ATC

Or if you prefer longhand:
Artist Trading Card.

Watercolor, permanent marker.

I picked up a pack of ATCards on sale @ the art store the other day. They are perfect for work b/c I can paint a bunch of them in between clients. Also, the graphic nature of tattoo linework lends itself nicely to an interestingly colored background.

A love rekindled

Years ago (the mid 1990's to be precise) my wonderful friend Kathleen introduced me to polymer clay (a fancy way of saying sculpey or fimo). You know the stuff: comes in a rainbow of colors and bakes up in your oven.*
Well a few months back I was google image searching and came across the work of Christi Friesen. I was shocked to see someone using polymer clay the way she did: for sculpture. For wall-hung art. In retrospect it's brilliantly obvious. I had been making these little fairy figures for friends for decades but had never thought to expand upon that.
I purchased her book, Steampunkery, and got to work. The steps are easy to follow and got me back into my comfort zone with the clay. The chameleon and flower piece are out of her book. I took that knowledge and created a third piece inspired by my friends Noah & Karlee.
So now, in addition to painting, tattooing, and drawing I have been making all kinds of stuff out of polymer clay.
Some of it is for friends and some of it will find it's way to my Etsy shop in August.

Stay tuned!

*I had abandoned polymer clay as a medium when I went to college. My head was full of lofty ideas and adolescent snobbery towards crafts. Turns out, I just like making stuff with my hands and I'll use whatever is readily available. Take THAT, adolescent me!

Ee I Ee I oh

A farmer I am NOT. I have 6 squash plants and this is all the squash they have given me. This is my last year trying with squash. From 2012 into forever, I will purchase my squash like the rest of America. I can't even grow zucchini. Delusions of agricultural grandeur have I.

In other news, I am arting right along in the studio. I find it hard to photograph things in good light because the kids are like shadows until I go to work and encouraging them to keep their hands off the art and off the camera is an exercise in futility and frustration.

I have nearly finished the commissioned piece, and am working on some polymer clay things.

And now I am being summoned with these words:
MOOOOOOOOOM! BATHROOM EMERGENCY!

4 and a half weeks until school starts.
I can't wait.

Why Math & I aren't friends.

Last week while on vacation, I sat down and figured out what my income would be if I were booked up @ the tattoo shop. You know, if I got paid for time @ work like most people. And it's not anywhere near a six figure salary like those guys with their TV shows have, but it would be a decent enough ammount to contribute to the financial well being of the house. My salary PLUS my husband's salary would put us within spitting distance of the six-figure mark. So when I compare the magic salary with what I made last year ($3,000 and no that's NOT a typo) it gets a wee bitty depressing. Because it hints at the harsh reality of where I work: there's not enough foot traffic to support ALL the artists financially.
BIG FAT BUMMER.
Because I really like my boss. And I like the other artists. And this is the shop where I learned everything I know so far. So the idea of having to move on is kind of sad.
I know I won't be going anywhere for at least 2 years. So that's 2 years more of financial struggle.
I can handle that.
(But I don't know if the rest of the family can)