My bag

I left for Toronto on Friday afternoon, after finishing up summer camp, biking around town in the interests of my fish, and generally trying to do everything last minute that I should have spread out over the past week. With half an hour to spare before leaving the house, I decided I absolutely must have a new bag.

Luck was with me (having deserted me the night before in a linen pants incident about which I am not quite ready to think), and the bag creation went smoothly and ended up pretty much just as I wished!


This lovely canvas-type fabric was a sort of impulse buy during my quilt fabric shopping spree, bought with the specific intent of making a new bag. I am ever so proud that I actually followed through.

Naturally, with more time, there are a few extras I would have added - interior pockets, probably an exterior pocket between the straps. It has a sort of secret pocket perfect for my fast approaching Central American travels - a flap from the outside folds over to the inside, the perfect size for passport and money protection.

I really just love the colors. Lately I seem to have been developing an unconscious affinity for dusty pink (the flowers are pink. Upon viewing my picture I see that this is somewhat indiscernible. Oops. In real life they are actually quite prominent). My mother says that it is generally a sort of grandmother color, but then I have always had elderly qualities :)

I think this post takes the prize for the most parentheses. Yay.

The Red Suitcase

Over the weekend, last weekend that is (where did the week go?), I travelled to Toronto to help my parents with packing for a big move. It was finally time to pack away all the little treasures I had never taken away with me, mostly the little treasures that I would not want to lose, but that are not really vital to every day living. To pack them away in style, I went thrifting and found a perfect small red vintage suitcase.

In the course of packing, I came upon some of my grandmothers Vogue magazines, salvaged from her attic years ago (there are actually boxes of these waiting in storage for me - so good).


My packing was slowed down somewhat my the perfect picturesque-ness of the vintage mags in the vintage suitcase - perhaps I was procrastinating.

Its brilliant!

My new favorite word these days seems to be "brilliant". It actually came into my vocabulary in a sneaky sort of way - popping up unexpectedly and somewhat incongruously in the middle of a conversation. I blamed it on my concurrent engrossment in research writing and critical theory reading, and figured it was only a one time thing. But brilliant just didn't leave! And other superlatives (I feel like brilliant is a superlative, but honestly the technical meaning of the term escapes me) have also begun to insert themselves in my everyday language.



When I was little, I used to consciousely add words to my repertoire. In particular I remember, at around the age of twelve, deciding my speech reflected my "goody-goody" personality a bit too much, and so to harden my reputation, I decided to add the word "darn" to my speech patterns, feeling very tough and daring in the process, and totally proving the very thing I was trying to change.

I guess I still feel somewhat that words reflect on personality. I enjoy using interesting words, finding the exact way to convey a particular thought. I'm not sure what "brilliant" says about me these days, but I think I kind of like it.

So tired.

I am teaching a summer camp this week all about monsters. I have three neat little guys in the camp, and we make monsters of all sorts! It's really great, but Im so tired! I don't even really have a viable excuse, since the camp is only half-day and there are others around to help. But man!



This is one of the monsters created. Now we are trying to stick to a smaller scale in order to not totally freak out the parents! (how many giant octopus monsters could you fit in your home?)

Postcard wall

This is a portion of my postcard wall where I hang the cards I have been sent.



There are several of my friends with whom I correspond in postcards, some I have not seen or talked to in a few years and our only contact is on a roughly 3x5 sheet of paper. We often make the cards ourselves, or re-use found cards from shows or advertisements. I like to see the history of our correpondence, the assorted styles and messages of the different people, all hanging together.

An Introduction

I would like to make an introduction.



This gentleman would like to shake your hand.



His name is Edmund and he recently made an appearance in my studio.



He is quite friendly and sociable, and he walks 2 miles every day. That's why he has such lovely shoes!



His wife is currently undergoing some operations (she might not like it that I'm telling, but her dress was not fitting properly and her wig was completely wrong. Those might not seem to require surgery per se, but when one is only 6 inches tall one's problems are necessarily of a different sort). She should be along to meet you soon.

I am not sure if Edmund is a father or not - it seems likely, however, so I wish him and all the other fathers out there a Happy Day! (yes, one day late. I did call my own dad on time though!)

Spring Songs

I call these paintings "Spring Songs" because they were painted from the joy of finally having Spring.



They are both acrylic on canvas, with the addition of layers of vintage sheet music and embroidery stitching. Finally they are coated with gel medium to protect the surface. Both are 16x20".



I was going to put them up for sale by starting an Etsy shop, but the images did not want to upload so I took that as a sign to wait a bit. If you would like to make them yours, however, feel free to let me know!

I would love to make my living from what I can create, as the process of creating is when I am happiest and feel most fulfilled. It's a difficult thing though - sometimes I think that what makes a great artist is not so much their abilities in drawing or painting etc, but their ability to put themselves out into the world.

What do you think?

News from the Aquarium

Life thrives in my fishtank. I'm not quite sure why - I admit to not being the most conscientious cleaner - but something must be right because the whole deal is getting somewhat out of hand.

First there were the babies, and they turned out to be rather fascinating. They were just specks at first, and now they have grown into actual miniature fish. I know I didn't have much to do with their success, but I have some sort of feeling of pride in their healthy growth.

Then, one day, there was a tiny little snail in the corner of the tank. I have no idea how it got there. And then there was another. And another. And soon there were 20, and now I just have no idea how many miniature snails are residing in my aquarium!



I think it is ok, because they keep the algae away - if life grows, it makes sense that it has a purpose.



In the last few days, I have made the distinction of which of my fish are the females.

They are the ones that get very fat and then have the babies.

Two more tiny little ones have appeared, and, I can only assume, more are on the way.

Oh dear.

White out

I just covered all the unimportant parts of this painting with a thick coat of white, and all of a sudden I've fallen in love with it. Funny how that can happen. Now I am inspired to see what white can do for several other paintings that haven't thrilled me... I may have to get more paint.



(please excuse the poor picture quality - my camera is elderly.)

Book Magazine Book

This was my entry in Book Magazine Book issue #22 "An Unnecessary Machine". I have since passed the book on to S.R. Wild, so if you want to be a part of this issue let him know soon. I was horrible and kept it for far too long - all that end of school stuff sort of took priority for a while. I was also the first entry of the issue - a daunting task. I'm not thrilled with my contribution, I wanted to do something provoking and all that jazz, but it will do.

Green is good

Sometimes I feel that soaking up as much green as possible is what gets me through the winter. As soon as the leaves start to bud, its as if I am suddenly aware of being parched and must quench that deep deep thirst. That intense green of later Spring, when the leaves are fully open but not yet dark richness of Summer, is my very favorite. That is the green I crave with more than just my eyes.



Can you see the four leafed clover? Actually, there are three.







I hope you are filled with Spring!

Craft Fair Fun

I have been busy these last couple days putting together the Art-to-Go DIY Show and Sell. It has been quite exciting - a flurry of activity! Registration is now closed, but if you head over to the Art-to-Go blog, you can sign up for the mailing list and learn how to sign up for the next installment in August! Yes, this will be a monthly deal, and I am pretty excited about where it could go. I have all sorts of grand scenarios worked up in my head... I like to dream...

The daily sketching worked well for a few days, and then I got caught up in other activities, but since they were also creative and crafty I feel ok about the situation. Actually, Im pretty tickled with a couple projects in the works, and will post pictures as soon as I figure out how to make tiny little black shoes.

(that's one of those cliff-hanger endings, where you're just left in suspense until I post again...)

Antique Treasures

When my parents were here for graduation weekend, we took a little trip to some local antique stores. In my mind there are two types of antique shops - there are the places just packed full of stuff, where you dig through stacks and peer behind dusty frames to find that one amazing piece, and the austere, clean places where each item is a treasure, handpicked by an antique expert and usually quite pricey.

For me, the first kind is exciting in a way I feel in the pit of my stomach, with the possibility of coming upon the most wonderful treasure unexpectedly in each pile of brittle magazines or stack of discarded license plates.



I came home with three purchases. This ceramic cup, which I am considering a vase and which has such a perfect shape for holding that I carried it around the rest of the afternoon like a toddler with a security blanket.



An old-fashioned egg beater, something I have been wanting for along time. When I was little, there was a certain lady I used to visit who had a miniature version of this along with other tea set items. The rest have become faded in my memory, but I always thought the eggbeaters were terrific and wanted one of my own. And now I have one!

The third item was the striped rug in the pictures of the rotary press. Its a bit worn, but I feel like that means I can use it without trepidation.