Mixed-media meditation

I think the latest girl for my class is surely the most in-depth mixed media piece I have ever done. I lost track of the numbers of layers involved with her and I used just about everything you could imagine. Stamps, collage, modeling compound, gold leaf, glass beads, glitter, mica powders, rhinestones, stencils, colored pencils, acrylics, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things. Once I got the initial layers down it turned into a theraputic project. I cant really describe it, but I had some music on and allowed myself to get lost in the process and not overthink anything. I just kept pulling out new things, adding them in and repeating. No worries over misplacement or misuse of material. I think it was a very freeing experience for me. Hopefully I will remember some of that freeness the next time I sit down to do art. I really need to be better about controlling my worries about it being perfect. Really nothing in life is perfect and by striving and failing I allow myself to become stagnant and afraid to make any move.

Here's to getting past our various fears, warranted or not, and finding enjoyment in trying new things.

Have a wonderful week.

More pretty girls

I'm still working on pretty girls by following SuziBlu's Petite Doll course. I'm not strictly following her instructions even though they are wonderful. I needed to get the girl in front of the piano out of my mind and onto paper/wood. She'll hang in my office for all my piano students to see on their arrival. The quote, from Plato, says: "Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything." Those aspects of communication are the reasons that music has been and always will be an integral part of my world. I have always expressed my emotions better through music than a spoken or written word. Unfortunatly, I feel that my spoken word truly deteriorated after my little mini stroke. I'm not truly complaining, I am very lucky at the mildness of the episode, but at times I truly cant find words, simple words, and it is very frustrating to the well-educated side of me to be lacking in this respect. Thankfully my musical skills seem to have withstood without a lasting negative effect. I can sit down and pour out every last drop of emotion. Happiness, sadness, grief, playfullness, just about anything can be articulately expressed through a song. It pours out any emotion and truly leave me feeling better, more level, like I've just been through some intensive therapy.
Anyways, once again my words are jumbling. I hope that each of you has that "something" that allows your world to be more peaceful and soothing. Take care.

Rodeo Girl Class with SuziBlu

I finally had the time to sign up for one of SuziBlu's online classes. I've been wanting to since she introduced the Petite Dolls, but didn't have the time to commit. The Rodeo Girl class is a series of 4 videos that allow you to finish a complete piece. It covered everything from lining up a face, using colored pencils (which I desperatly needed help with!), collage techniques,adding "grubbiness" and finally coating with beeswax.
I had a great time with this course. Her instructions on using and blending the colored pencils was invaluable for me. I could not be happier. She provides a pdf of the sketch with the class, but I choose to sketch my own versus tracing her pattern even though I stuck with the exact same design. I simply wanted to push my drawing/proportion skills and try my had at the body and face dimensions. Anyways, I really enjoyed this project and would highly recommend her classes to anyone wanting a class in developing faces.

I have begun to get back into my art, mostly due to this class. I've been busy drawing and coloring faces trying to get my shading better and better. Its nice to be back into art and relax through the process once again.

I hope you are doing well. Thanks for stopping by.

Sister Art Doll

I made this doll way back when Stampington & Co. first put out the challenge for "sister art." I decided to made a wonderful sister doll and I wanted her to open up so she could store all the secrets that sisters develope over their lifetimes. I started with a plain old wooden box from the craft store. I painted it a very messy blue/purple smear that appealled to me. I then went about collecting quotes on sisterhood from around the web. I formed legs and arms from polymer clay and used store bought molds to form her hands and feet. I shot wire through all her appendages so that she is loose and moveable. I painted the polymer segments and cut up quotes and glued them all over. Her torso, which includes boobs I sculpted out of a gluey paper mess, highlights the quote:

She is your mirror.

She is your mirror,

shining back at you with a world of possibilities.

She is your witness,

who sees you at your worst and best,

and loves you anyway.

She is your partner in crime,

your midnight companion,

someone who knows when you are smiling,

even in the dark.

She is your teacher,

your defense attorney,

your personal press agent,

even your shrink.

Some days,

she's the reason you wish you were an only child.

~Barbara Alpert

She opens up to show a mirror, words that brought my sister to minds, a paper heart that is multi-layered-just as my sisters heart, a locking drawer-because even sisters need to have some privacy, bottles holding precious shared memories and secrets.

Her head is made from a Mrs. Buttersworth syrup bottle. She had to be sacrificed and now I'm still using syrup stored in a tupperware. Her brain has the deepest sister secrets all balled up together with enough glue involved that those secrets will never escape.

She is embellished with many more quotes and topped off with some raffia type curls. I opted to not submit this for the magazine I originally crafted it for. Instead, I gave this to my sis for her birthday yesterday. I think she really likes it.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you're doing well.

A very merry christmas

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I'm sorry I've been such a bad blogger. Things get pretty hectic around Christmas when you're a church musician. Thankfully everything went well and all my big services are over. I even pulled up the nerve and played the harp for 3 different services.

Every year my family draws names and makes a gift for someone. This year I got my cousin Sarah. She loves frogs so I made her this puzzle box. I used 5 different boxes to modify and put together the final design. I used magnets to help everything stay in place when its closed. The frog sits on a dowel which must be removed in order to open the box and get the lid covering the drawers off. Lots of clay and paint made the box pretty. I think that she really loves it.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Long weekend away,

I have had a fabulous week. First of all I had a wonderfully fun halloween. We did our usual small family party at our house where we have a bunch of crock pots out for good eating, costumes if you want, trick or treating rounds with the kiddies if desired, sitting on the porch passing out treats, and new this year relaxing in the newly installed hot tub out back. As you can see this year I was Little Red Riding Hood. I had fun carrying around beers in my basket to pass out to deserving parents. (My first recipient was a man dressed in a pink ballerina tutu who actually pirrouetted for me!) I must admit that some trades were done with the beers as I was very open to accepting them as well as giving them away.

I made my nephew into a globe decoration as I had previously done with my neices. I just couldn't make him into a fairy, so we made him pose (rather reluctantly) in a dragon costume and then I glittered him up and surrounded him with his own treasure. He seems to be happy with the results.

We left fairly early on Saturday for our long weekend to Ohio wine country (east of Cleveland). It was beautiful weather with temps reaching in the high 60's and even along the lakeshore it wasn't to cold. We visited many of the wineries and ended up coming home with over a case of assorted wines! Such wino's huh? Craig's favorite winery was housed in the church you see above. The dismantled the building and moved it to where it now stands. It still has pews inside and you can clearly see where the alter was placed. The beautiful field picture is the view from across the street. We were pulling out and had to stop and get the camera back out because the lone tree amidst all the well kept rows of vines was stunning. We rented a beautiful house along the Grand River and the picture below is the backyard from where we stayed. It was very peaceful and relaxing. It was a perfect anniversary trip in celebration of 12 years of wedded bliss.

'Thank you so much for stopping by.

Halloween Extravaganza

I'm joining in the fun with Vanessa and the festive Halloween Extravaganza. After all, Halloween is one of my mostest favoritest days of the year. Who could resist a day where you can dress up however you wish, visit with neighbors and receive yummy goodies?

The wise old fortune teller warns me. According to her open minds are dangerous-your brains could fall out!

She's full of other advise as well, but I think you can believe that she doesn't know quite as much as she thinks she does. I guess that's what happens when you are stuck in a crystal ball.

Actually, the type of halloween I simply adore is filled with fantasy and dress up and letting those childhood dreams of fairy tales and magical kingdoms come to life. In honor of this, I have followed the lead of Tina Wright and her magical fairies she shared in Somerset Studion Gallery-Summer 2008. I loved her creations and the fact that she made them out of a wine glass really intrigued me. As soon as I saw them I wanted to make one of my own.

I used some fun photos of my 3 neices and went to work. Of course I had to add wings and glitter and fluffy furs. Crystals and crowns and fairy wands too. I stuck with themes of believing in yourself, play, and dreams because I hope that all 3 of these beautiful girls allows herself to do what she wants in life. And I think these 3 factors-if sufficiently explored-allow someone to truly know oneself and leads one to know what they will be happy doing in life.

The beautiful fairy wearing the black skirt has been expressing her creative self in amazing ways lately. She made this art all by herself. I love the way she's naturally employing mixed-media techniques of layering and using multiple materials. I visited her yesterday and loved that she wrote out the words, cut them off and then glued them on instead of just writing them where they ended. The cat cutout has been embellished with flower shaped crystals too. I thought this was pretty impressive for a kindergartener to accomplish all on her own.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a fantastic upcoming halloween