Popcorn, a Movie tin and a map

The parts come together. A movie tin from an old 8mm movie reel,  plastic popcorn on a string found at a church rummage sale, a map, a scrapbook page of movie stuff, and barbie and doll house miniatures that I repurposed with paint and collage. 

On top of it all is a layer of 2 part resin. I was working on this piece during open studios  earlier this month and several visitors told me I should sell it to the local art house movie theatre. I don't know the owner and I am not going to do that but it did give me the idea to enter it in a local show of Boise Art and I named it "The Flicks" (the name of the previous mentioned theatre)

"Ephemera Central"

 Nancy, Geoff and I had 77 visitors to our open studio this weekend. Most seemed to be artists looking for ideas for their own studios or students that were out interviewing artists for a school assignment.  I had a woman who had taken a class from me come by and another woman that had purchased a piece of art from me from one of the TVAA shows and wanted to see where I had created it.  A few friends came by which is always nice, and one bought a piece of my art for his new home.  A few people had seen my art at Green Chutes and were curious as to how I kept all my little pieces organized. One gentleman called my studio "Ephemera Central" and another said it was a room of Organized Clutter. 
There was some interest in possible commissions and in me teaching another class...so we will see.

The entrance is flanked by Nancy and Geoff's doors that were on display at the museum last week. 

Geoff Everts working on Bas Relief in clay.

Nancy Panganiban creating one of a kind paper mache sea creatures.

That's me working on some projects. I finished 3 and started 2 others.

T Assemblage- lot's of fun looking for this that start with the letter T: tiger, turtle, turkey, tree, trumpet,  Terriff's Toilet Soap. 

A friend from TX saw some of my bike art on FaceBook and wanted me to make her one. I finished this piece up and will mail it this week. She was thrilled.

The start of a new bike piece.

The start of a piece with a movie theme in a film real canister. 

My daughter and I  worked on several different versions of an ofrenda for the Dia De Los Muertos Exhibit  which will be held at the Idaho Historical Museum this November. This is not the final version. (another blog post for that one.) My daughter is involved in this project as she will be the installer of the piece at the museum.

All in all it was a very nice weekend, the weather cooperated beautifully. It was nice having friends over and it was nice having my daughter and her pug, Ray Charles spend the weekend with me. (and yes he is blind)

This week will be studio night at Marianne's and then it is off to Texas to teach my sip n paint class at the Texas Chocolate and Wine Festival. 

Open Studio Tours this weekend Oct. 13 & 14, 2012

ThThis is my third year to participate in BOSCO Boise Open Studio Collective Organization Studio tour weekend. I am looking forward to meeting new people interested in art and seeing familiar faces. Geoff Everts and Nancy Panganiban will be joining me with their art, so you get 3 for one! The first year Marianne Konvalina joined me, but now she has her own cool studio. This event always gives me a good excuse to do some straightening up. Well this year I took it to a whole new level and moved everything around. I just wasn't feeling so inspired in the space anymore, it felt way too cluttered. I didn't like facing the window/wall. So while my husband was out of town I turned the room upside down. I like it much better, what do you think? or better yet come by and see it. Maps are available in the Boise Weekly and at Art Source Gallery or email me for my address. 36 artists are participating this year! The only downside is I can't go! 

I forgot # 10!

In yesterday's post I talked about being gone for three weeks and all the art related things I had to do when I got back and I forgot # 10 which is to vote for me!
I was invited to be a RAW artist this year in a show in Boise. Because of that I am eligible to be in the running for the RawAwards. If you would like to help me out please go and vote for me! thank you.

I'm going to New York with my bike art, maybe I'll get to go to LA too! (That's were the final awards will be held)

1. Go to www.RAWartists.org and click REGISTER at the top of the homepage
2. Input a valid email address (only have to do this once)
3. Verify the email address by checking your email and confirming it
4. Log-on with your new registation and vote!

PLEASE NOTE: We provide this registration process so that we avoid cheaters, we're not going to spam the registered guests. We never sell or abuse anyone's contact information.

Vistors to the site can vote once a day, per craft category, until October 15th.

The Balance of Life and Art

1

 The immensity of the canyon walls of Moab, Utah contrasted with our truck and trailer at our campsite.

"Newspaper Rock" supposedly 2,000 years of history (Canyonlands, Utah)

Riding Gemini Bridges trail

I just returned from a fabulous 3 week road trip through Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. I road my bike in a 110 mile "Cino Heroica" ride in Northern Montana. We went to Estes Park and did some hiking/climbing and stayed with friends Gene and Denise. Then on to see our daughter in Denver. From there  we rode the awesome single track in Fruita, CO and then it was down to Moab Utah to meet up with David and Amy. We checked out the Bar M trails, the Klondike Bluffs and Gemini Bridges. We were going to go straight home from there but decided to stretch out the trip just a little bit longer and spent a day in Park City Utah. Their single track mountain bike trails are the only gold rated ones in the US, and now I can see why. Beautiful, and the trail up was one way, which made it really nice. We had a great ride! Celebrating my 53rd birthday in style. Then it was only a short drive back home.

So here comes the balance...It's hard to keep up on everything I am involved with in my art from the road.
1. I had my daughter mail my bike piece off to NYC for the World Bicycle Relief Project! The benefit gala is November 29 and I hope to attend!
2.  I tried to keep up best as I could with my obligations to Boise Open Studios which is coming up fast (Oct. 13 and 14) come see me!!
3. and for Treasure Valley Artist Alliance...our next meeting is tomorrow at the CAAC in downtown Boise...an artist panel...hope you join us!
4. I was featured on Seth's Blog!
5. I sold a piece of art at the C.W. Moore Building in Boise through the Gypsy Gallery show!
6. This Thursday is our BOSCO demonstrations at the Boise Art Museum.
7. Friday is the BOSCO opening at the Visual Arts Collective. ( I have 2 pieces in the show)
8. Sold a couple pieces at the Boise Art Museum Gift Shop and at Green Chutes!
9. I am doing a step by step painting class at my sister's Chocolate and Wine Festival in Texas, October  20th.

It's great to have a double life. Now it's time to stay home and clean the studio and get ready for the tours!

Riding to the Big Apple

I have had two main focuses of activity this summer my art and my bike riding.  They complement each other well as they each encompass different social, mental, and physical challenges and rewards.  While I enjoy this diversity I was also pleased to find some unexpected overlap.  It began when a friend who owns a local shop (Velomech) and the Boise Bicycle Project gifted me some old bike parts for my assemblage.  I put together several bike related pieces for the Sun Valley Bike Festival and other local venues, figuring that they might prove popular in our bike loving town of Boise.  I posted these on my blog and got an encouraging response from a blog buddy Rebeca who I recently visited in the Bay Area.  She told me about an interesting event she had recently entered sponsored by Scram called pART a fundraiser for World Bicycle Relief.  Not wanting to encroach on her space I inquired if the show was still open and Rebeca enthusiastically encouraged me to enter.

The more I researched the event, the more excited I got to be part of it.  The mission statement for the event is;  

(World Bicycle Relief serves people in underdeveloped regions of the world who suffer from lack of access to health care, education, and economic opportunity. With a bicycle you can travel four times farther, carry five times more, and save up to three hours a day in travel time (based on a 10-mile commute). So you can get to a doctor, to school, or to work faster and more safely. Doors closed by distance are now opened, as is the way to a better life. )

In addition to the chance to be part of this worthy project, there will be an auction / fundraiser in November held at a Chelsea theater in NYC that those accepted would be able to attend.

The more I learned about this exciting event the more I wanted to be a part of it, but I was late to the table and afraid I'd missed out.  With nothing to lose I contacted the event coordinators about getting in at the last minute.  To my delight I received this response.

 Pam We have had a great response from artists. I had set this years show at 75 and we have decided to expand to 90 artists. I have three slots open and 10 requests pending. the deadline for accepting the invitation is Aug 1. I looked at your site and think you'd be an artist that could contribute a great deal to the quality and talent I want. So to make it short Your in!!!! I was impressed by your work and of course the bike pieces you are a must so thank you and thank Rebecca. 

With this great news it is off to the races so to speak.

A week later I received a large box containing 100 bicycle parts donated by Sram. 

It was like Christmas opening all the little packages!

In a separate box I received this gessoed hardboard. Though I would be using the backside and not the nice gessoed frontside. 

I started playing around with the pieces seeing what would work. I decided on making a bike. I had to use at least 25 of the 100 bike parts.

Then had to decide on a background. I knew I wanted to use the bicycle chain. I was going to do a collage and use this painting of mine that is on a piece of canvas as the center of the collage. 

First I had to gesso the board as I was using the un gessoed side. 

I then scrapped the first idea and decided to do a whole painting on the board.  Using the idea from the first painting but changing it up a bit. Doing a kind of Van Gough sky. Adding a gate to the fence and a path for riding the bike. Riding in Idaho we have a lot of these wooden gates to open and close to keep the cattle in. 

Next was deciding on the frame color and treatment. I went with a  Silver Sage Metallic that I bought for 50 cents because the package had been damaged. This color goes well will the bike parts.

The bike evolved as I played around with the parts. Some pieces had to be sawed in 1/2 to work. 

After the painting was complete and the glue on the wheel parts and pedal pieces were dry I poured 2 part resin all over the painting and then laid the wheels and pedal into the resin.

After the resin cured for 72 hours, I glued down the rest of the bike , adding a gear and piece of glass for the sun. 

The finishing touch was adding some brand name stickers to the bike...Sram, Rock Shox, Truativ, and Avid, all owned by the same company who is sponsoring this event. I am quite happy with the way the piece turned out.

I hope to be able to make it to the New York City Gallery Show/ pART Project fundraising event which will be held on Thursday, November 29th, 2012 at the Cedar Lake Theater in the West Chelsea Historic District in New York City.

Family Painting Class

I am considering teaching one of those step by step painting classes where you complete a painting in an hour or two. So yesterday I went to Michaels and bought a bunch of brushes, acrylic paint and 11 x 14 stretched canvas.  Tonight after dinner at my sisters house it was decided that I would do a practice class. I thought it would be just my sisters that would want to participate but everyone wanted in on it! I had 7 students. From my 5 year old niece and 11 and 17 year old nephews, to my sisters and brother-in-law to my 76 year old mother! We set up a large folding table, chairs, paper towels, paints, water cups, plates for palettes and a still life. We started with the table line and went from there. It took an hour and 10 minutes. not including set up or clean up. All went well and fun was had by all!

Faith can't wait to get started!

sketching with paint

Demo

Grandma

I liked my sister Leslie's even better than my own!

Guess which one the 17 year did.