Identity Crisis

9 x 12 140# cold press watercolor paper
collage fodder a.k.a. stuff papers, old and new
foam stamps, Caran d'ache water soluble
crayons,

Aren't long vacations supposed to help revive a person?

For the past couple of weeks I feel like I'm chasing
my fish tail, that's right my fish tale.

Long story short...
Swimming upstream, a single wing damselfly in distress,
an incomplete metamorphosis, toting a single hawk
wing. All dressed up an no place to go.

But wait, I do have an asparagus crown. Does this count for
something?

Our vacation was wonderful, a single flight to
the great city of New York where we picked up our
rented vehicle and traveled to places far and near,
visiting new haunts and old, with family and friends
some old acquaintenances and some new.

Gerard and I had the wonderful opportunity to meet
another blog friend John Mora of Typos.Daylight.Fate
it was a fragment in time at Fire Island National Seashore
with his lovely wife Marie and 3 beautiful children.
A moment we'll treasure.

We travelled through the Pennyslvania Dutch Country,
eyeing beautiful lush green pastures, fields of corn,
red covered bridges, picking up roadside produce from
our sweet Amish and Mennonite friends who work
tirelessly tilling soil and managing livestock and farms.
Hardworking, beautiful people.

Trekking down to Gettysburg, PA
to pay respect to those who fought valiantly for a country
divided, hallowed grounds- now common.

Onward toward to our great capital city Washington, D.C.
to spend time with my sister, brother-in-law and
my new twin nieces.

Next stop Virginia Beach, and Cape Hatteras on
the North Carolina's spectacular OuterBanks.
Breaking shore, dipping sun, warm ocean breeze,
breathtaking, refreshing, mind cleansing.

Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk where the Wright Bros.
took to their first flight.
Magnificent.

Further trekking now heading west through
North Carolina in search of the Great Smoky and
and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

I believed I had seen green trees before but never,
NEVER have I ever seen so many beautiful varieties
of trees in one location. Deciduous,
Coniferous, Evergreen all there, canopies that
go on forever, enchanted forests, lakes and mountains.

Final stretch and our destination for departure
Nashville, TN home of the Grand Ole Opry and...
believe it or not... an exact replica of the Parthenon
as it was in ancient Greece, right in the middle of
downtown Nashville.

I know now why I'm still gathering my wits. It
was a great joy ride, and now it's back in the saddle.
I just need to find it.

Soon, yeah soon... I'll be posting pics of our trip
at my other blog locale "The Way I See It".

Peace and Love.. ain't it good to be back home again.
~Andrea

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"

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"

Evening Talk

This little 3"X 3" canvas collage incorporates an aged and handtinted photo, beeswax and acrylic paint. Snippets from a textbook attached to canvas with beewax. Small glass vial attached with beeswax house tiny watch part elements.

Taught by the fun and fabulous: Tim Holtz here at Stamping Details