Look What I've Been Up To...Mural

Have you ever been sleep deprived?

Over Thanksgiving break I put in 48 hours of painting (I didn't even count the hours of consultation and planning) during evenings and weekends, after work, between running the Turkey Trot, and trying to stuff my face with the best brussels sprouts and cornbread I've ever had.

In the end, the client was pleased and I was tired.  I'm still trying to catch my breath.  I'm looking forward to Christmas break just so I can do nothing.

Family Legacy

I have so many talented people in my family, and collecting all their wonders caused me to realize anew that I had no choice but to follow in their footsteps.  

This little baby doll was my own, made by my mama and I just love that expression.  The screenprint behind her matted locks was recently created by my fabulous cousin and I still haven't figured out how to use or display it.  Any ideas?

Helen Dardik is ridiculously talented, and her work is just adorable.  It wasn't until after I purchased her print on the right that I realized the darling child in the painting was a girl.  So I decided to paint my own rendition, using some of her other sweet originals as inspiration and concocted the little watercolor cowboy on the left...just in case the wee one we get is a boy, not a girl.  Now we have both bases covered.

My husband's great aunt passed down these embroidered and appliqued throws and they couldn't be more dear to me.  I can't wait to supplement them with a quilt from my amazing mother-in-law.

 So many handmade treasures here!  My little sister made the hugging kitties on the left, an illustration of our sisterly love...they even wear our initials on their tummies.  The teddy bear in the middle is one of the many bears my grandma made and nicknamed "Sheddy Bears," as my mom called them, not being able to say her own name, Shelley, as a little one.  And the pink guy is a Popple; my own from the 80s.  Anyone remember those?  You can also see the zig zag blanket I crocheted.

 What is this edging called, like little lace?  These are two pillow cases great aunt made, hanging on the antique dresser a friend bought us.  And the alligator up top is a pencil holder my grandpa made for all of the cousins when we were little.  He sits by a needle punch I made a few years ago; and YES, those are cloth diapers below!

I saved some of my own Golden Books, my first Bible and my mom's copy of Alice in Wonderland, with some other collected classics from over the years.  And there's no way my Strawberry-mobile couldn't make an appearance, however temporary.

Although this pint-sized room is filling up quickly, I know it will be full to the brim one day with all the practicalities and preciousness of all things child.  For those of you in this boat, how do you keep from busting at the seams?

Liquid Rainbows

It's watercolor refill at school today.  My fingers hurt from squeezing out the tubes.  Good stuff must be about to happen with this much watercolor.

Tron Reconfigured

Listening to this in my art classes today.  Not sure if more drawing or dancing is getting done.  Either way, I dig it.

I liked the original movie; it reminds me of my older brother and my dad. 

I liked the remake; it reminds me of my club-hopping techno days *sigh...to be young again*. 

I like Daft Punk, but I like this remix version of the soundtrack much better.  It makes me want to go work out, and that is always a good thing.

Two Fine Foxes

I just purchased these "Two Fine Foxes" from Oliver Lake of Iota Illustration.  I think it's just so fantastic that I wanted to share it with you.  It will find a cozy home on the wall above my sweet friends' new baby and his forest friends nursery.

I just love these two foxy fellas so much, I might just have to buy some of his other prints for myself.

I attended a cloth diaper class with her on Saturday, and let me just say, I am so excited to be a cloth diaper mom.  The technology has come so far in the last few years, so has the style.  The husband even tagged along, and while he checked out early to scope out the bike store next door he is all about it.  Even more impressive since he does all the laundry in our house!  If you have any questions about cloth diapers, I'd be glad to share everything I learned this weekend.

More Mailbox Love

I received the most wonderful thing in the mail this weekend.  It was from my sweet cousin, who not only has a heart as big as a river is wide, but who also has an eye for design anyone would envy.  When she puts the two together, this is what happens, and when I am the recipient I am so overwhelmed with gratitude that I must share it with all of you.

You may recognize the honeycomb screen print from here.  I'm drooling!  I can't believe I own this!  In it was wrapped the most rapturously delicious tea from Townshend's Tea in Portland.  I even let a friend take a whiff of my Rooibos Cinnnamon Spice at craft night this weekend and she immediately went home and ordered seven (7!!) different blends of chai tea for only $2.50 each.

Antique Bee Pin also from Cecily last year.  I love her thoughtful heart.

I opened every tiny gift as if it were Christmas, savoring each item...I even took it back into a corner of my bedroom to unwrap just so I could do it as slowly as I wanted.  An eclectic group of little tags and bakers twine greeted me cheerily, as did the delightfully simple necklace that was attached to the ribbon.  Of course I put it on right away and haven't taken it off.

For the loose leaf tea, she was thoughtful enough to include a precious little ceramic cup with an infuser tucked inside, and let me be honest, I'm drinking it again right now.

Honey Dipper and hand thrown honey jar from Arts Fair in SLC, sent by my parents several years ago.

This is a wonderful way to start off a week.  I am blessed beyond words.  We have remarked to each other many times how lucky we are to have such a bond as cousins.  We thought it was normal. 

So, I'm interested, who in your life do you feel blessed to be bonded to, cousin or otherwise?

Oh, Honey

I always preferred a Peanut Butter and Honey sandwich over PB&J.
My uncle's family started Miller's Honey.  When I was little, my aunt would mail my mom a tub of Whipped Cinnamon Honey, sometimes even the stuff with a bit of the comb still in it.

I've never been afraid of bees, and I suppose their stings don't affect me as much as the average Jill.

Honeycomb screenprint by amazing artist, Cecily Sakrison

I think this all set me up for a love of bees.  A few years ago when I learned about the severity of hive collapse I called my cousin to see how easy it would be to raise a hive.  We decided it was more work than I could afford, but the dream is still there.  Maybe one day I'll get to raise some, and then I'll surely be consulting this great resource (with a lovely cover design...yes, I judge a book by its cover sometimes).

And how about this sister title on Canning and Preserving...that's a one day endeavor too.

For now, I'll have to settle for a bee hotel like this one and try to passively help the bee population in my neighborhood.  Before I do this, I'll have to take our neighbors into account, as we don't have much property, and I don't want to put anyone with allergies or real aversions at risk.

Sending Sunshine

Things have been crazy busy around here: we are doing our 27 hours of adoption classes, I'm mentoring a high school girl, leading a small group, teaching at a Spiritual Day Spa on Saturday, scrambling to get our house together to get our Foster license, and working full-time, plus what I consider the part time doings of being an artist. 

Do you ever feel like the things you do to keep sane get put on the back burner just so you can survive?  I know I'm not alone in this.  And while I don't want to wish my life away, I'm looking forward to summer.  So since there's been little time to do any new paintings, I've stocked the Etsy shop with these great new postcards which I ordered from moo.com.

They're glossy, printed on sustainably sourced paper, and they are 100% guaranteed to give a TKO to any bout of winter blues you may be feeling.  And what ever happened to mail?  It's a dying art form, I tell you.  The girls from the Valentine Swap through the Stationery Place had something to say about it, and the ladies over at The Benevolent Postcard Society are a small militia against the virtual epidemic of anti-handwriting.  When was the last time you put a postage stamp on something other than a bill?

If you are anywhere as busy as I, or have any form of email-overindulgence guilt, try sending a postcard next time. One or two sentences does the trick, and I promise, it's like sending sunshine.  Try it!  In the meantime, drool over all the new postcards I've posted for sale in the shop.

Howie Owl Template

We had a crazy schedule today, so I had another teacher cover my 7th grade art class.

I printed off the whole family of little owl templates over at 3 Eyed Bear and told the sub it was "spatial reasoning" that they were doing.  Really, I just think they are stinking cute and wish I could make a whole forest of them for myself.

Download your free owls, and make a hootie menagerie in no time.  While you're there, print off all the other dolls, paper toys, and even a yeti to keep those wise fowl company.

Speaking of Love

 These are some things I'm loving on today, NOT of the  Valentine Variety.

Join the Circus by Helen Dardik

Boards of Summer by Elgarbo Art

The Woodland by Ina Luxe

Birthday Bunding yarn wreath by Itz Fritz

 Tonight the hubs and I have a meeting until 5 and then head off to our first adoption class until 9.  So romantic, I know.  But I did open the shower door to a new athletic tank and jacket for my running excursions.  Love that guy.

Help me out here, how are you celebrating love?

Pink Cheeks

Kisses make my cheeks pink.

Here are a few mail-kisses I sent out for a Handmade Valentine Swap this year.  I've been doing a lot of collages lately and these were four original pieces I sent as valentines in a romantic glassine envelope.  Some of them were stitched, some painted on, some hole-punched, all original.  I hope my girls heart them; I've loved receiving mine so far!

What makes you blush?

Love Begets Love

Give a little love today.

For the Love of Hands

In High school my girlfriends loved Nick from the Backstreet Boys.  I just couldn't do it (although I talked myself into liking the band because my friends did); I just couldn't like Nick because I didn't like his hands.

I've always loved hands.   They are just as difficult to draw as a face and many beginners shy away from drawing them.  My theory is that is because there is as much character in hands as there is in a portrait.

I found this print from Restless Things and fell in love.  In my opinion these are some of the most lovely drawings I've seen of hands in some time.

Alfred Steiglitz was obsessed with photographing his wife, Georgia O'Keeffe's hands and I can see why.  Photos of her hands were so lyrical and sensual, with stories to tell and character to capture.

Egon Schiele is by far my favorite hand artist.  First of all, nothing gets me more excited than his line quality alone.  But his hands are such an important part of his images, skeletal and elegant, they add as much to a portrait as do the Mona Lisa's.

What adds to physical attractiveness for you?

If you draw, do you shy away from hands and feet?  If you do, know that it's normal, but I challenge you to take the drawing of them head-on.  Draw studies of them every day, in different poses, start with your own.  Start today!

Cheating or Creatively Rearranging?

I love to collage when I can.  It's so easy to do while sitting at my desk at school.

There is something so immediate, so tactile about slicing up color and repositioning, recreating, recontextualizing when I'm collaging.

In a way, I suppose I feel like I'm cheating a bit, using someone else's painting, image, photo...

But I had a great Art Teacher at Biola who said that we, as artists, never create, but we creatively rearrange.  I think this comes from Solomon's sentiment in Ecclesiastes that there is nothing new under the sun.

And when I was an itty bitty artist, my mom used to comfort me in my frustration of having ideas copied by classmates by saying first that it was the greatest form of flattery.  But she also spoke of how there are no truly NEW ideas.  Everything that has ever been made has come from inspiration from something that has come before, even if we can't trace it back to the source.

So I feel a bit more comfortable "creating" collages with these words in mind.

Did you ever have your work copied?  How did it make you feel?  Do you feel comforted or disturbed by the thought that no art is ever truly unique?

Both of these collages (Night Hills flew off the shelf, but Swan Dive is still available) are up for sale for a steal of a price in my Etsy shop.  I also posted a print of this collage, as I got so much great feedback on the original.

A New Feather

In college, years ago, I took a graphic design class.  I bought a laptop, and that magical package: Photoshop/Illustrator.  The computer was old and the programs were so large they caused the computer to crash.  Off to the Mac Doc my laptop went, but she was not healthy enough to sustain such a large file again.

Thus, my newly acquired muscles atrophied and my skills were lost.  Well, went underground.  Until now. 

Last year, I reclaimed what was lost, and have slowly been making progress.  I still love a piece of rough hewn, cold press, crisp white piece of Arches watercolor paper with a gorgeous deckled edge, but I don't mind a mouse and a computer screen as much as I once did.

There's nothing that breeds production like necessity, and I, as head artistic coordinator in our Women's Ministries at church, was recently called on to create a new logo for our Spiritual Day Spa (a great event where, among other things, I get to lead an Art Therapy class...another hidden talent).

I took a cue (and I'd love to take a class) from this amazing instructor, and I don't mind the result.  I'll be proud to have this logo be atop any letterhead or brochure, but I still have so much more to learn.

What skill would you like to learn?  Is there something you don't do well, and would like to do more?  Why not start?!  It's still only January...you still have all of 2011 ahead of you!  Start something creative today, I dare you!

Your Story in Six Words

Spoonful by Virginia Ray

I receive each week a little newsletter called Etsy Success.  There are super helpful and creative morsels, dealt out in little spoonfuls, to devour and spark artistic and entreprenurial endeavors through the marketplace.

Yesterday, one of the spoonfuls was to share your story in 6 words.  Here is an excerpt from the article by Linda Garbe:

Challenge #1: Your Story in Six Words

Many years ago Hemingway was asked to write a six-word story. In the same spirit, Smith Magazine has been challenging people to write their memoir in six words. Get more inspiration and info about this project on NPR.

Fill sheets of paper with adjectives that describe you. What are your best attributes? Think about what is most important to you. What do you value most? Your shop and your six-word memoir should make sense. Your story and your shop need to be in alignment.

It takes longer to write a good short story. You have to give it a lot of thought. After much thought and trying endless combinations my memoir is: “Storyteller addicted to color and texture.” 

I had quite a few 6-word stories and certainly couldn't decide which was the best, but here are a couple:

Colorful, playful, and just living easy.

I create because I was created. 

And check out this great zine on the art of being happy by Spoonful. 

What would your 6-word story be?   

Mini Love

I've been a little inspired, as usual, by Valentine's Day.  Maybe it's the red, or the hearts, or the love...I don't know.  I just always love the images for V-Day.

And I've been more than inspired by Lyndsey's Valentine Swap.  I'm even entertaining starting one at work, among the teachers...bring back a little mailbox luv.  Would you ever do a Valentine Swap, kindergarten style, at your place of employment?

So to help inspire you to join the Swap and get a little bit of snail mail of your own, I've put a few new sets of mini-cards in my Etsy shop, where they share some shelf space with a few paintings from last year's (here and here) love-making (and by that I mean card-making...with hearts and such.)

A Full Retrospective

 

Goodbye 2010.  You were a very full year.  Full of love and romance,

God provided for us, in His timing, a new house to call our own,

And to fill to the brim with sunshine, love, and too much stuff.

Lots of crafts were made...paper, stitched, crocheted.  Too many to count, in fact.

While we weren't yet blessed with little chicks of our own, we've cuddled many a good substitute.

Spring brought a new song to our hearts, full of optimism and merry-making.

Being back in Oceanside to stay meant we could act like tourists in our own town.

Arts and culture were sandwiched in between good restaurants and the good ole Coastal Lifestyle we love.

July meant discovering Portland, and rediscovering most beloved family.

August was filled with too-short days of foreign-family visits. (Seriously, too short...always is.)

I spent our summer (and our money) decorating our bedroom and I quite like the results!

Not nearly enough time was spent painting.  Lilly and I were both a bit exhausted from other responsibilities.

School means back to the grind...where even parties are work.

This girl had a milestone birthday, ushered in with a non-surprise party which ended in smiles and rollerskates.

The year ended with my first ever Christmas Eve dinner hostessing.  (It was a smash hit.)