Boredom leads to Porch Time

This week's been filled with mostly essay writing & preparing for finals. I did however squeeze in a home art project out of boredom, found an art piece I had forgotten about and spent some well deserved porch time with the person who makes me laugh the most. In attempting to "capture" the moment of sheer contentment I found myself distracted in taking shots of the lanterns that covered my porch. I failed by comparison and need some work in my photographic skills but did manage to snap what I believe to be some so so shots with my limited resources. Grace is how I was feeling one day when that peace was created. Not a typical feeling but welcomed when it arrives. My stairs were in need of refreshing, black paint and a silver sharpie did the trick for that little extra personality. Lissie's music is ringing in my ears [click].

The Weather Made Me Do It

 I've been snapping a lot of photos lately and altering them with new yummy tricks & filters. It's been raining an awful lot in the Portland area and perhaps that boosts my inspiration. I feel nurtured and in somewhat of a cocooned state when it's gray and rainy. What's left of the magnificent peony in my kitchen window is the remnants of a hostess gift from dear friends I had over for a dinner party a week ago. The tiny cobalt blue bottles cast a brilliant hue into the kitchen (more brilliant with less dust on them). The striped tights are of a stunning young artist type girl that was waiting to use the lieu at The Pied Cow [click] who graciously let me snap a shot when she caught my eye. The self portraits are taken in my dormer walk in closet in my 1920's bungalow. It's painted a light ballerina pink (no boys allowed) with random piles of laziness and personal treasures. It's my own little space full of icons of my personality. Check this song out [click] and this one [click] they are two of my new favorites right now...especially the second one ♥ ♥ ♥.

Bonus Scraps & Fresh Air

Bonus scraps of misc. ephemera stained with inks & encased in encaustic medium. Not sure what I'll do with these exactly. The bottom one I did use for a thank you note. Below I show the work I did today. While I have the encaustic mediums melted I try to use them for as many projects as I can. I'm covered in wax splatter and need some fresh air. Although my studio is well ventilated working so close to melted beeswax & pine resin makes it difficult to completely avoid the fumes. This [click] and this [click] were amongst the musing that flowed through my head while lost in my process...all...day...long. It was one GREAT day.

Speedy Shots Encased in Wax

Today was a day of encaustic work. Seems if I don't schedule a day to do art, art gets bumped to those spaces of time that feel crammed and hurried then I get crabby and impatient. The photos were taken on a walk in late winter, I textured salvaged blocks of wood, tinted them with inks, encased everything in encaustic medium then gently rubbed a white oil stick into the dimples and scratches. These are part of a line of organic/earthy art for a local shop. OK...only the bottom was taken on a walk the other two were 75 mph drive by shots while on vacation in January. No we did not vacation in that desolate area, merely passing through on an adventure. I can tell you...this song was was playing on the ipod [click here].

Passing the Time

So last weekend I went into Portland, parked at the Lloyd Center Mall and hopped on the free MAXline to the Oregon Convention Center where my friend Shawn (a talented metal smith) was selling her jewelry at a show. In the same building were the woodworkers, glass & pottery guild shows as well as a thing called Crafty Wonderland. The artist poured their souls out into their work for all to enjoy. The top photo is of the park at the Lloyd Center MAXline. A sweet spot to cop a squat. The next is some giant art in the Convention Center and the third are art journal entries. I don't have lavish overly creative journal pages but I do spill out a lot of ideas that turn into projects. I also tape in magazine clippings of the things that catch my eye. A showcase of inspirational artistic fantasy no matter how simple or elaborate.