Happening Around Here

Hello friends, it’s been a while!

I thought it was about time to pop back here and give you some glimpses of what’s been happening around here!

There has been art! So much art I have made and sold and not even gotten chance to share here!

And purging ... much clearing and purging and unloading of the “stuff” to make room for the new and energizing!

I’ve also been busy reorganizing and redecorating many rooms. They  feel lighter now ... in color and in energy!

In the shuffle, there was also a chest of drawers make-over and a brand new picture wall, that is yet to be filled!

Also two peg boards, one still being in progress in my daughter’s room!

And so much more! But I think, for now, I will just give you a few glimpses!

My latest love is plaster sculpting! All of the above is work in progress right now - and then some! I’m totally loving the houses/niches!

The garden is thriving, despite the recent weeks of hard frost. But in true low dessert fashion, we’re quite warm again now!

 

Not even the arts/craft room/studio was spared the purging and organizing!

 

 

The revamped IKEA dresser and some of the yet to be filled empty frames on the picture wall!

 

The beginnings of some nourishing bone broth!

The cat is served!

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Around Here Lately

Hello friends! It’s been a while!

Wow, it’s been quite the ride around here for the last few weeks!

So, I thought I’d give you the nutshell low-down of some of the things that have been happening around here lately!

1. There was a lot of this! My husbands family came to visit in March, which was closely followed by my folks visiting from Germany to celebrate my father’s 70th birthday with us!

{Please ignore my sinusitis induced swollen face!}

 

 

 

And this is the portrait I painted for him as a birthday gift.

 

2. Both my daughter and my husband are currently rehearsing for plays at the local community theater. Two different plays.  Which means rehearsals every night and all weekends between the two of them!

 

{Anna during the performance of her last play!}

 

3. While we got through the winter with very little sickness, it seemed to have caught up with us now. First I went down with some icky sinusitis (right in the middle of my folks visiting!) then the kids went down with something too, even though not nearly as bad. They had the good sense to wait with the real icky stuff until my folks left and Max is still down with it right now, having been home for 4 days, sick!

 

4. I have also had a bit of a redecorating bug, as I have already mentioned, and in addition to being busy sewing a bunch of stuff for the redecorated bedroom (curtains, pillow cases, duvet covers, etc.) I ended up making a few decorative pieces for various spots throughout the house, too.

 

 

 

I’m not quite done yet. I think the living room is next in terms of a redo, which will require quite a bit of DIYing on my part as well. I’m planning on using some of our existing Billy system, but as they don’t make our color anymore, I will most likely have to paint the lot to make it uniform with the extension pieces I am planning on adding and making into a custom “built-in.” However, that is a whole different story and will probably be one of those  “I do a little when I can” kind of projects, as well as a “now that I have this down, let’s paint all the walls while we can and have a minor renovation” type of project.

For now I have, yet again, given my little IKEA drawers another make-over. I think this is the third décor/color change they have been through over the years. I wish IKEA still sold those! They are so much fun to alter!

 

 

4. And while looking for something else I came across the instructions for these little beauties and I just adore them! I’ve made two so far but I think I have a few more in me! Aren’t they so cute?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V9qmKE9wN4

 

My idea at the time was to make a paper mache mannequin stuck on a candle holder with a chicken wire skirt for my earrings, but then I cake across these sewn ones and I just had to try them!

One as a pin cushion:

 

 

By the way, for this one, I used a “candle holder” that I made this way from dollar store items.

 

The other is for my earrings:

 

 

I used drawer pulls for the top of the mannequins.

 

5. Of course, there is also always the garden. Lots to do there! Planting, harvesting, processing ... weeding!

 

 

    

 

 

And Mr./Mrs. Squirrel is back too, which would explain the disappearing strawberries!

 

{We caught him/her in the act this morning!}

 

6. Even though I’ve been doing a lot less of the painting kind of art these last few weeks, I have still kept up with  it somewhat. I’ve been working on several faces with the pastel/watercolor/gesso method. Totally new experience for me and really a different style, but I’m loving it!

 

 

7. I am currently really into expressing myself through things other than just paintings, so I am also working on my first art doll!  Totally still a work in progress at this point:

 

 

8. The other thing that’s been rocking my world:

 

 

I love, love, love this pot! It’s amazing! And I’m sure it will be the subject of many a blog post and recipe to come!

For now, let’s just say I haven’t cooked a day without it since I got it!

What is it?

InstantPot is an electric, programmable pressure cooker!

My favorites so far: Perfectly soft boiled eggs in 3 minutes, a full pot of potatoes in 10 minutes, beautiful, rich bone broths/stock in 1 hour (!!!), fluffy brown rice in 20 minutes, whole chicken, incredibly moist and tender in 25 minutes! Oh, and it makes yogurt too (dairy and non-dairy) .... and I get to make it in mason jars!! Oh and dairy-free cheese cake - yep, in the pressure cooker! In 20 minutes!

Basically, it has taken over the function of a pressure cooker, the crock pot, the rice cooker, the yogurt maker and so much more! And the insert is stainless steel, so no issue with non-stick coatings and such!

And non of the scary parts of pressure cooking are involved with this little machine! It has a bunch of built in safety features and  clean-up is so easy!

Anyway, as you can see, I am totally in love with the thing!

If you are interested in knowing more, there’s a nice little video in the amazon listing I linked you to.

And no, I am not affiliated with InstantPot, I just love the pot!

 

9. I’ve been working on quite a few blog posts recently. But they seem to evolve. So, they started out one way and while writing, they turn another way! As a result, I have quite a few blog posts in my draft folder, none ready to post and all in progress. I will get them all to you at some point. I hope!

 

10. There has also been a fair bit of this.

 

Gelli printing is so much fun!

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Happening Around Here Lately

Hello everyone! I feel like I haven’t posted in a while, even though I had daily posts going on every single day the last 20 days! Phew! I hope you enjoyed the 20/20 series!

For those of you who are subscribed to my newsletter, I’ll be sending out the download link for the e-book to the series later today!

 

1. Happy Spring, everyone!

Look who I finally captured on “film”! I get so many hummingbirds in the garden and they let me come up quite closely, but I’ve never had a camera handy when they do! Until now!

   

 

 

Things are really happening in the garden as we’re moving out of the “winter” veggie harvesting and into the “summer” planting. I put adverted commas, because the dessert seasons are obviously not like the usual seasons! We’re having a little bit of a lull, right now, while the various summer veggies are getting there! But I still have plenty to keep us happy!
I have to say though, I am REALLY looking forward to the zucchini, cucumbers, beans and melons that are currently growing! Won’t be long now!

 

2. I’ve been working on my first portrait. It’s a gift for my father’s 70th birthday.  I am all at once fascinated by the thought of me doing even a single portrait and astounded that it actually looks like him!

I was somewhat in the zone when doing it, but haven’t been able to do another portrait of similar “skill” since! Go figure! Now, how do I go back into that zone?

 

 

3. I’ve been busy playing with my Gelli Plate! So much fun! I am working on a separate post on this however, so here is just a little preview.

 

           

 

4. Lifebook 2014 has had some more rocking lessons, in particular the last two I worked on, which was one by Tamara Laporte and the other by Anna Dabrowska, aka Finnabair!

 

Tamara’s lesson was on the “paint over collage” technique, which took me from this

 

 

To this:

 

 

Anna’s lesson was on her collage technique, which was quite fascinating! My take on the lesson took me from this:

 

 

To this:

 

 

The final collage was a little hard to photograph, as I used primarily shimmer mists to color the collage and they don’t photograph well! In real life the colors and objects have much more distinct colors and the separate objects stand out much more in their own right than the photo suggests. But you get the idea!

 

I am so glad I decided to do Lifebook 2014! We’re only in March and I have already learnt SO much and I just love having all the different artists show us how they do what they do!

By the way, if you’re thinking you might want to join too, you can! It’s not too late! Once you join, ALL the lessons are available for you to download and do at your own pace!

Even though Lifebook 2014 has a somewhat overriding theme every month (this month it is “celebrating connections”,) the lessons don’t build on each other, so you can jump in at any time and do the lessons in any order!

And for those of you that don’t want to do it because they think that the inner mean girl would never let them post their work or enjoy any of it - Lifebook has an amazingly supportive community, with EVERY level of artistic ability fully represented. Really, from ABSOLUTE beginner, the I-never-even-held-a-brush-before kind of beginners, to professional artists!

Anyway, as you can see, I’m really, REALLY enjoying myself in Lifebook 2014! It rocks!

 

5. I want to leave you with this awesome reminder by Ira Glass, about the creative process!

 

 

Yes, yes, YES!

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Transition

The other day, I sat down to do one of the Lifebook 2014 lessons and within the first few minutes of laying down my colors, it went a completely different way!

Now, in days gone by, I would have made myself got back to the lesson and do it “properly,” but these days I go with the flow much more. I do follow the whispers a whole lot more!

So, I also did this time.

And this is what emerged!

 

{Transition}

Art Print available in my Etsy Store.

 

I am starting to LOVE going with the flow in my art! Somehow it always just depicts where I’m at, even when I wouldn’t be able to express it in any other way!

The piece above is done with acrylic ink and colored graphite pencils.

 

I feel like a lot is transitioning for me right now in all levels of my life. Nothing major really to the outside world, I’m sure. More quiet little changes, large and small shifts within, letting go,  transitioning into new ways of thinking, feeling, doing and perceiving.

 

YES!

 

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.

Richard Bach

And YES to butterflies!

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The Dust Of Every Day Life ...

1.) Garden Time.

Things have really been heating up around here lately. I mean literally! We’ve suddenly gone to the 90s, just like that! That’s a bit warm for this time of year, even for Phoenix. However, it also meant that I really had to get my planting going in the garden.

So, I spent some glorious hours out there, getting the beds ready, fertilizing with the “stinky fish stuff,” as my kids call it, and  which always causes our cat to lick his way through the garden, walls and all! And then I planted my seedlings.
I tried a new method this year, as I just didn’t want to have all the window sills full of seedlings. It never ends well, with the kids and the cat and soil everywhere. And remembering to water them. It’s odd, I’m ok about remembering to water outside, but inside, unless it’s already part of my routine - not so much!

So, this time around I started everything back in December and outside - but in tea jugs! Apparently this even works for places with real cold and deep snow!

It certainly worked for me. And what’s even better, it was one of those “set it and forget it” kind of things. No watering, no cleaning up spilled soil - just rows of tea jugs on my patio!

 

 

All you need is:

• a clear (mostly) plastic jug of some kind (water, milk, tea, etc.) and even some of the larger plastic juice bottles would work.
• Duct tape or some other well sealing, weather resistant kind of tape.
• Your soil of choice. I like to use the little jiffy pellets that you expand in water. The seedlings never get transplant shock with those and they hold water close to the root longer which is important when you plant in the desert. If you use those, have them soaked and ready to go.
• Seeds of choice.
• A sharp knife, utility knife or pair of scissors (for the thinner type of jug - won’t work with scissors on these thick plastic kind of jugs)

All you do, is to cut the jugs from the right side of the handle (about 2 inches from the bottom of the jug)  toward the front of the jug (opposite of the handle) and around back to about an inch before the handle. So basically you have cut 3 sides of the jug, leaving the handle side of the jug uncut.

You can cut it all the way, but I found that it’s easier to tape everything back together when the jug is still holding all it’s parts together by itself.

 

Bend back the upper part of the jug so you can access the bottom part. Fill with soil or your soaked pellets, and sow your seeds.

Water thoroughly, but not so that everything swims. Just give it a good soak.

Bend back the top part and make sure you write, with a waterproof/fade resistant marker what you put inside!

Now, tape everything up really well along the seam. We want this to be air tight. Replace lid, set outside in a sunny spot and basically don’t touch it until you are ready to plant.

Really, don’t open them to peek. Every time you do, the moisture and heat escapes. And that’s NOT good for your seedlings!

 

So I had a row of mini tea-jug-greenhouses on my patio. I had one for melons, one for squash, one for tomatoes, one for herbs, one for peppers and a couple of other ones I don’t remember now!  Again, make sure you use fade resistant markers! I thought I was being all cute by using different colored sharpies to mark my jugs!  Turns out that the purple sharpies are not nearly as permanent as the other colors!!

Since we have to plant as early as possible to hopefully get a half-way decent crop before the blistering heat sets in again, everything went in over the last few days for me!

 

****************

 

Another garden related thing. My 2 new favorites to switch things up in the garden: purple potatoes (just planted) and orange cauliflower (just harvested!) So pretty, so yummy and so good for you!!

 

 

My children are still a tad freaked out about the purple potatoes, however. They say it’s too halloween-y! Who knew there was such a thing!

Hopefully, they will get over it!

 

2.) A quote for today.

 

 

Art continues to be the thing in my life right now, even though this week has been so very busy and I’ve been torn in so many directions, that it’s been hard to finish something.

However, I have learned that there will be times like this. There are times when things seem to be out of balance, either because of too many other, even though necessary, distractions, or because there is a creative dry spell, or, or, or.

I used to worry about those and sometimes I still do. What if it doesn’t pick up again? What if I stay out of balance and out of this delicious flow of creativity, that I have come to treasure,  forever more?

What if I don’t find that good balance between family and work and art and garden and home and my needs and and and again?

But, experience has shown that it often goes in peaks and valleys and that I tend to prolong the more uncomfortable periods by resisting them.

What we resist truly persists, so my goal this week has been to step out of my own way as much as possible, listen to the whispers, to my body and let much of the intensity, I’m experiencing, wash over me and through me.

For me, this week has been a lot about leaning into discomfort and vulnerability, being with it, rather than running or protecting myself from it. It has been about being gentle with myself and  about snatching the little soul dustings of art when I can!

 

3.) Things to come to this blog in March.

As of March 1st, I’ll be taking part in a fabulous event, called “The Big 20/20 Event”.  For twenty days, twenty (more or less) bloggers will be posting twenty different tutorials on their blogs. Every day will be a different tutorial, from a different person, including yours truly!

You won’t have to blog-hop, unless you want to go and check out cool new people and bloggers, everything will be happening right here on my blog - and simultaneously on all the other 20 blogger’s sites! Cool, right?

So, here’s what’s coming:  20 days, 20 terrific tutorials - time to be totally inspired!!!

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On a Roll And A New Etsy Store Option.

1. On A Roll. I have been on such a roll this last week with the splatter paintings. What started out as a Lifebook 2014 lesson, has taken on a whole life of it’s own.

All of a sudden a certain technique with these ink sprays seems to emerge for me - and to be honest, nobody is more surprised than me that these bold, colorful, out-of-control (in a way) paintings are actually coming out of me!

But, I’m going with it, because I am having way too much fun! I am completely smitten with the boldness, vibrancy and dynamic of  these splatter paintings!

Since my last post there have been several more paintings!

Last Friday, I sat down to make another painting, but I wanted to take it another way. Until I saw this:

 

 

To me, there are the very clear outlines of a female face in there! Yes, faces are my theme right now!

Can you see it? The nose over on the left, further down a little, the chin, receding to a neck there by the 4 yellow spots? Up on top, where the yellow goes into the pink, the hairline going into somewhat of a gathered bun on top?

Don’t see it? Doesn’t matter! We all see different things! Here is what I saw:

 

 

And with this painting I also discovered this neat thing the Dylusions spray inks do. They are water soluble, which is great for the splattering in the first place, however, it also means that even when they are dry, they dissolve a little bit when you make them wet again. Not a lot, but for me, just enough to get some shading and contouring done for the face.

So, now I’m totally into playing with all those possibilities!

I explored this a little further in this painting. I call it “Receiving”!

 

 

I’m having trouble really capturing them in their true splendor, as the shimmer mists I use, just shows up either flat in the scanned pictures, or as a brighter area in the scan. If I’m taking an actual photo, at low light and from various angles that bring out the shimmer, the color of the painting is no longer quite true and the image is every so slightly out of focus!

Here you can see the gold flecks a little more:

I have a feeling I am nowhere near done with these, so chances are there will be many more in future posts!

 

2.) Offering personalized options on my prints.

Quite a few of these paintings will at some point go into my Etsy store. Some as originals, but most will be as fine art prints and greeting cards in various formats.

Since I always capture my images and paintings prior to adding my words and quotes (except for  the mini canvases) I thought it would be fun to offer you the option of adding your own word for the year, word of relevancy, quote, etc.

I am also offering an intuitive option, if you would like me to choose a word/quote relevant to you.

So far I have added these options to these to prints:

 

 

Just click on the images to go to my etsy store and see more details!

 

3.) Love this quote!

"Life just turns deliciously quirky when you stop resisting yourself and, instead, honor the intuition that tugs at you like a puppy on a leash in the park. Follow the magic and magic starts to follow you." Tama J. Kieves

YES!

Where is the magic taking you at the moment?

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Things I have discovered recently

1.) I am really liking these kind of blog pots. You know, the ones I’ve been doing recently, where I cover several points/areas/events in one blog post.  All of them somewhat more on the short and sweet side!

So often, some of the smaller thoughts and events fall by the wayside because they don’t make up a whole blog post and in my case it often means, that I just don’t post!

They are also much faster to do, which seems to help me to post more regularly too!

I see more of those in my future!

 

2.) My latest finished painting for Lifebook 2014. I had so much fun with the inky, vibrant, splattery goodness!

 

 

3.) Baby wipes are my new best friend in the art studio! I might be the last to catch on, but they are awesome when it comes to cleaning brayers, stamps, stencils, general wiping of spills, drips and such.

 

{Oh, how I love it when even the cleaning rags are pretty!}

 

But not only that, I have recently discovered that they can assist me in the kind of blending I love.

When you use acrylics a lot, which I do, they become a little “plastic-y” when they dry. Meaning they create a slightly slick surface. Especially when you use extenders, then that can happen even more! Sometimes that’s a good thing, but often it just means that the consequent layers of paint can slide around a bit.

I also like to use colored graphite pencils for much of my “pull it all together” shading on a face. They are subtle, smudge able and allow me to build up nice layers. For the most part I use my trusty paper stumps for softening it all out, or just my fingers.

But, every so often, the above mentioned plasticy thing, that the acrylics do, gets in the way and the graphite settles unevenly and instead of looking subtle, it ends up looking streaky and just weird.

Enter the baby wipe! I discovered a few days ago, that a gentle, feather light smudging with a baby wipe on my finger tip gives me back that evening out power! It has to be really gentle, or you’ll take the whole layer off!  I love it!

 

4.) Gelli Plate Printing. I’ve been itching to try it, but I just haven’t gotten around to it. I like the idea, I’m just not sure that I will end up using it all that much. The other day I was reading something and “hectographs” were mentioned. So, that set off an aha moment for me and I did a search for homemade hectographs/gelli plates and low and behold, there are lots of clever people out there who have this figured out!

Here are some recipes, if you want to try it for yourself:

Shaz in Oz’s original recipe

The Frugal Crafter’s recipe (permanent gelli plate)

Cat Sadowski’s recipe  (for a stickier gelli plate)

I’ll be posting my little experiments at some point. I got a little side-tracked with some ladies that want to be painted!

 

5.) The current state of my work surface paper.

 

 

What you can’t see is all the glimmering  from the various mists that settled on the paper too. Intuitive collage paintings in the making, every time I work on there and wipe something, smear something, scribble with a pen to get it going, drip, overspray, test the opacity of a particular paint, roll the excess off my brayer ... it all goes on here and becomes it’s own component for future pieces of art! I love it!

Not to mention that hardly anything every goes to waste that way!

 

What have you discovered lately?

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Happening Right Now

1. A reminder and a future blog post!

 

 

2. Started this painting last night.

Still a work in progress.

 

 

3. I love collecting lots of little treasures  

... for my next craft project!  It ties in with the feather above!

 

 

4. Turmeric root, fresh  from my garden.

I have turmeric every day in some form or another. What’s so special about Turmeric? Here’s a pretty good summary.

 

 

5. On my nightstand.

 

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