her vision. family. art.

this is about all the creative"ness" i've got going on right now!  seth has put together an impressive line up of artists. some good stuff to follow, so check out 'the pulse' daily. you'll get some great insight to a lot of talented players here! enjoy.

my fab friend from ft.collins,CO did this to me!!i am humbled, my friend

so...   even though i have minimal time to blog, these are some of the ones i do hit regularly

 viv  / i love viv’s depth she puts into her journals. serious texture and dimension here…  and she’s my COLOR inspiration (something i battle with extensively!) this girls got a good soul that I love!

seth   /  i’m inspired by his journal work. he’s got a great eye for seeing out of the box inspiration in real life elements where he lives in NYC.

 em /  i simply love her!! this girl and i go back to her days still in OZ, when we would communicate through IM late at night (for me, early for her!) when we were both working in our studios, both of us always trying to hit a deadline (seriously, it was frequent)..    and i would chuckle everytime i would see the words she typed saying “be right back…   braving the cold to the outhouse –BRB!

i love em’s vision in her art. she’s such a free spirit and it screams in her daily life as well as her artwork. she’s real

 

denise / she and her work is just cool!

 

dawn / i'm drawn to the journaling that this girl puts out in her work. amazing.

a couple other favs sarah already nominated, and i didn't think they'd appreciate me 'tagging' them again *wink

 

no recent studio time. i've been getting my house ready to go on the market mid sept. short time. man, it's work..!

still around. ;-)

EDITED

my roadtrip to mn inspired this latest journal entry. i’ve been to minneapolis a couple of times when i had gigs to instruct at, but that’s as far north as i’ve been in the state. this time i was 4hrs north of the cities. and the scarry part of that is it felt so comfortable to me. and honestly, for the first time (and i’m not joking) i’m kinda at a loss for words to describe how i perceived it all. peace. no worries. i can say it felt good to me. and was as great as i’d imagined and heard about. i loved everything about the place where i was. the people -great;interesting to talk to and more importantly-REAL. i can tell you this, as we were driving back into minneapolis on sunday night, i got a twinge of :-( when it started to look more ‘city-ish’!!! i seriously wanted to turn around and go back! even driving down the highway -along both sides.. the endless trees. pure nature. i actually forgot we were on a highway most of the time because of the surroundings! (I especially loved the wild fern growning along the highway and in other random areas) i'm so used to the city highways; mayhem. i didn’t even look at the time at any point  -only on sunday. when reality set back in

being here only reinforced how much i’m ready to get away from the city.

i got to finally meet a good friend who i had only met and been in contact with through email and phone. it was great to finally meet her face to face 

so for the artwork i created journaling ‘spots’ from library pockets that i layered on top of each other. 3. i used adhesive, but used decorative ‘map’ tape from hks, as well as using strips of masking tape that i had coming from the pockets onto the page itself. it also holds a homemade map. i taped part of a cig package onto the front of the top pocket that fit perfectly with this. at the mid to top of the page itself i cut out an arrow using my xacto. behind the cut out i put masking tape (back of page). this symbolizes direction/going north. i had a piece of wild fern so i taped it onto the page with packing tape. i ‘wrote’ PEACE onto an old strip of leather by sewing tiny steel beads that i later covered with red adhesive.. using my finger so the end result would be a more random appearance. the sides of the leather are reinforced with strips of the label maker tape. woodgrain. i also used the labeler to print out the words put across the bottom of the library pockets. the rest is just more journaling with pen/nib/ink. simple.

mn

have a fab rest of your week! i'll try to be a better blogger going forward, but it's kinda hard keeping up here when i battle keeping up with myself sometimes!! :-) 

here's a little cosmo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

adding this link to a FAB little journal!! http://www.flickr.com/photos/10610524@N05/sets/72157606044007869/    Nadia emailed this to me. it's the end result to the file folder journal using dye/washes/tape transfers used in my instructional at the inspired event this spring. she's so cute!  thanks for finishing and sharing your pics.. i love what you took away from my instructional and how you put it in play!

btw: my fav new addiction! click on the pic.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ETH!! 18 today.

this is his card/money holder and i made it from a box of coupons that came in the mail. packaging these days continue to amaze me! but then packaging sells.. appearance. crazy stuff

this was my saturday night!

this visual is the outside of the box-card. its simply pieces of ads that i've collaged together. a little spray dye and number templates to create the 18. i tied a small tag to the finger in the 'peace' ad with waxed string. symbolizing to remember GOODtimes!

this is the backside and it also consists of ad pieces. i added one of his wrestling action shots, a pic i took of him when he first got his letter jacket-freshman year (so old pic), and a wristband to one of his tourneys. *dimensional

this is the inside of the original packaging, and it opens up where i put the collage of action shots; AKA the money spot! i used 2x2 pics, masking tape and black acrylic that i distressed by wiping random areas before completely dry. with glow-in-the-dark acrylic i wrote always stay true to your unique self

this part sits inside the shell, and is secured there with this yellow fabric band.

going through old pics the other night, i came across some prints of some of my favs! the boys, meeting for the first time. takes my breath away still!

i journaled on the opposing page, but here i journaled -a visual i know without the physical image- and what more could i have said-? this was 18 years ago SURREAL to me, but a very real fact! they're going to be 18 and 23 within the next few weeks. 

 

 

the background is multiple layers of acrylic. then sanded, exposing some of the layers underneath.

the timeclock with wings symbolize -time flies-. the updated pic of the boys is a tape transfer (shocker-!) of a pic taken of them christmas07. of course neither one of them are smiling (shockerX2-!), and wearing matching sweatshirts with my bro's http://millhouseaep.homestead.com/ business logo on them (gifts for the boys are easy for my bro...  millhouse apparel (his bus.))

the first pic of the boys together is manipulated and distressed by using a heat tool along the left side, and randomly in other areas. it really pulled this all together, because it exposed a turquoise underneath the finish of the pic.

a lot of layering and dimension by using the acrylics and tape. the sticker numbers and letters are also distressed using sandpaper.

k...    glad it's the weekend! and going to enjoy some homeade bruschetta and baguette bread now! 

coming back into my own with my journal work this week!!  i've had a lot of studio time and it feels good. ..for the most part; sometimes it's just too much time to think -but it's all good. just is what it is

i made this page for my dad...   father's day -only it's in my journal! it's very textured and dimensional. i didn't know what direction i wanted to go with this when i started, i just started to play. layering masking tape and book pages. i took shoe polish and rubbed it across the page which gave this more definition by grabbing onto the edges and tears from the tape and paper. i accented this with red acrylic, and watered down white acrylic. then i started wetting the page down and with a rag rubbing random areas to make this more distressed by exposing the layers in places. sometimes creating tearing. love that. with a stylus i scratched DAd into the page. IRL it looks like worn faux leather. it's great. this pic was taken of my dad and me about 6 mos ago.

underneath the pic is a 'soder drop' that to me looks like a heart. it's tied on with string. this soder drop is made by simply heating up the metal and letting it drip onto a surface. it dries almost immediately. the heart to me looks like a heart that is torn on the upper right. some of the rubbing transferred onto the black and white pic. pulls it all together a little more ...maybe-? it works for me.

i like the end result i got here. i'm still battling with the colors a little, i should love it=RED tones. so what's my problem

thanks for your emails with feedback on the proposed contest (prev. post)! i'll put it in motion soon. i've been spending a lot of time at home working on my house. re-organizing to an extent. a lot of work! no  play. just a lot of me time at the moment. working out again/painful but feels good!

so have a fab weekend and upcoming week! i've been off work for 2wks and i'm ready to go back to a routine and some consistency again.....   summertime is always good, always nice to not have to battle ethan out of bed every morning to go to school- although he's taking geometry this summer to help with his GPA (slacked in that class during the school year...). he'll be a senior this fall. still shocked at that reality, but ready! him and me. it's irronic...     i never thought i'd say that. my whole life has been being a 'mom'. boys have always come first, and always will, however it's irronic how life evolves, and God prepares you for that next phase of your life. i'm ok with him growing up now, and i'm learning more about me and what i want to focus on for myself now. re-thinking my motives, goals, desires, the fact that i don't want to always be in control of everything. i'm even re-thinking people...     how they impact my life; good/bad.     it's all a process, like our art...    i guess this is where that 'journey' word falls into play     -right? *wink.

just not enough summer  hours!! i am making a pt. to get some journal work done. this page was completely inspired by my gram. for the first time the other day i caught myself wanting to pick up the phone and call her. she was wowed by and supported my artwork..   she just didn't always get it *wink. whats hard was packing up all the artwork that i had made for and sent to her through the years..  kinda cool to see again though. it all has a new meaning to me.   now it's all sitting out in my bro's house. i have the best sis n law who loves what i do

so this page is pretty simple with NO image tape transfers(GASP)..   i adhered the lazer-printed images because i wanted to dye them with water-based acrylic. the end result i got is random and almost has a tie-died appearance IRL. the watch face symbolizes 'the time is now'

it fits here

i wasnt going for a lot of play here. i just wanted to add a page to my 2008 journal noting a life 'change' for me that was inspired by my gram.

i'm thinking of doing a contest. maybe a one time shot, but the idea is driven by a comment made to me while i was instructing at 'inspired' in april. the concept is exactly what i had to do for the university art journal project...    i'll post one of my journal pages, and you email me and tell me what the page says to you. whoever can give me the most detail, and gets the closest to what the page is about, i will send you some random product that i've designed, and/or a copy of a book that my artwork is published in..      more on this later. just a thought for now

i'm starting to see a pattern with this journal. in color and mediums...   finding myself using tape transferred photos, tapes, inks and washes. over/over. i was inspired with my new 't'...  (prev. post) and the statement fits this journal entry, i promise! the base of this page is multiple layers of book text and masking tape. i wish you could touch the screen and literally feel the texture it created. it's almost like vinyl. very pliable. seriously..  the raw appearance of this page fits the post. -happy with this end result

i love sunday mornings..  this morning i sat out on my deck and listened to the creek water run off..   peace. lots of rain this past week in kc. it's been a good weekend hanging out with friends/i love live music, and the more country... the better! friday night a friend brought his guitar over and a bunch of us sat up until 4am listening to him play  and of course we all sang with! it was pretty cool and a lot of fun

while clearing off one of my photo cards, i found this pic of eth and champ... right after we brought him home      of course not much has changed from this photo; size doesn't matter to champ !!

*thoughts and prayers needed here. our immediate and small area was shook up this week with this http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/632710.html. i've met some dear friends from all abroad on this Iatan project, the thought of them being here when this happened is surreal to me. thankful that they are safe, and still sad everyone is living this tragic loss. this kid was just a year older than Bobby, and with him being in construction too, man it's just even more scarry real to me

free

remember this piece-? it's about 3years old, but it's the most recent piece i've made of my grandma. we lost her last saturday, late. but you know what, im ok with it because i will miss her like mad, but she's FREE. and she's with my mom. THANK YOU to everyone for my personal email and thoughts posted here. the support is amazing and appreciated more than you'll know. it's been a crazy; dramatic week, but i'm finally putting some things to rest, and i'm good. 

my gram was a fab woman. she lived a hard life and has been a major player in my life . always. she's tough and a scrapper like me,   !never let life happenings take her down. man what can i say, she's my hero..

i've had little studio time, but did start this page in my spiral journal. it goes with the pages i showed you in my last post. i need to add more to this, but that'll come when i work on the opposite page. this is why i love what i do. i love art. i love life. i love putting the two together. i have a lot of great people in my life, and the fact that i can throw these memories in my journals, then look back on times later on is soo cool to me. people come/go, friendships that are real last forever in my art and through contact. my journals are my real life, and good/bad, i'm blessed to have experienced it all. family is important, i would die for anyone that i love in my life.. fam or not.

this is where journaling comes into play...  photos dont show all.

DEEP post, but real. art is good for the soul and a good tool to heal loss of the people loved and lost. making memories is life...    think about it, then create around it all

it's thursday! and ready for the weekend

quick post. throwing up a journaling piece that was requested. i'm working on some new journal pages tonight, so i'll finally have some updated work to post. i've been craving studio time.

this journaling is with nib and blk ink. i also used a ballpt. pen. mixin it up a little..   *wink. the eye image is a kleenex that i adhered over strips of masking tape. along the eyelashes wrote EYES WIDE OPEN. nib and ink.

here's a few pics of a senior shoot i did this wk. Champ had to dive in for a bit so i shot these! lol..

have a good rest of your week!