Aromatherapy Oils

I was contacted by Sarah of Liliths Apothecary about using my photograph for her blog article. I was thrilled that not only did she want to use my image, but that she was kind enough to ask to!

She has an amazing array of oils and scents...I kind of wish this was a smell o'vision computer.

Please take a moment and visit her shop on etsy:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lilithsapothecary

or read her blog!

http://www.lilithsapothecary.wordpress.com/

thank you Sarah

Wordless Wednesday

A new Ink Friend

Emerald Bay at Dusk by Michelle Murdock @ Quail Lane Press

I took a little break last week to get some R&R with the hubby....we went to join some friends at the Serene lakes in Northern California. It was heavenly...

Before we headed up I did some research to find out who was making what, up in that part of the world and found the AMAZING printmaker Michelle Murdock

Feeling a bit like a mild stalker we made plans to attend Truckee Days this last Thursday and meet her.

We were not disapointed, while my hubby bought some homemade pie to take back to our friends at the lake I met the talented artist!

Her booth was overflowing with color and beautiful images!

Michelle makes work about the enviroment that does not harm the enviroment!

She works in Linocut and Letterpress and often combines them both!
Being an artist who loves to find new non toxic processes she was a new friend in the printmaking world instantly.

Michelle produces her prints using a a small rotary press in her studio on Quail Lane on the west shore of Lake Tahoe. A lot of her prints come out of her daily life in Tahoe-Taking walks with the dogs and looking around the forest at the trees and birds. She uses the reduction method which allows her to create multiple color editions with a single linoleum plate.

We were lucky enough to purchase a Lino poster that she had for sale, that I had also spocked out in the Etsy shop and now it hangs in our home!

Sailors and Sirens

I love her work and am so glad that I went to the art fair to meet her, it had me buzzed for at least an hour afterwards. It is thrilling to meet another printmaker, another woman printmaker at that!

Forrest Haze, Summer

 

Laundry

Special order for "dinner party" cards

I have been seduced by linocut...I love to make them!

I love the process of carving and then after hours and hours of chipping away at time little bits of linoleum it is time to ink and see the image come to life....magic I say.

So when it was time to settle in and think what I was going to contribute to this years Inkspots Director Series Folio...Linocut was the first thing that came to mind.

We are a group of 12 women and this year 8 of us are participating in the folio.

We try and create a folio to accompany our annual show.

We create a limited number of folios and then package them all together and sell them at the show.

The buyer gets an example of each artists work all packaged up into a pretty presentation package.

This years show is in September and called "Think Ink!"

The show will have work from each of us as well as the folio.

This years folio is going to be less expensive but just as impressive, each of the artists are talented in their own right and we all have VERY different styles so it makes for a great show and interesting art.

I wanted to make a linocut that reflected a memory from childhood...

I created "A Stitch In Time" two color linocut with sewn detail.

20 years later

My grandfather in the dark shirt

My grandfather passed away 20 years ago July 13th. I have been quiet these last few days reflecting on him.

I was 20 years old when he died and it has been 20 years since he died....strange to think that the amount of time that has passed is the amount of time I had him in my life.

My grandfather was a hardworking passionate man. My memories of him are intertwined with childhood and summertimes with him and my grandmother. He never graduated high school, and after the first date with my grandmother, he had decided he was going to marry her. He fell in love instantly with a girl who wanted out of her home and didn't tease him about his teeth or his stutter. She remembered that he was wearing a new suit, and was soft spoken and would do anything for her.

He worked in the garment industry as a pattern cutter. In his later life he sold bolt ends at the swapmeet and could look at a person and tell them how much fabric they would need to make a dress for themselves.

He had a love for food, and would struggle his whole life with people accepting that about him. He loved the heat and a good "shavitz" (sweat), you would often find him in the pool soaking in the sun and tanning himself in the summer sun.

He died of ALS, a disease that took away his love of food, conversation and mobility.

Some doctors thought that years in a warehouse inhaling fiber, or chemicals for color might have contributed to the disease. In the end it didn't matter, he was dying and nothing could stop or change that.

On the night before he passed I was sleeping at the convalescent home in the bed next to his. Santa Barbara was on fire, as it was battling the Painted Cave fire. I saw him and his best friend walking down the hallway with cigars in their hands.

I was there when he took his last breath....and felt relief and deep sadness all at the same time.

So here I am 20 years later, wondering where all this time went. Why even after all these years I am still filled with sadness and hope to have one more conversation. I can still hear a whisper of his voice, like it is coming from down a long hall. Sometimes he visits me in dreams, but often says nothing.

Here is to you grandpa, I hope you are no longer in pain, and are able to go anywhere, have a few bucks in your wallet and eat anything you want.

I see you in my nephew and get to say your name when I call to my niece.

You are remembered, and honored.

Wordless Wednesday