TWO FRIENDS: FRICK AND FRACK

FRICK

FRACK

They live on the same block and pal around all the time.

You just never see one without the other.  Co-dependency at it's best.

one.  two.

Finding "hair" for my characters keeps me on constant watch.

I have been known to slowly wander the hardware store with my artist antenne full on.

You just never know what you will find.  Ditto at the thrift shops.  We have some great

thrift shops here locally, but sometimes their selctions are too "nice".  I lean toward the

more junk elite kind of stuff.  Free piles are often a good score place for electic finds.

And till the yard sales start up again this summer, I am kind of limited for sources.

I will tell you what I used for the tall spikey hair.  That one is compliments of my husband.

While he has been known to bring me home flowers, often, he will bring home great finds

that he knows will light up my life.  That black spikey stuff?  It's from a huge bristle brush

that you see attached to buses..to keep the gunk from spraying out as the wheels whip down the road.

Sort of a curtain of bristles.  I have one that obviously dropped off the bus and my sweet honey picked it up and brought it home to me. 

How wonderful is he?

The small spikes on the other one, is hair pins.  In case you were wondering!

PIF

If you spot something totally wild and cool, remember the kooky artist in your life.

ta for now.

NEW ART

finally.

I have been over thinking this piece.

Which is an affliction that I get now and then.

Disconnect the thinking and tap into the muse.

So I did.

And I am already smiling at this piece.

Using a recycled cabinet door.. the back of it.

Sanded and painted. 

Have plans to cover the border.

Using all recycled on this piece.

Upcoming show

Untamed and Reclaimed.

fun fun.

smiling

PIF

life is precious

and meant for joy.

SO MUCH FUN WITH RECYCLED ART!

I made more pins after yesterday's great SALE for 10 of these recycled linoleum pins to one great

artist friend of mine

http://elizabethsthilairenelson.blogspot.com/

Her art is AMAZING and her creative, abundant energy is mind boggling.

She saw my pins on facebook, and wanted 10 of them!

To have someone of her art caliber love my art, and buy, well I was just one happy girl yesterday.

Things have been perking up around here.  I have unloaded some dead weight from my business... some by their choice, some by mine.  And lo and behold, the good jujus just started flowing my way. 

New Year, New Hope, New Possiblities.

It's a beautiful way to start your year.

And I am very grateful and and mindful of the shift in energy.

ART just makes my life complete.

smiling,

PIF

and I will!

ta for now

BTW

the new pins are listed on my etsy site

http://www.lindadrake.etsy.com/

fun for Valentines Day

birthdays

or even bliss yourself.

xoxoxo

RECYCLED LINOLEUM ART

I have been playing with linoleum..

It's flexible, you can cut it with scissors,

paint it...

SO FUN!!!!!

I made these pins for friends for Valentine's Day.

You could also make these into magnets

Oh. I am going to have lots of fun with this new medium!!!

Plus it's recycling.

I am planning to stop by flooring stores to see if they

have scraps they are tossing out.

FREE

always makes me smile!

AND MY NEW WORD FOR 2011

stay tuned.

more on that later...

ta

HOLIDAY ORNAMENTS DOGGIE STYLE

WUF Day 2

Appropriate that I do these dog ornaments.  I spent the morning taking both our dog and cat to the vet for the yearly exam and shots.  Marley weighs 84 pounds..  phew... and Willie is a neat 14 pounds..

Both are healthy and fine so it was a good vet's visit.

I have some of these old star shaped jello molds, and decided they would be fun dogs/cats for ornaments.

I haven't done the cats yet.. though I have sketched some ideas how to do them.

I am using bottle caps for the eyes, assorted metal for the ears and tongue and the noses are beads.

I am doing ART everyday for the Novemeber ART challenge..so this is day 2.

TA for  now.

NEW LISTINGS ON ETSY

These  are now listed on my Etsy site. 

http://www.lindadrake.etsy.com/

 I am lining up the art to sell,

 making room for new. 

Time to shop for that special piece of art that is calling to you.

Limonata.

I even love to say the name.

 I fell in love with this Italian lemon beverage and love the graphics on the can.

That inspired me to create a Limonata Art Doll.

She would be delicious in a kitchen with her spoon and fork arms/hands.

My love of Blackbirds often find their way into my art.  The sweet art doll is made from a very old license plate.. about 1936 I think.  The blackbird is cut from an old Utah license plate.  She feels

very quiet and full of wisdom when I look at her. She is called "Blackbird Spirit Woman"

This fun art doll called "Wishful Thinking" has a real wishbone in her head with a little bird perched on top.

She has the cutest specs on (from a garden hose holder I believe) and her legs are old carpenter rulers.  Her body is from a 1968 Kansas license plate.  Her head is in the stars!

She is wishing for you!

I had fun with this guy.. aptly titled "John Q. Public Focus".  I have become increasingly weary, as we all seem to be, with all the politic rants and raves and endless stream of rhetoric on tv, radio etc.

I have to turn it all off, and keep my mind on other things here in my studio.  Watch old movies on Turner's

Classic Movie channel, or listen to books on tape, or listen to music.  I create my own reality here in my studio!  

NOW to work on orders!

THE DAY AFTER

phew> 

Last night I did the Farmer's Market..  which is great fun!  The set up and breakdown is a lot of work and yesterday I was still exhausted from our big holiday weekend.  We had a BBQ for 25 friends at the house..

Feeling my age today :)  But last night, pulling into the house, I just couldn't think of lifting another thing, so I left all in the back of the car and went to bed!!!  So this morning, I will quickly unload all this.  My new car

is doing great for hauling.  It is a little smaller than the Jimmy, but still does a grand job. 

I did manage to do more art yesterday morning before market. 

Here is  "Kitchen Goddess"

And I titled this one, "Blackbird Girl".  Her license plate is a 1936 Kansas plate and her feet are old casters.

I really love this one.

I plan to do some work to day, but also have promised myself a nap.

Because  NOW I deserve it!

ta

BIRD GIRL

Let's do it all over again.  I love selling art and then having to make MORE!!!  yes!!!!

This girl will be going over to the art center to fill in a vacancy made by a sale.  I used to feel a little sad when I sold some art.  When you invest your soul into a piece, it's a little tug at your heart strings to see your creation go.  Then you remind yourself it's such an honor when someone is touched enough by your art that they are willing to pay for it.  So you smile and know it means you now can create more.  Always cheers me immensely.  I need to make more more more.  Three spaces to fill at the center, and then want to build up a nice inventory for the Tuesday Farmer's Markets in town. 

NOW

to my work..

and a sunshine day filled with a blue sky that makes you want to fly high and free.

DOROTHY

She hails from Kansas.

The wide open prairie with fields and fields of Sunflowers.

You know the saying, you can take the gal out of Kansas....

Happy Monday!

NOW

I want to smell the fresh spring air.

NEW ON ETSY

Lots of angels!  I just listed three paper mache angels on my etsy site.. they are all ready to hang and will
ENLIGHTEN your life! 

Also the found object DADA angel is also listed.  A sweet fellow with the sweetest face, don't you think?

DADA ANGEL

When I created this piece, I was feeling my father beside me.  Dad passed away over a year ago,

and when Mom wanted his workshop/garage cleaned out, I went through a lot of my father's stuff.

Dad always was working on some project.  He had a lot of artistic talent, and created some fun art, though

he didn't officially call it that.  He would of called it tinkering.  He was  great about saving things, so I have a lot of fun objects that I acquired.  The copper leg on this angel is from Dad's collection.He shaped it into this loop and hammered it flat, for what purpose I don't know.  I found it in a small bucket of  assorted copper wire that he saved, and now here it ends up in one of my art pieces.  So I know Dad was standing beside watching me assemble this piece.  I could really feel his energy.  And I could feel him smiling.  Because I know my need to create is greatly inspired by Dad.  It's nice to have that fire in your belly passed down from your parent, and a nice way to remember my father.

So this Angel title is appropriate and is partly created by my Dad.  Thanks Dad...

ta
ps I have no idea what the "head" was.  Just a strange piece of metal, and I am not even sure where it came from.  Will have to ask my husband, he might know.  The body of the angel is river driftwood, the wings are old pages from a book that I machine zigzagged with  blue green thread and then covered with beeswax. 

NEW DADA DOLL ART

This dada bird flew into my studio this morning.  She was full of pine needles in her body cavity (an old metal can found in my wanderings in the woods).  When I was shaking out the needles, I thought surely with such a small opening to this can - about the size of a quarter, surely weather couldn't just pack all those needles inside, there was nearly 1/2 a cup full.  I decided it is more likely that a small mouse? might of packed in all that for a nest to keep warm in.  But who knows, it's the bird's secret.

The head of this bird, can you guess what it is?  I especially like the wings.  One is a piece of weathered

drift wood that is so perfectly shaped like a wing and the back wing is a piece of bark off an Aspen tree.  The tail feathers are cut from an old metal decorative plate that was embossed with a design was highlighted blue.

I liked the color and decided my bird could use a fancy "feather" muff around her neck. 

  Did you guess what the head is made from?  It's the back part of a wooden shoe stretcher, the part that wedges into the heel.

ta..

ORGANIC DADA DOLL

Just finished this 2nd piece. Today, I worked for an organic idea of nature.  I thought about the ancient people living in nature and how it was such an enormous part of their lives. I thought about the Chaco Canyon people. The elements of weather, changing of seasons and how their lives were often dictated by that force.  How nature and elements possibly forced them to move away, though there are several theories on that.  Compare that to our present world and how we as humans often think we are above that force, and then when typhoons and hurricanes and earthquakes hit, it quickly reminds us of the power of nature.  I know even on a basic level, the absence of sunshine can pull down my spirit if I allow it.  Wake up to a cloudy day like yesterday, and how it compels me to nest inside and my ambitions seem tampered down.  Then wake up, like today, to a beautiful blue sky and the sun bursting into the studio, gets my energy flowing and I am ready to tackle anything.

I did no face.  Sometimes the general head shape speaks more than features of a face.  Keeps it more
of a broad representation. 
ta

SHE IS A SCRAPPY WOMAN

SHE

IS MADE OUT

OF ALMOST

ALL SCRAP FABRIC.

"SCRAPPY WOMAN"

scrappy and happy

I have always wanted to quilt. I love quilts, especially the amazing art quilts I have seen. I am in awe of the work, the time! But the tediousness of it, yikes, makes me run away and not even think about trying it. So I have been having a blast doing fabric/painting collages, my version of "quilting"! I started this morning picking up a small birch board panel in my stash and painting a blue white background. Then I added some fabric strips top and bottom. I also patch collaged around the border of the frame. I loved all the different colors and patterns...reminds me of a quilt. Then I decided to cut a woman's face and neck/shoulders out of an old white piece of mattress padding. This is lovely old padding fabric that I bought years ago at the thrift shop. Soft and quilted. Not like the ones they sell these days. I decided to paint her face, and then I machine stitched some details like her eyebrows and nose. And of course, lots of funky hair elements, from corrugated cardboard strips rolled up, to magazine shreds, to threads and even an old bracelet I had made out of beads and fabric. Button earrings and then a ruffled blouse completed her.

I have three (3) (xoxoxooxo) art shows coming up this fall. VERY EXCITED! So I have to build up my inventory. It will also let me recycle some of my older pieces. That's when I take a piece of art and re-art it. Evolving art!

But I like SCRAPPY WOMAN. I like saying the word SCRAPPY!

EDIT.. I took the original Scrappy Woman

and scanned her into photoshop and she evolved into an new design for Lunar!

how about that? see what you think!!!!!

http://www.freshofflunardesignsdrawingboard.blogspot.com/

TANGLED THOUGHTS

"TANGLED THOUGHTS CATCH AND SNAGS HER ATTENTION @ 2:22A.M."

18 X18 finished mixed media

side view

closeup of face


closeup of house

This has been my habit. I wake many nights at exactly 2:22 a.m. and start thinking.

Many things, work, worries, list of to do's, etc. This has been a long time thing for me.

Why 2:22 a.m.? After a lot of wondering, I finally found the answer. And that

really helped me. I don't seem to wake up at that exact time as much, but it still happens.

But now instead of worrying about it, I embrace it. It's the Divine reassuring me that she is listening.

222

"Trust that everything is working out exactly as it's supposed to, with Divine blessings

for everyone involved. Let go and have faith."

from "Angel Numbers 101" by Doreen Virtue

A note about this art.

I initially thought I would paint over the background.. this has been my usual method. But,

after I finished the background collage with all it's colorful elements, I really liked the

bold colors. They made me feel good. I had no clue what was going to happen

with the image, but allowed the background to speak to me. And she appeared as

did the house. I have an upcoming invitation to be in an art show called "Loose Ends"

about how things in your life need to be dealt with. those loose ends that need your attention.

So, I have been saving the threads, strings,

and fabric bits for this art, how ever I was going to use it.

I like working with no plan. Staying with the muse and not in the "brain" process.

It puts soul in your work.

I am happy with the piece. I had not planned on working on it most of yesterday. But

I was having technique problems with my equipment and the tech worked on it

all morning. It is still not fixed, so he is coming back today. Rather than jump into the

pit of worry, I decided to take advantage of the work down time, and do my art.

It was an unexpected gift from the Divine.

I am thankful and grateful.

ta

RECYLING THE SUMMER OF LOVE

Recycled Art has always been one of my loves. I have been invited to sell art at our downtown outdoor market that is held once a week. Artists can sell their work with a recycled art theme - which I jumped at the chance to do.

I have a ton of small frames, etc that I am digging through

to make art out of.... recycling!!!! And I want to do bird art.. especially love making the nests.

The Art on the left says "Practice Random Acts of Green-ness" and the nest is made out of brown shreds of packing material. I printed the words out on brown paper bag ran through my printer.. pheww!!! it actually worked and didn't jam up the printer.. Yeah!!!! Because the printer is an ink-jet I sprayed the words with clear acrylic to preserve the print. The bird is muslin with orange cotton wings. The flowers and stems are also fabric.

For "Peace Lives Here" I cut a small branch from the Sarvis berry bush out in our front yard.. (this is covered with little green berries that the birds will soon be enjoying when they are ripe!). I sewed on antique white buttons to the branches and tied on more fabric strips. I decided to make a wire hanger and added more buttons and fabric strips. PEACE LIVES HERE can be a reminded to us that even with the world's turmoils revolving around us, we have the ability to create our own peace in our own house, in our own family. For this bird nest, I used our paper shredder to shred up a mail order catalog.. lots of various colors. The bird is cut from an antique cotton mattress pad and her wings are cotton scraps from an old dress of mine. The birch board panel you would usually paint on the front, but I used the back for the inset purpose.

So more more art to work on, but for now, the orders are glaring at me, so it's time to go to work.. another sunny warm day here. I think summer is really here. Yippiee!

ta ta

CREATING THE BRANCHES

I am working on the tree branches for this art piece. Using rolled up magazine paper, I have made rolled short tubes (sometimes called paper beads) and then applied them to create bark like texture. I like the different colors and am able to make twigs coming off the main branch. More to do, but wanted to post my progress.

My soppy wet lady is nearly dry! I expected that to take a few more days but thanks to the dry climate, she is really hardening nicely.

Next I will work on the leaves for the branches. Have a cool idea for those. This piece is really so much fun. I am pushing the creative ideas for recycled things to use for the collage. I might even run to the recycle center today and look through their stockpile!

And it's a glorious SUNSHINE day! Yippiee!!! Have ART to do, ORDERS to do for Lunar, and more CHERRIES to pick!

yummy