The cool thing about doing jewelry design, as such, is that it gives you the opportunity to make people really happy. The kind of happy that makes them say "oh, wow" a lot, or cry occasionally--not that I want people to cry, but I get a bit of a buzz off of being able to connect with someone on an emotional level through art.
The cool thing about starting the Etsy site is that it has afforded me the opportunity to make these emotional connections more frequently.
Those of you who know me well know that in the past 7 years I have moved around A LOT. The upside to this is that I have met all sorts of amazing people, many of whom inspire me still. The down side of this is that until recently all of my closest friends were geographically far away. And through the miracle of modern technology, they are close at hand, but there is something to be said for an actual hand to hold in your dark hours.
Art has provided me with a way to deepen new friendships. This is not a benefit that I hear touted often but for me, as I have moved from place to place, it has been the biggest benefit.
That was a really long-winded way to get around to showing you what I was going to show you! A piece I created for my brother, the musician.

Look familiar? I totally scrambled it in photoshop to use for my header. But I still love the original and thought you might like to see it, too.

I don't really do flowers

The local art center is having an open show (no juries/no entry fees) and the theme is florals.
Flowers are not so much my area of interest, but I figure I should put something in the show. Et voila:
On the left is my homage to Brian Froud and on the right are three herbs to cure a broken heart.
Both have flowers IN them, so I'm hoping that they'll be accepted.
Otherwise, I guess I'll put them on Etsy.
Cheers!

Where...

I woke up this morning to grey skies, 55 degrees and a seagull screaming in indignation.
I woke because my first thought was that the seabird was one of my offspring, bellowing from the warm confines of their bed for me (which happens more oft than it ought).

We have seagulls here, on the very outskirts of Chicagoland. Is there any place they don't reside anymore? I remember their cries used to tell me I was near the shore--I could hear them calling 10 minutes before I would smell the delicious salty sea air, 20 minutes before I would run across hot sand to the cool Atlantic waters or warm Gulf currents.

Now we live an hours drive from the Indiana Dunes State Park. It's a close facsimile of the beaches of my youth, but the little clues are missing. Salty sea air? Nope. Trails left by sand crabs while we slept? Nope. The sand is sandy, some days there are waves that break upon the beach. The smell of sunscreen and the sound of shrieking children are all there. But there is a part of me that still yearns for the ocean. To come home and have your skin salt-covered, to smell the sea in your hair.

Playing & thinking

Thinking: Making art makes me a happier person. Or at least easier to be around.

Playing: At collage: The squares are images from a long-ago trip to Florence, Italy. I'm not sure if the whole thing works, but it was good to work without an end product in mind.

JUNE 18 aaaand a rant about twitter.

Here is a link to the info for THE GHOST SONATA's ALBUM RELEASE PARTY.

You east-coast type peeps should TOTALLY go. Because I am stuck inna midwest and not so much able to go. I will live vicariously! But not as vicarious as twitter, because frankly that shit is rediculous.

Dear peeps of twitter:
I do not care what you had for lunch. I do not care what color your pants are. If you are on fire, you should call the fire station and not worry about updating your twittery rediculousness. For the love of god--THE WEATHER CHANNEL is on twitter. Is the golf channel on there? How about the watching-paint-dry-network?

Pardon my vitriol, but that twitter really gets my knickers in a twist.

Not as awesome as all that.

Hey! I didn't make the cut for the dia de muerte challenge. Which is a yay/boo story.
yay: I get to keep my clock!
boo: they didn't think my clock was as awesome as I thought it was.

Enh. Their loss.
Here is my clock:

From the UK? There's More!

And here's more UK fantasticness:
The Hoobs!

They're Brittish Muppets, from a galaxy far far away... exploring the planet Earth to make entries in their Hoobapedia.

They really cheer me up when I'm feeling down.

Enjoying this...

Hey!
Another feature in my love of things from the UK:
Lily Allen!

She's like a cupcake with a razor on top.

June 18--you busy?

If you are in the New England area & looking for a way to spend a weekend, you should TOTALLY go to the album release party for The Ghost Sonata. JUNE 18.
And I'm not just saying that b/c I did the album artwork, either.
Check them out!
www.myspace.com/theghostsonata
JUNE 18.
do it!

Sneak peek

Hello, lovlies!
This is a detail of the thing I created for the Dia de Muerte challenge. I submitted it today, so it's out of my control now (but here's hoping!). Now on to the next project!

Three years later!

Hey there! Remember this project? I started this for my dear friend Kathleen waaaaay back in 2006. It took me 3 years to figure out how to turn the teeny illustrations into an accordion book and attach it to the larger illustration.

And here it is, all open and attachy-like. Grommits! Jump rings! (Yes. It took me 3 years to come up with that. Clearly, I am NOT a bookmaker)

thinking

there is no description to match the sound of the wind
as he rushes through new spring leaves

Thinking aloud...

Okay, so some of you who read this know that I maintain 2 blogs. As the other blog deals mostly with raising children & is read mostly by parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles of both myself and my spouse I started this blog to deal with the art-related side of my life AND have a place where censorship is almost non-existent. Although there are subjects that I do not plan to discuss here, there are things that will happen here that don't happen there.

BE FOREWARNED: this post may have something to do with sex. if that makes you squirmy, go away; don't leave me a snarky comment. just go away.

AHEM.
So! Yes! There is a musician who has recently announced his engagement. I am bummed out by this b/c I have been harboring a school-girl like crush on him since about 1994. (Hey! Check me out! I am approaching old!) Not that I in any way have attempted to meet him or harbored fantasies about being soul mates or anything like that. Nor am I looking to go gallivanting around the globe while simultaneously abandoning my family. But...

Well, I think it's important to have a healthy fantasy life. It's important to imagine yourself gallivanting about the globe with someone attractive & slightly mysterious. It's important to be able to say "I won't, but I could if I wanted to".
All of these things are MUCH easier when said mysterious musician is single. Because then you don't ALSO have to come up with a plausible reason for his relationship to end. I mean, it's hard enough trying to come up with likely scenarios wherein you actually meet, let alone run away together. And given that nowadays my regular haunts include the grocery store & the post office, I have had to come up with some really off-the-wall occurrences to align the stars in my favor.
I learned today that this musician is also on Twitter. I have decided not to check that out for 2 reasons.
1. I am not a stalker, and will not allow my life to involve anymore time reading about other people's lives than already happens.
2. If I learn about the REAL guy, it'll probably put a damper on all of the things I have had time to make up over the years*.

SO...congratulations to Trent Reznor. I hope you'll be really truly awe-inspiringly happy.

But I am totally reserving the right to use your likeness in my elaborate fantasy life.

*although i did learn that he has a soft spot for greyhounds, which is sweet & endearing.

ARE YOU READY?!

I'm just asking, are you in a state of general preparedness? I find that being in such a state alleviates much of the daily panic that can result from a lack of organization.

That being said, I own 3 tape measures & cannot find a single one. I could take to using my mother-in-laws method of measuring (walking hands) or guesstimate, or use an 18"ruler and do some math. Instead, I will place project: measure upstairs bedrooms on a back burner for the distant & illustrious day when the tape measures return.

I can, however, crack open some white & and burnt umber acrylic paint and paint some bones*. Which I am off to do.

'ta!

*boy, that sounds macabre & slightly illegal. I mean (of course) paint pictures OF bones, not paint ON bones that are questionably lodged about my house. Because there are none of those, unless the dog has a stash of which I am unawares....

Crafty ain't all bad...

Usually I reserve the right to look down my nose at people who are crafters.
I don't know why--must be residual art school influence. Because, to be quite honest, I enjoy making stuff with my hands--from food to paintings to blankets. I get a great deal of satisfaction from the "I made that" when people ask where stuff came from. I also get a little warmth when I can say "my friend so-and-so made that".
To that end, today was "teacher appreciation day" at little man's school. The PTA sent home letters suggesting each child bring a single stem for their teachers and the PTA would have buckets of water for them (in my head, this translates to buckets of dandelions). I would love to send a flower from our garden, but our daffodils & hyacinths have gone kaput, and the alliums have yet to open. I thought about tissue paper flowers, but we had already done that this year. So instead, I made flower pins out of felt. And yes, I just happened to have a stack of felt in assorted colors. And some spare buttons. And some giant (2 inch) saftey pins for the back. I guess in addition to being an artist (note the beret & glass of wine) I am a closet crafter (pay no mind to the giant rag bag of fabric)

Word of the day

Exhaustion?
Exhilaration?
Accomplishment?

I have finished 3 series of pendant jewelry for etsy. I have figured out what to do for the dia de muerte challenge (deadline in 9 days) and I feel I have a substantial body of work with which to gain entry into a show/sale (deadline in 19 days). I have also figured out what course I am qualified to teach at the local art center: printmaking!

I have been doing lino prints for 14 years now. Granted, I often by-pass the actual linoleum for an easier-to-carve medium, but the principle is the same. And from reading the offered courses, I get the impression that the desired result of the class is to come away with a finished product. (Unlike art school, where the result is to push your skill set forward & gain knowledge in a medium) I was leafing through the offerings hoping for a silk screening class. (No such luck) That was when I noticed that there aren't any printmaking classes AT ALL. Which is a shame, because it's a handy skill to have. So I thought I'd toss my hat in the ring & see what happens. First I figure I should wrangle together a portfolio of works.

And in other news: Spring has arrived! We are a few measly weeks away from the last frost date! I am going to try to set up a studio in the garage so I can work (sort of) outdoors. Also I have about 20 packets of seeds that need planting.
But who cares?! The weather is warm & the birds are singing!