Category: Art

We're having a simple, low-key, Saturday here.  After years of walking around, looking sort of frumpy and dowdy, I decided I needed a wardrobe redo.  So, I've cleaned out closets and baskets, given tons of clothing away, and this week, with a bit of spaced cleared out in my tiny 1920 sized bedroom closet, I went whole-heartedly into wardrobe restoration.  I think it's been a complete success!  I have new jeans, new tops, and even a pair of hot pink espadrilles Ellie picked out for me.  To finish it off, the two of us had a visit to Sephora today.  I can't say I'll wear my new eye make up every day, or even most days, but the two of us had lots of fun together!

On the way to Sephora, we stopped in at Alabama Art Supply, my all time favorite art store, to pick up some colored pencils Ellie needed, for her amazing drawings of little girls (I need to borrown them from her and some point, so I can scan them and share them with y'all.  She is a truly amazing artist).  I decided to get a few things for Ollie too.  I had an amazing yard sale find — a sweet little oak child's desk and chair in immaculate condition for next to nothing.  The Judge and I have been trying to motivate him to work on his letters and numbers, and until this desk arrived, nothing was working.  But he loves the desk.  I got him some markers and new crayons, and then, Ellie and I had the idea of making him a little sketch book to use at his desk. 

When we got home, I cut up some paper and bound it, and added a sweet little cover with his name on it.

Score!

He has been at his desk ever since I gave it to him, writing and drawing.

Here are my two favorites so far:  (1) He drew the solar system — six planets going around the sun, and he named them for me, from the outermost inward.  How did he know that?  When did my baby get to be so smart? (2) He wrote what looked like an incomprehensible string of numbers on a page — 2244485510.  "That's nice Ollie," I said.  He looked very excited.  Then he explained two plus two is four, four plus four is eight, and five plus five is ten.

Wow.  All for a few minutes invested in putting a little book together for him!  I can't wait to see what he will do next!

This week's theme at the Wednesday Stamper challenge is sisters.  I've always been sad that I don't have a sister of my own.  It seems like it would be the most wonderful thing (when it wasn't being the most frustrating thing).  So, for my challenge piece, I have an imaginary sister, done as a fabric ATC on some of my hand-dyed fabric.

So, I still have this soldering bug.  It’s such an addictive little pass time — the perfect marriage of collage art and jewelry, in such an appealing, tiny little form!

These are my two newest charms.  They are both two sided and you can click on the pictures to get a larger view.  The first one is for the sewing mamas among us — the back reads “is your mama sewing?”

This one is about nest building.  I love the little house shape and the German glass glitter in the collage.  If you like my little charms, they are available for sale here.  You can also order a custom made charm here.

Sunday is Gothic Arch Challenge day.  I love playing along.  Arches have been my favorite shape to work in, ever since I did my very first one.

This week's prompt is "Spain."  Since I've been in storytelling art mode this week, I did a story.

I imagined that this couple, once the secret of their romance was out, ran off to Spain and lived happily ever after.  I had intended to do a Frieda theme, but somehow this just happened.  And the funny thing is that it's a photo of my grandparents, who married after a whirlwind courtship.

It has been a week for arches here, so I will show you a few more.  These are all tiny arches, destined for soldering under glass, so I have not finished the edges.

The back of the next one uses some words I stumbled across in a book I had been using for old text.  It says, "And for the first time, it dawned upon her she was an artist."

Really.  Where does inspiration come from?  You know the times when it's absent, or worse, forced?

Last night, I was straightening up when it hit.  It hits like lightening.  It's compelling.  You can't stop and you don't know where you're going.  Maybe you see a bit of it, and you chuckle to yourself, and then, you keep going and going until…..

This is for Andi's Pocketful.  The page is called Chester's First Success.  Apparently there was, as my children like to say, this dude named Chester.  He wanted to be a children's clothing designer, but no one would give him the time of day.

Finally, Chester designed a dress that was so fabulous he received the critical acclaim and financial rewards he had always desired.

It ended well.

That Chester.  What a guy.

I have no earthly clue where any of it came from.  But it was a compelling force.  At 2:00 am when I finished, it was a bit like coming out of a fugue state.  I put the finishing touches on this morning, but the story told itself.

I've discovered that my little desk in the kitchen is perfect for soldering.  One day soon, I hope to have my studio back to some semblance of order and clean off one of my counters as a designated soldering station.  But, I've committed to decluttering the house before the studio (what a mistake!), so for now, I will have to be happy soldering in the kithcen.

Here is my most recent batch of charms, after they were taped but before soldering.

I've been getting in lots of practice, and my tape is so much better!  I look at some of my first pieces and just laugh.  And, the soldering is smoother and more even now.  I think this is is definitely one of those skills where spending thirty minutes to an hour a day really pays off.

Here are the fronts of the charms after soldering.

And here are the backs.  I seem to be finding inspiration in the most unusual places, like old Boy Scout Manuals and children's books.

I've cut some pieces of glass into funkier shapes, so my next experiment will be seeing if I can makes some cool little charms to use in my collages.