Sleeping Cats

I've been rather quiet on this front - my blog.

I have spent a bit of time resting but mostly busy working on a couple of projects that will go into books that will be out by the end of the year or next year.


I have been collecting some leaves and things for eco dyeing.
I went to Clemson Botanical Garden (about 25 minutes from my house) and gathered a bag full of fallen leaves from the two eucalyptus trees that they have on site.
No worries as I did call and ask permission to do this before I did it.
I brought them home and stuck most of them between book pages.
That way they would take less space to store (for later use) and they would be nice and flat to use for printing as well.
I had a couple of handfuls of torn and tattered leaves left so I dumped them into a stainless pot, covered them with rain water and let them sit. A few days later I added two scraps of cloth- cotton and silk- to see how each one accepted the dye in the pot.
That was about a week ago. Last time I checked them, the results were as expected- the silk was slurping in the color and the cotton was just sipping at it.
I'll leave it until I can't stand it any longer then show you the results from my lazy girl experiment.

As is my habit, no matter what else goes on, I am drawing/sketching/whaeveryouwanttocallit.
I fill bound pieces of paper with pen & pencil marks.

We have a cat now after not having a pet for about 8 or 9 years so I spend a lot of time looking at and drawing him.
He has taken to jumping up in our laps in the evenings so I have taken to drawing him.
It ends up being a lot of "sleeping cat"  sketches but practice none the less.

Draw what is in front of you.

He will let me move his feet around a little bit to get a better view of his face.
He did "fang" me once to suggest I quit messing with him though.

When he curls up all I can see is the top of his head
and his feet turned in all sorts of directions.
I occasionally add notes about things I hear
or see that I want to research later.
This night it was about a WWII  group that maintained
sketchbooks while away from home.

My sketches are beginning to look more like him.
I love the stripes above his eyes.
They come together in a triangle shape on his face.
They do make him look like he is a little worried though. 

I'll try to be a better blogger and share more of what I fill my time with.

Sometimes I feel as though it isn't very interesting. I guess I could just take that filter away and see what others think.
Maybe I will do that this week.

Are you drawing?
Are you finding a way to use the everyday happenings to add some creativity to your life?

It's a simple process really - taking your creativity in hand and letting it walk by your side.
You have to learn to look at the world, your world, in a little different way.

For example - instead of sitting in front of the TV at night, letting everyone else entertain you- entertain yourself with sketching out the TV (or what's on it).
No one has to see these sketches until you're ready  to show them.
But do keep them so you can go back and see how much progress you have made!

You will be amazed at what you can do!

Tomorrow is the Day!

"Kick Off Your Heels" for women's heart disease research by purchasing an artful pair of shoes created by a group of female artists.
The pair of shoes that I created are not wearable - they are considered sculptural art.

I've copied this from the "Kick Off Your Heels" blog and want to share it with all of you.


"We're excited to tell you about how you can own a pair of art-full high heels that benefit the women's heart wing of Cedar's Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles!

The sale of the shoes will begin at 8:00 am EST Monday May 20, 2013 and will be available for purchase over the course of the week as follows:

Shoes can be purchased for $300 on  May 20 and 21, 2013 beginning at 8:00 a.m. EST

Shoes can be purchased for $200 on May 22 and 23, 2013 beginning at 8:00 a.m. EST

Shoes can be purchased for $100 on May 24 and 25, 2013 beginning at 8:00 a.m. EST

Click here to visit the website we set up so you can preview the shoes before the sale begins.

Set your calendar alarms for Monday, May 20, 2013 and check out the website for your favorite pair of artisan made high heels!"

Go to this link and pick out your favorite pair.

All of the money collected will go straight to research!

Protective Armor

I've been spending a lot of time closeted in my studio.
Over the last year, I have felt almost suffocated by some of the art that I made.

Well, maybe not that dramatic but I felt like I couldn't get to MY art.
I had spent the year or two before that creating art for classes and I love those classes, love the art from those classes but I kept feeling this tugging in my heart.
Trying to pull me in a different direction.

If you were to look at the photos that I have taken over the past year or so, you would find a lot of abstract shots.
Texture, color blocks, peeling weathered pieces of wood.
Ancient broken-down boats, driftwood...

There are pages in my handmade books that reflect this "look".
Most of the pages that I paint for backgrounds (for books) portray this.

The last five or six pieces of art that I created have been from a place of deep longing.
A longing to find the sweet spot that I know is there.
That I feel I am getting close to.

I worked on a small piece of art this weekend, a tiny piece measuring 4 inches x 4 inches that felt like I was just basking in that sweetness.

I love it.
Just love it.

I like the color combination in this.

Love the texture

I also like the depth of the canvas - almost 1 1/2 inches.

While I loved the piece as it was above, I felt that it needed a bit more grunge or more decay to it.
Like a protective armor might have.
One that was well used and worn from years of  protecting the wearer.
So I aged it a bit more.

Protective Armor
4"x 4"
plaster, gauze, acrylic paint, joint compound, soft gel,
crackle paste, cold wax

Winging It For Women's Heart Health

This post is also on the "Kick Off Your Heels" blog today.
Run over there and check out all of the other cool "art shoes" being created for such a great cause.

I worked as a Registered Nurse for 2 decades.
Most of those years were spent in Neonatal ICU with the preemie babies.
Even though I was a nurse, I was still shocked when I read the statistics on the numbers of deaths related to cardiovascular issues with women.

When Sue asked me to donate pair of "art shoes"  to the cause, I jumped in with both feet (sorry, couldn't help it).

It's not only vitally important that we create enough noise to make our voices heard but we must also create a voice of consciousness in order to make this matter important enough for others to direct their energy towards it.
We, as women, have a tremendous power in this world - we just have to learn to come together, to harmonize our voices towards a common goal.
This fund raiser is a great example of working towards that goal.


I have never tried to make a pair of shoes into a piece of art. I recall doodling on my tennis shoes in high school but I wouldn't really call them "a piece of art".

I had been working with plaster and joint compound in my studio, so I decided to try using them on the shoes.

I started out with a pair of black heels from a local second-hand shop.

Hmmm...this shoe looks like it has two heels.
Let's try that again.

Two shoes.
One heel per shoe.

Now that we've established each shoe has only one heel, let's proceed with what I did with them.

I wasn't sure how well joint compound would adhere to the surface so I decided to put the plaster embedded gauze over each shoe first.
I knew that the gauze would adhere to itself so I made sure to overlap the gauze layers.

I cut the gauze into smaller strips in order to wrap it onto the shoe surface.
This is the standard "dip in water and place on surface" plaster embedded gauze.

all covered with plaster gauze

You can see the bumpy surface of the plaster. 

I let this layer dry completely before beginning the next layer.

Enter pirate booty supplies, I mean one of my new favorite art supplies from the hardware store (read husbands' shop) - Joint Compound!
So easy to apply, so aggravating to sand but oh so wonderful to carve!

This is the brand that I used but there are many many more brands
out there in your husbands' shop, I mean at the hardware store.
One kind is pink when wet but dries white. How cool is that?!

Just apply like cake icing!
You can see tiny specks of red paint from another project that I was working on
while this layer dried. No worries - this will be sanded off with the rest of the
uneven areas.

Iced shoes, ready for the next step.

Supplies for the next step.

Oops - forgot a really important one!
The face mask.
Do NOT sand this without a mask!

Just in case you forget who you are...

I sanded the shoes until I was happy with the results.
I didn't sand them completely smooth because I love the uneven areas, especially all the small imperfections.
It makes the surface appear old and gives it a lot of character.

I knew that I wanted to have a carving on the back of the shoe because I just love a wrap around design on that area of a shoe but felt that a heart drawing would not work unless I made the heart really wide and squatty (squaty?) (squat-y?).
I had previously made a thermofax screen to use in my journal/sketchbook from a drawing of a bird wing. I decided to try holding that up to the shoe just to see if I liked the idea.

Holy.
Moly.
It was the Perfect Size.

Don't you just love it when that happens!?
Boy, I do.
I used that and flipped the image to make a screen for the opposite wing.

I guess that you are wondering what in the heck I was using the thermofax screen for, huh?
In my "regular" art making I use them for all kinds of things but in this project I am going to use it as a guideline for my carving since I don't trust myself to carve freehand or just draw a realistic bird wing (right and left side) on the back of the shoe.
I didn't take a photo of the image after I screen printed it on the back of the shoe but you can see it here after I carved it (and removed most of the screen printed image) on the back of the shoe.

I had already decided that I wanted some type of carving on the outside front edge of the shoe.
I drew a heart shape with an EKG tracing inside of it after seeing a similar one online.

Okay - all the carving done...now the painting begins.

I made sure that all of the dust from my carving and sanding had been removed from the shoes, as well as any other debris that may be camping out there. I used a moist paper towel to remove the excess compound from the inside, the bottom and the heel of the shoe.

I painted two to three layers of red paint as well as the white accents.

You can tell that this is one of the first layers of paint
because of the areas of transparency next to the heart.

I did use a very small brush to paint the EKG tracing in red.
I allowed each layer to dry completely before painting the next layer.

Look at that deep, dark beautiful red color!

I brushed a layer of Soft Gel over the entire shoe to seal the painted joint compound surface.
When I was satisfied with the paint job, I used watered down Burnt Umber Light fluid acrylic paint to brush over small sections of the shoe (including the carved areas). I quickly wiped off the excess allowing what was left behind to sit (as well as set) in the carved lines, bumps and uneven areas on the shoe.
Its give the shoe a beautiful aged patina.

Pre Burnt Umber Light glaze.
Very white wings.

Post patina wings.
Beautiful aged wings.

An aged heart.

I decided to add a heart on the back of the shoe between the wings.
I created one out of canvas with plaster embedded gauze sandwiched around it. I cut the heart shape out, smeared some joint compound on top of it and then painted it after the compound dried.
I rolled it over my fingers to crack the compound then glazed it with a wash of the watered down Burnt Umber Light paint.

The heart is very flexible and could be sewn if desired.

I felt that the area back here just needed a heart.
A heart with wings.

 All that remained was adhering the heart to the back of each shoe and spraying a finish over them.

I must say - I really enjoyed creating this pair of art shoes! I love, love the way that the shoes turned out.

Here are a few photos of the finished shoes.

"Flying Above The Fray"
I felt that we women could use a little help flying above the grim statics
that we are faced with regarding heart health.
These sassy red shoes could definitely do the trick with that.

Having worked as an ICU nurse for two decades, I am both inspired by and familiar with
the dedication and dogged persistence of healthcare workers.
They would fly through hell as well as high water to help their patients.
I felt that these red shoes could help fly them any where they needed to go.

Thank you Sue and Jamie for putting together this fundraiser. I really do believe that this is a wonderful cause.

Inspiration Comes in Many Forms

I have just finished an art project that was created specifically for donation to a very worthy cause.
Check out the "Kick Off Your Heels" fundraiser that Sue Bleiweiss and Jamie Fingal started.
I can't wait to see the shoes that were created just for this!

I tend to work on a couple of things at a time and did during the time that I was working on the art shoes for the fundraiser.
Here's a peek at one of the plaster/joint compound pieces that I made.

I love the way that the surface accepts the paint differently
based on how much sanding I do or what resists I use.

I really am enjoying playing around with this medium.

This is what started it all.

I've had the book for a long time (almost a year) but only picked it back up several months ago.
Of course I do the same thing that I always do...read through it, start a project thinking that I will go by the instructions in the book for a couple of projects only to find myself veering off after the first step or two.
But that is a good thing too - I create my own work most of the time. It's way too easy to create artwork that really isn't your own if you never jump off of the page in a book, or put down a workshop instruction booklet...

I keep thinking of ways that I can use this medium. I've got a book cover (or two) on my work table as well as several small mixed media canvas panels going.
I've started another 3D piece as well as the triptych that I am continuing to look at during all of this.

Looking.

Thinking.

Allowing the art itself to speak to me.

It's sometimes difficult for me to quiet all of the "other" chatter in my head and just listen.

So I spend a lot of time just looking and thinking.

And Listening.

Are you listening to your inner voice? Or are you trying to wrestling control away from your intuition?
(you will beef up the wrong muscles if you do this)

You gotta flex YOUR creative muscle!

What's On Your Table Today?

I'm working with items that I found on walks, kayaking trips, bike rides or just being outside, enjoying Nature.

Here's a few of them. Be sure and click on the photo so you can see the details of the white feather.
Beautiful!

Bird feathers, tree bark, worn turtle shell

Pier Sketching

I sat under the shelter at the end of the pier at Shem Creek Park, watching people come and go,
kids run and play, fishermen (and women) fishing, gulls flying and people just enjoying each other and the lovely weekend weather in Charleston SC.

Here is a sampling of the people that I watched.

Lots of kids, women with buns and fisher-women.

This man fished all day long without catching anything.
That, my friend, is dedication.
(or as he said "It's just what a fisherman does.")

Pardon the shadow on the page.
I scanned the page and the book is getting
pretty full.

As you can see, everyone was looking out to the Harbor. I was sitting behind them looking the same way.
Nothing like spending a day listening to the birds, looking at the ocean and doing some urban sketching.

Charleston Pier Sketching

I had the pleasure of going to Charleston SC this past weekend with my husband.
He was busy umpiring a baseball game so I had a little free time on my hands.

I wandered over to Shem Creek Park (in Mt. Pleasant) to do a little walking, people watching, meditating with Nature and sketching.

I made a book a while back that I call "The Charleston Book".
I try to carry it with me every time that we go to Charleston. I journal, sketch or add little bits of ephemera that catch my fancy.

"The Green Fan"
Robert Henri

I used heavy decorator textiles on the cover
to make it nice and thick.

I love the image in the front of the book. It's "The Green Fan" oil painting by Robert Henri.
Gibbs Art Museum in Charleston owns the original and it is truly spectacular.
It measures 41" x 33".
It is one of my favorite paintings.
I printed it on a nubby fabric (old curtain sheers from my mom's house) so it gives the cover an old time-worn look.
I used several scrapes of heavy decorator fabric that really gives the cover a nice heft to it.Hand dyed vintage lace for the spine.
The back cover is a truly handmade concoction of mine.
It looks and feels like leather but is a mixture of molding paste, acrylic gels and acrylic paint.
It is not only supple and flexible but it is sturdy enough to travel with me as I wander about.

I dyed a batch of vintage lace that belonged to my grandmother and used it as an embellishment for the spine.
I had a few yards of this beautiful green waxed linen thread that I stitched the signatures into the book with.

Next time I will show you the sketches that I did while wandering around on Shem Creek.

New Journal!

Imagine my surprise this past week when I opened my mailbox to find a free book!

As a participant in Sue Bleiweiss' book "The Sketchbook Challenge", the Director of Publicity (Kim Small) for Potter Craft sent me a copy of "The Sketchbook Project Journal: More Than 300 Ways to Fill a Page" to enjoy.

Amazon says that "The Sketchbook Project is a guided sketchbook that offers the project's annual prompts and themes (as well as never before published prompts) posted on their website that participants of the project use for inspiration. The companion sketchbook also includes specific references to the digitized library for further sketching and doodling ideas. Meant as a precursor to the actual Sketchbook Project, this journal helps to get the creative juices flowing and references an impressive global community of artists."

Carol says that it's got a lot of blank space to doodle, draw and write in.
You can also customize the cover as the red cover you see above is actually a dust jacket just waiting to be removed so that your doodles can escape the inside pages to the outside pages.
The pages are not numbered but Amazon assures me that there are 192 pages to spill your creative guts on.
It's a great size as well- 7.4" x 9". Perfect for dropping into your sketching bag or leaving on your studio work table.

I can't wait to get started in my copy!
(I do not receive any compensation for your purchase, I'm just passing along a new & interesting product!)

Thanks again Kim!

Birds of a Feather

I am thrilled to be teaching a class at  THE Art & Soul Retreat in Virginia Beach Virginia this year.
It's a fun mobile class where we will be learning several things like this (but not limited to this!)
*designing one of a kind fabric with hand drawn Thermofax screens (screen printing)
*several beading techniques to embellish the birds
*embellishing techniques on driftwood (paint &/or thread wrapping)
*techniques to weight a mobile to achieve balance
*different ways to create a 3d bird (something besides the traditional stuffing material!)
*demonstrations on crocheting wings and adding beads to your crochet!
*alternate materials to make wings out of
and who knows what else!

lots of beading techniques

different options for wings

demonstrations of crocheting with beads!

lots of painting, beading and thread wrapping

ideas for balance on your mobile

There is always a lot of laughter in my classes as I believe that that is the best way to learn - in a relaxed and accepting atmosphere...and what is more relaxing than laughter?

I know that there are tons of online classes to choose from but if you have never been to a "real" art retreat before, you are missing something!
It's at these retreats that you meet people that will become lifelong friends.
They understand your creative drive, your odd ideas and would never divulge your retreat secrets.
Never.
And when you are able to learn with hand-on help...nothing beats that, now does it?
And being in a group allows you to see how many people do the same thing differently because sometimes you just don't understand what the teacher is talking about...it helps to hear or see it from a different perspective, doesn't it?
I love the camaraderie that develops within the group, the sisterhood of the traveling art retreat...

And Art & Soul is THE original retreat.
The one that all of the other retreats model themselves after.
And for a good reason - it works.
It delivers what people go there looking for - creative energy, like minded peeps and an opportunity to learn a craft or an art technique from experienced teachers.


I'll add some photos of the class that I am teaching this year at Virginia Beach.
Won't you come and join me there?

surface design in the form of screen printing 

lots of different wing screens

playing with painting ideas

lovely driftwood embellishment

painting a plain bird

beautiful bold colors

or you could draw on your bird!

a lovely twisted bead tail

great uses for tiny pieces of driftwood