Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Happy New Year!


12 x 12 black construction paper, Sakura crayons

This doodle is dedicated to my friend Sue for
inspiring me to get loose and doodle. Check out
her doodles here.

"Go confidently in the direction of your
dreams! Live the life you've imagined.
As you simplify your life, the laws of the
universe will be simpler." Henry David Thoreau

I want to thank each and every one of you
for being a special part of my life this past year,
for your kind words and inspiration. Most of
all for allowing me the opportunity to walk
beside you on this journey we call life.

To my family: I love you past the sky.
To my husband: To infinity and beyond!

Happy New Year!!

Godspeed- Andrea

My other blog is here: "The Way I See It"

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Wired Heart Cage


Yes... it's been some time, but the truth is I have enjoyed
the serenity of just doing and being in the moment, none
of which has included blogging, however it doesn't mean
that I haven't thought of YOU- my fellow blogging artists.
Actually, I think of you often and hope that each and
everyone of you are doing well and finding peace in
this holiday season.

For a while now I have felt my heart in a stranglehold, a bit
lost, not my usual self perhaps this is what has inspired my
wired heart cage. It holds a myriad of game pieces, some
beach glass which I have stamped with a dragonfly, a toy
compass, a found rock upon which I have inscribed the word
"listen", a found coin token, a broken seashell. I used bailing
wire, copper wire, and silver wire to create the enclosure
and a vintage skeleton key.

I believe the message in this piece is significant for this time
in my life. I'm in the midst of some sort of change, new
direction and that there are still missing pieces to be found.
The key is to listen closely and pay attention.

I must say it was really challenging trying to stabilize these
little game pieces while wire wrapping but I really did enjoy
the process. The finished piece is about 4" x 5".

My next intention was to create a base for this heart, some
sort of background. I started to work this mosaic and I had
the idea of making the part where the heart would be
placed to be only mirrored pieces so that it would allow
for the heart to stand out and the small game pieces would
be reflected back into the mirror.

Nope, nadda, no good. It was not the right idea. Too busy.
Now I'm not quite sure how I will finish this mosaic but
I am certain of the next move for my heart.

I do appreciate your patience and kind words while I've
been away. My daily full time job has been busy and
mentally draining these past few weeks.

I'm hopeful that the New Year will induce a new
creative spirit and a little more peace into my daily
existence and YOURS.

One thing I know for sure is that I've learned not to worry
about what comes next. It's a grand adventure and I'm
along for the ride. Thank you for joining me.

My other blogspot: "The Way I See It"

Saturday, November 1, 2008

RaNdOm sToRyBoOk


In my never-ending quest to uncover the great mysteries
that beseige my mind, I took another class. This time taught
by a fellow artist named Karen O'Brien.

I consistantly ask myself, why do I need another
class on collage, on paint, on whatever? what more is it that
I must know, that I haven't already figured out and then like
a slap in the face I remind myself that while life is ebbing
and flowing so are my creative endeavors. There is a
constant discovery and re-discovery of new and old. There is
always something new to discover.

While Karen's class-"Uncover the Mystery" was about collage
techniques and the use of new and old products, I found it
taught me more about freedom and reckless abandon in the
creative process. The ability to abandon one's pre-concieved
idea, or knowledge about a certain technique, or process
and to just create quickly, too quick to know what will
happen next.

I generally create my pieces without pre-conceived ideas
but then as they mysteriously begin to unfold, I work them
more methodically.

We all started with an 18 X 24 piece of Red Rosin paper
made up of 100% recycled fibers. This paper is used in
building materials sometimes first layer of roofing or as
paint drop cloth. (Home Depot or Lowe's on a roll)

We randomly covered this paper in gesso to give the paper
a reliable surface for painting.

18 X 24 Red Rosin paper, random collage imagery,
layers of paint, gel medium, monoprinting, stamping,
water soluble oil pastels and ink.

I've flipped the paper around and worked both sides. I
wanted to make a single-cut maze folded book. Once the
collaged paper was complete and dry enough to manipulate
it was folded into halves and then quarters and a single cut
was made to allow the paper to be folded into a book.

The back cover and the pages in between seen below:



Here is my randomly collaged, painted storybook, which
I ran through the sewing machine for some zig-zag stitching.

I've really enjoyed this process of working quickly and
with spontaneity. This is a great exercise to relieve your
artist's block and to free your creative process. I've already
prepped some larger pieces of Red Rosin paper for more fast
and furious exploration.

Thought for today: "If you don't know what your passion is,
realize that one reason for your existence on earth is to find
it"


I thank you for your kind words and your visits. My other
blog locale is here: "The Way I See It"

Please remember to exercise your right to "V O T E " Tuesday, November 4th.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Road Trip


Dusk at Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Ah..relaxed and rejuvenated. I'm sure some of you were
beginning to wonder if I'd ever return. 10 States, 9 National
Parks, 817 photos, a birthday and 4,850 miles to be exact.
I've thought of you, 'my friends' and hoped that everyone's
life would carry-on in good health and good fortune while I
was out gallivanting around the country. I've got lot's of
catching up to do. You see I haven't even looked at my
blogs,nor any others this entire time and I am now eager to
see how you are all doing.

We are glad to be back home. Our vacation was remarkable
and impossible to put into words. We visited many new
places, re-acquainted ourselves with old places, visited with
old friends, made some new friends and had the pleasure of
meeting my new blog friend Sue for dinner.

There is nothing like traveling this great country of ours the
old fashioned way, by car, seeing what you see, taking the
roads less traveled, through ghost towns, quaint prairie
towns, mountain towns, and big cities. We have traveled
to the desert, through the prairies, through the mountains,
to the coastal waters, back home to California. It reminded
of the song "America the Beautiful".

Now if we'd only get our our politics in order.

Having arrived home so rejuvenated and my mind another
year older, I couldn't remember how to use my iweb
application or my ftp app or anything else. My mind was
tabula rasa, empty, blank. I had 817 pics to catalog, sort
through and decide which to put on a web page. I've posted
a link to our pics here "Tour of the Northwest" because I
know some of you will be interested in seeing them. If you
double click on the album it will open to thumbnails for
individual viewing or by slideshow.

It's amazing how long it takes to get through 2 weeks of
mail at home, at work and get the house back in order. I
should be posting something artful soon.

I look forward to visiting with all of you and getting my
groove back. In the meantime... please make your voice
heard and VOTE!

Thanks for visiting! My other blogspot "The Way I See It"

Friday, August 29, 2008

Mixed Media Botanical


5 x 7 stampboard, layered mixed media collage

Playing around with multiple layered transfers
also taught by my friend, teacher, mentor Chris Cozen at the
last Golden workshop. The vintage text was a transfer
from gel medium and the botanical overlay was yet another
gel medium transfer. The Australian postage stamp was
embedded in bead gel. Once I completed the collage
I then overlayed a digital flower image.

Busy days here and I've been amiss at visiting most
of you and I am regretful. The doldrums of the 8-5
otherwise known as the greater than 10 hour day had
a death grip on me, but today I broke free from the
shackles and begin my vacation.

My husband and I are traveling the great Northwest,
heading to Canyonlands, and Arches National Parks in
Utah, through Colorado to visit with family on up to
South Dakota for a glimpse of those giant heads carved
into a hillside (Mt. Rushmore). From there we will travel
to visit Yellowstone National Park and The Grand Tetons
and then up and over the hills to Glacier National Park in
Montana. We'll proceed heading west through the Idaho,
to Washington and Oregon for visits to the Columbia River
Gorge
and Multnomah Falls, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier
We'll head back south on the scenic Hwy 1 inching our way
back to California.

This is a much needed respite. I will be taking lots of photos
to share upon our return.

Thank you all for your kindness and friendship.
May everyday be a new journey for you, filled with great hope,
good health, happiness and a grand adventure no matter how
big or small. I'll catch up with you soon.

Ciao! "The Way I See It"

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Playing with Paint

Well it was another great weekend with Chris Cozen from
Golden Paints working artists program. Chris is a wonderful
mentor and an extremely talented artist. About four times a
year she travels from Pasadena, CA to our local art store
Stamping Details to demonstrate new techniques and new
Golden products.

I love to paint backgrounds that I can use for collage
and other art projects. These are a few of the
samples I painted and embossed from our class.

All papers were painted with Golden acrylics. Some papers
were embossed prior to painting and others were embossed
after paint. Some of the papers used: watercolor paper, canvas
paper, and acrylic paper.

The base paper here is black with applied layers
of Golden fluid acrylics, stamps, stencils and
texturing tools.

Check here for the working artists in your area.

More to come...with Golden's new digital mediums.
There was alot to take in and I'm still experimenting
with these products. Imagine printing on metal and
foil.

Stay tuned.. Thanks for your kind word and visits!
My other blog locale: "The Way I See It"
Thought for today:
"In confrontation between the stream and the rock, the
stream always wins, not through strength but through
persistence" -Buddha

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Polymer Mosaic Mirror

I've been working on a myriad of fun projects. This one in
particular is a polymer mosaic hanging mirror. It was made
as a gift. The persons' names are actually on two of the
tiles but have been blurred out for this post to not spoil the
surprise should they visit. You can click to enlarge.



The finished piece measures 14" in diameter. The finished
clay pieces were adhered with Weldbond glue.
Most of the clay pieces have been painted with PearlEx
powdered pigments. I have also incorporated bits of
ephemera, glass beads and assorted commercial glass and
ceramic tile.


Here are some close-ups. Your embellishments should
be able to take the heat. Glass and metal are good.


Small glass seed beads in Diamond glaze are used to fill
space left over.

You can attach smaller Polymer elements with liquid Polymer
prior to baking. Here you can see the commercial tile
incorporated and also the brighter handpainted while
tiles.

I also wanted you to see this piece its beginning stage (below)
so you could see the polymer tiles before they were
embellished and baked.

Working in the round was a real challenge. I first had this
idea for a sun/mandala and then decided to incorporate a
mirror. I decided to use a vinyl record album as the base.
First I textured the album with AcrylPro tile adhesive so I
could insure the tiles would have an acceptable surface. I
then spray painted both sides with a matte silver spray paint.

The few colored tiles you see were hand painted on baked
white polymer clay. Your hand painted color will always be
more lively on the white clay than on a colored or metallic
clay. You can click on picture to enlarge.

At this stage, the clay has been rolled to about 1/8" thickness,
stamped or textured and I'm cutting pieces and trying to
decide their placement until all spots are filled. Once I have
the design in place I remove all the tile pieces and then begin
the process of painting and embellishing. The tiles are then
baked following the recommended time on the clay package.
I've used Premo and SculpeyII for this project. I also use a
thermometer in my toaster oven to determine the real
temperature. I have found that temperatures are not as true
as the dial. (I don't use my toaster oven for food once I've
used it for clay)

If you haven't seen my first polymer mosaic you can see
it posted here and here.

Thank-you for your visits and kind words!

Thought for today:
"Take care that the face that looks out from the mirror in the
morning is a pleasant face. You may not see it again during
the day, but others will"

My other blogspot: "The Way I See It"

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Putting it all in Perspective


8.5 x 11 cut paper collage

So much going on here past two weeks. My 8 yr. old niece
Nicole had made the All Star team in fast pitch softball.
Their team was second in their 8U division and so they
qualified for the junior Olympics. The California State
Games were held here this past weekend in San Diego at
Qualcomm Stadium. It was a wonderful event for all the kids
and parents. Lots of fun activities interspersed with many
tournament games.

After everyone left of course I managed to catch a cold.
My days at work have been busy, can't seem to catch up.
In trying to keep everything in perspective, I'm managing
to find great pleasure by just relaxing and letting go as I
attempt to find my way back to good health.

I've been working on a few collages, another polymer mosaic
and some jewelry pieces which I hope to post soon.

Now I must venture off to see what all my talented friends
have been up to.

Thought for the day:
"Sometimes in life the glass seems half empty, sometimes
it seems half full, and sometimes the glass is twice as large
as it needs to be."

My best to all of you. I hope you are all enjoying the season.

My other blog locale: "The Way I See It"

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Memoire Savoir


mixed media assemblage- diet coke can, ex-halogen bulb,
CD, old camera part, spiral wire bind, acrylic paint, asst.
buttons and doo dads a.k.a. thing a ma jiggies.


detail of top portion

My mantra reduce, reuse, and recycle. I've finally figured
out that 'reduce' really means to 'save from landfill' and
store in my garage, because there is no reduction of stuff
here. It's been saved for re-purpose and use in future
creative projects. I must say though, that I've got it all tidily
packed into labeled containers so it's easily accessible,
however our three-car garage is currently functioning as a
one-car garage due to the love for our hobbies. My husband
enjoys vintage car restoration which... is a one car at a time,
sorta deal so there is plenty of room for machinery, tools,
kilns and art paraphernalia.

The soda can assemblage was inspired from a class I
took from Michael de Meng who is one remarkable mixed
media assemblage artist and storyteller. His book
"The Secret of Rusty Things" is filled with his visual
treasures, wonderful mythical storytelling and exploration
of technique. If you ever get a chance to take one of his
classes, just do it.

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Independence Day.
Free from negative thoughts, free from work, free from the
everyday drudgery.

"Carpe diem" and claim your independence! My best to all and
thank-you for your visits and kind words.

My other blog locale: "The Way I See It"

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Young Liz


12 x 12 x 3 gallery wrapped canvas

I initially prepped and textured the canvas with black gesso.
A while back I had found a magazine image of a woman who
reminded me of Frida Kahlo. She didn't really look like Frida,
but her face spoke to me and I was determined to create
a Frida because I am enamored by this artist, her work and
tenacity.

I transfered the image to the canvas and began to paint my
Frida. She was coming along quite nicely and I was beginning
to think how I might embellish her hair and her neckline.

Somewhere along the way I decided to divide the canvas into
6 sections by painting 3 random black lines, right through the
center of her likeness. I gave each section a sheer transparent
color wash of it's own. I had created unique multiple sections
of Frida and was delighted by the outcome and then... as if I
had gone mad, I reached for the unthinkable- a black
permanent Sharpie marker and began to sketch feverishly
around the painted image.

Now I had done it, gone too far, and hated it.

I immediately reached for the titan buff acrylic paint a tried to
go over my permanent markings and to no avail, my
permanent marks remained. What was I to do next?

I ran for the sandpaper, coarse, knubby sandpaper and began
ferociously sanding away at the entire canvas.

In the reveal, parts of initial black gesso were coming forward
and parts of the image transfer were vanishing away. There
were more light washes of titan buff, more sanding, canvas
scrubbing and then I stopped, canvas in my left hand while
brushing the paint dust remnants away with my right, I looked
at the canvas and decided that I was happy. I stared at my
canvas I saw a new familiar likeness, but this time, it was one
of a young Liz Taylor.

My Frida never evolved, but I was happy working tenaciously in
her spirit. This was to be my happy ending, a ressurection of my
artistic accident.

"The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I
paint always whatever passes through my head, without any
further consideration." -Frida Kahlo

As always, I thank you sincerely for your kind words and visits!

My other blog locale: "The Way I See It"

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Escape


8 x 8 mixed media polymer mosaic

My completed polymer clay mosaic, ready to hang. My previous post shows the pieces I had created for completing this project. It took me a bit longer than I had hoped, but more importantly I enjoyed the process. It was an escape, a detour if you will, from my usual creative path. There is a kind of mindfulness that takes place when trying to decide what pieces will go where. It was a relaxing and meditative process until... you find that you have an area that needs a tile which has yet to be created. I need to stockpile tiles. Incorporated in the final piece are commercial glass/stone tiles and beads.

This was my first mosaic.

Thought for today: "Hiding places there are innumerable, escape is only one, but possibilities of escape, again, are as many as hiding places. "- Franz Kafka

Perhaps we all need to find an escape, a diversion from our normal routine, a change of pace.

Thank you for your kind words and visits. Do stop by "The Way I See It" my other blogspot.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Polymer Mosaic-In Progress

Work in progress here... thought you might be interested in seeing this one unfold.

I have worked with polymer clay intermittently over the years and had forgotten all the great wonderful things you can do with this medium. This past Sunday, I was instantly re-inspired. I had the opportunity to spend 8 glorious hours with Laurie Mika, an extremely talented polymer clay mosaic artist. If you are interested in polymer/ mixed media and you ever get a chance to take one of Laurie's classes, do it. Check out her current events/ workshops and book.

Here are some images of the clay tiles I created. I stamped into the polymer clay using rubber stamps, found objects etc. applied gold leaf paper, pearl ex powders, acrylic paint, small bits and pieces of ephemera, jewelry parts, buttons, beads...you get the idea.


You can click on the following images for a closer look.





Next step will be to arrange these tile pieces onto this
8 x 8 metallic gold painted frame and to incorporate
other glass and ceramic tiles to create a one-of-a-kind mosaic.
I will also create a collage for the center.

Stay tuned... with any luck and time on my side.
I'll have this done tomorrow.

Thought for today:
"Remember that the best relationship is the one where
your love for each other is greater than your need for
each other"

Have a wonderful week, I'm glad you stopped by and as always
I'm grateful for your kind words.

My other blog locale is here: "The Way I See It"

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Mr. Rob's


9 x 13 watercolor paper
Golden acyrlics, Catherine Moore stamped images, other collage mishmash

It is a fact of life, we as humans view our reality in parts. We think in terms of left brain, right brain, we believe we are comprised of mind, body and spirit. We live different lives at work, play, in our relationships and in personal self growth.

We are the kings and queens of compartmentalisation. We are a giant multiple personality disorder. Now it is only logical that if we view ourselves in parts and we live our reality in parts that at some point, we will experience conflict.
Conflict because our parts don't always agree.

We want the sum of our parts to become whole. At least I do.

It's about living in the present, a present filled with individual moments. Moments which can be measured in time, seconds, minutes, hours, or days, by events etc.
and each moment can be explored with infinite possibilities to be who we really are.

It is in these individual moments that we are whole.

My intention is to pull my self together, find the sum of my parts and live in the moment, as much as possible.

I think Mr. Rob is Carlos Casteneda's alter ego. Carlos Casteneda, the Peruvian born, American author (1925- 1998) had some interesting thoughts about all of this in this in his early writings in "The Teachings of Don Juan".

Here's to living in the moment, may they be plentiful.

Thank-you for your visits and kind words, as always my best to you. My other blog locale: "The Way I See It"

Monday, May 19, 2008

Passion and Freedom


12 x 12 gallery wrapped canvas, heavy molding paste texture
Golden fluid acrylics

He sensed through passion he would find his freedom.

The only 'completely' free person, is the person who is free from their own self or their own weaknesses. Most of us suffer from our own inner tyrant, sub-personalities, moodiness, parts of ourselves that come up that are not our authentic self and behind these masks are our true free consciousness.
A willingness to be open.

To be free is to be the master of our own soul, our own life, our own destiny. We must exercise our free will. Those who are not free are those who willingly restrain their own thoughts. Sometimes we are so busy trying to change the world and each other that we lose our focus.

Find your own truth, live your own truth, dream and live a life of passion.

Socrates once said, "If you want to change the world, you have to change yourself first."

Live life passionately. Passion is not only about love, but about life.

Live your life in truth and real purpose.

My friends- I leave you with this quote:
"We must be the change, we wish to see in the world" -Mahatma Gandhi

Thank you for your kindness and sweet words. Now go out and make it a great day!

My other locale is here: "The Way I See It"

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Measure of Dreams


9 x 13 watercolor paper, mask, collage fodder
Golden acrylic paints, paint pens

How do we measure our dreams in the night,
when by morning they seem to have vanished?

John Steinbeck one of the greatest writer's of our time
believed in nocturnal productivity. He has said,
"I
t is a common experience that a problem difficult at night
is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.”

The shorter version of this has become the cliché, "Sleep on it!"

Sigmund Freud believed that dreaming was the "safety valve" for unconcious desires.

Researchers used to think that dreams only occurred during the REM (rapid eye movement) state of sleep, but now most experts agree that we can dream at any time during the night. However, the dreams which occur during our REM state are the most memorable and realistic.

I rarely experience this deep state of sleep, so best I can do, is wake long enough to write down my idea, or some worrisome detail and then place it precariously on my nightstand, it is here where this tidbit of information will incubate-- outside of my mind, sort of in vitro.
This will usually help my overactive mind free up for some ordinary sleep.

"Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." -Edgar Allan Poe

Thanks for your visits and kind words!
My other local : "The Way I See It"

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

EyE Candy


9 x 13 journal page, golden acrylics, spray paint, stencil,
masking tape, rub-ons, Caran d'Ache neocolor crayons

candy is in the EyE of the beholder,
something EyE wrapped up in tape,
a gift EyE gave to myself,
no strings attached, a lace,
and many small windows from which to see.

Thank you for your visits and kind words.

Best to all of you. My other blogspot: "The Way I See It"

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Self Portrait


colored pencil effect

pop art effect

Having fun with Mac's Photobooth software, for
2thingsphotochallenge "Self-Portrait"

My new header is actually my new business card created in PS, layers my painting and photo of my eye with assorted filters. Another self portrait of types. I left out my name and address but you get the gist.

Lovely weekend to all who visit here and thank you for your kind comments.

Cheers! My other blogspot:" The Way I See It"

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Revival


12 x 12 canvas, Golden Fluid acrylics

I had painted this canvas once before and it was awful. Awful canvases don't get thrown away, they get revived, resuscitated, a new life gets bestowed upon them.

I am now actually very pleased with the outcome. My initial intent was to use this canvas, as a collage, mixed media background. I struggled with attacking the surface with yet another medium. I couldn't find an opening, I waited patiently for an in, and then it dawned on me this painting was complete, as is. I have since become enamored with the color and randomness of it all.

the struggle
the patience
the willingness to let go

Thought I'd revive some 'old blue eyes' for your listening pleasure.




and I leave you with this final thought:
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy."

Have a wonderful week! My best to all of you.

My other blogspot: "The Way I See It"

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Life, it's Ephemeral


11 x 14 gallery wrap canvas, Golden acrylics, spray paint,
stencils, game piece, collage fodder, paint pens

fleeting moments,
give way to new experiences,
enriching our lives beyond measure. -ThE ArTfuL EyE

For curious minds, wondering how I come up with this stuff, read on.
When working with collage or mixed media, I generally do not have a pre-concieved idea as I begin a piece of work. I have an extremely overactive mind which works overtime, thinking, thinking, reflecting, daydreaming and the cycle repeats over and over. No rest for the weary here, but I would not have it any other way.

I usually begin by painting or placing random images down on paper. I pay attention to the color, and try to mix up my palette. Lately, I'm really trying to force myself out comfort colors and more into experimenting in color palettes that are more foreign. I find this helps me to be a better painter and expand my knowledge for color mixing.

Sometimes ideas will begin to develop along the way and my overactive mind will attach a thought to something I have placed on the canvas, or the lyrics to a song will come to mind, leading down a path of reminiscing, and reflection. Most times it isn't until the very end, when I look at the piece and hope it speaks to me.

As I was nearing the end of this piece, I was reminded of an old song by R.E.M.
"The Man on the Moon" and it all came together. I realized that this song was about embracing faith, even when you think you should know better. It's about the game of life, pop culture, fact or fiction, which made me think that life in itself is ephemeral.

Hence the name, "Life, it's Ephemeral"

Ephemeral- translated from Greek εφήμερος - ephemeros, literally means"lasting only one day, transitory, existing only briefly

In the game of life, we make up our own rules and then there are some rules already in place. Our lives are ephemeral in bits and pieces- each transitory moment, experience, each day touches us briefly, fleeting and make up our todays, give us our yesterday's, provide us our memories. Like most ephemera some things we won't ever experience again and some things will stand the test of time. Each of these moments is a part of our whole life experience, some moments richer than others, while some won't be worth remembering, yet all will be meaningful.

For your listening and viewing pleasure,

R.E.M. - "The Man on the Moon"


I'll leave you with this quote, "Ephemera is the window into our past."

Thank-you for enriching my life, by your visits and kind words.
Don't forget to mosey on over to my other blogspot: "The Way I See It"

Monday, March 31, 2008

IF-Homage PEACE SYMBOL

For this week's challenge at Illustration Friday

I pay homage to The Peace Symbol

9 x 13 Journal Page, Book of Eve
Golden Acrylics
Ink Pen
Oil Pastels for Resist
hand carved-Peace stamp


What this piece might look like if it were a poster, under a black light.
Remember owning one of these?

photoshop redux

The PEACE symbol turns 50 years old, this April on the 4th day, 2008. "This symbol was created by a British pacifist textile designer, Gerard Holtom and made its debut in London's Trafalgar Square where many gathered to support "ban the bomb" movement and to march to Aldermaston where atomic weapons research was being done."

It was originally designed for the DAC (Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War) and was adopted as its badge for the CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) in Britain. It was later generalised to be an international icon for the 1960's anti-war movement and adopted by the counterculture of the time.

These were the times, I was present, young and impressionable.

Music to think PEACE by:

John Lennon - Give Peace a Chance


Cat Stevens - Peace Train





Salaam, Shalom, Pace, Paix, Vrede, Frieden, 和平, Paz, Ειρήνη,
Peace Out

To all my friends may you find some peace on the road of life.

"The Way I See It"

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Native/Exotic

I just couldn't let this 2thingsphotochallenge get away.

I've been mulling over this one all week and then it finally came to me. The Eucalyptus tree is the exotic. It is not a native tree to our country. It reigns from Australia, where there are more that 700 species, mostly native to this continent. Most of the Eucalyptus trees found in other regions of the world have been planted.

The picture of the Eucalyptus below was taken in my backyard. It stands approximately 100 feet tall. Just below this Eucalyptus are many live oaks, some blue and some scrub oak, which are native to this area.


Here are some pics of the scrub oak, but look, underneath the oak is another exotic it's an Agave, otherwise known as a "Century Plant".

There are some 125 species of this plant in Mexico while there are only 15 in the U.S. This species is an Agave atroviriens, it can weigh over two tons. This plant here is actually 10 ft. tall.



Here's a closer look. I should have placed my husband next to it's prickly leaves to give you some perspective. These stalks are well over 6 ft. long and approximately 15 ft. across. This particular genus will die once it flowers which is about 20 years, it's starting to flower.

click on photos to enlarge:


Now for the fun trivia:
The Agaves have been used as food source as far back as 1000 A.D.
Today, just across the border in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, in the town of Tequila, they are extracting Mescal to distill for Tequila from this Agave. By law it's the only Mescal that can be called Tequila.

Perhaps I should consider tapping into this sucker for my Margarita's this summer.

You do not want to be pricked by this cactus nor try to dismantle it without proper protection as it will cause numbing to your limbs, temporarily of course. Now you could suck the Mescal from the plant and your numbing problems will subside.

Have a lovely week! Thanks as always for your comments and visits!

My other blogspot: "The Way I See It"

Saturday, March 22, 2008

YoU aRe NoT HeRe...


11 x 14 canvas board, gel image transfers, Golden acrylic paints
rub-ons, paint pens, rubber stamp

My contribution to Illustration Friday's challenge "Pet Peeves"

I've got a few pet peeves, but this one particular 'peeve' is on top of my list and it's about refusing to ask for directions.

Have you ever gotten in the car with someone who will drive around in circles, travel for miles and insist they know where they are going? and it's clear that they are lost and you are not getting any closer to your destination? Then you ask that miserable question, "Why don't you ask for directions?" and the person retorts with a smug remark, Why? I'm not lost I know exactly where I'm going, then your face begins to scrunch up and you're ready to go to battle. If you're lucky you somehow arrive at your destination with the driver acting like they knew all along how to get there or they finally concede they are lost and beg for mercy.

-or wait there's a better one...
they ask for directions and then do something completely different because they don't believe the information they've been given to be true and you remain lost.

Other pet peeves:
cellphone use in restaurants, while driving
dogs left unattended barking continuously
shopping carts left randomly askew in parking lots
ignorance

I'll leave you with the following quote:
"If someone is going down the wrong road, he doesn't need motivation to speed him up.
What he needs is education to turn him around." - Jim Rohn

Thank-you for your visits and kind words.

My other blogspot: "The Way I See It"

Monday, March 10, 2008

jUsT anOtHeR dAy in PaRaDise

The girls... me, Julie, Kim (our visiting blog friend from Wisconsin a.k.a. the North Pole) started the weekend off Saturday morning, at o'dark thirty...6:45 a.m. first stop Starbuck's, then off to the local swap meet.

Now mind you, our day wasn't complete until we had traveled to a myriad of thrift stores, a stamp supply store, a fabric store (which we quickly left because we were overcome by color and texture) followed by lunch, Border's for more art books, Dick Blick's, Artist's and Craftman Supply, Dick Blick's again... because A&C didn't have a colors we were after and then off to the beach to meet Heather, kick the sand, pick up shells and watch the sun go down, which was topped off at "The Harbor Beach Cafe" with a cold refreshment, some delicious fish tacos and wonderful company.


Flowers at the swap meet



Carlsbad State Beach- Carlsbad, CA

the boy

the sand

the surf

the end to a perfect weekend

Now it wouldn't be a perfect weekend without a splash of creativity and more camaraderie.

The same group of girls along with a few other friends, got together early Sunday a.m. to take class from our favorite Chris Cozen who is a "working artist" for Golden Paints.

Chris is a remarkable teacher and has just released a new book called "Altered Surfaces" which is chock full of instructions for creating all types of interesting surfaces utilizing the wide range of Golden products.

With Chris our classes generally begin with some type of color study on different papers or substrates. Today we began by choosing our favorite color palettes and painting background papers, using watercolor paper, canvas paper and some type of acrylic/linen paper.

Once our papers were complete we put together small collages and embellishments for our glass paperweight and then decided which portion of our paper we would use for the background.

Here is a sampling of my background papers:






Below are my finished glass paperweights.
These were a bit tricky to photograph due to the glass and reflection but you get the idea.





Thanks for your visits and kind words.

Have a wonderful week! My other blogspot: "The Way I See It"