new books on day #14

i shouldn't even go to barnes and noble...it's like crack for me--irresitable, i shake and crave when i pull into the parking lot, pocket book in hand...i came out with not one but two new art books...

"art making:collections & obsessions" another book by artist and author lynne perrella...it is strictly an eye-candy coffee table book full of lovely pictures of artists' collections and their confessions regarding their inability to walk past rusty metal googas, gorgeous printed fabric, old plaster doll heads, turn of the (last) century cabinet card photos and not snatch them up to use in their art...or maybe just to look at, satisfied in their findings...

featured is fort collins' own photographer, memory jug maker and massive, ginormous altar creator laurie zuckerman...


also featured is ann bagby, one of the presenters at artfest this year and i'll be in her class making the very thing shown in the book, lino cut pattern making...her collection of hand-cut stamps are shown here...


the second book is "mixed media collage" by holly harrison, a book of interviews and how-to's not found in other books...here is teesha moore's spread...and she is the facilitator extraordinaire of artfest!
my advice to you is: either slave away alone in your studio without these inspiring books or share my jones and go directly to your local, independently-owned bookseller (fort collins, alas, has no such endangered species) and order these books pronto...

day #13--the hissing of summer lawns

if you are ever stuck, out of the flow, missing your juju, and having artist's block, just put on joni mitchel...it has to be her 1977 release, "the hissing of summer lawns" on mint-condition vinyl, analog recording, on a new, old-fashioned turntable...once again joni has moved me, this time through the problem in my "no wonder" rusted piece...




i finally worked through this problem, a term i got from the (little bit of ) rock climbing i've done in my youthful past...when you get to a part of the climb where it's not obvious how to navigate the next few moves, it's called figuring out the problem....i've successfully navigated...joni was my compass...

fear and loathing on day #12

now i really wanna share this little tale with you, dear reader, about our new pupster, lacy, however, let me be clear right here, right now: i promise i won't be like some bloggers who go on and on (and on and on) about their dog...but this was a gem of a story, so here goes...


i'm sitting on the red chair watching the idiot box when lacy starts growling...i look over and gently say come here, lacy....

she takes a more determined stance and starts yipping...i see that she is looking towards the bird cage and figure she just now noticed them and is trying to make her presence known...

she continues barking and growling, now with her hackles up...she is quite upset...

then i noticed she wasn't looking up at the birds but straight ahead at the stereo ....

the stereo system sits in a large dresser that is missing its large middle drawer...it's actually a hand-made antique that used to sit in the trident cafe, boulder iconic cafe' and bookseller... but i digress...

so i get down on the floor with her and look closer at what has obviously riled her usually sweet temperment...

more barking...more growling...

a lightbulb goes on...

i grab said offending item....

sure enough, she goes wild with consternation and disdain....

i place it on the floor and it's all she can do not to pee the floor...i'm laughing...

i put it in the pantry and she barks at the pantry door... i'm laughing so much now i am going to pee the floor...


i calm her by holding her on my lap, stroking her head, trying to get the awful image out of her wee little brain...




garden gnome...horrific... i'm laughing still...

lacy-day #11

well i know my four readers are just chomping at the bit to see what the heck has been keeping me away from my 28 days of art posting commitment...no, it just that, you see, i've taken on another commitment, and this is her...


her official name is lacy kimball, a terrier mix that we found at project rex in loveland, colorado...we just knew it was time for another dog, a somewhat normal dog other than our special needs, differently abled, rides-the-short-bus chihuahua, mr. kite, seen here somewhat perturbed by this six month old cuddler...


they are both very tired here...mr. kite for putting up with lacy and lacy from the long trip up from new mexico where she stayed in a shelter there...all we know about here is she is young, a stray that seems to have some street smarts and she is a lover not a fighter (what song is that line from, any guesses?)

she picked us...you can see gratefulness in her smile, a somewhat leery look in her eyes, but what a lovey...

day #10--exploring

i've been inspired lately by this artist, andrea fuhrman...her composition and juxtaposition of simple scraps creates what i think is eye-appealing art...

so , thus inspired, i spent time making this piece, "gives up the goods"... mr. pop pirate, my in-house art critic, really likes it...

here's a closer look:


this one, "stereo," is a work in progress...


still working on "no wonder" (see this post)...i know what this is needing, and that is paint...now, i have a blockage when it comes to painting...i took a watercolor class way back around 1985 when i first went to college...i liked the medium and felt proficient in still life rendering but...that was back then and now i'm using (or in this case, not really using) acrylics...some would not agree that water colors are more forgiving but that was my experience...acrylics are there--permanent, bold and not easily (for me) manipulated...i worry that i will "ruin" my hard work and vision with painting it...not quite getting the results i see in my head...

i went out friday night to our village's art walk with my best friendy, emily...we sauntered about, looking at tradition (read: boring, been there, seen that) and modern assemblage, photography...in the fort collins museum of contemporary art you can tour working artists' studios upstairs...i had a chat with a gal named lyse whose oils and acrylics have traditional landscapes but with luminescent qualities... she asked me if i am an artist, of course i said yes (and so are you, dear reader) but confided that i hesitate when it comes to adding painted elements to my art...she encouraged me to study other painters and to enjoy the process of learning about the qualities that paint has to offer....

i see on many art blogs that artists have art journals they play around in...trying techniques, exploring visions and feelings...i have a couple of them that i woefully ignore...no more...time to reintroduce myself to them....it's time to explore, to encounter my blockages and bust through them...we'll see how it goes...arrr

day#9--Freeze!

this clip reminds me art can be for just 5 minutes...no framing it , no signing it, not for keeps...just a brief moment to make people respond...things that make you go "huh"....

day #8--no wonder

my current piece is under way...i love how the rusting solution made my plastic mass-produced thrifted canvas turn this great mottled shade of , well, rust! i brushed the antiquing solution on and did not like the first attempt so i repainted the entire thing with the iron paint and rusted it again and boy howdy it looks like i've set out this metal rectangle out in the winter weather all season...grant thinks it almost looks like wood...



i've been having fun taking elements off and on, trying on this or that...i am going for a certain mood or feeling...don't ask me to elucidate this as i can only look at it and know when it's right...i took away the polkadot and bird "scrapbooking" paper...i also removed the word salad i had chosen and replaced it with these words: "layering, and" "no wonder" in case you don't know." as i've said before in another post, i like the play of punctuation, fragmented sentences and fonts to offer up a found poem of sorts...

i secured the bird's nest with blue wire and added a rusted smashed tin can i found where??? as a cornice or finale on the wooden boxo.k. the can looks better in person...

next: another local artist review

Day#7--local art or aren't we lucky

we here in fort collins are blessed with a new and expanding art studio/gallery space for mixed media and traditional artists...poudre river arts center is just at the railroad tracks north of town ...if you are local you know that the north side of town on college has traditionally been filled with lower rent businesses like auto shops, mexican pasterias and the bowling alley...not bad businesses but just cheaper rents and with a bit of a run down look...the arts center has been successful in bringing alternative art and its makers to the upper north, not gentrifying it but accenting it with the energy the arts bring...

the center itself has cathedral ceilings with a rustic wood interior that gives it a feel of a western state gallery...amber lovelace, a mixed media artist rents studio space there... i think her dolls are indicative of the trajectory women's current assembla'ge has been taking--crowns, party hats and watch parts are ubiquitous right now...however, i do like her dolls' clay faces that are hand pressed, the articulated limbs and her use of the simple box form for the body...over all her dolls are simple but engaging...here is a sample...



also found in the center is one of my fave art supply stores, the artist's nook...now i have a lot of supplies already in my cache and i am always on the lookout for rusty things...in fact last fall i parked my car outside of town and walked along the railroad tracks and found a plethora (don't you love this word?) of rusty bits (as opposed to nasty bits for you monty python fans) so i usually don't buy my assembla'ge detris, flotsum and jestum....

a new tenant there at the center is the colorado coalition of artist or Cocoa...an art organization for and by artists..

up next: revelations and evolutions ...