My Muse has been busy

So I have had these backgrounds done for a couple of years. They were done in Misty Mawn's "The Journey Unfolds" class at Art and Soul, 2008. We made these great matboard substrates (sp?) and then spend three days doing backgrounds. Well, I did backgrounds, because it took me a little longer than most, to get in the groove. I did finish two pages, I think and the rest I just got the backgrounds finished.

So I've got all of these great backgrounds, and for the last couple of days I have been working on them. Some are an extension of the background, with just a few details added, and some I have changed completely. I took a few recent journal pages, and printed them on tranparancies, and then did gel medium transfers onto the matboard. After cleaning them up a bit with paint and pens, they came out a little edgy and a bit "darker" than the originals. I like them.

Beautiful Day

What an amazing day yesterday was!!! We woke up early to go snowboarding, because Brandon is down for the holiday, and he was dying to go hit the hill with us!! The weather was hideous!! It was pouring down rain, then it hailed, then it snowed!! At my house!! It has been years since that happened. We decided to go for it. We figured if it was to bad, we could always drive home, as Mt. High is only about 40 minutes from home.

We loaded up and hit the road, and when we got there, the weather was as bad as predicted. We decided to stick it out for awhile, and once we bought tickets, got Connor signed up for his first snowboarding lesson, and got over to the hill, the clouds blew by and it was a beautiful day!! Connor did so well for his first time, and he did not want to stop. The rest of us are a little sore this morning, but it was so much fun!!!

Crave Art

Christmas came early to my house~~

What an amazing day I had!! I started out hanging out and shopping with one of my dearest friends, Jamie. We have had a standing Christmas shopping date, every year, for over the last 12 or 13 years. If we don't see each other all year, we still make time to spend a day shopping, eating and catching up. We talked non-stop for hours and hours, it was so much fun! She is having her first baby sometime Wednesday, and I am so happy for her!!

So after a wonderful day with my friend, I come home to find an advanced copy of Somerset Art Journaling magazine on my counter. I got word a few months ago that I would be published, and was so excited. I love all of Somerset's publications, but since the first issue of Art Journaling, I have dreamed of being included among the soul inspiring work I have seen within it's pages.

I however, had no idea that so much work would be included. I knew the general theme of the story, and I wrote the article based on the theme they gave me, but I was in for a surprise. Not only is my artwork on the cover, The article is 8 pages, and another two pages included in the Gallery section. I am in shock!! I give all the glory to God who inspires in art, as well as in life!

Here is the cover, and the Gallery section. There is another 8 page article titled "With the Eyes and the Heart: Artistic, Heartfelt Journaling" inside. Should be on shelves January 1, 2010!!

Elvis Lives......well on my blog anyway

Hi all, I know, I know, such a bad blogger. I haven't seemed to be able to get anything put together for you here. Oh well. Tis the season!. I did apply and was accepted to the PVAA, Pomona Valley Art Association, so I will have a venue to show some work, so I am very excited about that. I am trying to finish up a "winter" themed set to show next weekend at Second Saturday Artwalk, but I am having some logistical issues. By this I mean that I learned the hard way: when cutting plywood to specific sizes; you have to account for the width of the saw blade. Yeah, didn't really realize this until I got 4 pieces cut to 12" x24". The first three were indeed, 12" x24". The last one, not so much. And it happened to be the last one I chose (unknowingly) for a 2 piece set. It was all good until I tried to fit the not quite 12" side into the frame. Yeah, it's too small, so I have to have hubby make some last minute adjustments. So it may or may not make it to Pomona, we'll see.

I did, however finish Elvis. I did this on suggestion from the customer that bought Lucy. We'll see if she likes it enough to buy.

Have a great weekend everybody!!

Music and Arts Festival This Weekend!

So I have been busy getting stuff ready for this weekend. My prints are ready, my originals are framed, my prices are set!! My wonderful hubby has spend the last two days making these amazing easels that can hold 4 large paintings on each one. And he made 9 of them!!! Not that I have that many pieces, but I can use them for any other show I do. I am hoping to show again in Phoenix @First Friday's next year, so I will be able to use them there. I am trying to get another booth right next to mine so we can have more room, but I might have waitied just a bit too long. We'll see!! So I hope all of you will come by and see, not only me, but the other amazing artists too, and be a part of Main Street Upland's First Annual Music and Arts Festival. Friday through Sunday 10am-10pm, downtown Upland.

Busy Busy Busy!!

Wow, what a busy week I have going!! I have to be at a deposition tomorrow afternoon, work at church tomorrow night, Knott's Scary Farm Friday night ( I am scared already), a 5k charity run first thing Saturday morning, and the Train concert Sunday night!! Whew!! And I have less than 3 weeks to get all of my artwork and prints ready for the Upland Music and Arts Festival. You can check out the link here. (go to lineup and then click on the art link). I have several things to frame, a ton of prints to make and I have to get everything priced up and ready to go. OMGosh, what the heck have I been doing? Well, actually, I have been doing alot of artwork, spending some amazing time hearing the word, and loving my family!! That takes up some time.

So I have been loving all the new apps I have for my IPhone camera. I have: camera bag, lomo, artcam lite, camera XL and my favorite colorsplash. Here is an example of what you can do. You use a picture from your camera roll, it removes all of the color, and then you "paint" the color back in with your finger. It is awesome, you can pan and zoom in to get the detail, and paint with whatever color was originally in the picture, or gray. i love it!! Well, I gotta go, I have work to do.

So what!!!!!..............IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!

I love birthdays, and I especially love my birthday!! I don't love it for the gifts, or the cards or even the birthday wishes, (although I love those too) I love it because it's mine. Now I realize there are other people in the world with the same birthday, and their day can be all theirs too. But in my world, it's my day. I am not talking about selfishly it being "all about me", but just that during the day, I get showered with love and thoughts and usually end up with a great feeling of well being. Me being alive, me being healthy, me being loved. And God chose this day for me to be born, before the heavens were formed, He gave me this day, and I love Him for it!!

One Photo Left

Came home yesterday to spy a little something on my counter. As I got closer, I could see that it was a magazine. Ok, now just for the record, I had just come form the bookstore, looking for this particular magazine. Knowing it would not "officially" be in stores until October 1. I don't know what I was thinking. So once I realized that this was, indeed, an advance copy of the magazine, and artists that are being published get them, I swept everything else off the counter, and proceeded to rip off the plastic covering the mag. Oh so excited!!! I had sent three pieces in for publication last November to Somerset Memories. It was "maybe" going to be published in the June/July issue, but in May, the issue went to twice yearly publication. So I waited, knowing the edition would resurface, bigger and better, in October. And boy was I surprised!!!

I did two of the three in Misty Mawn's class last year at Asilomar, and they are among my favorites EVER! The third was made to bring it to a set, and I was very happy with the results.

The set was made using the only school picture I have of my father, (not the ONLY picture,as the story reads, just the only SCHOOL picture). I used 3 different transfer techniques, and different copies. I love this set and I am so honored, and feel God deserves the glory, for instilling in me this desire to create

Journal page

Just how far...............

One of my favorite songs is from Casting Crowns, East to West. It speaks of feeling those human emotions that tell us we are just one mistake away from God leaving us, I mean, really who could love ME that much?? I love how it talks about not being able to bear ,having the person I used to be, come rising up in me again, and about where we find rest: in the arms of His mercy.

I can remember being a new Christian, and I couldn't understand what "a season" was, and nobody could tell me. Was it a week, a month a year?? I could not grasp the concept . I get it now. Another thing I didn't totally understand, was His forgiveness. Really??? Forever?? Never to be brought up again, like completely forgotten? Wow! That's awesome. Ok, but wait....that means I can just keep doing whatever, and as long as I ask forgiveness, I'm cool, right?? Well, I learned NO on that one, right before I was told to look up the scripture about not doing exactly that.So the concept if this song: That forgiveness truly is as far as the east is from the west. From one scarred hand to the other! That's how big His grace is for me> Good thing!!

My Studio 13: Cries of an angel

My Studio 13: Cries of an angel

The Thoughts in my Head

So what's going on? Well there are some things in the hopper, that are going to be coming to fruition in a couple of months. Trying to keep it on the downlow, but let me just say that I am very excited about it!!

I am getting as many charcoals done as I can for the festival in November. I have done a couple special order pieces that I am not showing here, (shhhhhhh!!), but soon.

My boy just signed up for Cub Scouts, and he is so excited. Dad will be helping out as Den Leader, so I see some fun camping trips in my future. I can't wait to get a picture of Connor in his little uniform!!

Jenny Craig is finally starting to pay off. I am into my 6th week, and was not losing the weight I had hoped for. I mean, come on, 1200 calories a day, no cheating, and lose half a pound?? Ugh, whatever!! So I switched up a couple of things and this last week was a good one. Lost a total of 8 pounds and 5 inches so far, so I am really motivated about that. I have been doing little workouts on the Wii Fit, and I like the exercises alot!!

I have been working alot in my journal, and it is as healing and deep as ever. I love to just lose myself and spend the time, and create. I took my journal to the beach on Saturday, and it was such a beautiful day. I spent a little time on it, while watching Connor and Glenn boogie boarding. He did such a great job for his first time, and he loved it!!

Well I am off to bed, gonna try and have dinner with my girl, Linda tomorrow, we haven't hung out in awhile!

(sorry the pics are so small, but they were IPhone pics, uploaded to mobile Facebook, and I lost the originals when I had to get my phone replaced saturday night)

Let Your Art Work For You This Christmas!!

Let your ART work for YOU this Christmas
Don't let the Holidays sneak up on you again this year! We all know that money's tighter this year for most everyone, so why not "Let your ART work for YOU" now and join us in our innovative online market, MMCA Marketplace. Wouldn't it be great to be a part of this & let us showcase your art now on our blog & newsletter, as well as in local, regional & national press campaigns?
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When you join MMCA Marketplace we will build your shop while you continue to create more great art! You simply digitally submit your product image along with our description form and your products magically appear on your personal shop page with your branding logo, bio and photo, as well as links to your blog and/or website and email address.
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These are a few.....of my favorite people!!

I have my favorite things in life. My favorite shoes, my favorite art supplies, my favorite magazines, and people in my life that are truly special. Our Youth Pastors are a couple of those favorite people, that make me smile no matter what. They have been at my church as long as I have been there, and I have seen them pour out their lives into the lives of the youth that attend that church. He brings it when he preaches, and to hear her sing worship is a blessing. For REALS!!! (This picture was a card I made for her....a songbird)
They were recently asked to step down (boo!!), and after waiting on the Lord for direction, feel that moving back home to Maryland, is His plan for them.
They are a young couple, with a two year old, and working in ministry is not exactly big money. They recently went to ship their stuff home, and after a horrendous ordeal trying to get that done, they found that the shipping container was too small, and they needed another one, plus storage, to get all their belongings home. We want to help!!
Along with another couple, (The Headless Family5) we are looking to help them pay for another shipment container back home. The container will cost $1,300.00 to ship from California to Maryland, and storage for a month until they get settled and get a place.
If you can help, in any way, please let me know. I have a Paypal account (click button below), or you can email me with info.
This family has been such a blessing to countless kids, and to my family as well, and we would appreciate anything you can do! Every penny will go directly to them, and we can help send them out, to continue to pour into kids' lives and bless those that meet them!!

Grandpa's Box

The subject line read: "Grandpa's box" It was in reference to a care package my mom and I had sent to grandpa that had not been delivered to him yet. In emails, making plans for a swift visit, not knowing when things would change. But seeing that line several times during the back and forth, it occured to me, that I have my own Grandpa's Box. In it are memories of long drives, trips to the beach, just him and I. Styrofoam boogie boards, bought on the way to the beach...Everytime!! As everytime, they would break, with that one big wave, that would crash me to the ocean floor. He would stand up, looking for me in the surf, waiting for me to wave my "I'm ok" wave.

Classical music on the stereo console, always classical music. I am not sure if that his his taste or hers, but it was always there. Crossword puzzles in the leather recliner, with a dog (or two) always in his lap, while I pored over "Foxfire" books and asked endless streams of questions. A soft answer, always a soft answer.

Trips to his work, wearing one of his "CAT" hats, and always proud, when I would see one of those big machines, that "my grandpa works there"

Lost, then found. Safe again. As through the years we both struggled, each in our own city, each in our own darkness. Always a special place in my heart, always a favorite, always a joy of memories. Always good, in Grandpa's box.

Is my head on straight??

I have a fascination with "Dios de los Muertos". I absolutely love the art, the patterns on the art, the funky colors in the art, and just overall, the art. I know about the celebration, and some of the ways it is expressed, and I would love to see one of the festivals in Oaxaca, Mexico one day. I love the sugar skulls. I love the idea of taking something scary, and decorating it with flowers and colors and vines and patterns. To me it refreshes the past, it lends a new coat to something dark, and face it, a cool looking skull, goes with anything!

Billy and my Sister!!

So I am posting a shot of the most recent charcoal I finished today of Billy Idol. I don't think it is my favorite, but if I don't stop, I will rework it to death. So if you are looking at the title and wondering what does Billy have to do with my sister? Well, nothing..it's just something cool to look at. Because the huge, amazing news is .......I HAVE A LITTLE SISTER!!! Does it sound like a strange rant coming from a 40-something? I mean, I am not a toddler who just found out she is going to be a big sister, but this is just as exciting I'm sure.
I was on Facebook the other day, minding my own business, wasting company time, you know.....the usual, when I got this message in my inbox that said, in a nutshell, "Who's your Daddy?" Ok, not really, she didn't say that!! (That would have been funny though!!) But anyway, to make a long story short, I have a sister, and I am simply in awe.
So my sister's name is Shannon, we will meet soon, for the first step in a relationship that excites me to no end. I thank the Lord, who brings things together for His glory, in His time! Yay God
Now this is not a complete surprise, we knew she was out there somewhere, just never knew where to look. So I gotta give a great big awesome shout out to Facebook, because really, they seem to connect long lost.....everythings!!!

So if you are my friend on Facebook, look for Shannon, and give her a big virtual hug, she's family!!

Last Summer Weekend

SO we packed the car up Thursday afternoon and headed to Lake Havasu for our last summer break. My youngest stepson was here for a visit, so we took off for some fun. They boys went quad riding and had a blast. My youngest is just getting started riding and did great~~. The boat is our happy place, and we love to just hang out and lounge around. I love the weekends here, and the down time I get to just sit and read or journal is well needed. I brought a cool picture of Madonna that I wanted to try to do in charcoal, and I thought it came out pretty good. Utopia Salon ,in Upland, will be having a fashion/hair show during the Upland Music and Art Festival in November, and the theme is music icons from the 80's. This is my first one that they will have displayed in the shop during the show. I am looking to do some cool 80's hair folks, but without all the crazy "Flock of Seagulls "80's stuff. I will do a Billy Idol I think and maybe a big hair band guy, or something. Any suggestions??

Music and Art Series

Ok, so my 60's female icon series, has turned into "Art and Music Icons", due to the fact, that I am getting them ready for the Upland Music and Arts Festival in November, and it is, after all, a music and art festival. I have been having so much fun with these. Fun, frustration, amazement, frustration, excitement....and did I mention frustration. I say this because I had forgotten how it can be. When I visualize something in my mind, but have a hard time relating it to the page, I get frustrated. When I have to confidence to try, but then lose it when things don't go right, there's the "f" word again. It reminds me of a song from Howard Jones "No One is to Blame". One line is "aspirations in the clouds, but your hopes go down the drain". Now I don't have this outlook in my everyday life. I have Jesus, my hopes are never down the drain. But every once in awhile, creativity can do that to me. So I keep plugging along, I have to. Because sometimes it turns out just like I hoped it would. Here are two that I finished in the last week. Warhol is 12" x 18" charcoal on fabriano hot press, and Mick is 12" x 16" of fabriano hot press

Female 60's Icon Series

My husband insisted we have a yardsale. I didn't want to have a yardsale, it's alot of work and you gotta get up early and folks never want to pay the same amount as the little stickers you spent hours tacking on every single piece of craptastic treasure you managed to dig out, dust off and display. So now for the bright side: We found a great box of family photos nobody had seen for years, and I found my old sketchbooks from college. I had forgotten how much I love to draw. I am not so much with the still life fruits or scenic stuff, but give me a photo big enough that I can get the proper proportions, and I love to detail with charcoal.

I found some old magazine photos that I had used previously for a couple of drawings, and drew them again on watercolor paper. They came out so good, that I decided to do an entire series of Female icons from the 60's. Here are the first 4: Twiggy, Barbara, Marilyn and Lucy. Depending on how many I get finished, I should have a good sized collection to sell at the Upland Music and Arts Festival in November.

12" x 18" charcoal on Fabriano hot press

My Studio 13: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made-ArtNowFor Autism

This piece is being donated to the Art Now for Autism auction. Check out the details here.

Please check out their website and all of the amazing artists that are participating in this cause!!

(you can see more pic details below last post)

So Un-inspired

What the.......??? It seems like forever since I have found the inspiration, the muse, the desire to create!! Why does that happen to me? I can spend hours cruising through blogs and magazines and see some amazing eye candy, and yet, nothing seems to give my soul the push it needs to get going. I haven't journaled (anything worthwhile) in a month! Argghhhh!!

So what do I do, when I can't think of anything to do?? I follow direction. Tutorials, magazine techniques, DIY network, whatever....I fele half alive when I am not creating, so I got to go make SOMETHING!!

So for now, I am off to try DJ Pettit's "Let's Face it" in the latest Somerset Studio magazine. Here is a little something I did, oh I can't even remember when. Titled "Saint Hearted"

12" x 21" mixed media on watercolor paper

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Psalm 139: Such an amazing song of praise. I love how it talks about being knit together in the womb, and being fearfully and wonderfully made. This piece speaks of that. The background being rough and messy, with lumps and spills and things that don't match. Random textures and an image that might even be just a little bit scary. But this is how WE see ourselves. We see the mismatched, we see the awkward, we see things that our Father does not. Because, as the Universe's ultimate artist, We have got to know that He sees us just as he made us. Fearfully and wonderfully made.

Cosmic Crosses

This is a series of (3) "cosmic gelly" pieces that I have finished over the last week. Two of them are on 11"x14" plywood and one is on a 10"x10" gallery wrapped canvas. I finished the first 2 big ones, and hated how they came out. I thought they were too dark and random, and didn't have the same interesting shapes as ones I had done in the past. I don't know if I didn't use enough different colors, or what but I was not happy. Then I decided to start the process all over again with the cross. I taped off the cross shape, and kept the gel gloss inside, put some texture on it and let it dry. I then followed with the charcoal and acrylic paints.
I started the smaller canvas knowing it would be part of this cross series, so I had alot more detail. This one turned out to be sort of a calvary scene, with the crosses on either side and some random textures that looked like they could be people at the foot. I also had a hard time getting good pictures of these. Using the high gloss gel medium, every phot I took, inside or out, had alot of glare. These were the best images from 3 days of trying.

Be The Match! Save a life!

So between Blogger and Facebook and MySpace and Twitter, ( and many more I am sure) there has never been an easier way to get info out to people all over the world, with the click of a mouse.

I am going to use my blogger powers for good, and hope that this post can inspire some prayers, and maybe save a life.

My cousin and her family have been going through medical issues for awhile. Her husband has cancer and they tell him that he has exhausted his treatment efforts. So his choices are, let the cancer run it's course or have a bone marrow transplant. He will be meeting with doctors in a couple of weeks to go through the info on that option.

So I would ask that all of you out there in blogger/facebook/twitter/myspace ...blah blah blah, send your prayers to Rick!! Pray for healing, for the family, for the doctors and for a bone marrow match.

And if you are not a registered bone marrow donor, there are people all over the world waiting to be matched. Check out the link below, and give it some serious consideration. All it takes is a cheek swap to be registered!

Thanks all, and feel free to repost or retweet, or whatever sounds your networking program makes!!

National Marrow Donor Program - Be The Match Marrow Registry

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Forever Ago!!

Wow, I just looked at my last blog post and saw that it was almost 6 weeks ago!! What a bad blogger I am. For some reason things have been crazy around here. I feel like I have done very little art lately, not counting going up to Asilomar for Art&Soul. It does seem as though my muse has seen fit to take a vacation. I did get a tiny bit of inspiration tonight so I am working on a couple of things right now. I am waiting for some gel medium to dry, so I thought I would pop on over here for a bit.

So my son turned 7 today!! What a great time we had at his party. 8 kids, counting him (and a couple of siblings), and it went pretty smooth. We now have every Lego Power Miner set there is!! My husband, however, was not there, as he was home sick with pneumonia!! That's right, pneumonia!!! He has been down all week, and after 2 trips to the ER, they finally took a chest x-ray, and voila!! Pneumonia!!!

So here is a pic of the birthday boy with his balloon hat, and a group shot with the bear. (at least I think it's a bear).

Tattered and Tangled Art Opening

I am very excited to be a part of South Pasadena's Eclectic Music Festival and Artwalk, May 9, 2009 from 4pm-10pm. I submitted a piece of artwork that was accepted to show at Zinnia: The Funky Junque Gallery, as part of the open houses at 8 area galleries. Also, come to find our, Angela Cartwright will also be on hand at Zinnia to sign copies of her new book "In This Garden", and showcase all of the original art by the artists that collaborated on the book with her.

So far away!

Feels like forever since I posted here! I am getting ready to do a little showing at the Upland Lemon Festival next weekend, at my lovely friend Jenna's shop. Things have been a little crazy around here. Spring break, Easter and trying to get stuff together for Sunday. PLus I am now addicted to Facebook, so that takes a bunch of time. But I have almost everything framed, tags made, prints matted and ready to go. I will be making 2-3 journals to sell also. So all in all, it is going to be a busy week. Here is a journal page I did this weekend, that I will be selling as a print. Hope to see you all there. Sunday, April 26, 2009: Utopia Salon, 2nd street Upland, from 10-6pm

Lemon Fest Card

Lemon Fest Card, originally uploaded by keekeetodd.

Tattered and Tangled