and with our powers combined...

I took these four pictures:

Banyan Tree (Selby Botanical Gardens)-

really cool clouds in Siesta Key, Florida-
picture of a vintage girl from my collection -
another vintage picture from my collection -



and after an hour or so of editing/playing, made this !

Digital manipulation- my psychedelic flower

I took this original flower photo at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida. It's a lovely flower, but the photo is lacking some pizazz.


A little fun in Photoshop and voila ! (it looks great bigger) I can picture this above a sofa in some scandinavian white-washed house. It probably would look great in my studio too, but alas I am out of ink .... that, and my printer doesn't print as big as I'd like.

Who knew this could happen?

old ad I found while cleaning out my studio - at the top it says it will come in a plain brown wrapper. hahahahaha

Opinions please

I started this canvas a long time ago (when I was all ambitious and thought for sure I could do a big 18x24" canvas) I loved the old ad I found in papers that were under my floor (my house is over 100 yrs old). I love the texture and colors. But, now I am stumped as to how to finish it.

Please, any ideas and suggestions !

behind the scenes in my studio - the sepia edition

my studio looks so much more "romantic" or "mysterious" or something in sepia. I love these pictures!

this is the same as the earlier post in color, but I changed the camera setting to sepia (rather than changing in Photoshop).


doll parts in a metal bucket

my Golden mediums. Apparently when I go to buy more, I can't remember if I get soft gel, regular, or heavy - I do know I always get matte ! the baby on top of one of them - I made that in high school art class.
I need to know what time it is ! the Ganesh is from India. Noooo, I'm not using that aqua net back there on my hair - it works as good a fixatif you can buy in the art store for setting pencil drawings so they don't smear. Just to the right of the clock is this cool stamp(?) I got that looks like a tin type - maybe they used it to print in a newspaper? I really don't have any idea, but you have to have it at just the right angle to see the image.
My sink. I'd welcome anyone who'd like to come over and clean my stamps please. The gourds are fully dried from when I used to paint them like Santa for ornaments and were on one of the top shelves. They'll be going to eBay as soon as I can get myself organized. And yeah, that brush shouldn't be soaking in the water all the way past the ferrel. What I know for sure is that I will be throwing it out when I'm done painting my studio.

behind the scenes of my art studio

I thought I'd share some pics of my studio. It's still a WIP (work in progress), but I am making a lot of headway !

the new color is a little off in this picture - I'll have to try to take a picture during the day and see if the color comes out a little bit better.

I've been working on a big (18x24") canvas that says "nevertheless" to remind myself of the word I picked this year (see this long post). It is not at all coming out like I envisioned and I put some molding paste over the embossed letters. It turned it this cool rusty color.
doll heads are now on a shelf in my studio. the bowl is full of gesso'd and waiting to be gesso'd heads.
the bottom shelf above my sink has all of my paint brushes and sponges and soaps.

The next post is going to have all the pictures I took with my camera set to sepia.

Thank you fellow shoppers

Dear fellow Michael's Shopper,
I wanted to thank you for leaving your ad behind at the Victor Michael's - in the entrance, right next to the lovely "photo" boxes. I didn't manage to get a Rochester paper on Sunday and only got the crappy Canandaigua one so I'd missed out on the valuable 40% off coupon. I've had a trying week without much to show for accomplishments and that ad (and the coupons it contained) made my day since we all know how over priced Michael's is. It looks like you are probably a scrap booker based on all the items you'd circled in blue ink. Too bad I didn't meet you there or I'd offered up the scrapbook I have (still in plastic!) and all the papers I bought because they were pretty and then sat in my studio unused. Just so you know, I used the coupon to get more Golden texture medium which I had nearly run out of.
I'll probably think of you when I use the included coupon good next week for something I talk myself into since the store didn't have the sterling silver wire or paints to colorize photos which are what I really came there for.
Again, thanks.

Dear confused Home Depot shopper,
Thank you so much for deciding you didn't care for the lovely light grey-green egg shell paint you specifically requested to be mixed - it ended up in the "Oops" paint for $5. It's a real bargain for that great Behr paint and looks just terrific in my studio. If I knew who you were, I'd show you some photos when it is done and you'd understand what you missed out on.
thanks !

I've got a bunch of half finished things in my studio - here's hoping next week is more productive !

Rose Wreath: this >< close to being finished

I'm just about done with the rose wreath. It could probably use a few more roses, but my fingers just can't wrap anymore wire around it... maybe in a few days I'll make more. For now, I'm pretty darn happy with it.
I took it in the bathroom (where there is a little better light) to take the pictures. It's a bit more shabby chic looking in there too.
I'm still going to add a ribbon hanger too - need to check my stash for what I have.

Work in Progress

I'm working on a Valentine's Day wreath of coffee filter roses. If you haven't made these yet, you should give them a try - they really look real. I'm working on them at night while I watch (usually bad) tv. Be forewarned, if you do a lot of them, your finger tips will start to hurt!

I don't use the same exact pattern as provided on that link - I did a little autopsy on some of my roses a while ago to get outside petals that I liked better.

What I'm Reading

I was going to start a post about "what I'm reading"....and then I realized that usually by the time I start reading something, I've finished it that night. As serendipity would have it, I was going through my (terribly disorganized mess of) favorites and thought I'd check in with my friend Bev and see what was new with her. By the way, don't get too jealous, but the header on her blog is from MY journal ! it is sooooo gorgeous in person and I'm so thrilled to have it.
On her site, there's a link to 'how fast do you read'.
My results:

You read between 850 - 900 words per minute. Virtual Speed Reader. (The average rate is between 200 - 250 words per minute.) It is assumed that you did not skim the words nor fail to understand the meaning of what was read.

I knew I was a fast reader, but I didn't think I read that fast !

What I've polished off in the last week:

Robert Parker Now and Then Finally, another Spenser novel. I much prefer those. I am probably pretty close to owning all of his books in hardcover, mostly first edition

Janet Evanovich Plum Lucky I love Janet Evanovich - she's easily my favorite author. To be fair, her books are not exactly difficult reading but they always make me laugh out loud. I have every one of her Pum Series books in first edition except one. I also am the proud owner of a personally signed book from her that says "Happy Birthday Deann" : )

I currently keep going back to Kaleidoscope ideas + projects to spark your creativity by Suzanne Simanaitis. This book is much more fabulous than I thought it would be when I bought it in a fit of disappointment that I actually owned all of the altered art books that were in stock at my local Borders...and I had a coupon... no coupon should go unused ! I talked myself into a bit thinking that if I really didn't like it, I could always pass it on for a secret sister swap in one of my yahoo groups. Well, no way it is getting passed on now !

This book is not my ususual "eye candy" sort of book, even though it is filled with wonderful pictures. I am not one of those people who buy a book with projects in it and then replicate them down to worrying that I don't have exactly the same stamp or color of paint.... usually I buy them for inspiration and the instructions are secondary, if used at all.

There is one section in the book called "That Voice Inside Your Head" that I find especially goood. It's difficult to summarize, but essentially it's about how as an artist you can be really hard on yourself and how to over come that and go with the ebb and flow of creativity. It says there is a magic word to help you - Nevertheless! as in, I don't feel like making something, nevertheless, I am going up to my studio and just play with my paints. Or, I feel stuck and I can't do anything creative and my muse has run off with someone else, nevertheless, I am going to give myself a break and today might not be the day to be creative.

I've had the luxury of spending a lot more time surfing blogs lately. Perhaps I am looking for the elusive inspiration, but I've found a whole lot of really good ones. I know a blog is really good when I go back and read all of the archives! The new list:

Ali Edwards - her post for pick a word for the year really speaks to me. I'm picking "nevertheless"

My Romantic Home - reminds me of myself and how much I miss thrifting and the inspiration it brings.

snipHits (or misses) aka Geek Betty - I know I ended up here by looking at other 365 bloggers (um, not doing a self portrait every day though!). Her writing is superb and fascinating and I really wish she'd get a book deal. Think Augusten Borroughs (Running with Scissors) - that's what it reminds me of. A fascinating person and not just art.

This is a long post for me and no real art either ! I'm really going to try and put more of myself into this blog than just art....I have other addictions ; )

New art !

This is the first piece I did today. It's 4"x6". I hadn't used my heat tool in a really long time so I decided to try it on this textured piece. It transferred the fly really well.

This is the second piece I did...it's not scanning too well due to having a pearlized finished on it...it is not this "stark" looking in person.
This next one is my favorite. Initially I transferred this Paper Whimsy image onto some hand dyed silk and mounted it to the 5"x7" canvas board. And there it sat for months. I didn't like the oranges and yellows, which is probably why I didn't go back to it. I transferred the bird and bees with the heat tool again. This time it didn't work as well, but I still love the effect.
The last canvas I finished today. Similar to the one above, as well as not scanning well either. Perhaps these thick cavases I need to just take photos of, eh?

Trying not to cross-post here...

but I can't help but share a picture from my walk through Ontario Pathways on this unusually (high 60s) warm day here in western NY. More pics on my other blog !
I'm knee deep in organizing my studio and getting rid of supplies I haven't used in years. Plus, finding extra special things for my Valentine's secret sister in one of my yahoo groups. Hopefully I'll have some new mixed media art to share soon.

Music on websites

I really wanted the text I wrote with the Amy Winehouse video below to actually show up from youtube, but no. It won't. I (heart) Amy Winehouse. As usual, Borders suckered me into buying a new cd with their special pricing over Christmas and I got the Back to Black cd. After playing it for hours - I do this with every new cd, play it for hours until I know all the words - I went and bought another one. Really great stuff. Now I see what all the buzz about her is. I put the link there so you could get a feel for what music I play whilest I am creating.

Here's the thing... notice how you have to click on it to get it to play ? this is the best part because I cannot stand it when I go to someone's blog or website and they have music playing. I think it's just rude. What if I already have some music playing? What if I were at work and stealthly surfing during a boring meeting? do I need some music blasting out? um, no... and nothing gets me to click off the website/blog faster than music. Sometimes, if I'm desperate to look, I will scroll until I find the dang thing and turn it off. I don't generally post anything "opinionated", but there you have it. Automatic music on your website/blog - just don't. people. Thanks.

Amy Winehouse -You Know I'm No Good

One Journey ends... a few more begin

Journey #1
My journal for Artistic Journey in Color has returned home after a year. It's really gorgeous in person - everyone's art is so much more amazing in person.


Journey #2
I really liked working on someone's journal every month...probably because it was the only thing that got me in my studio. I bought a lovely, large (I haven't measured, but I think it's 14"x14") journal (probably supposed to be a scrapbook) with the intention of making my own personal journal art. I've gotten the cover and page one completed so far.

Journey #3
I started another blog with just photos as a "365 Project"- this is where you take a photo every day. I'm hoping this will both improve my photo taking skills as well as get me familiar with my new digital camera that has more options than I know what to do with.

Studio Time
I also managed to alter a cabinet card today too. It isn't quite what I was planning when I started off, but I really like it. I usually have 4-5 projects started in my studio at one time in varied stages of drying (some things you really can't speed up with a heat tool like I want to!). I'm pretty happy that this is actually complete.

Here's a close up of the texture - even yummier in person!
Somehow I missed the fact that Tim Holtz has a blog now. I must have been under a rock somewhere. I had a grand time going through it this morning and oggling his 12 days of tags. I'm always really impressed with his instructions. I tend to wish I'd taken photos as I went along, but it would really interupt the flow of how I tend to make art.

That's a lot for today ! Hopefully I can stick with posting more often.