Little Cricket Art Shack

Resolutions Revisited

2011-04-23T08:29:00.020-05:00

As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

I intended to be faithful and blog at least once a month, maybe more!
I intended to be a whirlwind of creativity, madly clipping and doing collage, painting up a storm and sketching everything I saw.
I intended to make time for more art...to find the slivers of the day and fill them with color.
I intended... I intended... I intended.

And I guess I did some of it. Well, not the blogging part, which apparently I'm pretty miserable at!

I participated in a tag exchange. Mine is the fish.

I spent an art-filled, snowy weekend in Mineral Point, Wisconsin staying in a historic home with my sisters and Pam. Here's an example of the exquisite corpse books we all worked on.

I made a lot of postcards to mail off to people I've only met virtually through the IUOMA (International Union of Mail Artists).

I redecorated my bedroom, painting the walls with exactly the color of periwinkle I'd been longing for, and finally adding the vintage chandelier. Well, I didn't do the painting, Pam did between cooking meals for her blog!

I went to Taos for a luxurious week of art - making a sketchbook then doing my best to fill it with paintings and sketches. All thanks to one of my fav people, Jill K. Berry.

I've even sketched a bit as part of the Sketchbook Challenge. I haven't kept up with every monthly challenge, but there's still time, right?

I suppose I haven't been the slacker I sometimes imagine myself to be. And I have the good fortune to work in a creative job with creative people surrounding me. I did help to launch a new magazine these past months - I guess that counts especially since I get paid to do it!

And it's only April, right?

A Jump on a Resolution

2010-12-18T13:45:00.011-06:00

I don't take enough time to create - just for me. I work too many hours then come home tired and hungry and the night slips away before I can make it upstairs to my studio space.

Mornings aren't much better. I get up and start working or checking email or fall into various other technological distractions.

Journal page from last summer.

I also don't take enough time to read. Except on a recent vacation where I read 2 entire books and got halfway through a third. That book, along with another I haven't finished, are waiting patiently for me to finish them.

I learned an important time management lesson from Pam - to understand that it isn't that we don't have enough time, we just don't prioritize the things that are important to us... then we say 'I don't have enough time for ______', which simply isn't true. We spent the time on other things.

Art challenge box from last summer.

I'm going to choose to take more time for art this year. In that spirit, I've already scheduled a week of art in March in lovely Taos, New Mexico and will be following along with The Sketchbook Challenge. I've also become a member of the International Union of Mail-Artists.

Sketch in progress from fall drawing class.

In other words, like seeing my personal trainer, I've made a commitment to other people and invested some money in something I think is important - so I just get off my preoccupied butt and do it!

2011 is the year of living creatively for me. Wherever that leads. And from what I understand, I may have to polish my interpretive dance techniques. What have I gotten myself into?!

Part 1: What a difference a year makes

2010-08-23T08:47:00.030-05:00

Has it really been a year? A year! A lot has happened in that year. Maybe that's why this blog has been languishing like an unfinished sewing project tucked in a closet.

My sister moved back to Wisconsin after living most of her life in Texas and then Arkansas. She raised a family, made friends, but always felt a bit like a fish out of water. It's good to have her 'home' and back in touch with her Yankee leanings.

My mom, Peggy died in October. I still miss her everyday.

The last conversation I had with her was to tell her I was going to Switzerland in November. She told me how she had always wanted to travel there because her grandfather was from Bern. She was really happy for me & Pam.

So part of her came with. I scattered some of her ashes off the Spreuerbrücke bridge in Lucerne and left a prayer card at the chapel inside. She would have loved Switzerland and I wish I had known she wanted to go there sooner. Much sooner.

The holidays rolled by, we welcomed a new year and winter descended upon Wisconsin. Sunshine beckoned...it was time to visit a place that always soothes my soul - the Sonoran desert. It's good for what ails you.

And work was busy - crazy busy - and every ounce of my creativity was directed there - instead of the now dusty art supplies languishing in my studio.

To be continued...

It's good to finish something! - Part two

2009-06-07T11:24:00.009-05:00

Ah, the piano hinge book. I love this book. The Tyvek paper has the sexiest hand feel and the hinge construction, while persnickety, was fairly straightforward once you understood how it all fit together.

I had no idea how I would finish this since - and you'll pardon the pun - the landscapes we did were so alien.

So it sat on my studio table until I was inspired by an article I read in a science magazine about Saturn's moons and in particular, Enceladus.

For those science geeks out there, here's the brief summary I came up with for the back flap:

Saturn's rings just may hold the mystery of life in the outer regions of our solar system, and some the tiniest voyagers capture the imagination.

Enceladus, one of Saturn's smallest moons at only 300 miles in diameter is a shimmering jewel reflecting almost all of the sunlight that hits it. And it's an active beauty with geysers and plumes erupting. Asrtobiologists believe these are caused by liquid water below the surface.

Along with geologic activity and the presence of water, it is believed that life forms may be present. Not oxygen supported life, but the types of organisms, or extremophiles, that may thrive on energy sources like radioactive decay - similar to life forms that have been found deep inside our planet.

It's good to finish something! - Part one

2009-06-07T11:06:00.013-05:00

A couple of weekends ago, I had the good fortune to join my two sisters and Pam when we participated in a bookmaking and painting workshop at Whispering Woodlands. Led by one of my favorite teachers, Jill Berry. I knew not only would it be packed with activity, I'd come away inspired to create new things as well as finish what we started during the class!

Here's the first thing we made... a dream book box.

The construction and painting were finished during the class, but the the little story came later, after I got home.

It's more of a made up fable.

During the class, I just painted what came to mind, figuring the story would come later.

And it did.

Long ago the sun refused to behave. It liked to glow in hues of orange and pink and purple.

At night it really acted up, glowing bright and blue - mostly to spite the moon but mostly because it could!

But one day a large snake came along and charmed the sun and ever since the unruly sun kept its blues very well contained.

To be continued...

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Journal

2009-04-26T19:42:00.006-05:00

A while back, my 2 sisters, Pam and I started a traveling art journal. Each of us would do a page or two and then mail or pass it along to the next person on the list.

Here is the box complete with instructions and a 'goodie bag' we're always adding to and taking from.

The page on the left is by my sister Ruth (Corky), the one on the right, by me. Very coordinated if I do say so myself!

Here's one of my first entries.

And one from Pam.

Here are two pages from my sister Carol. For some odd reason, we've all been compelled to create circus-themed art. Hmm...

Here's one of my latest. My attempt at the more abstract.

And one more from my sister Corky.

We still have a lot of pages to finish. And now with my sister moving back to our neck of the woods, it should go much faster!

I highly recommend trying a traveling journal with your friends. It's fun to wrap it up, add goodies to the package and send it on its way. And it's even more fun to crack the box open and see what treasures are inside!

Valley Ridge Art Studio Bliss

2009-04-02T20:04:00.019-05:00

What could be lovelier than a weekend spent in the rolling hills of western Wisconsin creating art in a beautiful space with creative people?

I had such an opportunity last weekend when I went to Valley Ridge Art Studio for an amazing workshop taught by the super smart and talented Jill K. Berry called Personal Geographies: Mapping Your Life.

And map we did! Here's an example of the body map we did with layers of vellum telling the story our body holds - with words & symbols.

Then it was on to mapping our brains. I managed to censor most of my darkest thoughts, but that pesky fear of falling had to have it's way!

And then onto a cheerier subject - a map of my basic needs!

Everyone really loved this folded map. We all mapped a place we were familiar with. I chose Wilson Park circa 1977 and even included the pine trees aka the 'make-out woods'.

We created a happy mess. Here's Kathy's artfully arranged work station and glimpse of her amazing mind map loaded with Egyptian imagery.

This is a simple strip map of my journey to Valley Ridge. I decided on a more metaphorical route and took some time after the class finishing this. Here's a hint - don't work on items that require good spelling when you're tired. Can you find the typo? I didn't find it until I was done. Completely. Neat, eh?

This was the largest type of map we did - a timeline. This is a brief history of my life. I didn't bring a lot of personal images to use, so I went for symbolism. It's not what I intended, but I felt like I needed to jump in and just try it and let go of the result.

And finally, the finale... a well-crafted atlas holder to carry our maps home. I had to snag some of Jill's hand-painted paper to use on the cover as a remembrance of this wonderful class.

What did I learn? A whole lot of cartographic history. Jill is a storehouse of knowledge and freely shared stories of stolen maps and history gone wrong with the class. I also learned that my drawing skills are very very rusty. I need to practice! I learned that to enjoy the process and let go of the outcome. I also learned that I can push a car up an icy hill. But that's a story for another day!

Thank you Kathy, Jill and all the wonderful women in the workshop. You made it memorable and spectacular!

My New Painting 'Sketchbook'

2009-03-01T18:24:00.003-06:00

I spent the better part of a night, gesso-ing the pages of handmade paper book I got from my sister for Christmas. The paper was so pretty and it was a shame to cover it, but it absorbed paint like paper toweling, and since I'm not much of a 'sketcher', I wanted to use it for quick painted pages and journaling.

The trick is to paint ahead, but leave blank spaces for words and pictures. Like this —

But sometimes only a landscape will do. The sky will work nicely for messages to myself.

I thought circles might be just thing when I didn't have too much to say or if I wanted to corral different thoughts.

Here are pages where I found sea life in the paint swirls. I don't plan what I'm going to write, I just begin and see where it takes me. I do the same with the painting. I'm trying to keep it loose and spontaneous and to remain detached from the outcome. And to experiment!

These are the opening pages to my new art journal. I decided to invoke Ganesh's energy - the Remover of Obstacles. He never lets me down no matter where the journey takes me!

I don't see any clowns!

2009-02-09T16:57:00.002-06:00

I've been so busy, mostly with work unfortunately, but I have managed to squeeze in some time to paint and glue. I've been working on collages with lots of color layered with gesso and scraps of paper, then layered up again.

I always lean to flatness - does that even make sense? What I mean is that I like my collages to look more three dimensional but in fact be flat.

This I've taken to calling this Arbutus Moon.

I used a similar technique on this piece titled, 'Why do I have a need to do a circus theme piece when I don't even like clowns?!"

It's a bit creepy and swirly and dreamlike, and I don't particularly like it. It had to come out for some reason in all it's jangle and disconnection.

So there you have it... some sort of weird peek into my subconscious - from pretty birds to menacing clowns. Welcome.

Boxing Day

2008-12-30T09:53:00.001-06:00

I'm quite obsessed with houses. I've been doodling them since my childhood and seeing a little house, a toy... a well done birdhouse... always makes me smile.

These are gift boxes I made from recycled shipping boxes. I snatched the idea from a recent Craft: magazine and ran with it. (I just can't keep it simple apparently!)

This was a grocery box that was pretty much covered with writing, so I covered it in choice papers and vintage scrap for my mom, who loves Victorian and old-fashioned looking things.

This was for my sister and we tucked Asian-themed gifties inside. I used various recycled scraps - the roof is made from heavy weight paper ads from a graphics magazine.

My personal challenge in making these was letting go of perfection. I really like tidy edges and symmetrical things, but using packing boxes doesn't allow for that. Plus, it's hard to get better as you go as each box is different and things glue differently to them, they cut differently, and so on. So, wabi sabi, right?

I hope the boxes go on to find another life in their new homes or even travel on as gifts to other people. I like thinking about them on little journeys into the future.

Tagging Back

2008-12-02T20:50:00.001-06:00

I've always been enchanted by the concept of random acts of kindness. I like surprising people, but I like to keep it simple. And I like to be surprised in return. That's why I'm a big fan of www.sendsomething.net. There are no strings attached. You post a profile and see if the universe sends you something- a random act of kindness. The other fun part of the site is that you can generate random addresses and surprise someone back. Or you can search for different interests or key words and get a list of people that fit your search.

In late fall I received a fun handmade postcard from a woman in Pasadena, California. I set it aside and when I had the time, I painted and collaged a piece to return. (Mine is the one in front, her card is in back.) I wrote a brief note on the back, packaged it in a clear cello mailer with goodies tucked inside and sent it along to sunny California.

I like the simplicity of just sending something and expecting nothing in return. I find the idea of moderated 'trades' or a site like www.postcrossing.com too confining. (oh, and don't get me started on swap-bot.com - a place in my opinion that wrings the joy out of creating!) These formal places don't suit my busy life or my need to just make someone's day... without expecting something in return. And I suppose I also learn, each time I send a small, original item, the beauty of letting go.

But a tag back or tag forward is always wonderful!

Tiny Inspiring Things

2008-11-17T07:16:00.001-06:00

If you're like me, you like to walk at dusk and look inside people's houses. Not in a creepy way, but a passing glance as you stroll by and the lights come on.... You see people cooking dinner, watching the news, going about their evening tasks, all alight with purpose and meaning.

Here's a peek inside where I create. It's a little like glancing into the lit window of my mind.

This old wooden box is on the wall, directly to the right of where I sit in our studio (I share the space with my partner). I have a thing for old tins, especially little ones or unusually shaped ones. This box houses a bunch of them, and most of them have little supplies inside.

The 'Lustra' beaver tin (top right) holds the scraps from paper hole punches - hundreds of perfect, tiny colorful circles. And yes, I do use them!

The oblong silver tin on the next shelf down has giant paperclips inside. It was a gift from my mom, who adores objects that are scaled oddly - like miniature books and giant tweezers...tiny little kitchen gadgets and giant paperclips!

The bottom center cubbyhole are two of my favorite tins because they have stars on them. I love stars. In fact, I have a star crown that's encrusted with tarnished metal glitter that I sometimes wear when I'm so moved. Just because...

I also have little favorite things squirreled away and tacked to this box... the tiny celluloid bird that I can't bear to use, a tiny metal lion, foreign coins, a package of vintage razor blades... a changing collection of tiny things that inspire me.

Sow's Ear

2008-11-13T21:09:00.001-06:00

At our recent art retreat, my sister Carol and I took a short class by Bernie Berlin called Resist This. I should have known there would be trouble when I looked at the supply list... an iron, rubber stamps... egad - paint AND hot irons? Rubber stamps? I'm so not a 'stamper'.

Here's the recipe...

1. Layer copious amounts of acrylic paint onto quality water color paper. Then crouch in a corner with your heat gun and try to get it completely dry.

2. Stamp your painted page with a rubber stamp using colorless embossing ink.

3. Back to the heat gun.

4. Then layer even more paint on top. Repeat drying process.

Allow me to interject here with the part about how little patience I have with waiting for paint to dry. Add to that the fact that we had paint everywhere by this point... well, suffice it to say we were not being star pupils.

5. Then fire up your iron. I was using an old travel iron that gets hot enough to brand cattle.

6. When your iron is smoking (okay, it shouldn't be smoking apparently - we figured that out by the horrified looks from the other class participants and the instructor's nervous laugh), lay a plain sheet of parchment paper (oh man, was it parchment - please don't follow my instructions!) over your painted page and simply iron, and lift, small areas at a time... simply iron, and lift! Lift quickly...and voila - a batik like pattern should emerge.

Ha.

Okay, at this point, my sister and I had dissolved into laughter and snorting. Each time we'd 'simply iron and lift' the paper would begin to scorch and would not 'lift' but instead leave great streaks of paper on the page. But we soldiered on, and attempted to rescue our work by using wet wipes and water to scrub the paper off of the page. We were quite hysterical (no doubt somewhat fueled by the wine we had before the class..) and I'm pretty sure hugely obnoxious to the people in the class that were merrily creating beautifully patterned pages.

So, we laughed and managed to have a fun time. I ended up with two, count em', TWO pages of 'custom' paper suitable for use in other artwork and collage. Yeah.

The cards you see here are the end product of the paper. The paper is the base for a simple collage.

I call them them Silk Purse Note Cards.

You may call them whatever you like!

(And my apologies to Bernie Berlin, a lovely person who put up with our jackassery with grace!)

Hard Landing

2008-10-26T09:46:00.001-05:00

It's never easy coming back to reality after spending days playing with art supplies and laughing with friends, new and old.

As promised, here are a few of the things I created at the RAEvn's Nest Art Retreat.

The assemblage is the (almost) finished piece from Michael deMeng's class.

He was a wonderful teacher - witty and informative and not too 'directive', so everyone had a chance to use his techniques and run wild. One of the best parts of the class was the end, when we all got to show our works and he critiqued them - mysteriously finding only the positive in each one! (Thank-you Michael)

I'll pop another post up soon about Jill Berry's wonderful book making class.

How can entire days just fly by? Spend them creating with creative people surrounding you!

Blowing in the Wind

2008-10-12T20:02:00.000-05:00

Okay. I decided that I absolutely needed to post some more photos on this here blog.

Here's a taste of the ATC's (artist trading cards) that I'll be taking to trade during the retreat. .

I like to package them in little bags with tabs on top. Must be the retailer in me.

I also spent a fun afternoon with my partner and sisters visiting a consignment shop. It's not like I don't have gobs of material for art projects, but there's something so seductive about a treasure in a dusty box...

Retreat into Inspiration

2008-10-11T11:09:00.001-05:00

Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans... More like, work is what happens when you'd like to be doing something else!

My apologies for the lack of posts. I must confess that my creativity as of late (oh, the last two months) has been channeled into solving work dilemmas. But hey, it pays the bills, right?! And I've been producing some amazing creative work from writing to changing up ad campaigns -so that counts!

I am excited to report that there IS a way to make room for more art - take a retreat! This coming week, my partner and my two sisters and I are retreating to the Raevn's Nest Art Retreat in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

I'm looking forward to learning from such luminaries as Michael deMeng, Bernie Berlin, Judy Wise, Jill K. Berry and Laurie Mika. There will be music, mingling, art trades and of course wine. And I'm sure much laughter and shared ideas with my fellow retreaters and my irrepressible sisters!

And then after, an outpouring of posts and photos surrounding my new creations and insights.

I can only hope...

Personal Inspiration

2008-08-26T09:22:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to find the inspiration in the everyday. It becomes too easy to look at other's artwork and think, "Gee, that's cool" then to realize that everything you create after it is derivative of the style you just looked at.

So on a recent trip, I tried to take photos of things that captured my imagination. It made for an interesting vacation album!

I loved the colors and patterns of this storefront. In general, I love color, yet oddly I find that I lean towards using very subdued colors in my work. What struck me about this store was that appeared to have sprouted like a crazy bouquet on street filled w/ historic brick buildings.

Hmmm...Maybe this photo was more about me and how I feel (I'm a crazy bouquet sprouted in a sea of brown and navy blue) than what I like to look at... but that's the heart of art isn't it? The feeling behind the images and colors...

Lady of the Sea

2008-08-22T17:11:00.000-05:00

I can't think of a better way to begin than

to talk about failure and disappointment. And this is coming from an optimist!

I've included an example of one of my recent disappointments

- let's call her lady of the sea. This is a great example of having a vision in my head that my hands can't seem to translate. Every layer I added seemed to render it more contrived and graceless.

I wanted to love her, this lady of the sea. She was supposed to be dreamy and royal. I wanted her to impart an anointed saintliness to the mysteries below. Instead, she lives in the corner of my studio, waiting to be finished and reminding me that you have to just dive in sometimes and start creating. And let go of the outcome.

I'll finish her some day, or morph her into something else. I'm a big fan of recycling and reusing, so she'll have her day!