Gifts from the Sea

This is a small ceramic dish I keep on my desk at work. It is full of wonderful things from the beach here in Cambria. many I've found on my walks, and friends and co-workers have brought the others in for me. Shells, polished stones, bottle caps, pull tabs, bits of wire and old pottery, driftwood, even a rusted spark plug. It's the perfect pile of mixed media inspiration to keep me going during the work day until I can get back to the studio in the evenings!

Cigar Box Wednesday

When is a cigar box not a cigar box? When it's a vintage tackle box. And this one holds my metal working tools.

A butane torch, files, hammer, slab,

and my metal punch alphabets and numbers.

Found Objects Stack Up

Having fun, digging through a cigar box
of bits and bobs, this and that.

Arranging, rearranging, placing "just so".

A little glue, a little wire - voila! Found stacks.

Cutting Edge 2

Here are 2 of the more interesting members
of my scissors collection.

This many bladed monster is a shredding scissor. I got mine here locally at a little art/gift shop - but if you Google "shredding scissors" you'll find lots of them, at a wide variety of prices. They were created to let people shred bills, personal papers, etc. - but they are wonderful for paper artists. Just make one cut - instant fringe or dozens of teeny tiny strips - endless possibilities!


And this handy little pair folds up to look like a pen and then opens up to be scissors. Thanks to Fran Meneley for finding these! They fit perfectly in my pen bag and I've had it from good authority that they will pass through airport security. I have taken the kindergarten ones out of the bag and replaced them with this beauty!

Life on the Coast

This little outcropping at the northern end of Morro Bay is the perfect place for cormorants to dry their wings. This shot taken on a beautiful, rare, sunny summer morning.

Cemetery Saturday

photo courtesy of PaulineChhooi

This wall in Krakow, at the Synagogue Remu, is
made up of shattered grave stones.

photo courtesy of becomingwittnesses

This is a memorial at the Radegoszcz train station near Lodz, Poland. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were put on box cars here and transported to the various concentration camps. The memorial is made to look like tombstones and each one bears the name of one of the camps.

From the Bookshelf

I'm having fun perusing this book by Traci Bunkers. If you're new to art journaling this is a great place to start. But it's also wonderful for those of us that have been doing it for years. Lots of techniques, (some that I knew but had forgotten about), lots of step-by-step, good materials lists and descriptions of what materials do and how to use them. Also a DVD that shows time-lapse of pages being created. A nice format with bright colours and bold graphics. Definitely a good addition to your mixed media bookshelf.

Book and Author Fest Exhibit

It's almost time for the annual Book and Author Fest here in San Luis Obispo County. During the month of August several of the local libraries will be exhibiting altered books and original book illustrations.

The Pity of War

All this leading up to the weekend of the festival on Sept. 16-17, when all the work will be displayed at the San Luis Obispo Art Center and available for purchase.

Facebook 1837

I was lucky enough last year to sell one of my pieces at the festival and am hoping for another sale this time as well.

In Vogue

I will have three books entered -
The Pity of War, In Vogue and Facebook 1837.

Cigar Box Wednesday

When is a cigar box not a cigar box? When it's a metal lunch box - this one is a repro from The Container Store and just the right size to hold all my glue.



Until you start doing mixed media art you have no idea how many types of glue are out there - glue sticks, PVA, Yes!, Liquid Nails, glue dots, E-6000, The Ultimate, yada-yada-yada.



And each one works best for a particular situation. And then of course, there's gel medium and matte medium and...

Cutting Edge

Scissors in a variety of shapes, sizes, and styles. This is just a selection of the many I have; in my studio, on the work bench in the garage studio, and tucked away waiting to be used in an assemblage.


Purchased at craft stores, fabric stores, thrift stores, flea markets, Renaissance Faires, swap meets, garage sales, and one or two found on the street! But with all these and more I find myself generally using just two - the orange Fiskars or the ones with the blue handles.