Finished the "topper" from the scrap arch shaped wood I found

in the woodshop's dumpster.  I bought the wooden feet at Lowe's

and attached them to the base just to give it a more finished look.

I attached the middle heart cut from painted linoleum as are the two red leaves using

 copper finishing nails.  The copper makes a nice contrast.  The two hearts on either side of 

the middle heart are cut from dictionary paper and painted with watercolor and then sealed of course.

I used my favorite pencil to draw the swirls and curls and a few leaves.  I had collaged some other

hearts but was not happy the way it was turning out, so I painted over them and started all over again.

Much happier with this combo. The top of the arch is about 2 inches thick and it's painted black and

white stripes as well.  I should also mention the black and white stripe on the front bottom is paper that

I collaged on.  When I need striped black and white paper, I make my own.  I simply take a sheet

of paper and use my Sharpie Magnum marker.. it's huge btw, and make the stripes.  Then I can

make copies to use in collage.  I like that the stripes are loser and not so precise.  I finished the 

piece by spraying it with my favorite clear acrylic spray that looks so glossy.  Love this stuff.

Will make more of these for the upcoming show in May 17th & 18th  at the

Whimsical Women of the West.

It's at the picturesque Four Mile Bed and Breakfast on the road to

Sunlight here in Glenwood Springs.  A wonderful group of women

with talent galore and I plan on having some different art this year besides my

usual kitchen towels etc.  

OKAY MONDAY
seriously need to get to work.

ta.

PILES of to-do-s

more piles.

WIP

these arches are wood scrapes that  I scored at the dumpster behind the cabinet woodshop.

(pause while I smile!)

What I love about these, is they make cool art pieces that I can sit on mantels, high dressers, etc.

in a very different but very cool shape!

I also picked up at Lowe's some fat screw in round feet like knobs that I can attach for a standing arch look.

I am thinking these will be fun to art up for the May show at Whimsical Wild Women of the West.  I would love to get more of these, so will plan on popping into the woodshop and ask if they have more, or if they don't, will they hold them for me.  Obviously they chuck these out..  and I am happy to rescue them.

Here's the first one I did.  I painted it turquoise and I added a heart from dictionary pages and then wings from various found objects.  I had the iron blackbirds with their nests and they immediately found a home around the new art piece.  

The other rescue was this rattan headboard I found in the alley ready for trash pickup.  I knew it would be too wide but figured I would try it anyway.  I couldn't even fit it in my Subaru Forester - too long!  So, thankfully, I found 3 bungees and a cell phone cord and lashed it on top of my rack on the car.  Perfect.

After I got it set up,  hey, I even liked that it was oversized!  The tapering design works for the wider expanse.  Perfect.  FREE.  Perfect.  If you notice the walls in the guest bedroom are gray.  At first, I wanted to paint them a different color.  But now I like the gray. It's a nice neutral and creates a comforting color for the room.  

So that's my ART day for Sunday.

ta.

LOOK!

I made the front page of our wonderful local newspaper.

I did an art demo day at my good friend's adorable boutique Confetti Designs yesterday.

FIRST time for me.. to do art in public.  I made up my mind prior to doing it..

just do it.  Don't worry about what any  one would think.. just DO IT.

It was easy and FUN!   And I think people enjoyed seeing me sitting in my corner arting away! 

This is really a biggie for me by the way.. I have always felt really uncomfortable doing art with someone watching.  Well, I guess I finally conquered that yesterday!!!!  YIPPEEEE!

Here's how I prepped for my demo...

 I copied a bunch of color prints from my art journals to have a stash to

collage with.  I also brought an old dictionary to pull pages out of.. and I brought my cheap watercolor set

(shown in the paper photo above) because I didn't want to lug my acrylics.   A small squeeze bottle

of mat medium and a few paper plates. and a travel blow dryer completed my stash. Oh.. I also brought two pair of scissors.. one regular and one crimping.. though of course, I tore a lot.  And a set of alphabet stamps with black stamp pad and a four sided design stamp too plus a roll of paper towels and a bottle of water.  

  What I discovered while I was working yesterday, is after coloring the dictionary paper with watercolor, blowing it dry quickly with a little travel blow dryer, and then a light coat of mat medium over the watercolor which  then quickly sealed the paint so I could continue working without smearing the watercolor.  It worked perfectly!  Collaging then using my favorite pencil to outline and texture elements.. was really a fun process.  I liked using my own art  to pull images from rather than a magazine.. making my collage a lot more personal!  I was collaging on scrap cuts of wood from my neighborhood's cabinet shop (free) that I had prepainted for these demos.  By the late afternoon, I had done 3 of these and the last one I  had to resort to using cardboard with dictionary paper collaged on to create one more design.  

This morning I scanned one of the collages from yesterday and in photoshop did a bit more designing and added the words for a new design for Lunar Designs!  

To finish off the original art boards, I spray paint them with Krylon's Triple-Thick Crystal Clear Glaze.  

I spray it on thick and it gives it a really deep glaze.. a "bright, glass-like coating" as the can says.

Plus it dries in minutes.. which I love.  

And cripes.

It's snowing today.. off and on.

Just a typical SPRING thing here in our mountains.

Which makes me bury into my work and just avoid looking outdoors!

brrrrr...

ta for now!

Just finished this fun bird this morning...

I am blooming with COLOR!

A few tweaks to my garden angel..

She needed a skirt bursting with ladeda.

Adore the colors.. the "I can't keep from smiling"

kind of art 

that makes my morning studio time shine!

Decided to add a skirt on her as well..

It ties the four pieces together for the trunk show

tomorrow @ Confetti Designs here in Glenwood.

Doing art makes me smile and raises my spirit.

That and a  few cups of coffee..

Here's the sunrise that greeted us this morning when I 

let Marley out to get the morning paper.

WoW!

It's gorgeous, isn't it?

ta

art time today in the studio

prepping boards for something ART-y to follow!

Flower girl

ready for spring and barefeet.

Silver belt buckle for her head and then a tea stainer for wings.  A heart made out of linoleum

painted red.  The handle of the tea strainer is her body wrapped in blue silk fabric.  Her skirt is

a metal cut-out lampshade and her feet are metal painted.  Her arms are wire jute wrapped in fabric and 

she is holding a wire metal leaf from an old candle holder.  

garden angel

the wings?

two sock stretchers put together

and the hangers are her feet.

Then I attached a deep fry screen?on top 

and wove fabric through the screen for her body.

The handle of the fry screen is her face

and green jute wire for her hair.

She's ready to bless Spring!

Today was SPRING.

Then WINTER.

Then SPRING.

Then WINTER..

let me check....

oh it's

SPRING

again.

ta

Happy Birthday to my DAD

Yesterday you would of been 86.

I visited your grave yesterday.

Just to kiss the top of the headstone imagining it was the top of your head.

It was a typical WINDY March day and the leaves were whipping around in a happy dance.

The winter spring squalls were jumping around the valley.  Your backyard view

of the Umcompahgre was clear and I stood with you and watched the storm clouds 

move across the mountains.  You so loved your mountains as I do.

Grand Mesa was covered in a big snow storm when I drove into the Grand Valley

but on the way out it was clear and you could see the fresh snow tinting the dark areas.

I spotted the snow bear and winked at him.  

I remember so much of my childhood spending time with you discovering new and wonderous things.

We would sit for hours looking through my favorite big Life Magazine that had dinosaurs arranged in their chronological order. You never got tired of explaining my endless questions.  When the big thunder storms would come through we would sit in our lawn chairs with the garage door wide open and watch the lightening.  You took the time to show me so many things in nature and the world.  I have always believed that because of your wonder at  life and it's amazing abundance,  you inspired me to be an artist.  To create wonder and joy in my small way.  I so wish you could be here to spend time with Emalie.  You would of adored her.  She loves wild animals and nature and for a 7 year old, she is really smart about these subjects.  She is a wiz in math.  You would of  loved watching nature shows with her. If you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she says a veterinarian.  I imagine her in Africa someday working on a game reserve, or some exotic place doing what she loves.  You two would of been the best buds.  

So many things have changed since you have been  gone...   some things wonderful, others incredibly sad.

I am grateful for my memories and the dear times we had as a family. After I left the cemetary, I headed down Unaweep on my way out town.    I  turned off onto Cedar Street to drive by Grandad's and Bubba's house.. one of those incredibly sad things that was changed.  But despite the sad appearance of the house and yard, I still could feel the good times and the sweet memories of the place.  How we would sit in the backyard and pit cherries or eat watermelon.  The gardens in the backyard that were riotous in summer....the firepit where Grandad would burn rubbish.... The house is still painted cream but now with a spring green trim.  I am glad the red is gone because that was Grandad's color. The gardens are long gone now but those peach and green fiberglass panels are still up on the side by the carport.  Mrs Trinklien's house looks like a shanty now.. the whole neighborhood is a sad run down place.  It's heart wrenching.   I didn't drive by our old house yesterday.. enough sadness for one day.

  On the way out of town,  I drove through DeBeque Canyon and spotted the huge rock formation that looks like a chipmunk climbing up the rock wall. I passed the big hump in the highway where there was a big rock slide years ago that took out the electrical lines and kept you and your crew working up there for days.   These are the things I hold in my heart, that will never change, thankfully.  Wonderful reminders that will always be there to touch my heart and make me think of you Dad.  I never can look at these mountains without thinking of you and wishing you were still here.  I guess in a lot of ways, you still are.

Mom is doing good.  She is so happy in her new apartment and life is peaceful for her.  She feels safe and

has many friends.  I am so happy for her.  I know you are looking out for her as well.  I wish I lived closer so I could be more helpful to her.  She said she lit a candle for you yesterday.  She misses you as much as is humanly possible.  There will be a great reunion for you both someday.  It will give me great joy to know you two will be reunited when the time comes. 

So Dad I hope you are enjoying paradise and your eternal rest.  I can imagine you exploring the universe between your naps.  Perhaps Dumas and Sadie are with you, napping and trekking along.  Maybe Grandad joins you on your adventures.  And someday, Mom too.

Love you Dad.  Miss you.

hugs and kisses

My greatest creations..

Stephanie and Chris

my amazing wonderful loving kids.

I am so blessed to have these two kids.

They have grown into two beautiful kind loving adults.

It's what every mother prays for.

We had the most amazing day yesterday.  Chris, who lives in Tahoe, surprised us yesterday with a visit.

Tasa, his sweet honey, was with him along with their two dogs: Nacho and Osa.  It was pure rapture for me.

To have my two kids here together... it's been a long time.. I am thinking at least 12 years.  Now that Stephanie, Robert and Emalie are moving back to Hawaii soon,  who knows when this will happen again.

I am sooooo grateful that Chris and Tasa made the effort to come see us.  Our lives are so busy, we all go

100 miles an hour and moments like these are precious and to be savored for the rest of our lives.

So this was truly an artfull day for me.  

I was totally blissed out.

Love is so precious.  

ta

New rule for buying paint at Lowes.

CHECK the screw on lids.

I buy these paint samples .. often grab them off the paint sale table for .50 cents each.  These

I bought at regular price of under $3 each. The girl that mixed my green swore she tightened the

lid to which I replied well, obviously not tight enough!  Nearly 1/2 was in the bag!

Thank goodness, this paint only flowed into the plastic bag on the way home and not all over my car seat.

That would of not been pretty.

I still had to take the little eye screws out of the 6 plastic bags, which was quite messy.

lovely.

A few people have asked me what are cradle boards.

They are wooden panels with depth.  Artists have been painting on these

for centuries.  I like the wood surface better than canvas because it allows me to

do a lot more things.. screwing, nailing, wood burning, carving, etc. 

and this is how I do the backs.  I always paint the backs.. just gives it a more

finished look, and I add my labels with my website, blog address, etc.

and my signature.  

have an artfull day!!!!!

ta