From the Bookshelf

I found this fascinating book on my recent trip to the San Francisco MOMA, in their wonderful gift shop. Amazing and hard to put down.  Not everyone's type of eye candy but I love it.  Here's what Amazon has to say:

Skulls, butterflies, hunting trophies, ancient Egyptian artifacts, the alleged skeletons of mythological creatures, and many other mysterious oddities fill cabinets of wonder. A centuries-old tradition developed in Europe during the Renaissance, cabinets of wonder (also known as curiosity cabinets) are once again in fashion. Shops, restaurants, and private residences echo these cabinets in their interior design, by making use of the eclectic vintage objects commonly featured in such collections. Cabinets of Wonder showcases exceptional collections in homes and museums, with more than 180 photographs, while also explaining the history behind the tradition, the best-known collections, and the types of objects typically displayed. Offering both a historical overview and a look into contemporary interior design, this extravagantly illustrated book celebrates the wonderfully odd world of cabinets of wonder.

Theatre of Dreams 2012

We took our annual trip to
Wendy Addison's Theatre of Dreams

 in Port Costa the day after Thanksgiving.

Lots of glitter, lots of colour, lots of magic!

Vintage beauty everywhere you look.

 New Christmas pennants, with a "circus-y stripe".

 We purchased a few presents for special friends,

pick up some letterpress discs and 

a new Christmas ornament.

And what trip to The Theatre of Dreams would be
complete without seeing the shadow dancer!

Open Fridays and Saturdays 10-4

through December 21.

Jasper Johns @ MOMA

 A wonderful stop at the San Francisco MOMA on our recent Thanksgiving trip to see the Jasper Johns exhibit that just opened and is running through February.

A nice selection of Johns' work - many of the number series, flags,targets and his "Seasons".  Also a fairly recent piece called "Bush Baby" that is being exhibited for the first time.

This 0-9, my personal favourite was not there, 

but there was plenty of artwork to see and absorb.

After finishing the Johns' exhibit I went to the 2nd floor permanent collection to visit this Robert Rauschenberg peice Collections.  I could stand and gaze at this piece for hours (and I have several times)and still find something new. For all of us who are mixed media artists I feel this piece is seminal to our art form. What we do is all here.  It's one of those pieces that must be seen in person to appreciate.  The textures, the layers, the colours.  Simply brilliant.

Suitcase Saturday

The Young Naturalist

This wonderfully vintage case belonged to Margot's father.  I used it to create a glimpse into a world of nature and science.  Full of test tubes, specimen cases, bottles and bags,
a vintage 1930's toy microscope, and dozens of examples of flora and fauna.

I even made a small altered book (upper left hand corner) detailing our intrepid young naturalist's adventures and experiences.  These assemblages in suitcases are quite fun to create and I especially enjoyed working on this one.
 

Happy Thanksgiving

A day to reflect on all the blessings we have -

 big and small; past, present and to come.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

4 Art Girlz - Etsy!

Our monthly marketing group, Art Girlz,
has opened an Etsy shop! 

  Featuring Margot & Destiny's Two of a Kind pendants, and

Debra's gorgeous jewelry creations (coming soon).

 My paper and 3D ephemera paks.  

Lots more to come as we get further listings put up.  

Life on the Coast

Weekend sunset with Rock and heron - Morro Bay Harbor.

From the Bookshelf

I first saw this book on Nick Bantock's coffee table when I was there for a weekend workshop several years ago. I found it fascinating and purchased my own copy.  Nick is well-known for his "altered" postcards and many of the ones in the book are similar to those he's used in his art.  "The Lure of Distant Lands" is an apt subtitle for this collection of turn of the (last) century photographs from Africa, the Middle and Far East.
They still seem exotic now over 100 years later, their impact on the Europeans and Americans of the day must have been stunning.  This makes a wonderful reference volume, and provides a tantalizing glimpse to a lost era.

Complicated Paper a la Anne Bagby

 Spent a bit of time this past weekend making complicated paper,

all of these done on Linco tissue paper,

 a very thin, strong tissue used in book making.

 I raided my stash of paper scraps that I keep in 

several drawers surrounding my art table.

I'm looking forward to amassing quite a stack of these and 

then having them available to use in my future projects.

The 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month

98  years have passed since this "war to end all wars"began.  And 94 since the first Armistice Day.  Now celebrated as Veterans' Day in America and Remembrance Day or Poppy Day (for the poppies of Flanders Field) in the UK.  Heartfelt thanks to those who have given the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe.

Suitcase Saturday -Pinterest Style

ths.gardenweb.com

These are delicious shots I've saved on my Pinterest board.    

fineartamerica.com

It seems there are a lot of suitcase fanatics out there!

suitcase files

It's nice to have company. And fun to find so many cool suitcases to drool over!                                                 

Front and Back

At the workshop with Anne Bagby she told us it's always a great idea to collage the backs of your small canvas boards and use a small detail brush to paint the sides black. This gives the work a wonderful "finished" look.

 There wasn't time to do this at the workshop   

 but I have done so now that I'm back home again.

 Here are two of the 5x7" collages I did
with their now collaged back sides.

Anne said she often puts a bunch of these in a basket at a show and people love to go through them - enjoying both sides.  A great idea for my next studio sale.

I'm In CPS Studios!

 Altered by the Sea Studio is in the
Winter Issue of Cloth Paper Scissors Studios

 magazine that went on sale yesterday at newsstands.

I'm quite pleased with the article, they

 did very little editing to what I sent in.

My younger daughter Jenny did  a 

beautiful job with the photography, 

this is her first photo credit in a national magazine!

At the beginning of January I set myself a goal of submitting my studio (getting the pictures taken, writing the submission paragraphs, etc.) and hopefully seeing it in the magazine by year's end.  It feels quite good to have accomplished this!

Life on a Different Coast

Lobster buoys at rest in the Cape Cod autumn sunshine.

From the Book Shelf

Here's one for this Halloween week.  An over sized tome all about gargoyles.  With text by that master of "things that go bump in the night" Stephen King and stunningly fantastic photography by f-stop Fitzgerald.
For some reason there are several used copies of this for less than $2.00 on Amazon.  I picked mine up at a library book sale.  The timing was perfect so soon after my Perrella/Bagby workshop where we concentrated on working with faces - lot of wonderful and disturbing inspiration in here. Well put together - the combination of articulate text and Fitzgerald's stellar photos make this a winner.