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.

xoxox dada

(SOLD)

I finished this sweet guy this morning.  I tried to not get the blaring glare in the photo, but it wouldn't go away, sorry...  He is full of love with a big heart that I scratched xoxox on.  I used an old metal horn and a caster wheel for the legs.  The arms are some crazy spiral metal from something.. I have no idea what.  The head is a piece of  metal I fished out of local cabinet shop's firepit.  I think the spiral metal arms came from that same place. The wood is a sample piece from the kitchen design place where I score pieces of wood.  They will often toss this kind of stuff in the dumpster where I rescue found goodies.  I used an old coffee can to cut out the metal wings.

  Keeping your eye open for junk is always fun.  You spot something, you haven't an exact idea what you

are going to use the found piece for, only that you like it and might use it in art at some point.  Then there is the hard part of collecting  found objects.  They accumulate!!! and before you know it, your studio starts to look like Sanford and Son's!  But I always smile when I think about the end result.  Where the stuff came from, even some from far away sources and here it is, all come together to create art.  It's magical.  It's a nice way to recycle.

And even a better way to start my day.

ta

HEART SONG

This is a mixed media assemblage I created this morning. The background board I found at the dump. Yep. When my husband goes to the dump, I love to tag along and sometimes can score some cool stuff. I found this board in a pile of wood that appeared to be from an old house.

Her head is piece of strange scrap metal I found and have been saving for years. They had two holes punched in the metal which became her eyes. The body is another piece of scrap metal

that had a body shape when I picked it up somewhere, can't remember where. Her arms are a doll's arm on the right and a spring on the left. Her feet are from some old piece of metal I found up in the mtns.

Her hair is threads and twisted paper clip wires.

Her eyes glass with a rusty bottle cap pounded flat then cut to create the eyelashes.

Her lips a piece of thin copper cut, tinted and creased to create lips.

I used the words for one of my favorite songs by Jack Johnson title "HOPE"

which I love.
Like her? Yep, I do.

ta.

BIRTHDAY ANGEL

So I promised to do some BECAUSE art after the wild women art show and yes, too-da-loo and

laa-laaa-la-laaaa-laaaa..... BECAUSE Today is my birthday and as a present to myself I did art in my jammies here in the studio all day. ALL DAY!!!! And here's what I created!

She is a birth angel here to remind us to stay focused on NOW. You know how when your birthday rolls around it's one of those reflect kind of days. Where you've been, where you are going. And I thought about how it's so important for us to stay in the NOW. Because that's really all we have isn't it?

So...I used a wooden shoe stretcher that I repurposed into her body. The wings are oyster shells that I found in Hawaii.

If you look closely, (click on image) you can see I transferred text from dictionary pages on the shells. I loved using the oyster shells for her wings. I drilled holes in the end so I could screw them onto the wooden body. I don't know if you have ever tried to drill sea shells, but it is nearly impossible. But oyster shells are, I am happy to say a Breeze!

The old doll head I attached and then I wrote journal notes on her forehead about learning to stay in the NOW - maybe now she will remember the message! The nest with the egg is the symbol of birth and renewal. I painted the tree growing on the foot.. the base of her life. The tree of life. I like this piece. Not sure if she will go on to the WW to sell, or on etsy or who knows. But for now, I am happy she is here in my studio. I want to be with her for NOW.

It is so lovely to spend a day of fun. Reminds us of the real joys in our life. Play. What a nice thing for us... I am thankful and grateful for the day.

ta

NOTE: I DID DECIDE TO TAKE HER OVER TO THE ART CENTER YESTERDAY (6-16-09) AND ADD HER TO MY MIX. JUST GOT A CALL TODAY (6-17-09) THAT SHE SOLD WITHIN 10 MINUTES OF MY HANGING HER. I AM HAPPY, BUT A LITTLE SAD TOO.

I REALLY LOVED HER, BUT SHE WILL GO ON TO NEW AND BETTER THINGS. SO PERHAPS THAT IS A SIGN FOR ME SINCE THIS WAS A PIECE I CREATED ON MY BIRTHDAY. MOVIN ON.