and the winner is.... (a little late on my part)

do i know how to pick a winner...david cook was my choice since day one...american idol is inspiring in that people think they might have talent, they try and try again and some even become artists...







here is my mess on my studio table...some art has actually come from this mess...

bread and water can so easily be made into toast and tea

...or banana bread...

this recipe came from the ol' work horse, the joy of cooking...simply the best banana bread on the planet...


went to nunn, colorado yesterday for some grrlfriend time...kelly and i went out junking, finding this sale of repossessed storage unit junk...found pastel-colored yard sticks for decorating my studio, a small rack of antlers that will be painted chartreuse...

then we sauntered over to "oak n' tokens in ault, colorado where these two gems run their store that never changes...


happy spring (finally)...



off to my very first mammogram....aaarrrr...

saturday

went junking after my yearly exam...(don't all women do that?) my friend jette's son, forrest, is graduating high school and we'll party next month to celebrate...hmmm, what would an 18 year old want from an antique mall...whoop! i found an old cardboard suitcase, great shape, with a leather handle and the original key...i thought he might use it for storage...i love it...it looks masculine and cool...


then i came upon these beauties... in great shape and just the right color for my red/blue kitchen...they now sit in a corner on the counter which is historically cluttered...no before pix as that would be evidence of disorganization...just take my word for it...baaaad...now--gooood! all vitamin,pill bottles, herbs, and doggy treats are neatly tucked away...

speaking of doggies...she's a treat...had her first day of doggy school on tuesday...she is an A+ student....

mr. pop pirate loving on this doggy, lacy...(sorry, hun...showing off your hairline)...
the cat was busy this weekend getting his summer "lion cut"...from big white fur ball and resident shedder to ferocious suburban menace...



don't you just love his tail? it's very dr. suess...

went to a charity bowling night...it was 80's themed ....haven't seen that many shoulder pads and leg warmers and big hair and neon colors in a long time...mr. had a skinny tie and i went for the punk look complete with safety pins in my ears, a Mohawk and my old motley crue tee...it's authentic! i'm no poser...

here's the neighbors...hard to look preppy, nick, you hippy, you...

Evenflow

every morning in my art studio...art ideas flowing, spring has sprung...here's a brand new piece i'm working on...it's for the art challenge the artist's nook is sponsoring in june...take an everyday item and go...i've got a dustpan, light bulb and a pair of scissors....i'll work on the background using linoleum self-made stamps...layering along the way...


as promised, here are pix of my artfest finished projects i did in my three classes...linoleum prints on deli paper...
copper necklace in susan kasmer's class....i absolutely am pleased with the results....



i stamped a couple of my "word salad" phrases on both the tube shape and the open box...

here's my drawing done with a large feather dipped in water then ground charcoal... others raved in class about it but i was less pleased...

work for two days coming up...i know i sound like i whine a bit about work...i only work three days a week...nice...but twelve hour shifts are tough for me...age? attitude? a certain difficult workmate? i don't know but NEED. ATTITUDE. CHANGE.
arrrr....

seattle redux--three days of art bliss

a.m. on the beach at fort worden...






first day class: drawing with tiphoni, daughter of the fest organizers...


second day with ann bagby, (see this post) ...she never, ever stops moving...thus the blurry pix...


here's christine, owner of the fab artist's nook here in town....(she does internet sales too...)...we had fun sharing tools and laughing at ourselves...



third day...jewelry making, metalsmithing, cold joining...all with susan kazmer ... what fun! my fave class...
here's my table mates hard at work, making treasures...


the fun didn't stop at night...here is a gang we joined...

tomorrow, pix of the finished products....

seattle--day one of artfest

I was thrilled to be on the jet plane on my way to seattle for artfest...you see, i registered for this event waaay back in september of last year...talk about lack of instant gratification...not to complain (but i will just a little) i haven't been on a vacation in waaaay too long...

my flight was, thank fsm, uneventful...all have to say is i'm also grateful for ipods...keeps me from going postal on public transportation situation....

i met up with lisabeth who flew in from Anchorage AK to meet up with me...sun was shining and we had the top down on the convertible sebring....here are some pix from the bremerton ferry...

lb in all her beauty with hair flying in the cold breeze on the sundeck...

we arrived for check-in at fort worden and the first thing i saw was this automobile assemblage...i knew i was in the right place...

the car belongs to a woman of a certain age (in her 70s?) who wore a different crazy beany hat every day...it has happy meal toys, mosaics...even (my favorite toy) devil duckies (see left side of the pix)

we checked in, received a bag of cool artfest swag and i took some time to look at the gallery of art...the theme was woodland creatures...here's a look...





what talented people...all woodsy and delightful...

some didn't quite stick to the topic...

great nontheless...

as fate would have it, lb had friends from Anchorage sailing on the puget sound at the very time we arrived...they invited us to see their water craft... at the marina...



here's the cutest darn houseboat ever...complete with container garden and scrolled porch decoration...
we all ended dining in town at a great local restaurant instead of artfesting it that night....great choice...

more to come on thursday as i must (gulp) go back to work for a couple of days ...arrrr...

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...