Today in the Studio

I have been very busy this morning working on several projects at once. that wicker comfy chair I bought for a paltry 2.50 at the thrift shop is sucking up paint like a funnel tornado. It wants to be abandoned on the back porch grey no matter how much almond colored paint I throw its way. Oh well paint I have tons of. I will tackle it tomorrow with another coat.
I did manage to get my large painting a little further along and finish two very dark kitty ACEO's and work on a few more I plan to list on artfire this week. I have a few collages that I am working on and one I especially like that may or may not turn out to be a fairy. I think I am still reeling from the treatment of the fairies on the True Blood episode Sunday. What the heck was that all about. I understand deviating from the story line to make the story work on a different medium but thumbing your nose at the whole story is a different matter. You might as well of written Sookie in as an alien so you could use up some props you had in the back room. What the hell!!!!

Oh well back to the real world. Above are a few of the photos of the dark black gesso book I told you about. It is finished and I have started the next one.
You can see it is much lighter at least the cover is so far. I am sticking to my page a day and it is going well. I am trying to stay within the subject matter I use for the cover but it is only working in a real loose manner so far.
The photos of the aceo's I am working on:


This is the collage that is trying my patience ....I like it one moment and know exactly where I am going with it and then the next I am looking at it like it is something I just dug out of the attic and have never seen in my life. It is a problem to be solved just like 90% of life. I will figure it out or cut out the parts I do like to put in something else.


I may be able to save it but the one thing I like the most about collage is you can find a place for just about everything you do. It may be years before that patch of painting will find a place but it does have a place.
Just like we all have a place we just have to look for it and sometimes you are already there and just don't know it. I spent years thinking the next place was going to be it. What I didn't know is the place does not matter near as much as your attitude to the place does. When I first got to Texas I loved it and then hated it and now I realize it is home, really and truly home for me. I have finally learned to carry that sense of home around with me like a backpack. The only good thing that came out of Hurricane Ike for me was the realization that the brick and wood home is not where your security should stem from. It can be washed away in a second like so much flotsam and jetsam.

On another much lighter note I am going to do an altered book workshop and a collage workshop in early September so if you live in the La Porte , Deer Park or Pasadena Area of Texas just send me a message and I will get the details to you.
I also will be started a basic beginners drawing class in the fall sometime. It is a 6 week class and like all my classes and workshops will be very affordable.

Thrift Store Heaven

When I die I want to go to the big thrift store in the sky. I love the ones they have around here.I just scooped up two end tables, two magazine racks and an old wicker chair with a cushion for 9.79. I mean really...that was a steal. Of course they do need a little TLC but then don't we all.
I have been collecting board books to use for my art journals. My latest experiments include using black gesso to coat the pages. I like the fact that it is one coat coverage but I am not that fond of the look when you do not paint over it. Everything you collage on it just has a dark and brooding look to it. While I do have a bit of a dark side I really do not think it is me.
I am going to try to mix a medium gray for my next book and see if that works better.
I will put some photos up later of the dark sided book I just completed. I am trying for a page a day and I am going to take one on vacation with me so I do not miss a day of journaling, Yes I realize journaling is not a verb to everyone else but it is to me. Sometimes it is hard work some time it is play but whatever it is it is an action that keeps me moving in a positive direction.
Stay tuned for photos.....

Isn't this a cool banner?

Ruthbl

Fine Art

I found this really cool banner thing on artfire. I did not know they had this. Not that it does me much good because I have almost nothing in my store right now. I did sort some beads for listing but somehow the covered bowls that I sorted them into grew legs and took a hike. Oh well that is not so bad..they will turn up I am sure.
Last night I finished my art journal. Now I start a new one tonight.
The new one is a board book I have coated with black gesso. It will be fun to see how it goes working with a black base.

A strange process......

I found my first day as a gainfully unemployed person to be a little sad. Who would think that I would miss getting up and going to work? I certainly did not.
But the second day I got my wind back and spent most of it in the studio working on my art journal.
I had decided to do one page a day before I quit and it was sometimes a chore..and believe me it showed in what I created.
What I am trying to do with the art journals is explore the world around me and inside me and try to figure out where I fit or do not fit in. I never have felt like I really fit anywhere. I would not be surprised to find out I am the product of some strange alien hybrid experiment gone horribly wrong.
So what did my first journal page after taking the plunge look like...well..




It went sort of like you would expect.... But as I got into the mood I found I had a rhythm going. Not really a finished product sort of rhythm but one of total experimentation and wild abandon that I have not felt in a long time.
I wasn't sure about the whole art journal thing. Sometimes it struck me as a little too self indulgent but then I realized that being an artist is probably the most self indulgent thing you can do. And I am not giving that up anytime soon, So I told myself to shut the heck up and get on with it.
So I came up with a few interesting bits.......





I look forward to the next month more than I have looked forward to anything since I was a child waiting for Christmas to get here. There is a lot of work to be done if I am to accomplish what I have set out to do which is finish my studio and get it set up for classes, finish a ton of projects around the house and get some art created that will speak to me and about me.
Wish me luck ....I will need it.

So I quit my job the other day………. Yup I know scary right? So now what do I do now?

Money wise we will be okay for a few months. We won’t even notice the difference until October or November and with our vacation coming up in the first week of August I have decided this is not the best time to go job hunting. “Yes sir I would love to come to work for you but can I have the first ten days off please and thank you?” Yup that would not make a very good impression. So I have decided to take a long needed break and not even look for work until after vacation.
That makes the month of July and half of August my time to create. The studio is not completely finished but we will just have to put up wall board and paint around my projects. The flooring is in and most of the insulation is done. So I am getting the supplies organized and out to the studio.
More importantly though the Muse has taken up residence out there, I don’t know what wonderful Fairy spirit it is that has decided to make my studio its home but whenever I go out there it seems like I get a rush of creative ideas that about knocks me over.
I am working on an art journal or several actually since I use old children’s board books and there are just not enough pages for more than a week’s worth of ideas. I have decided to make it a page a day project and I will post some of the entries later in the week.
I am not attempting to make “ART” with my journals…whatever your definition of art is. I am trying to explore how I feel about my world and how the outside world effects the inner me. I am trying to get some kind of insight on what it is I would say to the world if it did start paying attention to me and my art work. The saddest thing in the world would be having nothing to say that was worth listening to.
In celebration of my sudden massive vacation/creation time I will be posting a craft grab bag give away for the month of July. It will include lots of beads and crafting supplies to entice a muse to set up residence in your studio too. I will be adding something to the box each week so come back for sneak previews. All you have to do is comment on my July 4th blog post and leave me a way to contact you if you win. Of course there is no cost to enter and I will do a random draw for the winner on August 10th.
I will announce the winner by the 15th of August.

And if you live in the La Porte Texas area keep a look out for my workshop and class announcements. I will be starting these up this fall. They will be small classes of no more than 5 students and will cover drawing, painting, collage, mixed media and basic jewelry making. The classes will be inexpensive and most will have no or a minimal charge for supplies. It will depend on my work schedule of course but I plan both day and evening classes and workshops. So come out and get creative. You know you want to and yes you do deserve it.

New Plans

I know I have been absent from here since the holidays but this last year has been a bear. My husband lost his job (unfairly..yes I know they all say that) for about 5 months until they decided it was unfair and took him back. I have been trying to adjust to a full time job with an ever changing schedule. We also lost our darling little Cleo. She was a precious little Yorkie that had been the boss of this house for 11 years. All of which took a tremendous financial and emotional toll on our household. It has just been too rough and busy and chaotic a time to create anything but that chapter is at an end.
This was the horoscope I woke up to today…
“You are due for a big challenge very soon -- even if you don't quite feel up to facing it yet. Today, do some preparation. When you're deciding which mountain to climb next, pick an experience that can enrich you but that also intimidates you just a little. The subtle fear will motivate you more than anything else. You're ready to reach dizzying new heights. Spend today psyching yourself up!”
Even before I read it I was feeling the pressure. This week I am having a small building put up in my backyard to use as an art studio. I have been dreaming of my own art studio since I was a child and although this will not be the funky loft studio in Paris or New York that I imagined then it still will be a space that is all mine to create in. Up to now I have made do with a corner here or a garage studio that always seems to get taken over by someone else’s stuff. We have a very tiny house that should be plenty of room for two. But it is not enough room to spread out creative wings and soar. Not without bumping into a kitchen table or motorcycle along the way.
It will probably take a month or so before I can use the studio to create anything. It will have to be insulated and the floor tiled and the whole thing painted in and out. So I am taking this time I have to sort and organize all my art supplies for the big move.
I plan on documenting the whole process here on my blog. Maybe someone out there will see it and get inspired to make themselves a studio space.

The building is a 12 by 16 barn style with 13 foot high side walls. I was going to go larger but the loft storage space (72 sq. feet with the back and side loft shelving) in this model will make up for a lot less footage. This one will not take up a huge portion of my back yard either.
I plan to do my own creating and small 3-4 person workshops sometime at a later date. It will be way down the road like next year some time.
Right now I just want to enjoy that space of my own.

So today will be spent sorting out my jewelry components and beads. In honor of the new studio I am going to be doing another give away. I will post the details later this week so stay tuned.

Merry Christmas Everyone

I hope your holidays are filled with peace and joy.