to journal it out!

Yummy Mail

2011-10-17T14:58:00.001-04:00

It was a good mail day. One of my favorite catalogs, Sacred Source, and my Flock Shop order arrived. Yummy fibers & a cool stencil from Flock Shop and soul stirring Goddess images in Sacred Source. The best of both worlds! And, is it me or is Flock Shop totally dangerous? Just what we need, art supplies on a time limit so we feel even more compelled to yell 'I must have that!'

Mixed Media Monday

2011-10-17T00:03:00.000-04:00

I started this piece a while back (you can see it here and here), but the La Catrina image got misplaced. She reappeared in a box of miscellaneous papers one day, to my delight, so I immediately got to work on it again. The substrate is Masonite, covered with papers, paint and gesso. La Catrina has been hand-colored and UTEE added on top. I"ll be adding metal bits, some skull beads and wire to finish it off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love using up extra bits of paper, paint, inks, etc by making ATC's.
ATC's are a great way to have a finished piece of art quickly, which can be quite satisfying!

Four mixed-media ATC's made 10/15/11
The top heart is grunge board.

Journal Pages

2011-10-16T00:19:00.000-04:00

A few journal pages I hadn't shown off yet. Even though the pages were journaled individually, when you open the mini folder it creates a cool two page spread.

I used my Fastenator to staple the mini folder into my journal,
adding a nice, fold out section and some extra pages.

Food As Art

2011-10-14T20:21:00.001-04:00

Tonight's dinner, made by my son. Homemade pizza with fresh mozzarella. Yum! Another one in the oven, with sliced Roma tomato from the garden. Now that's art!

Favorite Friday's

2011-10-14T09:07:00.002-04:00

My favorite this week is the visit I had yesterday with my art buddy, Raine. We hadn't seen each other in eons so a visit was long overdue. As usual we chatted, laughed and acted like our goofy selves, all the while sharing art work while sprawled in her living room. I love the fact that we hadn't been together in ages, yet it was like we'd seen each other just the day before. That's the beauty of a real friendship. No matter how much time has passed you can walk through the door, kick off your shoes and feel at home!

After the requisite ooooing and ahhhing over each other's journals and art works we then hung out in her back studio. Raine has an amazing amount of art supplies, many of which I hadn't seen yet, so we spent a long time looking though them, talking about ways to use them and brainstorming new ideas. There is nothing quite like a day spent with another Creative Soul to get you inspired and fired up.

Raine's Living Room Bookcase. Love the displaying of her own creations!
Art is meant to be seen and she definitely shows it off!

Some of Raine's journals

More of Raine's journals

and yet more of Raine's journals!

Raine's back studio

Some of Raine's back studio storage.

The back studio bulletin board with a nice display of her art.

The sign outside the door. LOVE this!!!

The full view of Raine's studio sign

The pile of grunge board Raine sent home with me. Am I lucky or what?

FAVORITE EYE CANDY INSPIRATION: Teesha Moore's Journals

Creative Spaces

2011-10-13T09:27:00.001-04:00

I don't have an official "studio". What I have are various smaller creative spaces throughout the house. A small desk in the family room where I do block printing, ATC's, journaling & other creative tasks which don't require a lot of space. A bin full of collage supplies and a bed tray that I use when the pain levels are high and being in bed is my only option. A small backpack full of journal supplies I keep by my chair, and a 6' folding table on the back porch for larger projects or multiple projects in progress. The porch is my favorite creating spot. The light is good, the view in two directions overlooks my gardens, and there's plenty of room to move around. I'm of the mind frame that any space can be a creative one. It doesn't really matter where you create as long as you do it! Where do you create? I'd love to hear about your sacred space.

Back porch space

My supply closet. Granted, I have a whole lot more stuff that doesn't fit in here!

My on-the-go and by my chair backpack.

Journal Pages

2011-10-12T13:53:00.001-04:00

A small dose of journal pages for you to enjoy! There's a whole lot more where these came from. Yesterday alone I journaled at least six pages. I was in a writing mood & lucky for me had plenty of painted and collaged pages to work on.

Mixed Media... Tuesday?

2011-10-11T11:58:00.001-04:00

A day late for Mixed Media Monday! Having everyone home yesterday had me thinking it was Sunday. I confuse easily. All I know is if I have the house to myself, it must be a week day and if there's people around, it's the weekend. Which explains why having people around yesterday had me thinking it was Sunday!

I signed up with Traci Bunker's second round of 30 Days of Get Your Art On and these creations are part of my 30 days. If you want to check out what Traci did for her 30 days either follow the link above or use the button at right.

4" x 6"on book board

8" x 10" on gesso board, LOVE the transfers and layering

8" x 10" on art board

11" x 14" on canvas, Really like the look of this one. It has an ethereal quality to it.

Vintage

2011-10-09T14:44:00.001-04:00

There are few things I like more than vintage clothing. I actually bought & sold vintage for years to make some extra cash to live on. Filling my own closet with vintage treasures was a bonus! The clothes of days gone by have much more character & uniqueness than today's cookie cutter fashions. The two dresses, shown alongside a vintage car collection, are two of the best I've seen outside a fashion museum.

Journal Pages

2011-10-08T10:00:00.000-04:00

In one of my last posts I mentioned how certain themes pop up over and over again in my journal pages. Here are a few pages done on different days, but once you read them you can see they have the same theme. Obviously I have a large personality with no shyness issues or indecision about being a bit eccentric (That's the nice way of saying crazy) and this comes through loud and clear in these pages!

Favorite Friday's

2011-10-07T23:30:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy week, full of inspiration and fun moments. Seems like every time I turned around there was something new to discover or something old to see in a new way. A few of my favorites I share with you.

1) By far my favorite moment of the week was my son and I getting to meet Steven Cotler, author of the delightful children's book, 'Cheesie Mack is not a Genius or Anything' . Mr Cotler spent a few days in our town, meeting with the middle school kids and taping a segment of the town's Celebrity Readers program for our local access channel. My son's class spent one class period with him on Monday, which thrilled him to no end. On Tuesday we attended the show taping at the library and I had a chance to meet Mr Cotler. He is a really nice guy, easy to talk to and has lead quite the interesting life. He also had some very nice things to say about my boy which obviously made me like him even more!

2) Tuesday nights I usually take my art journal and go sit at this out of the way, hole in the wall bar called Vincent's. From the location, a seedy part of Worcester, and the exterior you'd never guess what lurks inside. One of the funkiest, feel right at home places with the best acoustic music in town. This past Tuesday I was at my usual table (And yes. It IS mine. People move away from it when they see me walk in, art bag in hand.) listening to the acoustic duo of Scott Ricciuti (who happens to be a good friend) and John Donovan. Scott and John are two thirds of The Friday Farewells. The other third, Michael Thibodeau, was missing that night. They did some great classics by the Beatles and Who along with a bunch of originals. Between the atmosphere, the music and the eclectic photographs and various weird decorations (giant tarantula under glass anyone?) this is definitely an inspiring place for any artist.

3) The art of Niki de Saint Phalle has always intrigued me. Especially her Tarot garden. It inspired me yet again this week when I stumbled upon her web site while looking for something else entirely. Alas, she passed in 2002 so no more unbelievable sculptural works in the future. But at least I have those from the past to continue to inspire and intrigue. If you aren't familiar with her work do check it out! It's amazing!!!

Journal Pages

2011-10-05T01:00:00.000-04:00

When I work in my journal, which is every single day, I don't necessarily work in order. I jump around from front to back, to middle to front and even from journal to journal. Whichever journal is handy when I feel like working is the one I grab. I also vary what type of journal work I'm doing on any particular day. Some days it's painting pages, others collage and then there are the days I just sit and journal page after page after page. It may not sound like a method, but it's my method and it works for me.
If you look through my journals you'll see there is no chronological order in them date wise. But you can pick out themes. Certain things show up in them over and over again. Today's post showcases three pages that have a theme to them, whether it was intentional or not. Usually it's not. Whatever happens to fall out of my head while I am writing is what ends up on the page. But by looking at the pages you can clearly see certain things are on my mind a lot.
In the case of these pages what's on my mind is poverty. Every day I try to remember that 1.4 billion people live below the poverty level of $1.25 per day. Which makes me ask myself, do I really need that cool, binding system I saw in a magazine? Or to go out to eat instead of cooking tonight? The answer is always no. How can I justify spending money when so many have so little? This keeps me humble, and thrifty and driven to do more. I may not have much money wise or even material wise compared to some. But Icertainly have a whole lot more than the 1.4 billion who have nothing. Think about that the next time you shell out $4 for a cup of coffee (which I refuse to do, ever!). Maybe you'll decide that $4 can be put to better use.

Mixed-Media Monday's

2011-10-03T21:35:00.001-04:00

I decided Monday's will be the day to share the mixed-media pieces I started over the past week. Or at least as many of them I can capture with my camera phone (note to self: MUST get new digital camera!) I am really prolific when it comes to creating so it isn't unusual for me to have 20 or more pieces begun in a week's time. and I tend to leap around a lot, from working on substrate to altering objects, to working in paper mache to.... Well, you get the drift. I'm convinced I have some sort of ADD that only artists have.

I've been working on backgrounds for a series of paintings. The substrate size & type varies, but they share a color theme & subject matter. There was a chapter heading in an old book I was tearing text out of that caught my imagination (The good strange and the bad strange) so it's being used in each piece. Being quite strange myself, how could I possibly resist?

Favorite Friday's

2011-09-30T01:30:00.000-04:00

I've decided to showcase my favorite blogs, web sites, books, etc each Friday in what I'm calling Favorite Friday's. Each Friday I'll post the people, places, things and events that I found to be interesting, inspirational and note worthy during the past week. I hope those of you who take the time to stop by and read my posts will find these things worth hearing about as well! Feel free to leave a comment and let me know if you enjoyed my first Favorite Fridays post!

1) A blog I started reading this week Printmaking without a Press has given me much inspiration! Her work is full of color, texture and life. The artist, Linda Germain, has some classes coming up on printmaking that I am hoping to attend. Just need to check the funds first and see if they, and my schedule, will allow me to go. Do check her out even if you aren't a print maker. Her work is fabulous eye-candy!

2) Paris Daily Photo: I've been following this blog for a few years now. What can I say? I love Paris. Especially the patisseries and the Luxembourg Gardens, where you can hear the bells of Notre Dame ringing so sweet and clear while strolling past the amazing trees and original statue of Liberty. Amazing.

3) The Willard Clock Museum in North Grafton, MA is less than 10 minutes from my house. The grounds are peaceful, beautiful and a great place to sit with my art journal and let my thoughts flow. Inside is an amazing collection of early clocks. yes, clocks. They are created with attention to detail, outstanding craftsmanship that use to be standard in manufacturing anything and are a feast for the eyes. If you ever get out to Central Mass,this is a must see. In the meantime, peruse the web site! On a side note, my Mom use to work for descendants of the Willard family. they had an original Willard clock in their home. Mom says it was beautiful and the family was darned nice too!

4) I had to take my son to the doctor's yesterday. His pediatrician is located in what is called Med City. Inside there is the most beautiful atrium, with flowing waterfalls, sloped ramps for walking, bright light from the tinted glass ceilings and abundant windows, and plants (both real and fake, but decent fake ones) that give a gentle, relaxed atmosphere. We always take time to stroll around, throwing coins into the pools below the falls, either before or after his appointment.One of these days I'm going to take my art journal, grab a cup of Joe from the Dunkin Donuts and just sit, listening to the falls and let inspiration wash over me. As far as medical centers go, they built this one right.

Thanks Mom!

2011-09-29T13:31:00.001-04:00

Sending this stamped & colored card off to my mom today. Inside I thanked her for putting up with me, The Problem Child, for so many years. Having a child who is exactly like me (Goddess help us!) has made me appreciate Mom that much more. How many of you out there have created a work of art,whether it be a card, a journal page, painting or mixed-media piece, to honor and thank the one who raised you? I'd love to see your works and read your thoughts on this!

New Books!

2011-09-28T18:14:00.001-04:00

I've been wanting this book for ages, but have been cash poor. Lucky for me interweave just had a huge sale! Bagged this book for the bargain price of $13.77 and also got the new, e~mag Collage in Color, which is FABULOUS! Love having eye~candy inspiration. The video vault is simply great, and the articles are inspiring. Art at the Speed of Life offers loads of inspiration for organizing your creative time, project ideas, and lush color photos. I especially like the ideas for organizing supplies, a never ending battle with my limited space, and keeping focused to produce more art.

Who out there has organizational tips they'd like to share? I'd love to hear how you manage to find time & space to create while juggling"real life" responsibilities.

Skull Block Print

2011-09-25T17:21:00.001-04:00

I've been doing quite a bit of block printing recently. As usual, skulls end up being the main subject. On the left is my carved lino & on the right is one of the prints, done using multiple colors. This is only the third lino block I've ever carved and I'm actually pretty thrilled with the results. My all time favorite Art Mag, Cloth, Paper, Scissors is having a block print challenge right now. I think I'll send in one of these prints and see if it ends up gracing the pages of the magazine. Wish me luck!

A shout out to Raine (aka: Glinda!) for the GREAT wicked Witch card she sent me last week. Love you!!! We MUST have an art play date soon!!!

Sugar Skull Completed

2011-09-25T14:50:00.001-04:00

Finally finished the papier mache Sugar Skull I was working on. I love the Mexican folk art look of the piece! One of these days I'll make it to Oxana, Mexico for the Dia de los Muertos celebration. Until then I'll keep on making my own sugar skulls and skeletons. Actually, even after I go to Oxana I'll make my own. Somehow I just know making skulls and skeletons won't be something I'll ever give up!

This is a photo of it before being painted: unpainted

Skeleton Painting

2011-09-25T14:47:00.001-04:00

Yet another skull has appeared in my art work. My hubby has taken to calling our home The Skull Factory because skulls & skeletons are absolutely everywhere!

Skeleton Bride & Groom

2011-09-07T02:59:00.001-04:00

One of my latest creations here at The Skull Factory! Created by lopping off the heads of a cake topper & substituting skull heads, caulk, paint & webbing spray. I'm creating a little shrine to house them and am also working on an entire mariachi band of skeletons. In my world you can never have too many skulls and happy skeletons about...

Sugar Skull In Progress

2011-08-01T15:06:00.001-04:00

I've been indulging my love for skulls and skeletons lately by putting them in almost every piece of art I create. This is a papier mache sugar skull in progress. Based on the sugar skulls made for the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexico and on the papier mache often used to create Mexican folk art, this skull will be brightly painted once completely dry. It's my first attempt at a papier mache skull so am hoping I've done it right!

On a side note, my digital camera experienced an untimely death while in Niagara Falls with the boys. Until I can get a new one I've resorted to using my phone camera for blog photos. I admit the quality isn't the best, but decided posting even mediocre photos was better than not blogging at all!

Sugar Skull Painting

2011-07-28T14:47:00.002-04:00

Finished this small painting today. I love Mexican sugar skulls and day of the dead art. This is a mixed-media painting of a sugar skull.

Mixed-Media Painting

2011-07-26T15:40:00.002-04:00

I finally finished this painting I started a few months back. It evolved and changed quite a bit during its creation. The final product is vastly different from the majority of my work. Mixed-media including paint, UTTE, nails and wire on wood panel. for a peek at what it looked like before evolving into this, see the original post here

Filled Journal

2011-07-24T22:10:00.001-04:00

I"ve filled another journal. Will be trying to get photos of all pages posted within the next few days. The photo with the skull in it is my journal cover. The cover was made from an old (and largely crappy) painting I had done on canvas paper. The outside of the cover is the backside of the canvas paper and the inside is the actual painting. But cutting it apart from the rest of the painting totally changed the look of it and made it far less crappy! I love being able to take something I made and wasn't thrilled with and re-purposing it into something I actually like.

Cooking As Art

2011-04-28T15:45:00.001-04:00

I believe cooking is an art. Another way to express creativity & feed not only the body, but the soul as well. Pretty much every day I take time to bake bread from scratch. Today's loaf contains finely chopped ham& shredded cheddar. To me cooking mindfully is akin to a ritual.

Another Filled Journal

2011-04-08T00:21:00.001-04:00

My most recent completed journal. This is the one I'd bring with me to my favorite Tuesday night journal spot so it took longer to fill than most!

Assorted Journal Pages

2011-04-07T02:15:00.000-04:00

I was all tucked into bed, but unable to fall asleep as usual, so decided to scan in a few more journal pages to share. Two in the morning seems to be my "ideal" time to blog. I'm usually awake anyway so why not take a few moments to scan a few journal pages, write a paragraph or two and post? Maybe I've hit on my blogging routine at last. but I wouldn't count on it. I admit routine is not something I am good with!

Today's Movie: Charlotte Gray A WWII story about the French Resistance. Not bad, but not great either.
Today's reading: Town In a Blueberry Jam A light, cozy mystery. takes place in coastal Maine, an area I'm quite familiar with. A fast, easy read to keep my mind off the pain.

Random Journal Pages

2011-04-05T14:10:00.001-04:00

A few more journal pages that I managed to scan in today. There aren't many more from this particular journal to scan in and share. I've already made and begun working in another journal. A delightful book that I made with staggered pages, hidden pockets, envelopes for gathering life's ephemera and a cover created from a painting I started years ago on canvas paper but never finished. I've been trying to get decent photos of the new journal to share, but my camera phone isn't cooperating and I can't locate my digital camera. It's here somewhere, but I've been doing so much rearranging and spring cleaning I'm not quite sure where!

At the moment my kitchen is partially gutted, my living room is constantly being rearrange because I'm trying to get the furniture just right and I'm tossing/passing along things I no longer need so there's quite a few large trash bags and piles of "stuff" lying about. It sounds a bit chaotic, but it's actually pretty normal for around here. I use these types of activities as a distraction from my physical pain and I'm very impulsive. Anyone who decides to rip out their kitchen floor and start taking down walls at the spur of the moment must be impulsive, right? Or crazy, but I'm sticking with impulsive because it sounds so much nicer.

The Terrible Blogger

2011-04-05T02:07:00.001-04:00

I am, admittedly, a terrible blogger. Despite my good intentions, which just may pave the road to Hell as the old saying goes, I cannot keep myself in the blogging groove. The problem is I like face to face communication. I like speaking face to face and I like sharing art face to face. No matter how many times I vow to do better with keeping up with this blog, I don't stick with it. I'd rather be creating art, out exploring the world, living life. Plus, I'm not one to tell the entire world much of anything about my life. Which is an issue if you have a blog I suppose.

That said, here I am once again at 2:00 AM scanning in journal pages and updating my blog. WHY? Because I'm human, an artist and a woman. All three of these things make it so I have a need to share and a desire to stick with something I set out to do. In this case, sharing my art through this blog. I'm not making any promises. I won't tell you I'll stick to regular updates or posting even weekly, because I don't believe in false promises and knowing myself as I do, that would surely be a false promise. I'm here now and I'm ready to share. Take it for what it is, leave it for what it isn't. Frankly, I'll never know either way, will I? If you do stick around and check back regularly I can assure you I will be back again. I simply can't tell you when. Consider that one of life's little surprises. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy, become inspired, feel disgusted by, whatever emotion suits you at the moment, these journal pages. They're in no particular order, they're just some of the ones I know haven't made their debut here before.

Namaste....

The Supervisor

2011-02-14T06:03:00.001-05:00

It appears the Toby cat feels it's his right to oversee my journal sessions. It's probably the reason my legs hurt so much by day's end as well! Who else has a cat, or dog, oversee their creating? Frankly, I don't think I'd know what to do if I didn't have the cat walking allover my supplies,looking over my shoulder and just generally supervising my art making!

Weird Painting

2011-01-28T13:50:00.001-05:00

My weird painting in progress. The face kept showing up in doodles & begging to be painted. to see how it evolved, go here: Mixed Media Painting

Doodle Face

2011-01-22T17:11:00.001-05:00

And yet another face, done inside the front cover of one of my hand-bound art journals. All this being confined to bed or recliner has me doodling endlessly!

Tea Pot Painting

2011-01-22T13:32:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite paintings. I admit, I'm a tea snob. I don't do bagged tea, only loose leaf. There is something very ritualistic in making a pot of tea. This painting is a tribute to my feelings about tea, the spirituality of tea & my love for the Sacred in every day things.

More Doodle Faces

2011-01-22T12:46:00.002-05:00

A few more late night, so exhausted from no sleep doodle faces. Can you tell I watched 'The Buddah' on PBS while drawing?
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Doodle Face

2011-01-22T02:42:00.001-05:00

My pain levels have been off the charts so I'm stuck staying in bed or on the couch. Tonight I sketched all night. Just doodling, working on faces, trying to keep my mind off the pain. This doodle face is one of my favorites. There's just something about it I really like, so I'm glad I did it right in my art journal instead of the sketch book!

Sketch Book Favorites

2011-01-21T20:44:00.001-05:00

A few of my sketch book favorites done with watercolor pencils.

Sketch Book Favorites

2011-01-21T20:43:00.001-05:00

The boys found a skull on the front walk!

2011-01-14T12:29:00.001-05:00

Journal Pages Jan. 12 2011

2011-01-12T20:21:00.002-05:00

Anyone who has been coming here for a while knows I suffer from severe, chronic pain. Today was a real bad day. Flat on my back, unable to move & feeling a bit like Frida as I struggled to work. These pages are an expression of that pain & struggle.

This page has a monoprint over an ink sprayed background. It was embellished with various markers & paint pens and a few Zetti stamps.

This page has an ink sprayed background, some stamping and then journaling with a paint pen.

Journal Page Jan. 10 2011

2011-01-11T14:48:00.002-05:00

I have a serious addiction to books. My "library", which is essentially every nook & cranny in the house, had over 2500 books at last count. This page reflects my love for those delightful tomes, in all their many shapes & guises.

Journal Page Jan. 11 2011

2011-01-11T14:44:00.001-05:00

Monoprinted page with paint pen embellishing.

Stenciled Journal Page

2011-01-10T22:55:00.002-05:00

I've been experimenting with hand-cut stencils & over-spraying paint to get a graffitti look. This one may be a keeper for my street art!

Mini Book Number 4

2011-01-09T17:36:00.001-05:00

Book #4 close up. Clasp is a safety pin with beads wrapped around the book and through the pin. Quick, easy and far prettier than an elastic or ribbon closure.

Mini Books 2-4

2011-01-09T17:28:00.001-05:00

Mini Books #2 #3 and #4 No. 4 has a simple clasp closure made from a safety pin. The cover is painted & stamped Tyvek from a mailing envelope.

Journal Page Jan 4 2011

2011-01-05T13:10:00.001-05:00

365 Mini Books....

2011-01-05T12:28:00.000-05:00

Over night I decided to abandon the journal card project. It was boring & I have no need for them seeing as I never have problems deciding on design or journaling! Now it's going to be 365 Mini Books instead. This is the first one.

Journal Card 2 of 365

2011-01-04T16:04:00.003-05:00

My boy has been home sick for the past two days so I haven't managed to get much done in the way of art making. It's times like this that make me thankful I chose a simple art project for this year's 365 endeavor. The journal cards I'm making are small, the same size as an ATC, and quick to make. Something which makes any long term project easier to see through to completion as far as I'm concerned!

Card #2 has a lots of glitz on it, which made me want to go back and revamp yesterday's card #1.That one had far more white on it than I like so I added some background color with my Caran d'ache crayons and a bit of bling with my gellyroll pens.

I've also decided that one side of the card will be a design prompt rather than a collage prompt because I don't do strictly collage in my art journals. I use an anything goes approach so my cards need to reflect that aspect of things.

For whatever reason the color on these photos is way off. They aren't nearly as dull looking as they appear here! In fact they're rather vibrant.

Card 2: Design prompt

Card 2: Journal Prompt

Card 1 Revamped

365 Journal Cards....

2011-01-03T14:24:00.003-05:00

I've been trying to decide what I wanted to do for this year's 365 project. Every year I like to pick one thing to make every day. For 2011 I finally decided upon a set of journal prompt cards. One side has a collage prompt, the other a journal prompt. Simple to make, but at the end of my 365 I'll have a nice set of cards to jump-start my creativity!

Collage prompt:

Journal prompt:

Journal pages 12/29 & 12/30/10

2010-12-31T00:09:00.003-05:00

These photos aren't the best because I took them with my phone, but I thought it would be better to post than not to post. I'll scan them in and post again so you can see the details.

Journal pages from Dec. 29 & 30

Journal page in progress

2010-12-31T00:00:00.001-05:00

Another page awaiting text

Journal page 12.30.10

2010-12-30T23:58:00.001-05:00

A journal page waiting to be journalled upon

2010-12-13T20:24:00.002-05:00

German & French Santas completed. Takes roughly 8-10 hours per Santa to paint.

2010-12-09T00:04:00.002-05:00

Ukrainian Old World Santa completed, French Old World Santa in progress.

2010-12-08T18:23:00.001-05:00

Another santa completed.

2010-11-15T20:41:00.002-05:00

My own, personal Santa workshop!

2010-11-02T21:15:00.002-04:00

Our Dia de los Muertos offerings for the Spirits of those who've passed before us. Both 2-legged and 4-legged

Journal Pages 10.24.10

2010-10-28T03:44:00.001-04:00

A couple of pages from October 24th. I tend to collage a ton of pages in one day so they will be ready for journaling at any time. Some days I may only journal one page, others I'll journal several. It all depends upon my mood and how much is kicking around in my mind!

Tuesday Pages

2010-10-27T14:12:00.000-04:00

Every Tuesday night I take my journal to my favorite little hole in the wall. There's a certain battered wooden table, worn smooth by time, that I sit at and journal while I listen to the trio of acoustic musicians. The bar is quite dark so it can be difficult to journal. Many weeks I do a "doodle" type form of journaling. These are a few of my Tuesday Pages using the doodle format instead of my usual collage form of journaling.

Journal Page 10.26.10

2010-10-26T15:24:00.002-04:00

A blog post two days in a row. Amazing! I was thinking about routines today and this page emerged. I guess I need to take lessons from the Toby cat because he has routine down pat!

Journal Page 10.25.10

2010-10-25T14:39:00.002-04:00

Journal page 10.25.10

I'm trying to get back into the blogging groove! I have a serious problem with sticking to routine. The only routines I have in life is daily art making and taking care of my boy and critters.

Journal Painting Completed

2010-05-25T14:44:00.002-04:00

Finished journal painting: 16" X 20" wood panel, collage, gesso, acrylic paint, paint pens, charms & carpet tack embellishments.

Journal Painting: On Wood

2010-05-25T09:12:00.002-04:00

A new "journal painting" in progress. This is being created on a wood panel that measures 16" X 20" so is not a journal"page", but a true journal "painting"

On The Go Pages

2010-05-20T12:02:00.001-04:00

A few more pages that were done on the go.

Journal Pages 5/18/10

2010-05-20T11:59:00.001-04:00

A couple of pages done while sitting at the doctor's office.

Disintegration or Erosion Bundles

2010-05-12T03:26:00.004-04:00

  For years now I have left batches of ephemera, sheet music, photos, handmade paper, etc out in nature in order to age them. Little did I know that this simple practice has become quite the collaborative among artists!

  After reading about the Disintegration Collaboration,  started by Seth Apter of the Altered Page,  in the May/June issue of Cloth, Paper,Scissors,  I had myself a rather good laugh. Not over the project itself because that is a very cool project indeed. Over the fact that I never thought to photograph the bundles I made and put outside or turn it into a collaborative project. Frankly, it never occurred to me that other artists would be interested in participating in such a project. Boy, was I wrong!

  Since the original DisCO project, a spin off has been created called The Erosion Bundle Project. Of course, that project started in January so I'm too late to get in on it, but that's okay. I've been doing it on my own all along and will continue to do so. although, getting in on a collaborative project definitely has its appeal!

  On April 28, 2010 I hung 2 new bundles out for "aging". They've already been battered by high winds and rain, scorched in the hot sun and will continue to be subjected to the great outdoors for a few months more.

  Here are the photos of my latest bundles. In a few months time I'll take them down, spread them out and photograph the results of Mother Nature on them.

Journal Pages 5/9 & 5/10/10

2010-05-11T02:26:00.028-04:00

Letting go of things we no longer have use for is something I regularly encourage people to do. It's also something I strive to do in my life on a regular basis. I don't just mean "things" as in objects either. Letting go of things includes emotional or thought processes that are hindering us, people who drain us of our energy because they are so needy and behaviors or habits that are harmful to our well being. Relieving yourself of the burdens of both material and emotional baggage is so very freeing. The first page shown today deals with my letting go of some emotional hurts that I'd been holding on to. why keep them when the mere thought of them reopens old wounds. Time to toss the baggage into the river.

The second page is a bit of venting on my physical pain. Some days the only way to deal with the difficulties of looking fine but feeling pain riddled is to get it on the page!

Music I'm creating to: Days of the New: Orange

Journal Pages 5.7.10 and 5.8.10

2010-05-10T14:20:00.000-04:00

I've been dreadfully neglectful of my blogging these past months. REAL LIFE decided it would interfere with the Virtual World in which I romp. It happens to all of us from time to time. The things we must do get in the way of the things we want to do.

However, no matter what twists and turns come at me the one thing I won't neglect is my art or my art journaling. For without those I would have no soul....

I'm trying to get back in the blogging groove so hopefully you'll all be hearing a lot more from me. Whether you want to or not!

For your perusing pleasure, two recent journal pages. The first is on Censorship and how people try to censor me but just can't do it. The second is on what I need in life to be happy. There's really very little I NEED. Want and need are two very different things therefore, my needs are simple. My WANTS, well that's a different story....

Currently Reading: The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato

(reviewing for Library Thing)

Currently Creating to: Stone Temple Pilots: Purple

Blog Love:

Paris Daily Photo

The Altered Page

Kelly Kilmer (HI KELLY!!!!!! HUGS!!!!)

More Awaiting The Pen...

2010-05-07T13:27:00.001-04:00

Awaiting Journaling

2010-05-07T13:26:00.002-04:00

Journal: 4.21.10

2010-05-07T13:24:00.001-04:00

The Bottle Tree

2010-04-24T18:55:00.001-04:00

The Bottle Tree, used to capture wayward malicious spirits in the yard.

La Catrina Fully Dressed!

2010-03-28T21:09:00.001-04:00

La Catrina: hand colored using Latte pens