FOCUSED

I love this piece.  This one will be hard to see sell.. and when I really, really love a piece, it will quite often be the first one to sell.  I titled this one "FOCUS" with those wonderful old welding glasses... the dark lenses there to protect you while you are working.  How important is this in life to keep your guard up.. to protect your intentions.   But also to stay focused.. keep on target.. mindful of the crucial need to keep a sense

of fun and whimsey.  So for me, this piece is about the balance of staying Focused.

His head is an old water canteen.. the kind the boy scouts used to carry.  The legs are copper that my husband made for me to use.  The feet and the knees are adorable.  Thank you Dan.  The bow tie,

an old sprinkler base and the hat is something I picked up at a thrift shop several years ago.  I then had no idea what I would use it for, but as these kind of things happen, it works perfectly for a hat for my little guy.

And, yes, I will say it again.  I adore this piece.

NOW

on to more creating. 

SHOW ME A SIGN

I let the creative juices bubble up yesterday and decided this was what I wanted to do with this piece.

I like that she is nested in her creative energy sitting on a swing letting her art energy propel her.  There are times when I am comtemplating an art piece, and I am asking my muse to "show me a sign"...  but I have found in my art that stomping my feet and demanding action gets me no where.  With all things in life,

you just need to have faith and trust and as my wise daughter will add:  "a little fairy dust".

I love that girl of mine.

NOW

on to the next art piece.

SITTING ON A CREATIVE NEST

I am sitting in this nest (spiritually) this morning, contemplating ideas for art.  I have a rotten cold that is

making me feel utterly uncreative.  I have pieces to do for an art show (delivery this Sunday afternoon)

I am late, late, late for an important date.  But I am determined to sprout wings and fly regardless

of this cold. 

I bought two old rusty swing set seats with chains several years ago and have been wanting to use them

in a shelf assemblage of some sorts.  The bird nest is real.. the old bed springs from a dump in someone's back field, and the wings cut from some lovely old screen that had white paint slurped wildly all over.

I love that.  Who painted that screen? Why not neatly?  I think of these things when I am reclaiming

things I have randomly collected from anywhere and everywhere.  How many happy kid's bottoms

soared into the blue sky feeling the wind on their faces while sitting on the swing?  And now these elements come to me asking for a new life, a new meaning.  It's joy full for me.  It is ART that makes me forget this

rotten cold. 

NOW

I am ready to do my art.

PEACH FUZZY NAVEL

PEACHES PEACHES PEACHES!!!

Is it peachy fuzzy navel or fuzzy peach navel?

I'm not sure!!!

I played with this design and used a lot of different ideas for the background.  I first thought a border would

be in order, but after I got it put together, decided not.  I loved painting on the map and I like the

look it gives the design.  Working in layers in Photoshop is such a fun way to create.  What did I ever do before Photoshop?  It takes a lot of the manual work out of designing allowing you to add or subtract what you want.  I didn't want to commit the design entirely to the peach fest so I would be locked into just the weekend event.  I used a map of the area and will be able to magically erase the word Palisade out of the map and include it in my lineup for Lunar.  But I can also use any leftovers to take to the Lavender Lady's shop in Palisade.  Nice to have that backup.  This is my first official Festival so it's a wild guess as to how much inventory I take. 

I have been working fast and furious all weekend.  Partly getting inventory ready for the Palisade Peach Fest and partly getting art ready for the upcoming art show at the Aspen Chapel Gallery.  Thankfully, I work well under pressure!  The weather has been picture perfect all weekend and I have been locked in my studio

working.  But I am taking Marley for a nice walk after dinner.  He has been so patient waiting for me.

NOW

I am longing for a Fuzzy Peach Navel!!!!

yum.

FALL IS COMING

Last weekend, we took a jeep ride up in the mtns above Glenwood.  Up above 4 mile on a beautiful sunny day.  The first week of August.  Summer still, right?  See all that brown stuff out in the fields?  That's what

the locals call skunk cabbage.  And it's brown because it's already had some frost.  Ask an old timer what that means this early in the summer and he will tell you to get ready for a hard winter.  Me, a summer time lover just cringes at that thought.  I don't actually hate winter, it's just too long for my tastes.  I  would prefer nov, dec and jan then spring again.  That of course, would kill the ski season and break my husband's heart as he loves winter, skiing and teaching.  So I am trying to get out in the sunshine and enjoy the nice summer days while they last.  Because we have already had some crispy fall feeling mornings here lately.

I have been gearing up for my show in Palisade.  Painting "things" to spiff up the booth. 

Red is my theme color as you can see.  I painted an old suitcase and lined it with fabric.  Would show it here, but my new camera isn't here yet.  This weekend will be a work weekend getting inventory ready for the

big day.  Plus I have market on Tuesday.  It will be a fast and furious week.

But I will take a few moments to get outside and enjoy a little summer sunshine while it lasts.

NOW

because, it's fading faster than I care to think about.

STUDIO WOES

AARRRGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!

This past week has been CA-RAZY!!!!

The universe must by rearranging my world lately.

 A few weeks ago, I had a wicked virus on my computer that was even effecting my UPS program, among other things.  So I had  to take my computer in for a thorough cleaning.  Even with my virus protections, this bad boy virus had wormed it's way into my computer.  My repair guru told me all the virus protection programs really only work on 90% of the viruses.  And I had caught one of those crappy 10% bugs.  Go figure.

Next, my old realiable HP printer quit.  No big surprise, it's old and has been an absolute work horse.  I certainly got my money out of it.   But I had just put in 2 NEW ink cartridges.  Naturally!  And when I went to buy a new printer,  none of the new printers used the ink cartridges that I had in my old printer.   I think it's a conspirancy.  I have always joked (painfully) that buying those

ink cartridges are more expensive than buying a new printer.  What is up with that? 

So I installed my new printer, and then my scanner wouldn't work.  So that took 2-3 days for me to figure out.  I am not a whiz at this stuff.. but I am persistant!    Somehow the new print program didn't work with the program I was using for the scanner.  You know, computers.  You change one thing, and it effects something else. 

Then my trusty Canon digital camera started acting up.  You turn it on and it keeps making a clicking sound then tells you to turn it off and on again.  You do that, and it does it again.  I sent my camera in for repair a year ago, and it cost me over $100.  So this time, I decided to just buy a new camera.  Then the dilemma

of what camera to buy.  The good news is the digital cameras have come down in price considerably.  So I finally decided to get an Olympus camera.... just a simple one.. I don't know enough about photography to justify spending a ton of money.  Plus Staples lets you return it in 14 days if you are unhappy with it.  Of course, our little local Staples didn't have the Blue one that I wanted.. and I didn't want a plain ole black one.

I live in color you know!

So this morning, I am doing a STUDIO cleansing and blessing and then all will run smoothly around here.

ta da!!!!!

LAZY SUMMER DAYS

LAZY SUMMER DAYS? 

You!? Not me.  It's been CRAZY!!!!   Doing the downtown farmer's market every Tuesday keeps me hopping! It's a lot of work but I am loving it.  Now I am gearing up for the Palisade Peach Fest coming up

August 20 and 21st.  And I am in an art show in September with 9 other artists at the Aspen Chapel Gallery.

Also seriously looking into doing the Santa Fe Recycled Art Show in November, which would be a great

leap of faith (and energy)  for me.  I would need  A LOT OF ART to take there.  I think it would be profitable, but it's a little daunting to think about it.

 On top of all that, we have had a busy summer helping our moms.  My mother is nested in Denver but I am trying to get her over here once a month for a visit.  And Dan's mom has had a series of surgeries, all major, and we helping her recover. 

 It seems, every summer, we have less time to play!  I haven't had a

real jammie art day in months.  The garden is growing wild and weedy.. we have had lots of rain, and the

weeds are thriving out there.  I have a pile of art projects that seems to grow and grow. 

So lazy?  Not really.  Trying to take moments out of the hectic days, to sketch, and dream.  And here it is, the first of August ALREADY!?  Where did summer go?  All the time saving technology we rely on,

seems to not really save us more time.  Do we keep raising our expectations of what we can get done?

Makes me long for the good ole days sometimes. 

NOW I have to jump into another busy SUMMER DAY!\

ta