Monday, April 26, 2010

Spring Grove, Mixed Media Collage, 8x10

With my new schedule it took me longer than usual to complete this one; but it's finished and that's all that matters.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Carol Nelson - 100 Portraits in 100 Days



Carol Nelson Fine Art Blog

 
I was recently honored to have my portrait painted by artist, Carol Nelson, as part of her project to paint 100 oil portraits in 100 days. What an amazing undertaking! Please take a moment to visit her blog and scroll through her portraits. I was number 93 so she's nearly finished with this project. If you read her blog post about my portrait you'll see that I gave her carte blanche to go wild with the colors, which is why she gave me purple hair. (Mom, if you're reading this, that's probably as close as I'll ever get to dying my hair in French burgundy! :-D)


I particularly love her portraits of children and the elderly. She really captures the personality of her subjects in both these age groups. They're just wonderful!


If you go back to earlier posts of Carol, you discover just what a versatile artist she is. I started following Carol's blog because I fell in love with her abstracts. 


So please take a moment to visit Carol's blog and tell her I sent you!

Friday, April 23, 2010

Transitions

Different Worlds, Mixed Media Collage, 11x14

This is an older piece of mine. I created it five years ago and it is now a part of my own collection and perfectly illustrates my current status.( I can't believe how long it's been since I've published a post!)

For the first time in 14 years, I've taken a job outside the studio. Fortunately, when I left work 14 years ago to take up art full time, I made a conscientious effort to stay in touch with the left side of my brain and to make sure that it didn't become idle. I had a feeling that I might need it again some day; and I was right. My new position is completely left-brained. For the time being I'm only working part-time which gives me some time to adjust to office work again. I'm trying to balance my "different worlds" and find time for work, housework, husband, dog, kids and art work. 

I know that if I don't make time to create art, I'll die. Maybe not physically, but certainly emotionally. I also know that there are a lot of you out there who work full time and make lots of artwork, too, so I'm not whining; I promise! I'm just adjusting. Any advice you have to share will be greatly received.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Good Times, Good Food, Good Art!

seated from left: me, Sammi, Lorraine, Pam, Sara, Tina, Jen, Susan & Jay

"Those who hear not the music think the dancers mad." ~ Anonymous

The gals of TAGG met again last night for our April dinner meeting. We tried a new place this time,; Soffritto Italian Grill in Newark, Delaware. It was charming, very accommodating and the food was good.

There were seven of the usual suspects there and we were delighted that two guests joined us. Sara Jo Renzulli is a painter and fabric artist. Tina Skinner a fabric artist and the new director of the Oxford Arts Alliance in Oxford, Pennsylvania. 

We started "show & tell" before dinner; which was a good thing because there were some items that would not have been enhanced by marinara sauce. Our guest, Sara, led off with one of her needle felted critters; this absolutely adorable rabbit that you see here. 

It's made from various wools, including angora, and its flexible frame allows it to be repositioned. We just fell in love with this little guy. He's so soft and fluffy and is available through Sara's Etsy Shop.

Sammi, a sculptor by training, is a busy mom of two girls and has made the switch to fiber arts while the girls are still little. She shared with us a cute little sundress which she made for her daughter and a fetching crocheted vest which she made for herself complete with a corsage made from sari yarns.


And speaking of corsage's, Tina showed us the corsage she was wearing that she made from recycled fabrics. Tina, I discovered, is also the author of the Geisha Fan Book, which is available through Amazon.



Lorraine was busy with more gourds. This time she painted and etched teeny tiny little gourds. As some of the artists present thought of ways to re-purpose these gems a number of them were purchased right at the table. 
Lorraine plans to sell these at next month's artist studio tour in Cecil County. Meanwhile, other of her gourds can be purchased through Meadowbrooke Gourds.

Pam, who I can only describe as a Renaissance Woman, was telling us her idea for designing souvenir bandannas for a local state park. Pam is a cartographer by training and profession and can often find ways to incorporate maps into her artwork. Her inspiration for this project is this  bandanna depicting the Everglades and she's holding up to it a map of the local park which she plans to interpret into an artistic bandanna design. 

I should note that the felted bead necklace that Pam is wearing is also one of her creations. 


 To see more of Pam's other talents you can visit her Website.  


And Susan showed us her latest ceramic works. The first is a beautiful wall hanging. 


The second is a comical figure she calls "Kimono Cat." Check out his pigtail!

Amazingly we did manage to eat our dinner and some of these items were still being passed around the table as we ate along with certain dishes of food that were being shared. Toward the end of the dinner the rabbit made another appearance. He started making the rounds at the opposite end of the table from me and as he was passed from gal to gal, I noticed that each person was sniffing deeply at his fur and then there was much giggling and commenting. As the rabbit headed my way I had to ask why we were sniffing it. The reply was that it smelled good. By the time that critter made its way to me the giggling was even louder as each woman felt a little self conscious about sniffing a stuffed rabbit in public. I have to admit that it smelled very good. To me it smelled like freshly washed hair; very fresh and softly fragrant. 


Just then Susan started laughing uncontrollably as she noticed that there were people from other tables staring and laughing at us and then we all lost it as we wondered if these other people thought we were getting "high" from sniffing the bunny. That's when Sammi leaned over and murmered to me "Those who hear not the music think the dancers mad." So appropriate!


So for next month we've decided to meet in private at Pam's home for potluck dinner! ;-D

Friday, April 2, 2010

Pink Petals, Mixed Media Collage, 6x6

This one is definitely spring themed.

Emmett, my dog, has decided he wants to blog, too and has launched his own site. So for some extra fun take a look at Emmett & Friends. Let me know if you think he shows any potential as a blog dog.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

New Month, New Look

It's April and I just had to dress up the blog with narcissus. The new banner is from an earlier collage that sold two years ago, but I love that I can use my digital library to continue to get use from older images.

Narcissus, Mixed Media Collage, 11x15

The temperatures are forecast to be in the 70's for the next seven days. What a great way to start out the month of April!