missing

I've been missing in action, blog-wise for more than a month. And if I had been faithful to "doing the work" I wouldn't mind that I wasn't posting, but I've been missing the work too. Among the many distractions keeping me away is a new toy--an iPad for my birthday. I've been experimenting with all the various sketching and art apps and learning my way around the digital art world. I haven't ever done art work on my desktop computer, but the touch screen makes it so easy and fun. I'll share a few "doodles" from the ipad.

yellow poppies

I like my little moleskine Japanese fold journal for the most part--I like the continuously unfolding pages and the compact size--but the paper does not take watercolor well. I had forgotten that when I sketched this poppy plant with the intent to paint it, so I improvised with some colored tissue paper. And I got the nice, loose watercolor feel I was after.

birthday

Last year for my birthday I started a "tradition" (how many times does it have to happen before it is officially a tradition?) of doing a self-portrait. The birthday is still a few days off, but I had the time this morning and decided to jump right in. I like the idea that it is as much a record of how I look as it is where I am as an artist each year. This year I'm definitely a "collage-ist"!

inspired

What inspires you? Tonight I was inspired by dedicated artists whose blogs I visited after not seeing them for awhile. No real excuse for my absence--travel happens, spring happens, inattention happens. But those things happen to everyone and yet these artist/bloggers manage to keep on top of it. So in honor of being inspired, a collage riff on stained glass windows by Matisse--another source I can always count on for inspiration.

ranunculus

My vase of ranuculus is surrounded by fallen petals so it was time to get them down on paper. I always buy them when the florist has them--I love the randomness of the twisting of the stems.

Happy Earth Day

home

I've been an absentee blogger for a few weeks while I was traveling. It is so easy to get out of the habit, and while I'm not really worried about depriving my adoring public of my worldview on a daily basis, the point was to keep myself in a daily practice. So, time to make time.

I spent a lovely, sunny afternoon in my friend Kirstin's garden surrounded by her 13 "teenager" chickens. This was their second day of being out in the garden after spending their first 5 weeks in a pen. They were loving it, scratching, clucking, gobbling the worms she dug up for them.

it's not easy being green

Would a stink bug by any other name smell as bad? I didn't test the theory today when this little guy came crawling along in the garden. His camouflage was perfect with all the bright green leaves poking through the dirt. Now if he could just do something about the name......

green (again)

I've spent a few days enjoying the unusually warm temps and blue skies working outside, doing garden and yard spruce up. I guess its not surprising that tonight's five minute collage turned into my own little tribute to spring.

sandals

The significance of this rather pedestrian (pun fully intended) drawing of my feet is the fact that they are clad in sandals. For those who might not understand.....it it March 23, it is Minnesota, I'm wearing sandals. Get it? I don't expect that the socks are retired until September, but its a nice little pseudo-spring we're enjoying.

light of the sun

"Following the light of the sun, we left the Old World" --Christopher Columbus

I noticed the afternoon light hitting these daffodils from across the room and took a couple photos. I didn't expect them to turn out and was pleasantly surprised when I was able to capture the nice bold shadow behind the flowers. The other unexpected surprise was the placement of the framed quote behind the vase. Completely unplanned and yet so appropriate. I love those happy accidents.

St. Pat's Day

I've fallen into the trap that this blog was created to avoid. The I'm-too-busy-to-journal trap. It's so easy to put all the other daily "stuff" first. With that in mind, I took 5 minutes (yes, this really took that long!) and grabbed a couple bits and pieces and put something in my journal for the day. It's not a piece for the ages, but that wasn't the point. Happy St. Patrick's Day......

another stamp

A proof of another new stamp I carved last night. I like building up my "library" of stamps, but I've also found that carving them is a relaxing process and can be done when my brain is past the point of working on projects that require more creative energy.

ode to thin mints

Why do we love you so? Is it the balance of sweet/slightly salty flavor? The chocolate with mint combination? The "absence makes the heart grow fonder" phenomenon? Whatever the reason, you're the best. There are those who would argue for the peanut butter tagalongs or the trefoil but I shall remain steadfast to you lovely thin mints.....

crazy pod lady

magnolia pods from Laurie

some from my "collection"

pod-inspired necklace (paper mache, collage, wax)

collaged, beaded pods

paper mache "pod" bowl

paper mache pods (collage, wax)

There are those who would not think a package in the mail full of dried pods was all that exciting. I am not one of those people! Thanks to my friend Laurie, who knew that I would be thrilled to get just such a package. I have a collection of all shapes and sizes of pods and dried blossoms that I have picked myself or been given by people who know I will appreciate them. Sometimes they are a source of inspiration in my work, sometimes they actually become part of it.

new stamp

Part of layering the papers that we made in Taos is printing with hand-carved stamps of all sizes and designs--and we were lucky enough to have all of Anne's at our disposal. Not as easy to get multiple layers here at home with one or two small stamps. So, time to get busy. I've used the time spent watching the Olympics to do some carving of my own. Here are some of the papers I made this morning to proof my new leaf stamp.

paper

Here are a few of the sheets of paper that we created in the Anne Bagby workshop. We started with 12"x 12" pieces of deli paper and proceeded to glaze, paint, print, stencil, repeat to create the wonderful layers of color and design. The final papers are thin but strong--great for collage work.

taos journal

I spent the morning gluing, snipping, writing, stitching. Generally filling up the journal I made for the trip. Its fun to wait and put it all together after the fact. You get to relive the trip through all the photos and receipts and scraps. The key is to not wait too long! This one is bustin' right out of the cover, which is just the way I like it.

1st anniversary

a few more pages of my workshop book.......

Wow! I've been posting here for one year. I started this blog as a way of keeping myself motivated to keep up a daily art practice. And it worked. Although the number of posts is not quite at 365 yet (even bloggers get vacations, right?) even on days when I didn't share anything I did do the work. I've filled several journals and created a couple travel journals, as well as continuing to paint and do collage work. And exploring the world of art blogging has led me in several new directions and introduced me to some inspiring artists and artwork. All in all, a pretty good deal.....I guess I'll keep at it.

a fitting anniversary quote: "You become what you are everyday"

home

page three

page two

front page of the book, after the sheet was folded

This is the full sheet (24 x36) that was then folded into the book.

What a great week! New sights, sounds, ideas, friends, experiences. Just what a trip should be. Our two workshop teachers kept the 14 of us busy from breakfast till dinner (with a quick break for a delicious lunch made by the wonderful staff at the San Geronimo Lodge in Taos). We started the week working with Anne Bagby, stamping, glazing, collaging, stenciling and printing beautiful decorated papers. She has a wonderful sense of color and design and shared her ideas with us freely. (I'll post some of the paper soon).

The second half of the week we worked with Lynne Perrella learning her unique collage/layering style and creating a beautiful book using the papers we made earlier in the week. She was the most generous teacher, encouraging each student to work in their own unique style and the results were obvious in the wide range of books that were produced--no two alike, but all wonderful.

I'll post just a few pages of my book today, and get to some more later......(unfortunately, the breakfast till dinner work schedule just isn't feasible back here in the "real world" of snow shoveling, appointments, laundry and grocery stores!)