Suitcase Saturday

Another Ross reproduction of a small fabric sided case,
this one home to my collection of card decks.

Playing cards, lotteria cards, tarot cards.

Big, small, and in-between.

I delved into this box several times when I was
creating my altered book Absolutely Alice.

Shall We Dance?

These beautiful shots of Sandhill Cranes were taken by my sister Becky (who owns the copyright thereto). She lives in Colorado about two and a half hours away from the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge.

The birds appear to be dancing and the balletic
moves make for spectacular photo ops.

From the Crane Fest website

Late in February, sandhill cranes, the San Luis Valley’s oldest visitors, begin their annual trek from south to north, stopping off near the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge to load up on fuel. For millions of years, the sandhills have been spending their "Spring Break" in Colorado’s Valley of the Cranes and more recently, wildlife watchers have been drawn to wonder at this phenomenal natural spectacle.

No one really knows what the early residents of southern Colorado thought about this majestic migration of cranes, but they were paying attention to it. High on a rocky cliff face southwest of Monte Vista is a well-protected six foot long petroglyph that is unmistakably a sandhill crane. So, as much as 2,000 years ago, humans were celebrating the return of these magnificent birds to the Valley of the Cranes.

Thanks for sharing these, Sis!

You Think you Have Books?!

These amazing sculptures? instillations? artworks? come from Spain and the creative mind of Alicia Martin.


Here's the artist inside one of her creations, showing the steel and wire frame that provides the substrata for her fountains, waves and waterfalls of books.


Have you ever wondered what to do with that old encyclopaedia and those Reader's Digest condensed books that even your local library doesn't want? Now you know!

They are installed in several different venues throughout Spain and attract a lot of attention and not just from bibliophiles!

Life on the Coast

A lazy walk along the harbour on this first Sunday of spring -
enjoy your weekend!

From the Bookshelf

This is the book that started it all - over 25 years ago. My copy is well thumbed and well read. I'm not a voracious cook, but I've always loved Susan's delightful illustrations, wonderful quotes and the stories that surround each recipe. Over the years I've added her books to my collection - the seasonal ones are always fun to bring out and add to the joys of the particular time of year. Imagine how pleased I was a few months ago to stumble on her blog. Every bit as great as the books, with lovely pictures of her home and life on Martha's Vineyard - autumn through spring, and her ranch in Arroyo Grande (less than 30 miles away from here in Morro Bay) in the summer. Susan spent a good part of her childhood close by in San Luis Obispo which has always appealed to me, making her a hometown girl. If you haven't ever delved into one of her cookbooks, you're at least a dozen behind. And a visit to the blog will not disappoint, I promise.

Creative Chemistry with Tim Holtz

I know there is some controversy about Tim Holtz in the mixed media world. Some thinking he's more for the scrapbooking crowd. Personally I love a bunch of his products and I think he's a great art spokesperson. Just this week he's started his first on-line class - Creative Chemistry 101.


Here's how Tim sees it -

"Throughout this workshop something to keep in mind (and I’ll say it over and over) is that this is all about technique. Our goal here is not to just make pretty things, our goal is to understand the “how’s & why’s” of the products too – you know, the “Creative Chemistry” of it all? In addition to daily videos, there will be pdf downloads with step by step technique instructions to print out for quick reference. of course we'll be wrapping up the workshop with a gallery of finished cards to inspire creativity and share how it all comes together.



While I rarely make cards or tags - I'm excited about learning the "whys" for the various inks paints, and tools. If you'd like to be in on this sign up here.

all photos - Tim Hotlz.com

A Palette of Palettes

Eugène Delacroix

This is fun - Retronaut.co gathered these marvelous
pictures of the palettes of famous painters.
Many are works of art in and of themselves;

Georges Seurat

See the row of spectators - in the park perhaps?

Paul Gauguin

And the colours of sea and sand.

Edgar Degas

The swirl of tutus,

Vincent van Gogh

splashes of golden flowers.

Eugène Delacroix

Rank and file marching for liberte!

,

Here's my interpretation of Monet's paintbox.

Suitcase Saturday

I found this small vintage case at the local swap meet a few years ago. It's delightfully worn and faded.

I keep some family photos, letters and diaries from the
late 1800's and early 1900's in it.

Baby pictures of my maternal grandmother,
an autograph book, Victorian scrap pictures,
letters from the front during WWI.

I used copies of some of these for a journal spread
in a swap I was part of several years ago.

I'm in the Book!

I received my copy of this over the weekend! A couple of years ago Seth Apter asked a group of over 100 mixed media artists to answer a list of questions about their art. 31 of these artists are featured in the first two sections of the book - a few autobiographical paragraphs, examples of their work and answers to many of the questions from the list. Lynne Perrella, Michelle Ward, Angela Cartwright, and Lisa Hoffman are just of few of our favourite mixed media mavens to be featured herein. The third section is comprised of answers to the questions from many of the other artists that participated in the questionnaire. I have a few answers in this section. This is a marvelous publication and I'm proud to be (a very small) part of it. Seth has conducted The Pulse on his blog for several years now - it is a joy to see his first book published.

Bring on the Colour Outside!

It's wonderful to have lovely colourful things in your house,

like the ones we featured last week.

And it's wonderful to bring the colour outside as well. These beautiful examples of colour drenched walls are from the island of Burano in the Venice Lagoon.



This row of colourful cottages is found on Martha's Vineyard. Oak Bluffs was a Methodist Summer Church Camp in the late 1800's. Today the cottages are individually owned.

How would you like to come home to this colourful beauty
on a warm summer evening?

Life on a Different Coast - St. Barts

Ah, lots of sun, incredibly blue water, a cold beer -
at the beach on St. Barts in the Caribbean, 2003.
Enjoy your weekend!

From the Bookshelf

"This is an excellent introduction to the hunting of old objects and the incorporation of those discoveries into a home. It is not, as the editors are quick to point out, a guide to cashing in on the next hot collectible; instead, it is filled with information about the how-tos of antiquing, eight examples of decor, room-by-room ideas, and notes about restoration. Pictures tell the stories well; an architect-collector talks about repurposing objects, exemplifying his philosophy by transforming antique faucet handles into towel holders. Every scrap of data is valuable, whether it's the technique of paste wax application to decorations or about purchasing old objects. Great for the just plain curious and the novice; a good refresher for the initiated." from the review by Barbara Jacobs

I love this book - eye candy beyond the max and idea after idea after idea. For those of us who have so much of this stuff already in our stash it's a simple matter to get started right away re-decorating. And then we can say "See, I knew I'd find a wonderful use for that someday!"

Bring on the Colour!

Spring is on its way and our minds turn to
luscious, sense-drenching colour!

Time to clean, de-clutter and re-decorate.

Pull out all the stops, paint it, paper it,
dig through your stash and dress it up!

There's nowhere some extra colour is unwelcome.

Even when it's worn and faded.

photo credits 1.) Flea Market Decorating 2.) The Finishing Touch 3.) SassyFeet.com 4.) Flea Market Decorating 5.) TimHoltz.com

Beacon Art Show 5

Age Old Music 24x36

For the second year in a row I've been accepted into the juried Beacon Art Show, sponsored by the Methodist Church in San Luis Obispo. I was quite pleased to have sold my piece last year and hoping for another sale this year as well.



This piece done on red rosin paper and then mounted on canvas features different sized xeroxed copies of Caravaggio's The Lute Player. I used water soluble oil pastels on the faces in several colour combinations and both vertically and horizontally. The blue, white and red palette is one I use often, but the addition of yellow was something different and really "pops".

The show runs through the first week in April
and is being held in the church hall.

Suitcase Saturday

This week's case is another of those delightful reproductions from Ross. Lots of leather, a floral design and plenty of straps and catches.



It's home to my collection of vintage patterns. These are so fun - not only the wonderful old graphics on the envelopes,



but the pattern tissue, with all its marks and wording, makes a great extra layer on a journal page or in a collage.

Bluer Than Blue

If you look closely you can see the texture the wrinkled pattern pieces gave the edges on this blue type drawer.

More Pages

More pages from my latest daily journal.

It's fun gathering images from magazines, old books,

even wrapping paper,

and combining them to fit with the story of everyday life.