A fun book and other projects

I made this little book last weekend before the madness of school got into full swing. I took a class by Shimelle and it was so fun! Just to be able to get in there and cut and paste. A very relaxing project and one I'm glad I did.

School is into full swing now and I have loads of projects and assignments to do this weekend. It's all fun stuff, all art, so I can't complain! School once again is a godsend; it's keeping my mind off what's going on at home, which is really painful and hard. Mostly I'm OK, but there are moments where the hurt and anger well up and I want to either cry or hit something, or both. Sometimes I do. I'm just taking one day at a time and trying to pull the pieces of my heart and life back together again.

This weekend is another anti-art school event and I'll definitely be going. Will post the results.

I've been tagged!!

I got tagged today by my friend Dawn (my first time...I'm a virgin tag-ee!). So here's the story:

The Rules: Each player of this game starts with "6 weird things about you". Each person who gets tagged needs to write a blog post of their own 6 weird things as well as clearly state this rule. After you state your 6 weird things, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you're tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog for information as to what it means.

1. I'm obsessive about personal space. The thought of sleeping in a room with anyone other than my dog (I'm single now) sends me into a mild anxiety attack. And roommates? I don't think so.

2. I'm a recipe collector. Not to the level that my mother is, but I'm gaining on her. Give me a night at the bookstore and a stack of cooking magazines and I'll either buy them all or write down every recipe that intrigues me.

3. I HATE getting my hands dirty (an interesting thing for an artist, huh?)

4. I wear earplugs at the movies (and, yes, I AM under 80!)

5. I detest peanuts. I mean REALLY detest peanuts. Growing up, I would beg my mother every once in a while to make me a peanut butter and Fluffernutter sandwich, then valiantly take a bite and want to spit it right out. Yes, all the kids laughed at me.

and,

6. Before I was born, my parents had trouble deciding on a name. It was between Maria and Kathleen. They decided to wait until I was born, and if I came out with dark hair and eyes, I would be Maria, and if I came out with light hair and eyes, I would be Kathleen. I was born with almost a perfect part down the center of my head...one side white-blond, the other jet black. Needless to say, they were a bit flummoxed. They decided on Kathleen; it was a good decision. To this day, I still have a mix of light and dark hair, and my eyebrows and eyelashes are dark on one side, and light on the other. Even my eyes are a slightly different shade (I found this out from an eye doctor several years ago as he was shining the light into my eyes...he was quite fascinated by it all).

Kirsty, Teesha, Corey, Carla, Celine, and Vicki, you're it!

deviantart.com

Heard from one of my classmates today about deviantart.com. It's a site that artists use to post their art. A lot of the artists are teenagers, but there are older artists on there as well. Fun stuff; check it out!

back to school

Yesterday began the new semester for me. New classes that are all art classes...WOO HOO! This morning I attended my first Computer Art and Illustration class. The whole focus of the class is developing an artistic style, doing fine art that's computer aided. The instructor showed us slides of other artists' work, and I felt so inspired and excited about what I will be doing this semester in this class. I saw some really amazing pieces, many of which were traditional art pieces with canvas and paint, as well as computer generated pieces. We're to keep a sketchbook as part of our requirements for the class. I think my art journal will work just fine.

I sat in the wrong seat in this morning's class, however. As I took my seat the teacher said, "You'll be driving for me if you sit there". I responded, "No problem!", since I pushed the buttons on the computer for the instructor a few times last semester and it was easy. Dear Tom would say, "now push this, do that,", nice and slow and mellow. Yeah. Not this gal. She's one of those computer folks that's so familiar with the programs that I think she forgets we don't know what we're doing. So it was like, "hit command D, command D, command D, COMMAND D!!!", and my brain and fingers tried desperately to accommodate her request. When I learned Illustrator last semester, Tom didn't focus on keyboard commands, we worked mostly with the mouse. This gal is all about the keyboard commands. Sigh.

The above piece is by an illustrator by the name of Daniel Chang. His images are line driven, whimsical with a touch of menace. Pretty cool. Check out his site!

I love doodling

I finished up another journal page this morning in time to make a copy for the cover of my next blank art journal. I want to get those journals done this weekend so they're ready to go.

Meanwhile, I'm in the midst of a love affair with doodling. The Pattern book, plus all the beautiful scrapbook paper patterns are inspiring me to sit down with my pen and draw. Last night I spent almost 2 hours drawing on another art journal page and felt I could sit there all night and doodle.

I've felt so much creative energy lately. Whenever I sit down I want to be doing something with my hands, be it drawing, knitting, crocheting, or writing. I went through a little bit of a dry spell through the holidays (due to stress and burnout from school, no doubt), but am feeling recharged and ready to go. So I'll ride the wave for as long as it lasts.

new art journals

Today I spent a lot of time putting an initial layer of paint on paper that will soon become part of my new art journals. I'm actually able to make two journals from the same sheets of paper - one 8x10 journal and one 5x7 journal. Two for the price of one...gotta love it! It was fun splashing paint all over the pages, not worrying about getting it "right", just slopping the stuff on there. After I post it will be time to fold the pages and prepare the covers. Then tomorrow, sew together and voila...new art journals! I've had the paper for a few months, so it was nice to finally be able to get to it and accomplish the beginning stages of journal making. I may do some stamping on the pages before I assemble them. I got a great fleur de lis foam stamp with Xmas money (thanks, Gram!) that I can't wait to use. I may wait till they're put together...we'll see.

I also wanted to mention the wonderful book at left. I got this book for Xmas, and I can't say enough about how much I love it. It's pure eye candy; brilliant colors, intricate patterns, beautiful interiors. It even has a fuzzy cover! How cool is that?

I'm hoping to spend the next few days making art at least part of each day. Of course the usual things like grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning the house and preparing for school all have to happen, but I hope for a few quiet moments here and there in which to create and dream.

art journal play day

Today I spent a lot of time working in my art journal. It was so relaxing and energizing at the same time. This page had the envelope and the green background before I began today's work. I had started this page at Anahata's workshop at the Paper Studio in October, and had fun adding to it and finishing up today. I may add a bit more; probably some journaling at the top of the page. I used one of my new favorite art supplies; glitter glue. You can't really see it in the scan, but it adds some life and fun to the layout.

Next week starts school, so I'm enjoying my time now to play and make whatever I want. Still feeling tired, draggy, and coughing up the feathers that are in my throat. Blah! One day of antibiotics down, another 6 to go!

anit-art school

Last night I attended the Anti-art School event in downtown Phoenix. The above drawing is one of the sketches I did there. It was pretty low-key which I liked, funky music, coffee drinks and eclectic folk..all the good stuff in life! The gal that modeled for us did a good job, even though she hadn't really done modeling before. I got some good drawings...I'll post more once I finish them.

I'm so happy to see events like this being organized here. It seems the art community is becoming stronger. I love to spend time around other artists doing the thing we love...art. In this case, figure drawing.

The end of the month brings another "Anti-Art School" event. I'm looking forward to it!

christmas journal

Still sick. Yuck. The little energy I've had today has been used to start working on a Christmas journal, inspired by Shimelle. It won't be for a particular year, but rather several year's entries in one little book. I'll post more when it's closer to complete. This is the front cover.

So much for washing the dishes.....

great artist I stumbled across

While browsing in some galleries in Chatham, MA I came across this artist. His name is Bob Korn and he's a photographer extraordinare. His images are powerful; lonely, spare, starkly beautiful. He has work in major galleries like the Met in NY, the Museum of Modern Art and the Smithsonian. Check him out!

I'm baack

Sorry, no pictures to post today. Just got back in town day before yesterday. I'm sick with the respiratory grunge, and am feeling pretty lousy. I'm going to try and do some art today if I can keep myself vertical long enough.

My trip back east to visit my family was a great one. It's the first actual Christmas I've spent with them in probably 12 years. We had a lot of quality time together, and it was good to get away from the stress in my life right now. We ate tons of good food, took lots of walks, went shopping (one of my most favorite activities), to the movies, and just generally relaxed.

2007 is going to be a year of huge changes. My move to Portland in the spring is a definite, and I look forward to it with a combination of excitement and anxiety. Things at home here in Phoenix are strained and painful. The connection I sensed with my partner several weeks back is gone, replaced with anger and emotional distance. I realized while I was away that the situation here was hurting me and I needed to end it. I have been feeling badly about myself and my self-esteem is in the toilet. So it's time to cut my losses and start over.

We are going to be in the same house with one another till I leave, and that's going to be difficult. Once school starts I'll have a lot going on, which will help. Till then, I'll focus on taking care of myself and most importantly getting over this cold-thing!