fun news!

Back in 2009 I was contacted by Carmen Torbus to be included in a book she was working on.

I'm excited to share that her hard work has been born and is now available for ordering!!

The Artist Unique:

Discovering Your Creative Signature Through Inspiration and Techniques

In my contribution I share one of my favorite techniques

for achieving texture and color variations in acrylic painting

as well as book covers like this.

I am sure you will recognize a number of the 15 included artists

as some of your favorite fellow artist bloggers!!

For a complete list, and links to their blogs,

you can visit Carmen's blog and check out her side bar!

waste land

Hi all,
I wanted to alert you to what looks like a fascinating and inspiring documentary that's airing on PBS tonight.  In honor of Earth Day, it is the ultimate recycled art out there!

Artist Vic Muniz goes to the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro to visit the worlds largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, where he creates the most beautiful and amazing portraits of the people living there.  He "paints" these portraits solely using the garbage from the dump, and all proceeds from sales of these portraits go to help improve the lives of these people.  Here is a taste of this inspiring, joyful and heartful work.

Watch the full episode. See more Independent Lens.

shades of gray

This is probably

my favorite kind of weather!

Misty, foggy, hushed...

Mysterious, magical, silvery,

gray.

I'm not sure it's all that easy to tell in these photos,

but that's the color I've chosen for my new studio walls.

 click on photos for larger view

A soothing, silvery, gray

It's coming along, slowly but surely!

The painting isn't complete yet,

and there are still bath fixtures and lighting fixtures to be installed,

as well as the built in shelves and work surface,

but it sure is taking shape!

  ~⍣~⍣~⍣~⍣~⍣~⍣~⍣~⍣~⍣~⍣~⍣~⍣~⍣~⍣~⍣~  

On another note,

I'd like to share about some good works with you.

Sisterfriends Bella Sinclair and Ces Adorio 

have joined forces to bring together their generosity, hope,

and amazing talents in order to help the people of Japan

effected by the tsunami.

I encourage you to visit them

and consider making a donation of $25, or more,

to the American Red Cross.

When you do, they will match donations (up to $200)

and gift you with some of their inspiring work.

It's a win win!!

breaking open

whether witnessing it in another

or feeling it within yourself

when it happens,

it is so dazzling!

even if it hurts,

when

hearts crack open

and healing happens...

so grateful

I woke up today feeling really good!

It felt good to feel good,

and to think "I can paint today!"

for the first time in weeks. 

So here is my mandala in honor of birds.

Every day, I turn to my bird feeders, no matter how I'm feeling,

and they bring me joy.  

They bring flight to my imagination,

help guide my mind, and help it to soar 

above and beyond worries, complaints, and sorrows.

I am always grateful and delighted by birds!

I am also extremely grateful to the good samaritans that rescued our 17 1/2 year old dog, who wandered out onto our busy street and was lost this week, when reckless workers left our back door open to the elements... but we are blessed to have her back, safe and sound, and a bit weary after her 19, or so, hour adventure!

home sweet home!!

the introvert

I know I've been neglectful of my blog lately, and it's taken me all these weeks to finally truly understand myself (duh!) and why it's been so difficult to come here - why the thought of writing or expressing myself just brings on waves of exhaustion and sadness.

Day in and day out I have a house full of contractors, plumbers, floor layers, the electrician - all or a combo of the above, coming in and out.  Tarps covering the kitchen floor, the stairs, the hallway (which have felled me twice); saws buzzing, hammers pounding, saw dust and plaster dust through out, for well over 6 months now.

I do best alone.  I need time alone, so that I can be fully present and myself when I am with others.  It's something I know about myself; it's one of the main reasons I knew I could never be a mother and chose not to have children.  I could not be a 24/7 presence in another's life.  So after living in a hotel (full of people) for 8 weeks, and being around people daily during radiation treatments for 6½ weeks, I came home to this daily full on assault to my senses - the noise, the smells, the need to engage and communicate, to smile, be patient and communicate through a process that sometimes feels down right tortuous to me.  All of which I know most people would be feeling excited about, and at least grateful - after all it's going to all end as a studio for me!

The problem is, my energy is so depleted, excitement is the last thing I'm feeling.  I know it'll come, eventually, when I'm in the process of using the space, and I have some time to refuel.  Right now, I still find I need to sleep several hours a day - I simply shut down.  I do things like fall asleep on the phone when my husband calls to check in at lunch time - I simply can't control the depth of this fatigue.

Happily, last week was spring break for several workers and they took family vacations, plus we had to wait for some supplies to come in for finishing the floor, so I got nearly the whole week off to myself.  The first couple of days I still slept - a lot, but then images began to return, and a desire to paint, to stay awake all day long!  It was lucky, because I had signed up for a workshop which I was able to attend this past weekend, down at the Center for Book Arts, in NYC.  I will share more on that in the next day or two.

Now, however, it's back to the new normal - workers have returned, and I am practicing patience with a better understanding of myself, acceptance that this is just how I roll, and until the construction zone returns to home zone, I will have less presence here, because I  run out of socializing energy by the time the house is empty again!

We are getting there, slowly, but surely.  The floor is down, tile up, painters will be coming soon, then the built ins and finishing elements and we'll be done.  Should be fast, right?!  yeah...  So far it's been a 3 season project, started in the middle of the summer.  yeah, I'm ready to be done!

If you'd like to test yourself to see where you are on the scale of introvert vs extrovert, you can take a free test here!

fizzle... fizzle...

I started off 2011 feeling pretty peppy, and my enthusiasm led me to an online class called Blast Off! a class for artists from Art Biz Coach Alyson B Stanfield. The class is a lesson packed, inspiring guide for setting forth a concrete plan for your professional artist self.  Through gratitude, commitment, vision, organization, planning and a number of very concrete valuable assignments artists are guided to create better relationships with money, and learn to create a Plan for strengthening themselves as the professionals they truly are, freeing themselves for more time in the studio to create.  After all, that's what we all want, isn't it?

The class began January 5th, and our first assignment was to begin a gratitude journal.  Great start - check.  Assignment two, create a vision board - figure out what your dream life is - picture it.  Can you?!  Write it down and then collage it.

Okay, now my juices are flowing, bubbling, giggling and glad, and I write and write and begin to cut and collect.  The next day my hands are barely able to open and shut, so I know I need to take a break, but we get a new assignment that looks like a lot of fun - creating affirmation cards for ourselves.  I can at least write some affirmations down... but not really - just holding the pen is difficult, and I find myself feeling defeated when I try to do my gratitude journal daily.  I find myself feeling ungrateful and whiny, to be honest.

Pain colors everything.

I know many of you out there dealing with chronic pain and conditions, and I bow to your strength and endurance, grace and positive attitudes, because you inspire me and help to keep me moving along!  But here I hit a patch that threw me off course for a bit.  The domino effect was set off - pain, the weather, stressors from the construction zone and a few other factors, and I felt my body slipping away.  I needed rest, and all I could do was sleep...

and the class moved on without me.  I downloaded each day's assignment, and read them or listened in iTunes, I wrote my daily gratitude, but mostly I ended up in bed!  It's often hard to remember there is still a whole lot of recovery going on inside of me, as different toxins and drugs work their way out, and hormones do their whacky dance through my system, and I try to cleanse and wait it all out!!
But little by little, every day, I'd drag out my vision board, and spread it out on my bed (my make shift studio for the time being!) and I'd dream...

and it nearly took a month, but I finished it yesterday, so I may just Blast Off yet!!

the healing body
of my flesh, energy, and spirit

studio bound!!!

Healed hands...

taking chances!!

my wish list!!

 So 2011, off we go!!

now on to those affirmation cards...

Behind the walls...

Today a new shift in construction is underway up in my studio.

The laying of the radiant flooring has begun at long last.

I have to admit, part of my absence here is due to simply feeling

worn out by having disorder surrounding me, in every room of my home,

for over six months now - not to mention the months preceding

that were all focused on chemo and radiation.

There hasn't been a window of opportunity for me to simply be

in my home feeling the triumph of having overcome a huge challenge,

and to then restore.  Instead I've been in a holding pattern that 

I am doing my best with.

charms

Doing my best often means closing my eyes to the chaos surrounding me - literally.  I nap, even through hammering and drilling and sawing and stomping!
I know there will come a time that I will be ecstatic with my new studio,
I'm just feeling really tired now.
Naps are a good thing!

Studio Intention Charm
in a tin

My hands have not been at their best either,

so I haven't been able to paint or draw,

but I created this little Intention Charm,

to store behind the walls of my studio. 

It's filled with words and images that inspire me,
and will set the tone I hope for in my studio,
and to share with others there.

open tin,
bottom and top

takin' shape

I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything or shared an update on my studio, so below are some pictures of the progress!!  I think it'll probably be another 8 weeks.  We still have heat, flooring, built ins, bath fixtures, and a few other finishing details to go, but walls are up and lights are in - just look at all the lights!! They are LED and when our electrician had them all on he took out his meter and found we were using the equivalent of two 100 watt bulbs!  (Not all bulbs are in yet, but wow!)

eco-friendly soy based
insulation spray foam

light fixtures still in boxes,
waiting for installation!

I am feeling better and better with each passing day.  Still have to watch my energy, as I forget I'm still recovering from this past year's adventure - and my hands are still not up to art making condition, but give them the time it takes to finish a studio?!? then we'll be talking!  Until then...

Wallboard delivery!!  The only way to get it up to the 3rd story was to feed it through one of the studio windows, because our stairwells are too narrow, and corners too sharp a turn.  All furniture will have to be built up there, and left!!

Our electrician Eustice and his assistant are putting in the last light!!

Before wallboard or lights

Curt & Robert (he's peeking through the A/C closet wall, to the left)
are installing the wallboard.  Only half of the lights are exposed here -
they'll be cutting out holes to expose the rest!


I think it's too confusing at this point to explain what each space is, but I'll try a little.  Eventually I'll take you on a video tour, and it will all make sense.

This is the main center space, facing the doorway to the "messy" room where sanding, dusty, paper making, felting, wax, etc can happen - there's ventilation and a big slop sink.  Standing here, your back is to the view in the photos above, of Robert and Curt, and the windows.

The 'messy' room

      

back there opens up to the library/sitting area and off to the right is the bathroom.

I am very happy moving into this new year, which is filled with potential.  I am grateful to have you all here with me on this amazing journey and I look forward to sharing a great deal more of it with you! I have big dreams for this space and you are part of them.  Blessings of great joy, wonder, creative explorations and well being to you all!

Happy New Year!

❤