Ah, Spring at Last

This is my season. My body works best this time of year, after the cold, before the heat. Just like the bulbs that have wintered over, I come alive and for about 5 weeks, getting dirt under my fingernails and scratches on my shins. I have been busy rescuing perennials from waist high grass, building a little fence around my little studio and planting a little garden, and weed wacking the back 40. I have attached a few pictures of the beauty around me and some progress both in the studio and out for your viewing enjoyment.

some things just speak for themselves...

Ah...you should smell them!

First of the season...

I don't think there is even a name for this color!

Today on the pond next to my studio I happened to catch a duck doing what ducks do...it almost looks like a swan! Do I not live in a most beautiful place? A little garden of Eden, it is.

This is a shot looking up into the redwood stand right across from our bus. Magnificent!

The forget-me-nots are wonderful this year. I cannot bare to weedwack them when they are contributing such lovliness, however, in three weeks there will be 10 nasty burrs to every one flower. There have got to go soon...Oh, spring blooms for such a short time...

such simple beauty...such nasty burrs.

I planted some perenials and put up this fence around the studio this weekend. I am hoping there is enough sun for the lavender, salvia and butterfly bush I planted. I will have to water them with water from the pond.

This is the church I attend framed in magnolia blooms. This was taken a couple of weeks ago...they are almost gone now...sigh.

I have been working on creating some product for my etsy site. I have sold quite a few of these repurposed altoid box sewing kits. This time I also added 3 kits with manicure items, bandaids, ect...I wonder if they will be as popular. Time will tell... here they are.

I hope to get these listed along with some other goodies this weekend.

Enjoy the spring my friends...soon the heat of summer will make it a distant memory!

till next time, annie

Here we are again...

I have had a couple of fun projects going on and tried some new things. I have pretty much finished up the Madonna painting. She is set in her shadow box. I am still undecided what to put in front of her, but the shells look nice for now. One of the new things I tried is the finish on the outside of the shadow box. The box was already black, which was a plus for this technique. I saw this on U Tube. I painted white glue fairly thickly and let it tack up for a few minutes, then painted white paint on top of the glue. You kind of float the paint. You don't want to disturb the glue. As it dries you get the wonderful crackle finish, but when you touch it, it is all smooth and won't peel.

I like this next photo. It is at kind of a weird angle. I had a hard time getting a good picture because of the gold and silver leaf, and the clear finish I sealed the painting with want to glare. I am going to have to play with it.

See the rose in the shell? It was one I had hanging to dry and it had dried to a dark blackish red. I poured glue all over it...slathered it, my new favorite word. I slathered it with glue and let it dry for a couple of days and to my surpries, as the glue dried the color lightened back up. I had done this years ago with some roses from a loved one's funeral and they lasted for years and years. The petals get an elastic rubbery feel to them. Here are a few more...The white spots are where the glue is not dry yet. They take a couple of days after a good slathering.

So, here she is framed and ready. I will have to decide what should sit on her alter and get her listed soon, but for now she is keeping me company. I had hoped to capture the compassionate look of the statue of Mary that I knew as a little girl, but she seems very sad to me, beseeching....

As is usually the case, the photo does not do her justice. I will have to get better pictures to list her. Her halo is gold leaf and really pretty. Her dress is pearlescent...

Here is the other fun thing I have been working on. I saw a couple of tutorials on U Tube by a gal named Jenniebelle on making art journals out of greeting cards and decided to try my hand at it. I like them a lot and hope to make one for each of my grandgirlies and their mom before long. They come out pretty fun. Some of the pages are blank because the cards were. Some I painted with the left over paint from the Madonna and some I will cover with papers and pictures. Some I will draw on, some I will paint, and some I will leave just like the are because the cards were nice to begin with...

That's about eough fun for now. I am all caught up to date. I have to spend sometime now getting photos taken and listings written for my etsy store so I won't be doing much new for a couple of weeks, but I will catch up when I have something new to share. Until then... ta ta.

another month done gone...

The days seem to fade away. I stay so busy and have no idea at what! I have not spent a whole lot of time in the studio lately, but that's okay. My creating seems to come in spurts. I did have a studio day with my dear Maria. Her two big sisters already had their days and Maria would give me no peace till her turn came. When the day finaly arrived she was full of ideas of what to glue on her box, but when we got down to the work of selecting treasures she spotted the glass blobs and wanted to go no further. Since, in all honesty, she would rather be out jumping on the trampoline than 'doing art' she wasted no time in finishing her project.

She did give me an idea though. I had been looking at this teapot wanting to do something with it. I love the shape and bought it to use but the handle was really uncomfortable to grasp so I delegated it to the studio for recycling. I wasn't sure what I was going to cover it with until my day with Maria. I found some glue at work that was for repairing broken dishes and is supposed to be heat and dishwasher proof so I was hoping the teapot would still be usable. The glue is pretty iffy though. Glass on stainless steel is not an easy stick. So it is decorative. I did a craft fair a couple of weeks ago and it was a good attention getter.

Speaking of the art fair, it was a total bust but a good learning experience. I put together this sign for it, so will have it to use again, and I made the tack sets below, which turned out really cool (I think).

Each piece of glass has a little teeny tiny holy card picture behind it. My Catholic is showing through! I am a sucker for holy cards, icons, and glow in the dark Jesus and Mary statues. I especially love folkart shrines made with seashells. I have plastic and plaster statues. I have one big collection in my studio, and bits and pieces elsewhere, like in the bus. My mind is very fond of fruitless rabbit trails...little reminders of what I would really rather be thinking about help me alot. I call these Remembrance tacks precisely for that reason.

I want to share here a purse my daughter made for me out of a favorite sweater. I bought the sweater used in South Dakota and wore it for about 6 years. I washed it a few too many times though, and it being wool, it got smaller and smaller. So I asked her to make me something out of it. She had it for months and said she had not inspiration. Then she woke up one morning with a vision of this purse, so she got up and made it! It has wonderful floppy pockets inside too. It is my winter purse...a real treasure.

So this is what I am working on now. I started with a pencil drawing that took me a couple of days and was pure enjoyment. She is on nice water color paper. I intended her to be painted from the git go. I did her face in acrylics mixed with medium to give it the translucent look. I did not get as good a depth or coverage on the paper as I have on other surfaces. Her face came out a bit mottled, but I have done some work to it since these picture were taken. In fact I am almost done with her...

I made a mess of the roses when I painted them so she went from being 11x14 to 11x12, but its all good. I have since gold leafed her halo. The whole background is painted dark blue. All I have to do is add some silver leaf stars and decide what to frame her in. I picture an embossed time frame like the ones so popular in Mexican art, but we will see.

Its time for me to sign off...I am getting that look from my other half...the "are you going to be on that thing all night?" look. With any luck I will be back before another month is gone...

annie

Another month almost gone...

It seems like I have not had much time in the studio lately, and yet I have finished a few things and started another. My lady is by far the weirdest thing I have ever made, but I love her! She has a whole creation story that can be read at my etsy shop, where I have her listed for sale. She was great fun. Here she is in all her
glory.

as soon as she was finished I started working on a couple of bunnies...a mild project after the last! I had made  bunnies from this pattern back in the early 90's, for gifts. They were real popular and I saw one the other day when visiting my daughter and thought, what the heck...why not make some more to offer for sale...so I started a few. These will be carved, since I have the technology now to do that.

I also lost myself for a couple of days in a drawing that came as a surprise. I had no plan for it. I just had the urge last Sunday to draw a picture and it ended up taking me almost 2 full days! I think I will list it for sale, because- why not?

This is my vision of the Tree of Life. There is actually a bit of metallic ink and sparkles in the drawing but the camera won't capture it....

Spring has sprung here on the west coast and I can never resist pulling out the camera and taking pictures this time of year. I got a few good shots off this last week.

Aren't they lovely?

I will post a preview of the bunnies when they are ready to list...until then...

so long.

annie

Busy in Ben Lomond

This update is dedicated to Mary Faith, who actually reads this blog! Thanks Mary Faith!

I have been busy of late, finishing up one big project and starting another. I keep forgetting to bring my camera to the studio to document steps, but I did get some to share. First off are two projects that I have just finished and listed in my etsy store...(http://www.etsy.com/shop/oblations)

The first is another mobile, this one inspired by and decorated with Mexican art. These are challenging to make but I just love the way they brighten the air space. This one includes a vintage salt shaker at the very top, and ceramics from Mexico...birds, a cat, a couple of pots...I painted the spoon and fork using traditional Mexican folkart patterns...it was a fun project.

The second piece I had started last summer and then lost my way with it. I couldn't figure out what to do to finish it. I woke up one morning a couple of weeks ago with new inspiration and it came together swiftly from there.

I am particularly proud of the framing I did, not being very good at carpentry or making anything square. It is not only square, but it is sturdy!

The frame sides are two sides to an old dresser. They have wonderful green peeling paint on them, which was the attraction for me!  The bottom and top are old yard sticks.

I was surprised how easy the final construction was. After thinking about it and procrastinating about tackling it, when I finally set about doing it the frame was done in an hour.

Below is the piece I had started in the summer. The background is vintage hankies, and such. On top of this there are copies of old photos (colorized by me) and over that are jewels, a glove, and a baby booty...all these I added recently. I had only the hankies and photos when I put is away last summer.

The brass spigot in the center perpetually drips little blue jewels. I titled this-Woman, the Fount of Life- I know it sounds corny but I was thinking about women when I made it, and how life does spring from us...(by the grace of God of course...but you know what I mean.) Women are amazing! I recently had the honor of watching my daughter give birth to my fourth granddaughter and I couldn't help but think what a bloody miracle it is that the human race has even gone on! I can't believe we are actually made to 'bounce back' after giving birth, or that anyone would want to do it more than once! Women ARE amazing! I have been blessed to know and inspired by so many strong and resilient women in my life... I was thinking of them when I put this together.

The finished piece also serves a purpose beyond just being cool!  I put hooks on the frame sides to hang jewelry or keys, and the ceramic heart bowl in the final picture below can hold rings or earrings. At the top, the half corks with button tacks serve as a place to stick photos or notes. The piece is the biggest I have done- 20 x 27.

I knew what I wanted to do once this project was done. I had purchased a styrofoam head at work that had been staring at me for a couple of weeks. I wanted to cover it and had a pretty good idea what with...until I started that is. It went from being a hard core looking male face to something else right off...and has been leading me around ever since!

This is how it looked yesterday. It has come a long way since then and I am having great fun going where it is taking me. This is not what I had envisioned when I started but it is getting cooler all the time...art is a journey!

I imagine there will not be empty space when it is done. Next time in the studio I will carve out a little closet in back of the head where the skeleton is kept...oh what fun! I haven't named it yet, but imagine it will tell me its name by the time we are done. 

Sunday I was a bit under the weather so spent the morning laying in my outdoor recliner taking pictures of birds and stuff. Here are a couple I think I might use as backgrounds in something a long the way, and one of the redwoods that shade our bus, just cause I love them and thought they looked especially nice with the plane exhaust trail cutting across the sky.

My girlies often come to see me at the studio. It is a wonderland to them and I try to indulge them when I can because I can imagine how I would like to play in there if I were a kid...in fact I love to play in there now. I just don't get much done when they are about...

As you can see, this is not someone you would want to turn your back on!

I acquired a couple of good scores at the thrift store I work at last week. I may as well share them here, and then I will say good night...

I found the yellow rose which is fake but looks very real, even close up...it even has wilting and dying flowers on it and it adds such a nice freshness and life to the corner by my chair...I also found those wonderful boots in the photo, called Woolenstocks, they are made out of felted wool and I think they are beautiful.

And this is my big purchase of the week...one cannot have enough light in their life! Actually, pretty much everything in this photo I purchased at work. I love the shell covered box...that is a recent addition, and the precious vintage red and white mug, I just found it...but the lamp is the big prize. I went in to get my paycheck and there it was on the shelf priced way too low ( I would have tripled it!). With my half off discount for being an employee it not only was in the budget, but was just what I had been looking for. The colors and the flowers even match my chair...  ah...life is good. 

Signing off for now...annie

Serendipity

I had spent a rainy afternoon earlier in the week doodling on an art pad, something
I literally have not done in years. My doodling ended up being mostly words that
were on my mind at the time, but I thought I saw a profile in way they were laid
out. I don't have a scanner so I took a digital picture of my drawing and opened it
in my graphic art software where I added all sorts of fun stuff to the original drawing.
I ended up working on it for hours with no intention of doing anything with it....

And then: I was poking around in the blog world the other night and came across a blog at
http://www.inspiration-avenue-team.blogspot.com that offers a weekly challenge. I had never
been to this site before, but it just so happens that this weeks challenge is to create something
using primarily words! Well what do you know? I love it when stuff like that happens...

So I am submitting my fancy doodle because, heck, why not?