Craft Sale Pix

I finally made it down to the Putnam Arts Council holiday craft sale this afternoon to see all the beautiful artsy gifts available this year.  There's always a great assortment and this year is no different - as you can see above, handmade wire jewelry, hand thrown ceramics, even handmade journal books this year!  Notice at the top the basket with the antler handle.

There were some beautiful art cloth pillows and some wooden signs with cute quips and quotes like "Simplify" and "To thine own self be true."

 My bracelets were along this wall with some ceramic bowls, dog biscuit ornaments, and blown glass baubles.

Here is a closer shot of the display.  Look - two of the eight bracelets sold!  Maybe I'll bring over a couple more, and a few more necklaces and earrings too!

 Here are a few more shots of some of the beautiful gifts for sale - if you're local, check it out Wednesdays through Sundays from noon to 5 pm!

Holiday Sale

I'm happy to announce that some of my charm bracelets will be included at the Putnam Arts Council's annual holiday craft sale!  If you're local, stop by to see all the beautiful gifts and support local artists!

Mindful on Monday

Last week I brought eight mixed-media charm bracelets over to the Putnam Arts Council for their annual holiday sale.  I'm thrilled that I'm able to participate, and hoping many of them sell.  The bracelets I brought over had various themes, including Christmas, winter, and what I call my "Bohemian Blue," one of my favorites (see them all by clicking here).  I pretty much sent over my entire inventory (I do have a few still at home) but it's in the back of my mind that they'll call me in a couple of weeks asking if I have anything else (wishful thinking, I know, but I want to be prepared!).  So I've been back in my craft space again, trying to knock out some additional bracelets of various themes, and hence the mess pictured above!  I also have a sewing project not quite completed, and some presents that need to be wrapped and shipped, so I feel a bit like one of Santa's elves at this time of year:  busy, busy, busy!

Even so, I took advantage of the milder weather yestereday and hung the pine garland and lights around our door and down the wrought iron railing.  I was glad to have that much accomplished, and felt pretty chilled afterwards (even though temps were in the 40s rather than the 20s)...

,,, so I rewarded myself and warmed up by finishing off the last piece of cheesecake left over from Thanksgiving!

I used my mother-in-law's "killer cheesecake" recipe, which was scrumptious - creamy and rich!  The springform pan I have is 13", so it takes a lot of cream cheese to fill, and this recipe didn't let me down (it calls for 16 oz of sour cream and a cup of heavy cream as well - no wonder she calls it "killer"!).

So on this "cyber Monday," I'm mindful once again of balance - keeping busy but not overdoing it, enjoying guilty pleasures after some outdoor activity, taking things one day at a time and trying to stay in the moment...

What are you mindful of today?

Blue Skies

Our electricity came back on Saturday afternoon and things are almost back to normal.  The girls are back in school, programs are running at the library again, and I've restocked the fridge.  Life is good...
(until the next storm, a nor'easter which is supposed to arrive tomorrow!  Keep your fingers crossed!).

Meanwhile, I'm still trying to finish things up around here.  Just before the power clicked off last Monday, I took the final machine stitches on "Summer's End", which I started back in September.  I had been working on the hand quilting and embroidery embellishments over the last few weeks and finally decided it was done and needed to begin its new life as a pillow.  It adds a nice touch of color to our casual downstairs couch, as you can see below.  I made it an envelope-style cover so it was easy to make and I can still take it off if it needs to be cleaned.  I'm running out of wall space and you can probably never have too many pillows!

I also created another winter-themed charm bracelet, this one in white, silver and crystal, below.  I didn't thing I'd like this so much, since it lacks any real color, but I find it makes up for it with shine and sparkle.  It was really fun to make and I've already started on a second one.

 Finally, I started photographing some of these so I can send them over to the Putnam Arts Council for consideration in their annual holiday sale.  It usually opens at the end of November, so I'm right on time.  I made a few earrings too, as you can see below.  The next step will be figuring out how to display everything at the sale and deciding on packaging (typical white gift boxes?  sheer fabric pouches?  I'm not sure...).

Anyway, that's what's been going on in this neck of the woods.  Hope you all survived the storm and that the next one will be a piece of cake in comparison!   By the way, did you vote?  Every vote counts, so get out there and make your voice heard!

Getting a Head Start

Last year I was a little disappointed that I didn't have any sellable items prepared for the Putnam Arts Council's annual holiday art sale.  The year before, I managed to sell a few bookmarks and lavender sachets.  This year, I thought I'd get a head start making charms and see if I can produce a few bracelets and maybe some earrings and quilted coasters as well.   Here are a few samples.

I still have some embellishing to do on the coasters and I just ordered some silver-plated chain and toggle clasps to complete the bracelets.  I think the button Christmas tree charms are my favorite so far!  I'd love to make more of them, but I need to find some more smaller buttons for the top of the tree.  I have bags of green buttons but only a few that size!

PAC Members Show

The sun came out yesterday afternoon, just in time for the annual members show at the Putnam Arts Council. Below is the wall where my piece was hung. I chose to exhibit "Portrait of the Viewer with Found Objects," the experimental (and not really typical of my style) piece I made last year as part of my exploration of conceptual art. I still think it's a fun piece because just about everything on it was truly found - actually picked up off the street. I also like the way the entire thing is gray, until you stand in front of it and it reflects whatever you're wearing, making the viewer part of the art. You can see a better shot of the piece by clicking here.
The show was really impressive this year. There were many drawings and paintings, but also photography and collage. Below is one of my favorites, "Textures of the Sea" by Beverly Wallace. Of course, I love those shades of blue and green, as well as the textures she achieved with the various lace and other fibers she included in the piece.
Below is another colorful collage: "Birds of a Feather" by Susan Zoon. I'm not really wild about the skull motif (I think it's overused and morbid) but I like the repetition here, and the variety of materials.
This is "Moonscape" by Erica Chambers. It's not a great photograph, but this collage looks like it was made up of pictures cut from magazines. I like the variety and how they combine together to make a sort of surreal landscape. It's a good example of why I like collage - how an artist can take so many varied images and combine them into something cohesive and new. It gives the viewer a new way of looking at things, as well as a kind of puzzle to figure out.
This artist, Margaret Zeitlin, has a style that is very recognizable. I see her work there every year. This one is called "Joie de Vivre" and when you look closely, you can see the magazine pages she cuts up and glues down in these patterns. This must've taken hours to cut and glue!

Below is "Witness" by Jean Tock. Sometimes I don't get the symbolism in some of these assemblages, but I think I understand this simple one. The small bowl below is filled with bullet shells. The juxtaposition of found objects in her pieces is always intriguing and environmental issues seem to be a recurring theme.Here was an interesting addition - a mask painted on a large, hollow piece of what looked like driftwood. This is by Wendy Isler-Alvarez.
The batik below is by Heliodoro Santa Coloma. He lives right here in Mahopac and creates these amazingly beautiful works of art. I've never tried batik - I find the whole process complex and mystifying, but I love the results. Isn't this gorgeous?
I really liked the abstract simplicity and various shades of purple in the piece below. It's called "Morning - Hudson" and it's by K.A. McNally.
I like the texture that Cindy Katz achieved with pastels in her piece below titled "Autumn in the Great Swamp." It seems to shimmer, doesn't it?
And below is a watercolor by my good friend Clair Moritz-Magnesio. She donated this piece to the library as a parting gift (she now works in the high school library). It shows one of our favorite programs in action, ARF, which stands for "Animal Reading Friends." Therapy dogs come in every two weeks and elementary age children can sign up to read with one for 15 minutes. It's a great way to get reluctant readers excited about reading. Clair has a degree in fine arts as well as one in library science. She'd make a great picture book illustrator!
Now onto some photography. I completely fell in love with the piece below, titled "Sweeping Shadows" by Rebecca Tocci. I love the lighting, the texture of the stairs in the background, the reflections in the ceiling, and the whole mood of the piece. I think it's stunning.
And finally, below is a photo by my good friend Tabby Marshall, titled "Fog on Lake Gleneida." It's interesting that it's a photo of fog, but you can't really see the fog - everything in the background just fades to white. But the absence of background really accentuates the foreground where you can see amazing textural detail in the dried grasses and weeds. Beautiful!
It's a great show and if you live anywhere in the area, don't miss it! It'll be up for the month of March, Tuesdays thru Saturdays, noon to 4 pm.

PAC Member's Show

Today was the opening of the Putnam Arts Council member's show. You can see my piece, "Rhythm of the Earth," hanging here amid some paintings.

Below are some other pieces that were on the same wall, a little further down. A couple of them are also collages - the one in the center on the bottom row, and the one in the left corner. The first one looks like it was created by cutting intricate snow-flake-like designs out of colorful magazine pages and arranging them into interesting designs. The other consisted of a flattened out bakery box and the red and white striped string bakeries use to tie their boxes closed. (Hmmm - once again, I'm not sure I get it...).

On the right is another view of my piece. As you can see, it was way off the ground. I wish it had been hung lower so viewers could see more of the detail, texture, and embellishments. On the adjacent wall there's a brown mixed-media piece which was called "What we leave behind." It was made up of lots of discarded toys and other miscellaneous found objects. I found it interesting to look at, but I think I would've liked it even more if they weren't all painted the same color. I suppose in painting everything that dull brown, the artist may have intended to reduce the objects to simple shapes and to make them look more like garbage and less appealing, kind of an environmental awareness thing.

The sculpture on the floor was also interesting - created out of wire and tissue paper. My daughter and I were surprised to see the artist wanted $3500 for it!

I'm still trying to figure out how an artist can come up with a value like that. Are they so well known and their work that much in demand? Did it take that much time? Were the materials especially costly? Or are they just trying to make their work seem more valuable by putting a higher price on it?

Here is a shot of the crowd. It was pretty well attended despite the heavy rain we had today. In this shot you can also some of the variety included in the show. To the left is a large metal wall hanging. It consisted of two layers of metal, a sort of heavy screening in the back, with a front piece that was cut out with a vine-like design.

In the foreground is a woven vase that was somehow layered on the outside with colorful silk.

Here are some more shots of the art in the room. We really have quite a few talented artists living right here in Putnam County, if I do say so myself!

Looking back...

Before I start making all kinds of grandiose plans and goals for the new year, I should probably take a few minutes to look back over 2010 and take stock. My general goal for the year was just to play more, loosen up, relax both in life and in art. I tend to get bogged down in the tedium of daily tasks and put off the fun stuff until after my chores are done. I even have a hard time taking myself on "artist dates" once a week as recommended by Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way. But this year I tried to be more conscious of how I define play and the various ways I could add it into my daily life. I did have a fun year, beginning in January and February when I took a couple of workshops with Jane Davila, and learned a few new surface design tricks as well. I played with jewelry again, and my little aquarium pendant was included in Cloth Paper Scissors July/August issue, a first for me and a nice pat on the back. I also participated in several challenges through the FANE group I belong to, including the Conceptual art challenge, which was a departure for me, but also stimulating and fun. I read many books, both fiction and non-fiction, and learned a bit about myself as an artist. Part of my goal was to spend more time playing with my family, and we were able to take some great vacations this year, which gave me inspiration for a lot of art. I joined the Sketchbook Project, which has been another fun learning experience. And I managed to get my art sold at the Putnam Arts Council Holiday Craft Sale, something I've wanted to do for a long time. So all in all, this goal was successful. By bringing more playful fun into my life, I enjoyed some quality time with my family and also grew as an artist.

Initially, adding more playtime to my life seemed like an easy sort of goal. But in examining what I define as fun, I realized that I find challenges fun. I like being stretched and stimulated. As long as I don't put too much pressure on myself, learning new techniques and taking on new projects are things I enjoy. And as much as I like spending quiet time by myself making art, I was fortunate enough to have that balanced by family vacations and activities and a busy, people-oriented job. My goal for 2009 was balance, and although I'm still not quite there, I get better at it every year. Moving into 2011, I'll keep play and balance in mind as I challenge myself with some new goals.

I'm in!

It's hard to believe it's the middle of the month already and it's been a week since my last post. Time is just speeding by, as I attempt to make the most of every hour of every day getting ready for the upcoming holidays, especially since now the Putnam Arts Council will be selling some of my creations at their annual holiday sale! I spent a lot of time putting together more bookmarks and lavender sachets, which need to be dropped off this week. I wanted everything to look professional, so I made up a sign to go with the bookmarks, and I tagged each sachet with my name and contact information (hey, you never know!). So I'm dropping off 15 sachets and 18 bookmarks. I can always make more bookmarks if all of these sell, but I've used up this season's supply of lavender, so that's it for the sachets. If they don't all sell, I'll give some away as gifts. The smell is just divine.

My work area was looking a little chaotic there for a while, with all the many steps to the many projects strewn all over my work table, but since I cleaned up all the lavender fabric, it's been looking a little better, so today I decided to take a break from bookmarks and do another sketchbook page. I got the idea for this way back in July, when I would pass this lovely mimosa tree on my evening walks with Cassie and could smell the scent of the blossoms as I walked by. I wrote the little haiku and took a few photos, which I printed on a laser printer at work and transferred to fabric using the CitraSolv. I like the way they transferred - well enough to tell what they are, but slightly imperfect looking. These were three separate photos that I printed, cut out, and transferred. Then I colored in the background with Inktense pencils, stitched on the mimosa flowers, and stamped on the words. I like it! Now I have 7 or 8 pages for the sketchbook. I wanted to have at least 10, so I hope to make 2 or 3 more, plus a cover, by early January. With the holidays coming up, I hope I can keep my momentum going!