Steampunk-ish and Goddess Goodness

I couldn't resist sharing the "final" (most likely!) results of my latest piece.  I'm loving it ~~ the colors, as well as the use of watch parts that give it that "Steampunk" feel.  In fact, if I change anything, it will most likely be the addition of more watch parts!

And here is the latest, and again, most likely "final" version of my Goddess Of Dreams.

Now I'm off to the doctor to obtain some relief from the pollen . . . then I'll be playing with my art toys for the remainder of the day!  Happy Wednesday!

Spring Has Sprung!

It's here!  In Piedmont North Carolina, our pear, cherry, and plum trees have bloomed and are now filled with green leaves, the daffodils have come and gone, our Yellow Bell (Forsythia) bushes are in full bloom, and my Johnny Jump Ups are happily springing up everywhere in my garden!  I love this time of year.  However, with it comes that greenish-yellow powdery pollen that covers our cars . . . and everything else outside . . . bringing with it all the results of allergies ~~ sniffling, sneezing, coughing, stuffiness, and a desire to wash our cars daily, to no avail, as they will be covered with pollen again before the day is done.  However, without pollen, we would not have the beautiful flowers and trees ~~ so it's a great trade off!

Since my last post, my computer totally went "poof" ~~ it became infected with some terrible disease that computers can catch, and would not even load Windows ~~ yikes!  So it spent what felt like a month at the Puter Doctor, and has just now safely arrived back home . . . minus all of my document files and pictures, :(.  How many times was I told that I must back up my computer?  Did I listen, even once?  NO!  Admittedly, I am not very computer literate, and the sound of an "External Hard Drive" was cumbersome, sounding like I would need an entire second desk just to contain it; little did I know, one can be had that isn't much larger than the average cell phone today!  So, yes, I now have a back up system, so hopefully I will never lose all of my cherished documents and pictures again.  As I type, I have reinstalled my camera's software and am downloading all the pictures contained on my cameras memory card . . . and realizing there are 522 pics I'm "recovering," ~~ thankfully I'm no better at cleaning up my camera's storage device than I am at backing up my computer!

As for my art, I've been busy creating several pieces, but have realized that I forgot to take pics of a couple of them ~~ mixed media pieces done on canvases, and two cigar boxes.  The canvases were gifts already given to good homes, and I've taken the cigar boxes to work where I will attempt to remember to take my camera and get pics of them to post later.

I think I have completed my Lemon Lady collage piece!  I was told how great decorative napkins can be to use in collaging, and viola!

The proportion of Lady Lemon's head is a bit too large, but I kinda like that; to me, it says, she's confident that she can, and will, overcome all the lemons that creep into her life!

Most recently, I have been working on a piece that I'm calling "Homespun Nostalgic Loveliness!"  I have wanted to do an "inchy" piece (or what I call an inchy piece, where various sizes of squares and rectangles are collaged on a board) ever since I saw one done by The Great Tim Holtz at last year's Creative Escape.  I believe he also has one, or more, pictured on his website, if my memory serves me correctly.  I have used a color scheme consisting of red, turquoise, and yellow ochre on a background board painted with a good mixture of off white, black and brown.  Then I have used various papers, Tim Holtz Grungepaper, also some of his Grunge Board Elements, and his plastic Fragments adhered to most of the pieces.  It's not complete, but here is what it's looking like currently.

I still have to distress and adhere the three flourishes, and I feel the heart needs an embellishment at its center ~~ perhaps a watch face!  It's difficult to see in this picture, but there are 3 watch pieces adhered to various fragments already.  Yes, I love Tim Holtz Anything!!!

And here is my photographic helper!

While he is a great helper, he doesn't photograph very well.  However, he's the love of my life . . . or one of the largest ones!  He's a 3-yr-old black lab, and Mama's Boy.

And how can I forget my best news!  A beautiful lady in Texas, whom has a heart of gold, requested that I create a Mermaid for her . . . her only suggestion was that she have brown hair and eyes.  Miranda (the Mermaid) was a true pleasure to create.  I added gold and copper flakes to her ~~ something I haven't done with previous Mermaids, and something my DH feels makes her a bit "too overdone."  Poo on him!  I like how it turned out, and hope her new owner will also.

Now I'm off to blog hop, and see what is going on in blog land!  Wishing everyone a spring season filled with happiness and much creativity!

Spring Is On The Way!

My heart is happy today, as I can feel spring in the air!  It's not time to plant . . . yet, or at least not here on the East Coast of the US . . . but I'm daydreaming about it, and thus found some pics of flowers from previous years to inspire me.  I love, love, LOVE Gerber Daisies, mostly because I have good luck with them, they come back for me for several years (even though they are truly an annual here), and they provide such vivid color in the garden.  I love to mix a variety of colors, however the bright orange and pink are my favs!

These lil fellas volunteer in my garden . . . and grass . . . each year, and are usually the first things to appear, (along with the weeds!), to tell me that spring is HERE!  I haven't seen their blooms yet this year, but the seedlings are sprouting abundantly as I type.  Violas!

This St. Francis was a piece from my Mom's garden, that now resides in my own garden, a memorial to Mom and a protector my household (and Mom's ashes, that are a part of my garden, surrounded by flowers ~~ just where she wanted to rest).  I love this spot, and can't wait for it to be in full bloom again this year, as seen here from a previous early spring shot.  When I want to "share something with Mom" today, this is where I go, and I can sometimes truly "feel" her here.  In August of 2004, on the day my sister passed away, I was drawn to this spot and received a special message from Mom before I even knew that my sister had passed.  Shortly thereafter, while still standing here, I got the call to notify me of Margret's passing.  What a memorable moment.

As for my art, and life in general, I've been a tad overwhelmed recently.  I have so much I want to do, learn, and experience currently that I feel I am losing focus, and feeling like I am "all over the map."  A few of the things distracting me are (1) the current economic impact (personally, and worldwide) and the ties that it has bound, (2) my recent acquisition of Corel Draw and Photo Paint, (at a price I could not resist, no matter the state of my fundages, or lack thereof), that I am attempting to master to no avail (lol!), (3) my S-t-R-o-N-g desire to take an online Graffiti course by Alisa Burke (http://www.alisaburke.com/) that is near the top of my list of "things to afford soon!," (along with many other things!) and (4) a desire to improve upon my blog's appeal that is taking me to a depth of knowledge about blogging that I am not sure how to acquire . . . yet.  So, I have kind of put my creativity on hold, while researching blog-ability, daydreamed about graffiti and springtime, studied the manuals of Corel Photo Paint and Corel Draw (while determining that, perhaps, I should have acquired Photoshop first!), and clipping every coupon imaginable to each local craft store while watching their expiration pass and being proud of myself for not rushing out to use them, with funds I do not need to be releasing.

So, what have I accomplished since my last post?  Not much!  I have been reading an awesome book loaned to me called "Blogging for Bliss" by Tara Frey (and doing alot of blog hopping from its referenced sites), learned a bit about Corel's software (although I attempted to add frames to the photos attached to this post, only to discover that Corel doc's apparently aren't uploadable here, argh ~ HELP!), and I continue to work on a collage piece that I started a few weeks ago, inspired by this photo taken at work of a beautiful piece of statuary.

I took this photo to use in a project at Creative Escape '09, but it continues to draw me.  So I saw a piece of clip art online of a lemon, and it inspired me to do something with lemons.  Thus, I am attempting to combine the two ideas, hopefully successfully, in a piece that is still a WIP (Work In Progress), as follows:

I want to fill in the bottom a bit more, and am not sure what else she needs . . . but know that she's not complete.  However, she's been a fun distraction in this time of little focus!

Oh yes!  I forgot to mention . . . I'm also DYING to purchase a Silhouette cutting device as my first template cutting machine!  DUH!  (Something else to add to my "gotta have soon list!")  SO . . . if  you're reading this, and you own a particular machine that you absolutely love, and can recommend, PLEASE share your comments!  I've read several comparisons, watched many tutorials as well as Heidi Swapps' online "shows" about the Silhouette recently, and am currently in love with the idea of being able to digitally cut out flowers, borders, words, etc. that I've previously been HAND-cutting.  I love the idea of being able to design my own "templates" to cut, and being able to resize them . . . both things that the Sillhouette offers.  I would love to hear your comments and opinions on what is "the best" for your particular uses!

K, off to make some more cards . . . something I've made a few of lately, and a "brainless" occupation in my time of near-to-no-focus!  Happy Spring's-Coming to each of you!

Mojo

Today, I have to thank Marah Johnson for including me in her blog, and providing a link to my blog. If you're here for the first time, welcome! I'm nuts about mixed media, and hope you share my passion, and/or can appreciate my passion for art. If you're a "frequent flyer," thank you for sticking with me (I realize there are few of you and thus appreciate you even more so)!

I created this blog more for me, than anyone else, as I realize I don't have many followers, and thus wanted a place for me to keep track of the growth in my artful endeavors, and growth of self.

Today, I ask myself, "where do we find our 'mojo'" to keep on keeping on, with our life in general, and our artful creations? I'm sure the answer is an eclectic mix for each of us, and perhaps something many of us have yet to determine. For me, my mojo comes from many sources ~~ publications, conversations, friendships, fellow artists, criticism, life experiences, deep feelings, passions, thoughts, etc. However, while attending Creative Escape 2009 (www.creativeescapeaz.com), I had the distinct pleasure of learning from Marah Johnson . . . learning about some really cool art techniques (mainly, using Glimmer Mist and cardboard and other found "junk" within art . . . and I'm sure I could have learned much more about artful creativity from Marah, had there not been an important life lesson for me to learn within her class). However, as it turned out, I was in her class to learn a life lesson that had been years in the making. I was fortunate enough to be in the one class at CE '09 where Marah shared a snippet of her life story. It's amazing how our brains lock in on certain things, and ignore the rest, and I'm sure my brain did just that during Marah's sharing. However, what I took from her sharing was that Marah had a very diffcult childhood, in my humble opinion, but that she did not concentrate on the difficulties, but rather she concentrated on making art, and this concentrated focus on art kept her moving forward, concentrating on the positive, and thus making something of herself ~~ what an AMAZING story! ART SAVES!!!! My immediate thought (as I rushed to complete my Glimmer Misting, gluing, and otherwise attempting to be artistic, lol) was "hey, if Marah ~~ whom I had just met moments earlier, has obviously become someone, becausing I am sitting here paying to attend this awesome workshop ~~ if she can use art to turn her life toward the positive and focus on the bright side of things, then surely I can also! (Note: I had just begun paper-crafting 3 months prior to taking this class, and had no idea whom Marah was!) I CAN be somebody, I can do something positive in this ole world, I can be a positive contributor to this world INSPITE of my life struggles and backward turns!

What an AWESOME lesson I received in that moment. I returned home with a new focus on the positive side of my life, choosing to push aside the negatives, and use what little talent I have to make something of myself, and in turn, hopefully, make something that others can appreciate too.

Admittedly, I still "get in a funk" and find sadness surfacing from the past from time to time. In fact, during the closing ceremony of CE '09 I found myself so emotionally ingulfed and in tears, in thinking of family during Heidi Swapp's sharing, that I had to leave the ceremony in order to "move on." But I now have a grounding force to help me move on; I remind myself of Marah's story, and can make myself move forward, knowing that I CAN lift myself up and DO something positive. I may never be "the best," or even close to it, but I CAN be SOMEBODY. I do not have to be Rembrandt to be happy with myself today; I can be happy with myself just being me ~~ a crazy nut, with a screwed up background, who chooses to make some art that she appreciates and likes in hopes that others can appreciate her, and her art, in the process. If others do not appreicate me and my art, that's okay too ~~ the first step is MY appreciation of self and my art!

What a great life lesson I learned, all because I was in one particular class of Marah Johnson (www.marah_johnson.typepad.com) in which she had a moment to share a snippet of her life! A coincidence, or a miracle from above ~~ whatever you call it, it was awesome. So, in short, we just never know what affect the smallest of things will have on others.

To remind myself of this lesson, and to take from what I learned creatively from Marah, I try to incorporate "found junk" and cardboard in many of my artful pieces. I have yet to fill the "box of books" I made in Marah's class, but it will always hold a special place in my collection of things I've made~~ filled or not. Perhaps, the first thing that should go into the books within this piece is this posting!

Where Did January Go???

My, how time flies! So much happening, and so little time. Thus, I've neglected my blog, :(. So here's my attempt at catching things up.

First, I want to include a note about Gracie, the yellow lab we rescued in December. In my last post, she was becoming destructive and experiencing seperation anxiety when we were away from home. I'm happy to report that (gosh, do I say this and risk jinxing it???) she's doing very well ... currently! She's been back in the house for a week, and hasn't destroyed anything! Boomer continues to "tolerate" her, and she continues to demand the most attention. Let's hope this positiveness continues!

As for my art, hmmm, I've completed the basework of "Esha, Goddess of Dreams" in Suzi Blu's Goddess & Poet class . . . or, at least I think I have. I say that because Suzi suggested I bring her hair forward a bit ~~ but I don't want to, lol. Imagine ~~ a stubborn artist! So I haven't sealed her yet, however I believe she's ready!

My very first Goddess, "Elana," is still a Work In Progress (WIP). I'm not happy with her, and I've not worked with her in awhile. Here she is, to date:

I also made another Valentine's Day piece.

Then, using a Stampington stamp as my inspiration, I drew and painted "Butterfly Beauty" on a board that I prepared with modeling paste, stamped into the paste, and then used Glimmer Mist to add color to the base. (I'm LOVING me some Glimmer Mist these days!)

Also using modeling paste on wood, and stamping into the paste, then Glimmer Misting the background, and adding a doily, . . . I'm in the midst of another piece that is a WIP. We will see if it comes to fruition in the days ahead!

I've been inspired to try using vintage photos in a piece, so I played with one of Mom's baby pics, and came up with this piece. I now wish I had used a larger photo and frame for the centerpiece, and will do so with any future versions of this piece.

Yesterday, I worked on two cigar boxes ~~ one for the dear soul whom gave me the boxes They were alot of fun to create, but are still in the WIP stage, so pics will follow.

Today, I need to work on a soldered charm for a friend whom has been begging me for one. It's been months since I worked with soldering, and I'm not sure that I have any suitable glass to work with, so we'll how this goes!

Happy creating to everyone! What would life be without art? Hmm, I don't want to know!

Elana

Elana is coming along! She is my first Goddess, and should be completed this week. It was amazing to me who she "came to life" once I began to add color and texture. I'm truly enjoying the process of my current class with Suzi Blu, learning much, and meeting some really nice artists, too. What did we do before the internet???

As for life, in general, my heart is a bit heavy because we rescued a 2-yr old yellow lab, whom we named Gracie, 5 weeks ago today. She is as sweet as can be ~~ very affectionate, and loves attention ~~ however, she has separation anxiety when we leave her, and has begun destroying things daily. She did really well for the first 3 weeks, but I suppose her true colors are coming out now. Last week, we began to keep her outside when we are gone, and she has ripped nice new holes into the lattice under our deck, destroyed several pots, and who knows what she will destroy today. Thankfully, so far, she hasn't destroyed anything that can't be repaired or replaced, but Mike and I are coming to the conclusion that this "adoption" isn't working, :(. So I emailed the NC Lab Rescue with pics and all her information yesterday, in hopes that we can find her a home where people are always home, or where someone has more knowledge about dealing with separation anxiety in puppies. I just hate that we've taken her in, and now she will be moving on to another home, once again, :(.

Catchin' Up in the New Year, 2010!

Wow, I've neglected my blog for so long, :(. Time to catch it up now! Christmas has come and gone, and now we're well into the new year. I hope this year will bring peace and prosperity to all of my friends, family, and the country ~~ and world! ~~ as a whole. We all certainly need it. I am reminded of all the men and women serving overseas to defend our once great nation, and am so thankful for their sacrifices and efforts; without them, where would we be? Today, we as individuals and humans in this big ole world, have a new beginning, in a new year, and I hope we can all make the best of it, coming together to promote the greater good for all of us.

Now, onto my my art, that I intend to make the focus of my blog. Things are growing well. I've completed Suzi Blu's Petit Dolls class, and am currently beginning Suzi's Goddess & Poet [G&P] class. G&P is most definitely much more difficult for me, although admittedly I am a bit intimidated by DRAWING faces (something I have never done...other than stick people and Petit Dolls that are not "realistic"), and thus have not been drawing and practicing as much as I should. I was initially highly disappointed in my first attempt at a more realistic face (below, I hope, lol):

However, when I remind myself of my previous skills and level of drawing abilities, I suppose she's pretty darn good, considering I've never drawn "realistic" facial features, or anything close!

For my second attempt, I found a painted portrait online and attempted to draw the woman featured in the portrait. Here's how she turned out.

She is fairly close to the portrait I used as my inspiration. I didn't want to attempt hair, so this image gave me a great option, using a scarf instead. After enlarging her lips a bit, I will begin to add some color pencil to her, and see where she goes . . . hopefully later today. However, I've looked ahead at the videos within the course material, and discovered that I shouldn't have shaded her so darkly with graphite, as the color pencils will not cover the graphite; rather the color pencil will only enhance the graphite. So, note taken ~~ "do not shade so darkly with graphite in the future!"

Christmas Day was an especially "blue" day for me this year. I had a strong longing for Mom's presence that I just could not shake, and also I didn't feel well physically. Perhaps it was a touch of an intestinal virus, or anxiety, I'm not sure. All things considered (including the call for icy parciptation) Mike and I stayed home, instead of doing our ritual trip with Mike's Mom traveling to his aunt and uncles home, and instead I played with some new toys I had received from THE Tim Holtz ~~ what better distraction could an artsy girl ask for? (A post I made on Tim's "12 Tags of Christmas" had been chosen for a prize, and I received several goodies from him just days before Christmas ~~ woo hoo!!!) So, I made a mixed media Valentine's piece that I actually sold yesterday.

I don't have a picture of this that includes the verbage I later added; in the bottom left corner, I added "We unlocked our hearts and found a beautiful thing called...LOVE." [Reminder To Self: take pictures of COMPLETED pieces in the future!] This was a great "therapy piece" on a sad holiday, and was a tremendous distraction that got me through Christmas Day.

My next piece, completed and sold since my last posting, was my all-time favorite piece . . . so far! She is Diva Mermaid whom is "learning to enjoy all the beauty surrounding her, and appreciate all that life offers," (the inscription placed on a label that was attached on the back side of her).

She was done using the knowledge I've obtained from Suzi Blu's Petit Dolls class, and embellished with seed beads, various threads, chenille yarn, and shaded with Distress Inks. I absolutely love her . . . and hope that she has found a happy home. I will definitely have to make a "twin" of her one day soon!

Something I find really neat about my latest Petit Doll pieces (and very potentially, my future G&P pieces!) is that I have begun to use, as their base, old boards that Mike broke years ago when he was taking Tae Kwan Do! So they have a rough, ragged edge to them, on one side, and I feel that gives them a more unique touch, and a rugged, more "grungy" texture and feel.

Obviously, I am truly intrigued by the concept of Mixed Media today, and thus am looking at EVERYTHING with new eyes . . . "how can I use this piece of 'junk?'" I LOVE the freedom and uniqueness this concept provides! I am collecting trash, cardboard, candy wrappers, wine labels, bubble wrap, ANYTHING with texture, and looking with new eyes at all of my surroundings. I recently found an old, rusty metal washer/ring in the driveway at work that I used on a piece that sold this week. Now, if only I can find a way to make housecleaning fun ~~ perhaps I should look for a way to use the dust-bunnies and dryer lint within my pieces!

Also, using Suzi Blu's Petit Dolls methodology, I painted an angel, whom became a feature on many of my Christmas cards this year! I lost inspiration for her half way through the process, and therefore wasn't extremely pleased with her, however I ran out of time, and wanted to get my cards in the mail, so I rushed to complete her, and was fairly pleased with her. Although I still haven't beeswaxed her yet, ;(.


Also sold since I last posted was a piece I did after returning from Creative Escape, based on the project taught by 7 Gypsies ladies, Deb and Paula! I loved this project, and intended to make several more of them . . . however I've had difficulty finding the heavy book board used as its base. The lady whom bought the piece was drawn to it because of the Japanese symbol used on the cover. And now I see that I never took a picture of it, :(. However, here is the same concept, made for a coworker, done in a Parisian theme.



K, so I'm off now to throw aload of laundry in the wash, perhaps vacuum (perhaps not!), and get down to business adding color to my first Goddess! Happy Day to all. As Tim Holtz says, "Enjoy The Journey!" . . . until next time, xoxo ~~ Jeanne