Wednesday, July 11, 2012

For Your Inspiration: Philadelphia

I spent a week with the family in Philadelphia over the 4th of July.

A city where old meets new

One of the nations first banks (I think)
The Barnes Foundation - one of the worlds greatest collections of art.
Watch the documentary "The Art of the Steal"

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Monday, July 9, 2012

Introducing.... The ART BOX CSA

(drum roll please)
The Art Box CSA
Art by Jamie Fingal, Judy Coates Perez, Lyric Montgomery Kinard, Deborah Boschert
Leslie Tucker Jennison, Desiree Habicht, Kathy York, Sue Bleiweiss

Remember that project I gave you a little hint of a while ago?
This is it!!!

Have you heard about those lovely community supported farms where you buy a share and in return get freshly picked local produce all year long? I belong to one and truly love my produce box - delivered fresh to my door every week all full of locally grown fruit and veggie deliciousness. It's Community Supported Agriculture.
Art Box work by Lyric Montgomery Kinard
The lovely Sue Bleiweiss is a creative and very busy genius when it comes to organizing wonderful ways to share the joys of art. What do you think of Community Supported Artists!?

Art Box work by Jamie Fingal



A talented group of artists have created small works for an ART BOX and just wait until you see how gorgeous this stuff is. As the pictures came in I was blown away with how gorgeous every piece of work is! I'm actually thinking I might need one of these boxes for myself. There are a limited number of full and half boxes available and I think they'll go pretty fast. This is your opportunity to collect works of art by some very talented people for well below market prices.

Art Box work by Desiree Habicht


What is an Art Box?
An Art Box is a new and exciting way to purchase a collection of art from several different artists at once.  Artists create a limited number of new original artworks for inclusion in the box in a predetermined size making it easy for the collector to display them together if they desire. Purchasing an Art Box is a cost effective way to begin or add to a growing art collection from today’s most popular mixed media and textile artists. 

How many pieces of Art will I receive?
Full size boxes contain one piece of art from each of the 8 artists and a half size box contains one piece of art from four of the artists.  Each Art Box is unique and no two will be exactly alike.  For more information on purchasing an Art Box click here.

What size is the Art?
All of the artwork in the Art Boxes have been mounted on 8”x8”x 1 1/2” stretched canvas and is ready to hang.

So - run on over to 
The Art Box CSA
and check it out.
Do me a favor and tell your friends.
Help us get the word out. If this works, and I'm very sure it will, there will be more in the future.
Click on one of the icons at the bottom left of this post and share it on FaceBook, Twitter, or even copy this whole post onto your own blog!
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Saturday, July 7, 2012

Published: Rituals

The juried invitational exhibit
RITUALS
premiers in two weeks at the
in Long Beach, California.

You can get a sneak peek in the published and self titled catalog

Book cover art (Left to Right) by - Susie Monday, Susan Fletcher King, Judy Coates Perez, Desiree Habicht, Yvonne Porcella, Gerrie Congdon, Gayle Simpson
available at BLURB

My work in the exhibit is title "Links"
Posts following it's creation can be seen here and here


The show will also be shown at the 
in Houston, Texas
November 1 - 4, 2012

and would love to see you in class.

Stay tuned for descriptions of some exciting new classes.
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Thursday, July 5, 2012

Giveaway Winners!

Congratulations to the Winners from my stop on the blog tour for




The Sketchbook Challenge
Techniques, Prompts, and Inspiration for Achieving Your Creative Goals




Remember - 
you can buy it at any of the following suppliers





Cheryl Gebhart said...




The book really looks wonderful and what generous sponsors! I love your circles. I use a sketchbook, but not to work out artwork; I use it to record my life.
July 2, 2012 6:32 PM 



M-R said...




I almost always use a sketchbook to work out ideas and have been meaning to join The Sketchbook Challenge to improve my drawing skills. I'll definitely be checking out that book. Thanks for the giveaways!
July 2, 2012 10:02 AM 
Super huge thanks go to the prize sponsors


Total retail value: $48!
and
 A $25 gift certificate to ProChemical and Dye
From ProChemical and Dye http://prochemicalanddye.com/home.php




And don't give up if you didn't win this round - there are still many stops on the tour for you to peruse. Get a peek into each artists contributions to the book and leave a comment at each one for more chances to win.




July 5:
Carla Sonheim  www.carlasonheim.wordpress.com/
Carol Sloan  www.carolbsloan.blogspot.com/
July 6:
Susan Brubaker Knapp  http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/
Diana Trout dianatrout.typepad.com
July 9:
Tracie Lyn Huskamp  www.thereddoor-studio.blogspot.com/
Judi Hurwitt  www.approachable-art.blogspot.com
July 10:
Jane LaFazio http://janeville.blogspot.com/
Kelli Nina Perkins: http://ephemeralalchemy.blogspot.com/
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Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Work In Progress: on the road

 Can't spend all day in a car without a little collection of "stuff" to play with.
I just grabbed the leftover bag from the Family Ties series.
It's a beginning - a background.
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Monday, July 2, 2012

Book Review (and giveaway!): The Sketchbook Challenge


I'd like to introduce you to a wonderful new book
The Sketchbook Challenge
Techniques, Prompts, and Inspiration for Achieving Your Creative Goals
If you've been following along here for a while you know I've had the joy of participating in the Sketchbook Challenge blog.  Our fearless leader, the talented, organized, and ever full of initiative Sue Bleiweiss has authored a book that pulls together the various artists (plus some) involved in the project. 

Each of us chose to work a sketchbook with one of the themes and create a work of art inspired by our work in that sketchbook. Sue then pulled a technique or two from each artist to highlight. 

This means that whether you like books for pure visual inspiration or to learn techniques there is something in it for you. Might I also say that there is something very pleasing to me in the books slightly smaller than standard size and rounded corners. No idea why but I simply love to hold it in my hands. I immediately chose the theme of "Circles." I love that shape - no idea why. It shows up in my work over and over.

It was wonderful fun to work with a theme over and over through the pages of a sketchbook. For this one I seemed to be attracted to pen and ink with only a little color thrown in here and there. Even when the lines ore doodled instead of tightly controlled it looks clean and crisp. I keep trying to look loose and free and wonderfully textured like so many of the artists I greatly admire but I always end up back here. It's not a bad thing.

The technique that Sue chose to pull from my finished artwork was screen printing. It's one of the most direct ways that work from my sketchbook shows up in my textile work. Ink doodles are made directly into thermofax screens and discharged or printed onto my hand dyed cloth and made into artwork. 


In this case circle scribbles and dot doodles were made into screens and both discharged, painted, and foiled onto the cloth. An amazingly lovely collection of shibori scraps (wish I could remember the artist's name) became even more circles in this piece. I have to say it was a lovely few days of playing with this design. 

I know you will love this book!
You can buy it at any of the following suppliers

And I have  question for you.
Do you use a sketchbook to work out designs for your artwork?
How?
In celebration of the book's release the following prizes will go to two lucky commenters!
 From Mistyfuse (www.mistyfuse.com)  A 10yd combination package of Mistyfuse that includes 6 yards of White and 2 yards each of Black and Ultraviolet and a Goddess Sheet.
Total retail value: $48!
and
 A $25 gift certificate to ProChemical and Dye
From ProChemical and Dye http://prochemicalanddye.com/home.php

comments close three days from now at the end of the day on July 5th

And if you missed it - go see the other reviews that have been posted and leave comments there and keep an eye out for the upcoming reviews as well. There are prizes at every stop!
June 26:
Jill Berry  http://jillberrydesign.com/blog/
Sue Bleiweiss http://www.suebleiweiss.com/blog
June 27:
Violette   http://www.violette.ca/
Kathyanne White http://kathyanneart.blogspot.com/
July 5:
Carla Sonheim  www.carlasonheim.wordpress.com/
Carol Sloan  www.carolbsloan.blogspot.com/
July 6:
Susan Brubaker Knapp  http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/
Diana Trout dianatrout.typepad.com
July 9:
Tracie Lyn Huskamp  www.thereddoor-studio.blogspot.com/
Judi Hurwitt  www.approachable-art.blogspot.com
July 10:
Jane LaFazio http://janeville.blogspot.com/
Kelli Nina Perkins: http://ephemeralalchemy.blogspot.com/
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Sunday, July 1, 2012

The Kindness Chronicles

I almost missed it - we're on the road which means lots and lots and lots of crazy getting ready for the mom.
And with all the kids home I'm almost totally focused on the children and their needs right now. It makes it feel like I'm neglecting the opportunities for outward looking service opportunities.


"Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves."
James M. Barrie


But then I realized - what am I doing all day every day if not serving - in my own home. Sometimes it's hardest to be kind to the people in your own family. You are with them every day and it's easy to loose sight of their wonderful and deserving qualities. One of the best ways to regain that view of how much you love them is to mindfully serve them. Do something that will be meaningful to them.

What is it that your loved ones would appreciate?
Before this trip I asked each child what their favorite road food is and went ahead and got it.
Sounds trivial but I avoid buying junk food like the plague so it was a bit of a big deal.
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