Valentines Day Arts and Crafts Sale

I am participating in a 3 day show in Boise. 16 artists have taken over a vacant store front, it has been lots of fun meeting new people and lots of local artists that I had not met before. We are located at 6521 Ustick Rd. Tomorrow, Valentines Day will be our last day and we will be there from 11-6. The above picture is a photo of my booth of assemblages.
I did make a few new things for this show with a heart theme. These hearts I had tole-painted back in the 80's and updated them with some glitter hearts.
This is an assemblage piece I just made titled "Ode to Granny" The original photo is of an unknown woman I found in the bottom of a box at a thrift store. She is on a tin heart candle holder that I have attached pearls, beads and a miniature ceramic vase and hangs by a gray ribbon.

Inchie's Frame

A couple of posts back I told y'all (I can say that since I have lived most of my life in Texas) that I entered a challenge to create some 1" collages called "inchies" Well I won the challenge, I think her cat picked the winners:) and my prize was a frame for one of my inchie's. It came just a couple days after I won, all the way from B.C. Candada. http://www.artchixstudio.com
The above photo are all the cool things that came along with my winning package.

Here is what I did with my frame. Lots of fun.

Those cold gray days of winter

I think we are all a little tired of the cold gray days of winter. Not everyone can jet off to Mexico or Hawaii, so with us poor folks stuck in the gray in mind I have created the I Wish I Was Someplace Tropical -drink/candle holder. Bird and wooden base from the Salvation Army, Coral from Florida from the 1960's, metal coaster from my family from the 60's, Fish from Belize.

This piece along with many others will be for sale at the February Arts and Crafts Sale this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday 11-6 at 6521 Ustick Rd. Boise. Come stop by and say hi.

Good Luck

I just finished reading a book about survival in extreme conditions, and who survives and why. It pays to be prepared and to be able to keep your head in an emergency, but like a roll of the dice...a lot of it comes down to just plain 'ole good luck.

This piece came about when I was testing the whole wax with resin idea on the plastic cowboy.
The cowboy is in a top from a tea canister. The words in wire and beads that spell Good Luck were given to me by my daughters when they both gave me all of their scrap booking paraphernalia. I added the dice as a symbol of luck. All the items are attached to a metal tin that a CD came in. The yellow thing is also a test piece for the wax/resin. It is a button in a metal bottle cap.

Butterfly Brilliance

Butterfly lamp- found parts of lamps at 2 different thrift stores. The base even had a bulb in it that worked! I put them together added silk butterflies and leaves and painted the same on the shade. Cute little lamp selling for $25.

YouTube Artist Video's

So after a short tutorial on how to embed these into my blog. I now have all 3 videos on here. If you missed the story about these, just read my previous blog. Randall filmed me for about 45 minutes. Unscripted, no re-takes, had to think fast. Of the 45 minutes of speaking he edited it down to 3 videos of about 23 minutes total time.



Though it is painful to see oneself as others see you, I think it turned out pretty well, and I'm not too embarrassed to share it with all of you.

Things are happening this week!

So I met this muralist the other night at the Treasure Valley Artist Alliance "Mingle at the Modern." Randall Miller who is making educational video's of artists. He films them in their studio's or homes and just lets them talk about their art. I thought what a cool idea, but I don't think I'll do it. Then I saw one he did of Melissa, another artist in the TVAA, whose work I really admire and thought- I can do that.

We made an appointment and he came over yesterday at 3. We walked around the house and into the studio and back patio and I showed a lot of my art and collections and talked about my evolution from painting to collage to adding 3D elements to doing almost all 3d assemblage at this point.

I know I was very nervous at first- having no script, and when I am nervous I talk really fast, and say dumb stuff like " you can see my art at: and then I gave my email address. My husband was listening from the back room and assured me I sounded very articulate.

Tonight I went on to YouTube and found he already put part one up-here is the link to my first YouTube video.

I also went on my first docent tour Tuesday at the Boise Art Museum and followed my mentor Bonnie Peacher. What a good experience that was.

Then I wrapped up the day by going down to Kristy's studio and got to hang with Kristy, Marianne, Vicki, and Nancy while working on a new assemblage piece and drinking some good wine Marianne found at the Grocery Outlet of all places. It's always refreshing to get to work with others instead of by myself, though it is hard to decide what to pack and bring and then you always forget something you really need!

The fun did not end today when I was notified that I won my very first online art challenge! It was the "Inchie" challenge I blogged about a few days ago and won a frame for them. Yeah!

Working with Wax

I have been intrigued with using wax in my work but had never done it before. I had an old double boiler I had saved for years for just this purpose but left it behind in Texas when we moved out west without ever having used it.:(

I had heard about encaustics but was told it was really expensive to get into. Then when I was at Art & Soul in Portland last year, I was given an artist trading card by one of my teachers and she had used wax on it. At the make and take table we collaged a tag and then dipped the whole thing in melted wax.

I decided to try this at home. My experience- First off, don't float a pie tin in a skillet of water and expect it to stay upright. The wax melted and the whole thing started tipping into the water. So I got wax in my good skillet and water in my wax. Then called my husband to come help, he didn't know what was going on and grabbed the whole thing and poured it down the sink! My daughter then reminded me that I had a little melting pot somewhere, that plugs into the wall and is made just for this purpose! duh! Much easier!

The Dia De Los Muertos frame is a collage of paper and 3D elements that I then spooned melted wax over and used water soluble oil pastels on top to add some color. Then coated it all with matte medium. The picture is removable, so you can add your own if you like.

The bottom project is a handmade wooden box filled with bottle caps that I have painted and glued into the box. I gathered together a collection of charms and small items that went well together color wise, some of which I have had since I was a small child. A charm was placed in each compartment and then I poured the wax over them. Somehow it didn't quite look finished, as after the wax was dry some of the pieces were still loose- so I poured resin over the top of each one to seal them in. I stamped "The ABC's of Every Little Thing"around the edges of the wood. And have decided to give it the name of my blog as this piece typifies what I am trying to do with my art. I am not sure if it is finished yet. Suggestions welcome.

fun time scouting for cool stuff

Katherine and I had lots of fun going to thrift stores yesterday. I dumped it all out on the table and added up the receipts. I spent a total of $7.88 I can feel good about it being stuff that no body wanted anymore and the $ goes to charity.

Katherine had done a massive room cleaning and had to drop some stuff off at the Salvation Army and of course since I was there I had to look around and found a whole bag of misc. game pieces, then while we were out we might as well stop in at the Antique Mall- were I bought the Victorian lock, then it was on to the Idaho Youth Ranch, cause I need a lampshade for a project and still had not found one- BINGO! they had a slew of them, picked one out and yes- it fit! Tonight's project is to paint butterflies on it to match the base.

Today I went to find the location of my next art sale. Feb. 12, 13 and 14 from 11-6 at 6521 Ustick Road, Boise. We are located between a sex shop and a Baptist Church! Stop by and say hi.

Inchies

I have seen a lot of different on line "art challenges" and this one seemed just right. The challenge was to create 5 "inchies" I had never made an inchie before...but turns out they are just a 1" collage. 1" is pretty tiny, but it was fun! This could become addictive. I will be making more.
If you would like to join in on the fun go to:
http://myartisticlife.typepad.com/my_artistic_life/2010/01/new-art-challenge-inchies-winners-more.html

These are also posted on my Flicker site along with a category for ATC's, collages, and Found Object Assemblages. http://www.flickr.com/photos/75115793@N00/

Upcycling

Upcycling
A term coined to describe the creation of a product with higher intrinsic value, manufactured from a material at the end of its service life, which had a lower initial end use value.

I had heard this term before but wasn't sure of it's exact meaning, so I looked it up today at http://www.egreenideas.com/glossary.php?group=u

and saw that that is exactly what I am doing as I am purchasing or using things that people no longer want or have a purpose for because it is outdated, or broken or missing parts and by combining it with other items I am turning it into a piece of art, hopefully making something new that someone can relate to and want in their life.

The "Kiss of an Angel" Jewelry Box was a joint effort between my daughter and I. She purchased a plain old used boring brown jewelry box at a thrift store, then painted it white and distressed it and added some crocheted doilies. I made the top out of leftover "greenery" a metal candlestick holder and an angel that looked as though it was missing it's kissing cousin...and antiqued it with acrylic paint. All of this was then attached to the top of the jewelry box.

Ducks in a Drawer

In keeping with my theme of double alliteration...

I bought this jewelry box drawer at the "bins" a warehouse filled with bins of leftover garage sale type items that can't be sold at a regular thrift store. The bins are just stuffed with everything imaginable including lots of broken glass. I find it so sad that things are just thrown in all together in a huge jumbled mess and not more organized. This is kind of like last stop shopping before the city dump. After you collect your items they are put on a scale and you pay 50 cents a pound. I don't think I have ever paid over $2.

Once I found a bunch of cool things to use in my assemblages but the line was really long so I just put the stuff down and left and now every so often, I think of one of those items and try to find it in my studio and how perfect it would be for a current project and then it dawns on me. oh shoot, I didn't buy that because of my aversion to waiting in a line!

I will do anything to avoid waiting in a line.
One time I was at a JoAnnes or Michaels in Dallas and was in line and I heard a woman in a loud voice on her cell phone talking about the rude person that cut in front of her and all of a sudden it dawned on me that she was talking about me! The thing was I am always very polite and I did not cut her off but because I got there before she did, (they had just opened a new lane) she had to call her friend and vent! (She had a full cart and I had one item)

So anyway...I have this drawer and think, what can I do with it...ahh yes....ducks....but now the name reminds me of that Justin Timblerlake/ SNL skit. D....in a box. and I laugh and blush every time.

ATC's

Here are the Artist Trading Cards I finished last night at the studio, they are a mixture of collage and acrylic paint and marker.

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artist_trading_card:

Artist Trading Cards (or ATCs) are miniature works of art about the same size as modern baseball cards,^[1] or 2 ½ X 3 ½ inches (6cm X 9cm),^[2] small enough to fit inside standard card-collector pockets, sleeves or sheets.^[3] The ATC movement developed out of the mail art movement and has its origins in Switzerland.^[4] Cards are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc). The cards are usually traded or exchanged rather than sold.

Productive day and night

After my last post of getting organized and getting stuff done, I hadn't posted or finished any art. Not that I haven't been doing anything, just not finishing anything.

Well I got a lot done today! I finished about 6 new pieces of art that had been in various stages. Including the one above.

Then I went to Kristy's Studio that she is an Artist In Residence in in BoDo. Nancy, Marianne, Kristy and I had fun hanging out and working on our art. I completed 10 ATC's. Kristy has the studio until the end of February so we will probably go back next Tuesday evening.

Some of my other projects have been getting started as a docent at the Art Museum. Getting voted onto the board of directors for a new non-profit starting up- The Treasure Valley Artist Alliance, entering a 3 day recycled theme arts and craft fair held on Valentines weekend and starting a Facebook page for my art titled "Every Little Thing." Guess I haven't been slacking after all!

This assemblage was put together using 2 odd's and ends I had floating around that I had picked up at thrift stores. Playing around with them I saw that they fit together and kind of looked like a trophy. My good friend Sharki gave me a necklace for my birthday/Christmas and the packaging that came with it was too good to throw away and I cut it out and used it for the "plaque" on the trophy. It says "Dear friends are always close to the heart." I also attached some gold beads and caulking and then painted layers of color to unify the piece and make it look old.

What a mess...with a pleasant surprise

So I went to pick up all my art that didn't sell over the holiday's at the Organic Nursery, items to repair... and then had a large tub of art to go through that was picked up for me by Nancy from the Gypsy Show downtown, then I received a notice from the IRS that they didn't receive my sales tax payment from last quarter. My art room is piles high....my husband is occupied teaching a class tonight...sooo...


I'm lighting a fire in the fireplace, (one of the reasons I wanted this house and this room in particular for my studio) pouring a glass of wine and here goes....time to get organized.

But first I have to blog about it...staaallling.....

This ties up the ends on my first full year as a full time artist and I was pleasantly surprised when I added it all up. I sold 52 pieces this year! I was really shocked , I had no idea I had sold that many pieces. Yes I keep track but each event's sales doesn't seem like much but when you add it up, it's one a week for a year.

My next show will be First Thursday in March. Downtown Boise, Place TBA. A good reason to get back on track.

Keep posted for what's next for the New Year!

Treasure Hunting in San Antonio

Well I was 2 weeks in San Antonio with my dad. He was not expected to live more than 2-3 days when I arrived but he is one tough old man and beat the pneumonia. I was fortunate to be there for the big move into a Nursing home and things are stable for now. Of course I got sick for the first time in 3 years from the stress and germs and little sleep one gets from sleeping in the hospital.

I did get to go out a couple times while there. My cousin Nancy and her family came down from NJ and we went to a Mercado were I picked up these cute hand made charms. Now to think what to do with them.
I stayed with my sister Dana who lives in a small town in the Hill Country and while waiting for her son to take his guitar lesson we went into an Antique Store and I found this mixture of items just waiting for a project on the letter "D"...
Nothing is glued down but this is the general idea I came up with, I also have some old dominoes and a vintage picture of children playing dominoes that also fit with the letter theme.
While I was thinking about D's...I found these cute little ducks in my collection and thought they would fit great in this little drawer. "Ducks in a Drawer?"

A Bright Spot In An All Around Grey Day

Today was grey in more ways than just the sky and the cold and the... well everything is grey and drab and cold. My sister called from Texas to tell me that my dad was taken by ambulance back to the hospital with pneumonia. He had only been home 2 days after being in the hospital for 7 weeks and things aren't looking good. I have reservations to fly down next Sunday, may have to change that to tomorrow.

So this piece is my one piece of brightness in the day-I already had the flowers in the frame, I collaged the frame, adding tissue paper, stickers, buttons and bows. It is for the letter F. Family, Friends, Flowers, Forever.
I am not an emotional eater but I am craving macaroni and cheese. comfort food, right?

December Doings

The house guests are all gone from November, first we had my sister in law and her husband and then we had my daughter and her boyfriend. I really do enjoy having company come see us. I do have to sacrifice my studio space as that doubles as the guest room but that is a small price to pay for seeing those we love. Besides it gives me a concrete reason and deadline to clean and organize it, as it does get out of hand quite often. So anyway now that it is quiet around here I have been busy making stuff.

The collage above is titled " A Walk in the Woods" It is in a 3x5 frame that I already had, then I found the photo in an advertisement and cut it up and collaged over it. This scene reminds me of the last two winters in Idaho and snowshoeing in the beautiful back country. Then to the frame I glued a leaf button and some gold plant like items from a thrift store.
This piece I made with my friend Lindsay in mind. She owns the North End Organic Nursery and I have about 30 some odd pieces of art on display in their retail shop. I stopped by this morning and she said they already sold 2. the piece above I call Beautiful Boise in the Spring. I painted the house frame and made a backing for it, cutting out 2 openings for the larger flower pieces. Most of the items are thrift store finds. The lamb is a vintage lamb that was my mothers. Behind the lamb is a photo of the Boise foothills were you can sometimes find sheep grazing. One thing I love about Boise is the four seasons and spring IS beautiful. Guess I'm already looking forward to it and it is only December!
The last time I fished was in Girl Scouts off the pier at South Padre Island TX and didn't catch anything, so even though I am not a fisherman, I like piers and boats and water. I was in Monterrey CA this past spring and saw all the sea lions sunbathing on the fishing piers. This piece is called Fun Fishing.

If you read my blog and are in Boise, our winter Gypsy Gallery Show will be up for an extra week until the 13th! I had fun sitting down there this afternoon, it looks so pretty with all the Christmas Trees and lights and my friend Nancy came down and sat with me for a while and then we went next door to Macy's and promptly spent any $ we had made from our art. (But we did get some good deals)

Gypsy Gallery

Last night my daughter and her boyfriend and my husband helped me set up for the Gypsy Gallery's 7th Annual Holiday Show at the Empire Building, 10th and Idaho, which opens today, Tuesday, December 1. Show hours are Tuesday December 1 through Saturday December 5, open 11-1 and 4-6 T, W, F; 11-1 and 4-9 First Thursday, 10-5 Saturday and 11-3 Sunday.

Marianne, a friend and fellow artist who was one of the founders of the Gypsy Gallery wrote up a nice history of the group on her blog today, so if you want to know more about it...check out her blog @

http://mkonvalinka.blogspot.com/2009/12/about-gypsy-gallery.html

There will be 19 of us set up- we will all be there on Thursday night but are taking turns sitting with the art the rest of the week. I am going down tomorrow at 1 to learn the procedures and then my first shift is from 4-6.

Time to Change the Decorations

My daughter and her boyfriend flew into town on Thanksgiving and are staying till Tuesday. We have had fun cooking together, playing games...Scrabble, Mexican Train dominoes and went bowling.

We are happy to say we did not buy a thing on Black Friday except we did visit the local store that was opening for the very first time that was showing my art and I bought a "Think Boise First" coupon book which was more of a donation than anything else.

Saturday we did go out shopping but at thrift stores, the ultimate green shopping. I bought the PEACE sign above and then spent this afternoon adding some red paint to match our front door and added some more bling.

Happy Thanksgiving

This is one of my latest pieces of art and it looked befitting for Thanksgiving as the girl seems to be thankful. This piece was made from a small tin, purple beads, a small doll from a thrift store, a playing card and a "crystal."

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I am thankful for my health, my patient husband, my 2 children in college that will be with me tomorrow and through the weekend, and my art. I am sad that my dad is still in the hospital after 6 weeks. I don't know that he will ever be going home. I love you Dad.

North End Organic Nursery

My friends and neighbors Lindsay and Ray are starting a new business all about being "green" and "local", Lindsay asked if I would like to put some of my pieces in their new gift shop which is opening this Friday- Black Friday. She was especially looking for things that used recycled materials. I spent yesterday going through my inventory and picked out 32 items to box up and bring her today. Wednesday will be spent setting up the shop and I am going to go down and help, the cool thing is the location is less than a mile away and they did not build a new building but are recycling and reclaiming a structure that has been empty ever since we moved here 2 years ago.

So how are the items above made using recycled materials you might ask? Well they are all made of items I either already had or found at garage sales, thrift stores etc. then I put them together in new ways and give them a second life. What was once someone's trash can now be someone else's treasure.

Wine is Bottled Poetry

Wine corks, a small chalk board, a picture of grapes and a good quote.


I feel bad begging out of a hike up a mountain in the midst of a cold and windy front coming in today. But now I get to do my blog (If you have noticed I am trying to do one a day.) And have all day to get my art ready for two holiday shows that are coming up soon.

Small tins boxes and a bit of imagination...

I have collected small tins for a while just because they might come in handy some day. I also had a little drawer of metal "spacers" to use in between a piece of art and a picture frame to take up some slack. I was playing around with my metal items and figured out I could take the top of the tin off with plyers and glue the spacer to the top of the tin so it could hang and be a little "shrine."

Yeah for a working internet connection!

Good bye and best wishes CLEAR, formally Clearwire...piece of crap, hello Cable One my new sweetheart.:)


Anyway back to the artistic alphabet:

"N" is for Nest.

How I came up with the Idea:
1. I received this charm with the word "nest" on it at Art and Soul.
2. I already had the nest and eggs and a bird.
3. Also had this candle holder and put it all together!

"A" is for Angel.

How I came up with the Idea:
1. I had bought this porcelain doll head because it came in a package with the hands that I needed to purchase for a class.
2. I heard someone mention that they used to put angel wings on everything they did.
3. I found this block with a A on it and voila!

Nancy's Nightmare

When Nancy and I signed up for Art and Soul we received long lists of things to find for our classes. One of the things to find for Michael DeMeng's class was "eyes." I have lots of doll's saved from when my girls were little but I couldn't bring myself to cut or tear out their eyes. Nancy went to several thrift stores and finally found some appropriate eyes on a cute little baby doll. When she went up to the counter to purchase it the lady said "awh, how cute! who are you buying it for?" and Nancy being in a foul mood anyway said, " I'm not giving it to anyone, I am going to cut it's eyes out with an exacto knife." The lady looked grief stricken and gave her her purchase.

After we came back from Portland, I found this picture of a doll factory were they are presumably putting the dolls eyes in their heads and I immediately thought of Nancy and her story. The metal base was purchased at The Reuseum, unique finds from the worlds of science, industry and government surplus. The hole in the center of this metal base has an "eye" suspended behind an old camera lens.

What's Behind Door Number One?

I found this neat picture frame at a resale shop in Eagle ID. For several months now I have pondered over what I could do with it. So here is how I came up with this piece:
1.My husband has been asking people this probability theory question that involves a Monty Hall style scenario were you have to pick what is behind door #1, door #2 or door #3. Most people get it wrong.
2. I found the magazine clippings: "She may be a bag of trouble" and the quote "Live Hard Regret Nothing."
3. I decided to make a collage with the quote "Live Hard Regret Nothing" and put it in the frame and said this would be my new motto for my next 50 years as in the past I have always regretted almost every choice I seem to make. (Maybe that is why I am so indecisive and have found it easier to live with other people's choices)
4. I decided the frame needed something else, but didn't know what...it sat like this for another couple months. Then I went to Art and Soul in Portland and came back with all these great game pieces and such and the final idea was born.

Frogs at the Studio

Tonight was a fun night at the studio with Marianne and Katherine. When we arrived it was nice and warm but by the time we left it was in the 5o's in the building and I was shivering. None of us accomplished much but it is always nice to have someone to talk and gossip with and share ideas and a glass of wine.

While trying to decide what to work on tonight I came across a couple of frogs I had bought at a yard sale and decided to bring those along...then when I went to pick up Katherine, she handed me a frog and said "here, this is for you" so guess I was destined to do frogs tonight. This piece is made from an old tea tin, childrens wooden blocks, and a plastic tree, which was left for me to use tonight by Miriam whose studio space we meet at.

Now that I have wireless internet with a speed faster than the old setup were the decrepit hamster had to spin on his wheel in order to get enough bars on the modem to do anything, I will try to post more often and post more of the art I have been working on.

What happened to October?

The first weekend of October I went to Art & Soul with my friend Nancy and had a great time. I created a wonderful blog all about our adventures in Portland and fun classes we took, but when I tried to publish...it would not cooperate. Then got a call from Texas that my dad was in the hospital. I have been in San Antonio for 16 days, arrived back home the evening of the last day of the month. Dad can use all the prayers you've got.

The first photo is my 3D collage from Crystal Neubauer's class. We learned how to cut plexiglass with a jewelers saw and sandwich the main element of the collage in between 2 pieces.

The second photo is one of 4 pieces I completed in Micheal DeMeng's class. I loved his definition of Assemblage: "gluing crap together." We learned lots of new techniques for layering color and making things look old and creepy. He does a class in Mexico every year for Dia De Los Muertos, I hope to be able to go next year.