Hello to the morning

First thing in the morning, when the light is soft and the house is quiet, I take my coffee into the studio. I sit and look at what I did the day before and think about what direction today should take. No extra light. No extra sound. It's bliss.

So many ideas, so little time....

Time is going way too fast these days. Is any one else feeling this way?

I have so many ideas and so much I want to do, but before I know it the day is over and I haven't gotten as much done as I had planned in the morning. About a year ago I got a "real" job; this seriously cuts down on my studio time, which, in turn (naturally),cuts down what I'm able to accomplish - BUT, it doesn't affect what I WANT to accomplish!

Here's a partial list:

1. Teach again. - Long ago I taught portrait & pastel workshops. I miss teaching, but now I'd like to teach sculpting and mixed media. Specifically sculpting in Ceative Paperclay, more people should learn how to use it!
2. Learn how to teach on-line. - This intrigues me.
3. Do an art show this fall. - It's been too long!
4. Build a body of work - for said show and for a gallery show.
5. Publish some work. - (Had some work published over 10 years ago, nothing recently).


I am working towards some of these goals and have made some progress, I'll post more about them soon.

Those of you who are also struggling to balance studio time with a full-time job and family obligations, how do you doing? Any tips? What comes first for you?

What to do today.

It's a gray, cold (for Florida) morning and I'm looking at the stuff on and around the work table in my studio. I'm not sure what I want to do today; not feeling ambitious.

There are some bits and pieces that were unearthed during the studio overhaul that could turn into something interesting, perhaps today is the day to start looking at them. Or it could be the day to read a good book.......

An Outing!

My friend Cindy and I went to the Mount Dora Arts Festival today. It's been years since I've been to an art fair as an attendee, not an exhibitor. What fun!

It was a beautiful day, although if I had had a booth set up I would have been a bit concerned about the wind. BUT, the sun played hide and seek with the clouds and kept the temperature from climbing too high. The crowds were incredible, it was hard to get through the streets. I don't know if people were buying anything, but it was nice to see so many people out enjoying art and the day. It made me long to do a show again and I plan to jury for one for this fall.

I haven't exhibited in an art fair since 2008, when I did the American Craft Council show in Atlanta and Mainsail in St Petersburg, Florida. Both are wonderful shows, but my sales just didn't cover expenses for either venue and I had to make the decision to get a "real" job. Never an easy choice to make, but sometimes it's necessary. In the past I have found that these times can be a time of growth and change in my art work and I look forward to seeing where this time will take me.

Today confirmed that I do want to do a show this year. I miss the sights, sounds and, yes the smells (who doesn't like the smell of kettle corn?) of an art show.

The Littles

Here, at long last, are the little pieces that rose from the ashes (dust?) of the studio cleaning:

The dish and spoon stayed pretty simple: they're running away on a background drawn with watercolor pencils. Their line from the nursery rhyme, torn from a tattered story book, has been added to the canvas.

The little flower fellow is a bit more complicated: He got a silver crescent moon and a brass #2. I also decided to put a small keyhole on his canvas and I wanted some to be peering through the keyhole. I chose a photo of a very dear friend who has taught me much about the flora and fauna of Florida. I just happened to have a great picture of her taken when she was a child. It seemed appropriate to use Clauda's picture on this piece and when I reduced her to an extremely small size she fit perfectly inside the keyhole! I attached a vintage key to the copper wire on the flower.

I finished both pieces with simple wooden frames, a great technique from Claudine Hellmuth's book, "Collage Discovery Workshop" that I use a lot.

What do you think?

Winter Cleaning

I know, we're supposed to do spring cleaning, not winter cleaning. But since moving to Florida eight years ago winter seems to be a better time to do deep cleaning. It's when the weather's mild - usually - and the windows can be open. It just feels like the right time down here.

I've been doing a bit of winter cleaning in the studio, sorting through shelves and storage bins, weeding out things I can give way or list for sale on etsy.

One happy result of deep cleaning in the studio is rediscovering pieces in various stages of completion that for one reason or another got set aside. Some will pique my interest again and I set them out on my work table. When this happens I rarely finish the piece as I had originally intended; there's a new vision now.

Recently I came across this tiny plate and spoon, along with their equally tiny arms and legs. Originally I had planned on doing a piece depicting the entire "Hey Diddle Diddle" gang, but lately I have been enamoured with small works, so now the dish is going to run away with the spoon alone. I painted the faces and put stripes on the wee arms and legs. Then I wired the extremities to the bodies to give them motion. They'll go on a 3X3" canvas, something else will go on the canvas with them, not sure what yet. I'll have to let you know.

I also ran across this little baby in a hollyhock. He was already painted. In fact the hollyhock was glued to a pinback. Apparently at some point I went though a very strange pin-phase that I'm now blocking...... Anyway, the hollyhock fellow has now been coated with beeswax and attached to a beeswax coated 2.5X3.5" canvas, then wrapped with copper wire. Not sure what else will go on his canvas either, but I'll put both finished pieces in a future post.

In the meantime I'm looking forward to seeing what else I might find in the boxes and bins and what ideas these finds might spark.......

New Books!

Don't you love getting a gift certificate? I do, especially a gift certificate for books or art supplies.

Recently I was given a Barnes & Noble gift certificate. After savoring the thought of it for a few weeks the day finally came when I had time to browse and consider my selections. These books can't be chosen in haste after all, they are gift books, they must be chosen carefully!

From the front door I spied a huge book on the history of the circus.....in the sale section!! I love old circus pictures. Several oddities have been inspired by the vintage circus look; in fact there is a circus piece in the studio right now that could use some inspiration.

After looking through the circus book - yes it did look promising, but a decision can't be made that quickly - I headed back to the arts & crafts section. In addition to checking out the books in general, there were a few I wanted to look at in particular: Rice Freeman-Zackery's "Creative Time and Space: Making Room for Making Art". I also wanted to see "Who's Your Dada" by Linda and Opie Obrien and "Image Transfer Workshop" by Darlene Olivia McElroy and Sandra Duran. I was especially interested in Rice Freeman-Zackery's book. I have her "Living the Creative Live: Ideas and Inspiration from Working Artists" and I follow her blog and listen to her podcast, and I enjoy all of it, BUT, her book wasn't in stock. The other two books were available for my perusing pleasure; both looked good, especially "Who's Your Dada?". But, way up on a high shelf I spied "Art Making and Studio Spaces" by Lynne Perrella. Now, when it comes to other artist's working spaces I have to admit, I'm a bit of a voyeur. I must not be alone given the number of magazines on the subject that have cropped up in the last year or two. I generally find the magazines unsatisfying though; the spaces often look too decorated, too pretty for real work.

After finding a ladder I got the book down and thumbed through it and saw true work spaces.....enough to satisfy my voyeuristic tendencies! A book chosen!!

Back to the sale section to look at the Circus book again. It had some great pictures and illustrations - lots of inspiration there - so it had to come with me too.

A quick pass through the magazines; too many possibilities to list, but only one came home with me: "American Style". The article about collectors Jerry Slipman & Chet Robachinski caught my eye. Whenever I'm asked to speculate about what I'd do if I won $100 million in the lottery I say I'd become a collector of art and fine craft. "American Style" showcases collectors whose homes and collections I'm usually thinking of when I say that, like Slipman and Robanchinski's.

My gift certificate was well spent I think, don't you agree?