Mother Natures helper

I've decided to start sharing photos that tickle my fancy,

 some are new some old...but all are loved

The magic and wonder of bees:

Keep it green

I've decided to start sharing photos that tickle my fancy,

 some are new some old...but all are loved:

Oh the things I have seen!

Recently I have had the ABSOLUTE privilege to be able to see
some inspiring works of art.

Candy for my eyes and and heart...

yummy.

 

On the 4th I attended first Thursday in Santa Barbara and I chose two venues to visit.

1. the Architecture foundation to see the work of Leslie Lewis Sigler

(sadly I didn't write this fast enough and now her show is packed away)

I find her work is so refreshing and clean and warm and it invites you in....there is a familiar sense that makes it wonderfully comfortable to spend time with.
 

2. I went to see the newest adventure at Sullivan Goss: 

JUST BETWEEN US: Wesley Anderegg, Rafael Perea de la Cabada, Maria Rendon

On Exhibit from April 4, 2013 through June 2, 2013

Curator Jeremy Tessmer selected an amazing collection of contemporary artists and the result is magical and alive and mysterious!

I was only able to get a couple pics as I found myself lost in the work, when I did remember to take a picture the place was crowded with new energy and excited visitors!

"tight rope" and "Matador"
by Wesley Anderegg

a small selection of ceramic platters also by Mr. Anderegg

Encyclopedia Series 1 A to Animal Life
by Rafael Perea de la Cabada
(He painted directly on stretched book covers)

detail to show the texture of the surface....luscious

 

Sadly I wasn't able to get any images of Ms Rendon's work...it is breathtaking and ethereal...so check out the link above to view proper pictures.

 

Then this week I was able to see another true treat for the eyes!

I attended a private small viewing of SWARM at LotusLand...

I had read a lot about the show HERE and HERE so I was quite excited to have the chance to see it in person. I attended with a woman's art group I am part of and it was such an amazing treat!

I felt like quite the VIP being able to view the work so intimately

*click on any of the images for a larger version*

The group was asked to enter via the private back entrance,
so I got to stroll the grounds a little bit before getting to the meeting point!

the room where we met, the main house and first exposure to the work of Penelope Stewart
with her giant handdrawn Beeskep
Ink on Japanese rice paper

here are two smaller versions and a black glass moulded one
the lines were so beautiful !

One of I several Cynthia James paintings...lovely! 



Stephanie Wilde's work " Golden Bees" was intricate and highly detailed, so much so, we were offered magnifying loops to view her incredible brush work.
She uses a single hair to paint...it was much like a sand mandala for me.
The ability to see single grains to sand
So beautiful and meditative

detail through the looking glass

more detail for another work

Ethan Turpin and Jonathan Smith's bee cell room
 and Rose-Lynn Fisher's electron microscope photographs
illuminated under spot lights

inside the cell looking up with some fellow art and bee lovers

the full installed Penelope Stewart beeswax room
1000lbs of wax was used to make this room
the different colors reflect what the bees were feeding on, as wax was shipped from all over the united states
You can read her process HERE

detail of the reproduced tiles and pineapples

 

So inspiring and so alive, I think this year will offer many surprises in the art scene.

I am very much looking forward to seeing new works from friends and creating some myself.

You still have time to see  "Just Between Us" and "SWARM" (the garden is not too shabby either)

 if you are able, I whole heartily endorse it!

 

Wordless Wednesday

I have been taking a lot of photos of my veggies

much like a portrait series.

This weeks feature: Beans

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful that there is still magic in this world.

You know what I mean....

Fire breathing dragon, art purchased from the 8 year old Ruby who lives across the street.
A sweet deal at .25cents
Ruby says: "I draw animals really well"
I agree

So I have been juggling many plates these days...work and work and life.

Aren't we all though...

I attended a memorial service this last week, and although no one likes to think about death.

It had me thinking a lot about death, mine, family lost and still here and my hubby.

Frankly, It shook me up pretty good.

I was thankful for a date that night with my sweetie to try

and

reset all my fears back up on a shelf and enjoy the present.

Murphy's law had a good laugh that night, as the concert we went to had a lot of songs about loss, heartbreak and untimely deaths.

I guess I needed to address my fears...or at least acknowledge them.

In light of this "eye-opening" experience, I have started to take vitamins again, had my doctor look at some funny bumps on my leg and am slowly walking away from bread and dairy....

slowly, I mean there is no reason to act suddenly don't need to shock the system or anything.

Gosh I love mint chip ice cream....

We have also begun to actively looked at when we can take a little vacation.

We had a little break this last July joining some friends at a lake, but hubs and I have not taken a good vaca since our "honeymoon" two years after we got married...so that would be 2004!

In the meantime, I have been making new work and submitting it where I can. As I told a friend, my goal is to make my husband a kept man...he has done so much for me it is the least I could do.

He thinks this is a fine idea as well.

I was lucky enough to see my friend Tiger Huang's exhibit at The Ojai Center for Art.

It was an amazing exhibition of traditional Chinese paintings of animals and landscapes mixed with his current loose figure work. Tiger studied traditional calligraphy in China and the central installation piece at the show was an amazing display of this tradition.

the piece started with a large rectangle of paper on the floor that had line after line of character brushwork, on top of this lay practice books splayed open and face down on these papers, surrounding a wooden box that was filled with meticulous lines of characters that were pulled from the box and pulled over the ceiling supports. The size and detail in this piece left me silent, to me it displayed such discipline and focus and love for his art. I was inspired to find a greater focus and purpose.

Still silenced from this work I wandered home slowly and found a lovely meditation spot but a mere couple miles from home.

A reminder to grow and plant ideas and water them.

I am a sucker for a good garden what can I say...

plus there were baby goats!

I have made a few new pieces one was just accepted into a juried show that offers Art Advances, this means I am in a drawing for possibly winning some cold hard cash as well as selling some work!

I submitted three pieces but am thrilled with the one they chose:

"A Sense of Something" 2011

this piece has all my hallmarks:

Phone poles, clouds, my scratch thru with the ink and it is PURPLE!!

Hopefully someone will love it and take it home

Until the next epiphany, I am going to be in the garden grounding my thoughts

 and pulling weeds, it is good for the soil and my soul.

So far this year....

I took a whole week away from the machine shop to work on my work!

It was a promise I had made to myself as well as much needed focus time, being that the holiday season is over (still haven't made our yearly card, oops) and there is a TON of chocolate still in the house (bad considering I was aiming to go vegan this year)

Let's start with a surprise my beloved made happen for me, I have been working in my "studio" for over two years now with no overhead lighting, I have a floor lamp and a little full spectrum light to help me see at night when I do lino or whatever, but all in all I am really not able to work in the room at night. It ends up being fine for the most part but with my constantly growing list of goals the daylight needs to last a little longer for me. Well my sweetie, had a day off last week and treated himself to a new guitar toy that I have been begging him to just get already! After picking up his new bells and whistles, he stopped and got me a gift too! 

When I came home he told me " I can't keep a secret from you" and gestured over to his new guitar toy....I was so happy for him and he showed me all the sounds it can make. Then he turned and was standing my my studio door and said " I can't keep a secret from you" and opened my door to reveal:

LIGHTS!!

What an amazing surprise!! I was crying I was so happy. 

I love my man

The week off started with me making some new plates in the shy sun, it was great that the sun was SOOO unpredictable as it allowed me to see how little sun I needed to make plate. I was taking risks and they paid off. I made four new plates!

the sliver of sun that allowed me to make the new plates



curing the first plate in a sunny window



These new plates allowed me to finish a submission that I had promised to Fairbanks Gallery,

and as soon as the ink is finished drying I am shipping them off! (hopefully tomorrow)



Listen, photopolymer etching
edition of 15 for Fairbanks Gallery
2011 Cascade print exchange



I also completed some new plates with some images I could not stop thinking about. My work does that to me, it haunts me and flashes the images over and over again in my mind....it leaves me feeling propelled to make it and I find myself shifting things in my life to make it happen.

Laundry, who needs clean shirts when I have art to make!

Fueled by a constant supply of leftover holiday chocolate and I am not even a chocolate fan like that, I feed on what is available when I work so unfortunately it is an easy source of badly chosen food options.

I had a pretty productive week:

of the three times I left the house this week, one of the times I

got a new set of PJ's that make me feel like a 40's moviestar

they were $4

Love the white piping and pearly buttons!!

I did some new TTV photography!!

New images are posted on my folio site

Theo doing his vampire bat impersonation

pulling new work off the press, color images to come soon

they are still unnamed so I am not ready to show them in their glory yet.

FINALLY turned the soil in the gardens, mind you with a rototiller that died mid-way, but I am planting food later today, so soon I will share growing food pictures.

oh and I found out that the article that Society805 did with me just before my solo show, was the most read Arts and Culture article for 2010!!

Plotting

My poor garden, it has taken the back burner for several months now.

I am currently only growing squash and some crazy looking spinach.

Hubby's garden box is overgrown with a combination of volunteer tomatoes and a weed that looks tomato but has little round green fruit on it.

Needless to say, I need to turn the soil and add manure.  

After years of doing it with my trusty shovel and some good old fashion back work, 

 hubby figured out how to use the gardens rusty rototiller.

It was amazing the first time and and it makes the whole thing sooooo much more tolerable.

Now it is simply finding the time to do it.

I don't trust that motor on a stick and so I have to wait until I can get hubby to join me at the garden.

I am still waiting for the perfect time,

every time I think of it the sun has already set, I am exhausted or the garden shop is closed and we can't fill the back of my car with bags and bags of steer poop.

So let's add turning the garden to my long list of desires for the next week.

Our community garden is having an open house in December and it would be really embarrassing to have a boring looking garden.

So I am motivated by shame...and the desire to have some yummy lettuce and snap peas.

wordless wednesday

Fuzzy

I am feeling sort of fuzzy, unable to get a clear image of my plan...so I am tending to my garden and doing a bit of thinking.

Here is evidence of that.

Green beans are out of the ground!

Garden got a late start, as I was overwhelmed with gallery work and deadlines.

My plot of earth is now slowing filling up with this summers food, and the scrubjays are eating any earthworms that come to the surface.

Forcing the snapdragons to talk.

I have a few volunteer snapdragons and these are the most lovely color red with yellow tongues.

I love it when I can make them talk.

sweet smelling Sweet Peas

My neighbor at the garden only growns wild flowers in her 10x10 space...in between seasons it is just short of a jungle there. Here is her sweet peas section, the honeybees are happy.

New work out in Summerland:

I went off the deep end and tried a new technique with my Cyanotype images.

Instead of fine art paper, I painted the chemicals directly onto streched canvas.

Collets was a multiple exposure piece.

I had done it once and wasn't happy with it, so I painted it on again and exposed again.

It turned out better but the whites were a little too muted for my taste, so I went back in and drew the whites out with charcoal.

both canvas is 6x6 inches

"Collets" Cyanotype on canvas

"Onion Bloom" cyanotype on canvas

Big Tired

Cat club mat for the patio

" Only cats club there, meow"

It was a success, I slept in 2 hours intervals most of the night and thank goodness 6:30am arrived as early as it did or I might have gotten three hours of sleep in a row!

I can't help myself, I wake to check on her all night long...it is an auto alarm in my mind.

She awoke "starving" and we were quick to make sure she was fed.

"the Spring Chicken/Easter Bunnie left a surprise in a basket at the door"

100% Uncles idea

1st request, Strawberry Awfuls, we call them this at her urging....Uncle makes them and they are REALLY good...but seeing that we were up two hours before Farmers Market rings the bell, we had to make due with the blueberries that were in the freezer. Good thinking Uncle!

Blueberry Awfuls...mmmmmmm

Mastering the combo lock on the gate

After breakfast we headed out for some manual labor at the garden...once again she ran the show and seeing that we were mostly zombie at this point we did as was requested.

Helping turn soil

Watering Auntie M's winter green jungle

Working up a sweat we headed out for our morning smoothie at 10 am and seeing it had been three hours since she had eaten who are we to deny her brain food.

I mean she has a lot more questions and we have to think of all the answers for them!

Now that she is headed home, and the cats have extracted themselves from under the bed...I miss my name being called every 10 seconds.

Wax resist colored eggs

When is the next school break?

smore making "urban style"

Rounding the corner....

My recent activities have allowed me to step away from my work for a little bit and let it settle down in my head. I needed this sifting to occur, as I am now able to sort which works will be shown and what will be seen another time.

I have spent time with my niece before she started kindergarten, had a couple of days with my goddaughter, spent a few days out with some longtime friends, and I have attended a Master gardener workshop:

I can say I am in the home stretch of preparations...frames are in the house and the mat board is here, now the labor. Cutting mats and framing the work, I actually love this part....all the work is done and the final look is about to be assembled.

My new cyanotypes are large and are my newest love...they are the second part of the theme. These lovelies will be displayed in the studio area of Gallery 255, meaning you will have to seek them out!

I have yet to mention what this theme is, but that will be revealed in the next day or so...

I love surprises, don't you?