Frame First!

You Won - Mixed Media Collage - 4x6

Every once in awhile, instead of creating a piece of art and then finding a frame to go with it, I find myself doing just the opposite. I'll find myself in possession of a frame for which I decide to create a piece of art. My dear friend, Fran, calls that "frame first" art.

A few years back I bought from Target what I thought of as a very cool frame for a favorite photo of mine. I still think the frame is cool; it's light green and shabby chic, but it just never did the photo justice and finally I found a better home for the photo. 

So, "You Won" is a collage especially designed to fit the frame. 

Antique Doll Photo Safari

The first weekend of August is the date of the TAGG group exhibition in Chesapeake City, Maryland. We exhibited there last year and at that time chose the theme of this year's show. We decided to go with "Guys and/or Dolls."  

 

Now I'm not a procrastinator and I don't work well under pressure; however, I have nothing ready for this show. Nothing, nada, zilch, bupkis. So today I convinced my husband, Bob, to accompany me on a photo safari through the antique stores in our area so I could get photographs of dolls.

 
Growing up my sister and I owned a lot of dolls; but I didn't play with them much. I much preferred my brother's trucks, cars, building blocks and Lincoln Logs. (Well, actually the Lincoln Logs were mine; my parents finally caught on to my disinterest in dolls.) And over the years I've been to many antique stores, but I've never paid much attention to the dolls. Today; however, I was fascinated with what I found.

 
There were all types of dolls of varying ages; everything from the beautiful, the funny and the downright scary. So here you see my raw material. Now I have eight weeks to do something with this. Wish me luck!

And The Winner Is!

I'm excited to announce that the winner of the Facebook Fabulous Free Art Giveaway is the lovely and talented Diane Hoeptner! Congratulations, Diane, and thanks so much for all your support of my blog.

If you're not already familiar with Diane and her gorgeous artwork, please be sure to visit her blog:

Diane Hoeptner

And many thanks to all of you who participated in the "giveaway" and to all my Facebook fans.

Facebook Fabulous Free Art Giveaway!

Sushi #3, 5 x 7, Mixed Media Collage

As promised, in order to celebrate 100 followers on Facebook, I'm giving away a piece of art. This piece I've selected is part of a series I did awhile back. There were five pieces all together and this one, which happens to be my favorite of the series, is the only one left. It's double matted with a floating mat and framed in a narrow wooden  black distressed frame. The size of the entire framed piece is 9" x 11". What I particularly like about this little piece is the dragonfly charm in the top right hand corner. It's a 3-dimensional charm that dangles from gold threads.

OK. This is how you can enter to win. First of all, if you aren't already, you need to be a fan of this blog on Facebook. After all, it's the Facebook fans I'm paying tribute to with this giveaway. Secondly, make a comment on this blog post. Please leave the comment on the actual blog page; not on Facebook. Facebook comments won't count. And please comment only once. That's all there is to it.

The comments will be numbered sequentially in the order in which they are received and then a number will be selected via an online random number generator. You have until midnight on Friday, June 4 to comment. Then on Saturday, June 5th the winner will be chosen and announced.

Thank you so much, Facebook fans, for your support of my artwork and this blog!

An Hour A Day

That's what I'm shooting for; an hour a day in my studio. Even if it's only to work in my sketch book like in this example from yesterday.

Meanwhile, I'm very excited that I'm close to reaching 100 fans on Facebook. When I get to 100 I'll have an art giveaway.

June Is The Month For Dads & Grads

If you're looking for a unique gift for the "stars of June" ... shop crabulous!

Soroptimist International

I won't find out until Wednesday just how my sales were at Yellow Springs, but this past Friday I was contacted via email by a member of a chapter of Soroptimist International.This member had seen my work at Yellow Springs and asked me to be a part of their 63rd annual art show.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't know who the Soroptimists were until I received this email and I cannot believe that they've been around as long as they have. If you are also unfamiliar with this organization their mission statement reads:

"Soroptimist International is a worldwide organization for women in management and professions, working through service projects to advance human rights and the status of women. "

If you are interested in knowing more about them, here is their link: Soroptimist International. 

And if any of you reading this know about them or have had experience with them, please tell me more.