A Few Things

My friend Adrienne was here yesterday checking out grad school and I got to spend the day with her. It was so nice to be in the print shop again and around my past professors and former classmates. It made me really miss school. Adrienne is making some fabulous new work so I know if she moves here it will be inspiring to work closer with her. Here are a couple of pieces from her website.

On Friday I was so happy to see that this little collection was featured on Claire's blog Dream's Are Necessary. They are necessary indeed and I have really been dreaming of seeing these little jars make there way out into the world. Thank you so much, Claire!

Claire has also been updating her shop with lots of handmade cuties including this super sweet tooth. I am always a sucker for a tooth with a face on it. Check out more from her shop here.

I was proudly featured along with this corset made up of Lisa Frank stickers. If I would have known this was ever a possibility I would have changed my mind on having my bridesmaids pick their own dresses.
What did you do this weekend? Dream about it as you get through your Monday.

xoxo

Friday Re-Runs

It's friday which means it's time for a blog re-run. Every Friday I go back in time and choose a post from blogging past to re-share. This post is coming to you from December 7, 2010. I miss doing Dreamy, Artful Couple features. I need to start doing them again. I think I just ran out of couples. If you are part of a dreamy artful team let and would like to be featured please let me know!

And now... December 7, 2010:

Dreamy, artful Couple is back now with more dreamy.

I know I have mentioned Diana Behl's work here several times. I've been a fan of hers since the first time I saw her work in a New American Paintings. When I found out I was going to get to meet her at Frogman's Print and Paper Workshop I was in happy shock. I had been looking at her work for so long it seemed a surprise to realize there was a live person I could meet. Diana is just as fabulous as I'd hoped and when I discovered she was dating Andrew Kosten it became a dreamy, artful couple overload. I had met Andrew at Frogman's also and always liked his work. His prints and drawings have a quiet quirkiness to them that are funny and sad at the same time.

The following are images of Diana's work. See more here.

Now a sampling of Andrew's work. See more from Andrew here.

Both Andrew's and Diana's works are like quiet whispers. They are like the game telephone where you whisper something from person to person and the whispers become more and more outrageous.

Here is a picture of the couple at the famous Pink Palace Museum in Memphis, Tennessee.

Are you a dreamy, artful couple and want to be featured? Contact me!

New in Shop!

Last night I had an animal jar photo shoot. I was pretty proud of myself for rigging up a backdrop for them with a light but they still managed to come out really yellow so I edited and edited. I know the rule is that you should usually take pictures during the daytime but I thought I had found a way to beat the system... I was wrong!

Thank goodness for editing programs. So this was how I spent most of my night.

Then I was able to get a couple of these sweetie-pie jars in my shop! Only two were posted last night but there will be many many more to come.
The Horse Jar is here. He would be perfect for holding art supplies or fun little treats for a child (or a grown-up. I love fun little treats.)

The Green Glitter Bunny Jar is here. She's small and sweet and perfect for a surprise gift.

These are so much fun to create and the photo shoots, though not perfect, are still fun to do. The jars are very good models!

Have a super fantastic day today!

Now and Then

I feel like I just got reacquainted with an artist I used to love several years ago. Back in the Myspace days I found many great artists including a girl who went by the name Cake. I even wrote about her about a year ago here.

I was on Flickr today looking through recent work uploaded by my contacts and I kept seeing these fabulous paintings by someone whose name was Super Future Kid. I loved the work but couldn't figure out who it was. After a click on the link and a look through the website it dawned on me that this is "Cake," whose real name is Stephanie Homa.

Her work continues to get better and better. She has such a whimsical way of dealing with stories that seem very dark. It's such a great blend of contemporary work with a definite historical influence. This is an artist who knows her art history.

I love her Flickr page because she posts a lot of work in-progress. I'm always enchanted by painters who can work on a large scale. It was something I could never really do. It's really magical. So I like seeing how it comes together. Check out her flicker here.

There is more work on her website here.

Obviously I am not the best at keeping up with my Flickr as that's why it took me far too long to put two and two together. I need more coffee. But I'm super happy to be reacquainted with this work. It's pretty inspiring and motivating me to get in my studio.

Making Things Make Sense

After my post yesterday I got many great responses here and on Facebook from others who were very inspired by what Jessica Swift had to say. I also received plenty of encouragement which I'm forever grateful for.

I worked in my studio yesterday and finally finished these two little collages I have been working on.

In this one I was using a wood frame and I thought about painting it but instead decided to hammer letters into it. I liked the type-o that happened. Reminds me of a calculator.

I've been thinking a lot about this work and what it means. I'm making these strange landscapes that become a little clausterphobic. I think it some ways they represent what is happening inside my head and how I over think everything and worry so much. Maybe instead of art imitating life, life can imitate art and I can make really sparse collages and then stop thinking so much. Does it work that way?

Last night I glued animals to jar lids by candle light as we watched the season finale of The Walking Dead. Do you watch it? Whoa Baby was that episode intense.

I'm off to style my hair and work at a beautiful store for the rest of the day.

xoxo

Inspired To Do More

This is a photo I took forever ago. I still love how it makes me feel.

I just read the most inspiring blogpost today at JessicaSwift.com. I have mentioned lately how I have been moving at a snail's pace with my art for fear of failure but I have also been this way with getting my work out and showing it for the same reasons. I have also talked about my interest in getting into craft fairs and really making a go at making a living this way. That's why reading this post today really felt like it was written just for me. Sometimes it's so hard to take a chance on yourself. When people around you are critical about such a "path less traveled" option it's easy to succumb to that way of thinking and convince yourself that you never stand a chance. I once had a teacher tell me that I always sabotage myself and never really let myself be that good at something. I don't want to be that way anymore. I'm going to work harder and really start believing. I always considered myself an optimistic person but I see now that I was optimistic for a distant future but not the right now. I always figured someday I would be more successful but why can't I be more successful today? I'm truly lucky in a lot of ways because I have a super supportive partner and co-workers and friends. They seem to believe in me... now it's my turn to do the same.

Read the post at JessicaSwift.com here. I hope it inspires you to believe in yourself as much as it has me.

Friday Re-Runs

It's Friday Re-Run! This one is from December 9, 2009. I'm missing being a printmaker today and working in the shop with great peeps. I'm also missing critiques and all the great feedback I used to get. Oh grad school!

The other day in the studio I was working with balloons...

and making this.

my fellow classmates got ahold of all my extra balloons and were doing this...

I love the printmakers.

In other news I had my final crit of the semester in printmaking last night and I'm super excited about all the ideas and feedback I got. I finally have a real vision for my thesis show and it's something I can't believe I haven't been doing all along. I think I just needed someone to tell me it was okay to do it. The past three years I've gotten so hung up on worrying what is art. I think sometimes my professors got frustrated with me because I was always second guessing myself. I'd make something but would always say: yes, but is it REAL art? I'm sure I've talked about that here before. I get too hung up worrying about the difference between art and Art. Finally I've accepted that there is no difference. Now I feel free! And ready to get back to the studio. But I woke up with a sore throat and headache. This bums me out because my body feels absolutely out of commission. I'll rest today and get back at it again tomorrow. I have a crit with my print faculty Friday and I'm looking forward to it. Wish me luck and cross your toes!

Forever In-Progress

Good Morning!

I think I'm procrastinating again...

I'm in the middle of working on a new kind of banner and while part of me is saying "Don't think, just do!" The other part of me is still moving along ever-so-slowly.

I posted my glitter letters while I was glittering them. Here they are drying from the clear acrylic coat I just sprayed on them.

Last night I finally decided to try to make this happen. This was how it went: I would go near it for a bit, hang something, walk away, drink some water, read news on my phone, hang something else, look through Instagram photos, look something up on the internet, ask my boyfriend his opinion, and finally I hung the last strand of fringey trim and promptly went to bed.

It's not finished. I'm still well in the stage of figuring this one out. I think the huge amount of problem solving is getting to me but I really do love the progress so far. I want it to be amazing! After seeing it hung on the wall like this I realize the gold needs to come up in the middle. Also, there should probably be feathers. I can't do anything without feathers.

I feel like by tracking my progress here I will be more on the ball getting this done. Maybe by the end of next week it will almost be finished. / :
What I have really been keeping up with are these animal jars. I want to get a lot of them done so should I do art fairs I will have plenty. They are really addictive to make. Here is a family portrait.
And here are a few wanting special attention.

Since I started making these I've been trying to figure out how to package them. So far I like them like this with tissue paper and a ribbon. I may buy fun little cheapy toys to stick inside so each one comes with a surprise.

Have a fantastic day today. If you find yourself in a procrastination cycle think of me. No! Don't think of me! Think of your project and how to finish it!

xoxo