Closing Out 2010, Welcoming the New Year

One of my goals for the past few months has been to post more consistently on my blog. I'm happy to say that I've reached that goal for this month. So here is my last post for the year. I plan to work on my 100 accomplishments for 2010 and post that in the next few days. In the meantime I hope you have a wonderful New Years celebration wherever you are.

I have so many plans and goals for 2011 that I am very excited about. I'll be sharing them in the months to come. The word I've chosen for the new year is CHANGE and I intend for many changes to take place, big and small. I hope all your dreams and aspirations come true for your new year.

Art Journal Every Day

Julie Balzer  has done it again! On December 31st she'll post the first of many Art Journal Every Day topics. This will continue throughout the new year with many artist's participating including ME! Can't wait to get started. I brought my art journal with me while visiting the family for the holidays so I can get a start on it.

Evolution of a Box Piece

 I found this drawer lying on a table in the room where I teach collage. At first I thought it was wood but when I touched it realized it was plastic. I was disappointed at first but then decided it didn't matter.  Nobody claimed it and it had my name all over it so I took it home. Here is what I did with it:

The inside of the box was covered in red flocked paper. Yuck! I should have taken a picture of it but didn't. I glued this vintage marbled paper inside to carry the antique look I was going for. I found these papers on the street along with covers for an old dictionary. The covers I used to make a journal that I showed in a previous post.

Next I glued this wonderful sheer fabric with roses to the outside on two sides. It used to part part of a blouse. I wanted to cover the plastic and integrate the outside with the inside more.

I have all these vintage sewing notions that I've been wanting to use in a piece and this was the perfect opportunity. The small card on the right holds woman's garters. The  larger card on the left holds hooks and eyes and has beautiful text.  I made the spiral from a bit of cloth covered copper wire that was fraying and hung it from the top of the box with some waxed linen.

A numerical table got glued to the back wall and an old green tape measure is down on the bottom.

 I think I'll call it Sewing Box

Jigsaw Puzzle Pin Guest Post Today!

Well here it is. The link to my guest post on Julie Balzer's blog. Let me know what you think and if you make a pin share a pic with me.

http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/balzer_designs/2010/12/jigsaw-puzzle-pin.html

My Guest Post on Julie Balzer's blog

http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/

I am delighted to be a part of Julie Balzer's Holidays Handmade. Every day there will be at least four posts (and maybe more!) with a different crafty focus. My post airs on Sunday, December 12th. I'll be showing you how to make fabulous pins from jigsaw puzzle pieces. Here's a preview of the project.

Sleepless Life

Am I destined to not sleep? Can one be predestined to never get enough sleep. Why me? I ask myself. I'll be on my way and the slightest noise, the heat coming on, a change in temperature, the asshole that lives above me walking back and forth, back and forth right over my head, the floor boards moaning, dropping something just as I'm falling off. Then I'm up and agitated, my mind working overtime, my heart racing, my jaw clenching, my anxiety level sky high.

I wonder how I can live in a small box with people on top, people underneath and sideways, everywhere. I long for open spaces, tranquility, peace and quiet. Blissful peace and quiet. Is that possible in this world and if so where is it? Where can I go to get a good night's sleep?

I feel a big change coming on and wonder how it will take form. I resist it. I long for it. I need it. Desperately. More than you'll ever know. Things that I've done for years I don't want to do any more. Or at least change the context. Or the location. Or the audience. Or me. I want to be something else. Not someone else. I just want a new life, a different life, a more fulfilled life. Perhaps this is all a new beginning and the inner stirrings to make the change happen. I don't know. But I'm going to find out.

New Work - Need Titles

Thanks Giving

As Thanksgiving approaches I am reminded to give thanks for all that I have and all that I cherish. My father just got home from the hospital and I am so grateful that he is feeling better and on the mend. I spent more time talking to my siblings, especially my sister, these past few weeks and that makes me so happy. I've been cleaning up my apartment and getting rid of years of accumulated stuff and though it is sometimes hard to let go of things it feels really good to have more space and see a positive vision for the future. Peaceful surroundings, space to create art, inspiration, music, comfort, love...

 Below are some ATC's that were in a recent show, Small Wonders: ATC's & ACEO's. Enjoy and have yourself a wonderful Thanksgiving full of family, friends, love, gratefulness and good food!

New Work

I've been taking a collage class at Cooper Union for the past five weeks and love it! The instructor, Jerilyn Jurinek, is wonderful and even though I've been doing collage and mixed media for years I've learned some new tricks. More than that though I love having three uninterrupted hours to work. I don't love everything I've done but I do love that I'm spending more time each week creating. It has spilled over into me working more at home too. I am determined to get my home studio cleaned up in the next month so that I can start working in there again. Here are some pics of pieces I do like:

 This piece was based around the vintage pic of the gentleman reading. I read constantly and just love the image of him. He looks so serene. I incorporated lots of other vintage textiles as well as found papers and a small watercolor painting I did a while ago.

Here's a closeup showing the inside cover of an old notebook I got at the flea market. I plan to use the inside pages for another piece. Behind it is an old quilt block that my friend Vicki gave me. I've had it for years and finally found the right piece to use it in. I still have 5 more weeks of class so I'll share more pics soon.

I made this collage landscape almost entirely from painted and patterned papers that I made. See my patterned paper tutorial on this blog.

Here's the closeup

I couldn't resist showing these cool wire wrapped ornaments that were created for a class I taught. Most of the samples were made from gold and silver wire but when I saw the black and galvanized wire I couldn't resist using them. They are so my colors. I want to try rusting the galvanized wire. That would be so cool. It's hard to see in this pic but the frame of the star is black wire and the wrapping wire is galvanized wire. I'll take a better picture and post it soon. The image below shows the captured heart within the framework of the star.

Journal Pages

It's been so long since my last post I almost forgot I had a blog. Not sure why it's so hard for me to post regularly. It's not as if I don't have lots to share. Anyone out there know the reason? Or the answer to getting one to post more often? There's a prize for the suggestion that helps me post more often!

Lately I've been working in my journals a lot. I teach a mixed media collage class every Friday morning and since May we've been working on Collage Journals. Here are some images from my collage journal:

I hope you enjoyed looking at my pages. I would love to hear your comments and remember there is a cool prize for the person who gives me a suggestion that helps me post more often. Thanks for looking! See you again soon.......

Check me out!

I was spotlighted on Julie Balzer's blog the other day as part of a long post she did. What fun! Julie has the best blog full of great ideas, her own and other crafters, tons of photos and inspiring ideas, and lots of links to other artists blogs.

Liz Curtin is a student of mine and a lovely artist. 

See the necklace she's wearing?  She made it and the charms are...paperclips!  Isn't that cool?  Paperclips!

She bent and curled the bottom part of the paperclip so that the charms would hang from the chain.  I think it's a totally genius idea!  I am on the lookout for some pretty, decorative paperclips to use as charms!

A walk in the park

It was a beautiful day today. Not too hot, a little breezy. Perfect. I went for a walk in the park after dinner and pushed myself to walk a little harder and faster and further. It felt good. No, it felt great! That's how it is with the Kelly Rae Roberts ecourse, Flying Lessons I'm taking ( I spoke about it in the previous post). I push myself a little harder, learn something new, feel good about it, move onto the next thing, and so on and so on...... Life is good for so many reasons.

I have been working with Stacey Curnow, a Life Coach who has the blog Midwife for Your Life http://www.staceycurnow.com/blog/ , for 4 months now and I have to say that the experience has changed my life. She is so supportive, encouraging and right on with her advice and suggestions that I don't know how I got by without her for so long. Plus she sends wonderful gifts. She's a gem! Thank you Stacey for helping to make my life so much better and for reminding me to "Live Imperfectly with Great Delight"

Flying Lessons ecourse

Just a quick post to tell you about an incredible ecourse I am taking from the extremely talented and generous and fabulous Kelly Rae Roberts . It's called Flying Lessons: Tips and Tricks to Make your Creative Business Soar. Check it out here: http://kellyraeroberts.com/ecourses/

My Beautiful Park

My Secret Place

Near where I picnic in the summer

Another view behind picnic spot

Bearded Iris Hold Court

Glorious Color

I took these photos the other night between 6 and 7 pm. The light was so amazing and perfect. Carl Shurz Park is this little gem in Manhattan very close to where I live that is so beautiful and magical and I think of it as my park. In the nice weather it can be jam packed with people. I don't like it so much then. On rainy or colder days I may be the only person in the park, except for the people walking their dogs. Since Sasha died last July I don't have that honor anymore. Soon I will get another dog, I'm just not ready yet. So I walk around and visit all our old haunts and look at the dogs in the dog run and dream. I sit near the bridge in the photo above and paint or bring my guitar and play. Anything to connect me to my park again, bittersweet though it is.