deadline for artmakers denver is june 30th!!

for those of you who have been thinking about, but have not committed, the registration deadline for art maker's denver is fast approaching.  to enroll in the workshops, you must sign up by june 30th, which is only a couple of weeks away!!

please see the website at artmakersdenver.com for more information about the awesome opportunities to learn from some pretty amazing master artists!!

on another note, i've decided that after over 200 posts, it's time to change up my blog.  in the next couple of weeks, i will be redesigning, reinventing, and rethinking what has been an artist blog for the last few years.  i have not been creating in the same way as before, and have so many things i want to talk about besides the art-making i have spoken about previously.

thanks, and speak to you very soon!!

willow

while working in littleton for a few years, i was lucky enough to meet helen rice, the owner of willow.  willow is a great little spot on the corner of main and prince streets in historic downtown littleton.  helen has been in business for many years, and has worked hard to carry artwork by many local and national artists.  recently, i have added some work to her collection.  if you have the chance to stop by, it's a great venue for one-of-a-kind finds.  i always find wonderful gifts among the art, jewelry, clothing, and accessories.  

please check out willow's website by clicking here.  and if you go by, tell helen i sent you!!

mother nature, in progress

a new assemblage box, in progress.  i'm working on a series of boxes that are completely covered, inside and out, with vintage paint-by-numbers.  i got a bunch of these a few years ago in an antique mall, before they were really hot collectibles.  i wish now that i had purchased the entire lot (there were over 100).  unfortunately i only bought about 10.  it takes about 2 large paintings to cover a box, so the series isn't going to be a long lived one.  i only have enough large ones to make 3 boxes.

anyway, here is #1, in which the glue is still drying.  i need to let "mother" sit overnight, then attach her with screws to keep her secure.  then she gets popped into her frame for the grand reveal.

did anyone notice her halo says "bing-o-rama"?  i think that's a riot.  the original game piece was red.  i re-covered it in metallic silver.

3 new boxes

i have been working on a series of 5 assemblage boxes.  in an earlier post, i photographed the beginning of one of these, thinking that i would create a print and install an assemblage on top of it in a large frame.  but then i got the idea to place the assemblages into a smaller boxes instead.  the 5 boxes can then be hung together or stacked into an installation.

here are the boxes i have finished so far.  they are 5x7x3 inches.

four point bandage

fractured knee cap

fractured jaw

all of the boxes feature tin (and other metals), cigarette cards with first-aid images, vintage rulers, and vintage game pieces (which are loose and can move around in the interiors).  the numbered tacks were for numbering window screens.  when they were taken off and stored, the numbered tacks helped you find the correct window.  love that!!

they are all protected with plexiglass.  sturdy dovetailed boxes are hand made by my fabulous and talented husband!

new stuff at the shop and on etsy!

i've been busy assembling for the last few days.  i just listed the items above on etsy (click here for a link to my shop), and am going to bring them down to the shop tomorrow for public viewing.  

believe it or not, i am completely out of items to make any more game piece boxes, and the crosses aren't looking too good, either.  i think over 2 years of making these kinds of assemblages has taken their toll on my inventory of objects.  i have been scouring the antique malls, etsy, and ebay for the stuff i need to renew my stash.  and it's been quite frustrating, really.  i even drove up to fort collins this past weekend (thanks john for the company!xoxo) to see if i might be luckier there.  and i came back muy empty-handed.  so i guess what i am saying is that if you want a box, better get one now because the larder is looking pretty bare.

im thinking of maybe going to the midwest this spring or summer on a buying trip.  i was always lucky with stuff when i lived in iowa and missouri.  maybe it's the same deal there?  could the world of antiques and junk actually be running out of stuff??

ok.  time to get myself out of my PJs and into some sort of working mode.  oh, and i guess i still haven't had breakfast!!

snow day!!

it's hard to believe that one week ago i was walking on the beach, eating dinner outdoors, and jet skiing with the dolphins on the gulf of mexico.

we have had two snow storms already in colorado.  we have had almost as much snow this winter as we did the whole of last winter.  crazy.  the trees still have their leaves, and we lost one big branch on the russian olive in the back yard.  i put a yardstick into the pile of snow on our outdoor table, and it said 9 inches.  but that was hours ago, and it's still snowing.

my friend jane and i took our dogs to the park to play this morning.  her dog, zoe is the blonde, vinny is the tall dark and handsome one.  with the ridiculous tail.  they had a blast running in circles,  joy in every leap and bound.  now vinny is fast asleep on his bed as i type.  

i do love the snow.  it always feels all cozy and warm in the house, and it's so quiet.  i think i need to make a hot cup of tea, and then get back to work.  i have been making some things to sell in the shop for the holidays.  here is a sneak peak at one of the assemblage pieces.  more to come!!

junk

i have been on some junking trips lately.  and i have found some good fodder.  some of these things were real bargains, and some i had to pay the price for cool.  the good news is that i am honing in on some ideas for a new series of boxes.  i think (duh) they are going to involve drawers somehow.  i don't know if i will do a box within a box, or just let the drawer be the box on its own.

some great news today.  i went to the curtis arts and humanities center in greenwood village with teresa.  we met with the gallery director there about a show.  turns out that teresa and i will have a dual show in may.  the center was originally a one-room school house back in the day.  there are two rooms on the main floor of the building.  teresa will have one room, and i will have another.  i will be showing assemblage, teresa pottery.  how exciting!!

it's a bit overwhelming, really.  so much to think about.  i know the time will fly, and the next thing i know, it will be may.  so i better start getting the ideas rolling.  and assembled!

handmade brochures

i spent the day making brochures.  my dear friend johnine designed them for me.  she sent me the PDF images of the design, and i print them out at home.  the booklet is 10 pages in length, and has a cover over the pages.  they take a while to put together, but i think look really cool when they are finished.  the front cover is created from a collage i made, and the interior has a total of 16 artworks.  there are two pages of prints, two of collage, two of assemblage, and two of paintings.

the first step is to print out the pages using really nice paper and cover stock.  then i score and fold each page, making a nice crease with a bone folder.  then the pages are assembled together in order, and sewn together at the crease.  since the interior pages are one-sided, there is a tab left over.  i sew this down with a zig zag stitch that shows on the front of the booklet.  next, i cut the brochure down to size with a ruler and rotary cutter.  finally, i put a coat of matte medium over the stitching to keep it from raveling.

these little booklets now get placed in a translucent envelope, and are closed with a custom sticker with an image of one of my art pieces.  they can be addressed and sent as-is, or can be placed in my artist packet with my resume, etc.

johnine is a genius!!

it takes me over 3 hours to make 8 booklets, but somehow it is relaxing to me.  i am getting faster now that i know the process a bit better than i did when i started making them.

this particular batch was made to take to pagosa for the upcoming show at shy rabbit.  they are to be given to buyers of my work.  we will see how it goes.  hopefully their creation will bring some good karma my way.

INK invitational at shy rabbit

here it is!  the announcement for the show at shy rabbit!  

click here  shyrabbit.com

or here  http://www.shyrabbit.com/Exhibits.html

i will have 25 pieces in the show, and will be happily attending!  yay!

birthday prezzies!!

happy birthday, to me!  my sweet and thoughtful husband john gave me some wonderful gifts this morning.  he is a man after my own heart!  this is one of the vintage games he gave me.  the other one is called "hickety pickety" and involves hens and eggs.  they are a dang riot!  i love those old graphics, and i love the funny stuff on the box.  "a snappy game" ha!!

i also got some other neat ephemera, including a book on penmanship exercises, and two report cards that belonged to alfred olsen in the 1920's.  alfred did make it on to 4th grade after this report, but i don't think his mom and dad were very happy with him on the ride! (click image for a closer look!)

how do i know that john is the man of my dreams?  well, because he got everything for under $20, and was happy to tell me!  now there is the perfect man for me!

no title yet...but another box finished!!

finished this one last night.  i have had the clown knock-down target for at least 5 years.  i bought it up in silverton, colorado, at an antique store there.   i loved the hand-painted surface, and the patina of wear.  at the time i paid $24 for him, the price tag was still attached!  i created the monoprint in the background with the same color scheme, and tried to get a whimsical, fun pattern to work with the clown.  the roulette wheel was purchased on ebay, it's really old, and is marked "made in england".  the front of the box is a loom of some sort, and each sawtooth-shaped spike was hand-cut with a saw.  the discs on the front are made from some old poker chips which have paper circles overlapping them.  i cut them from a monoprint.  

john made the box for me.  it's made from oak, and has beautiful dovetailed corners.  it measures about 10x15x3 inches.  it can hang or sit on the legs i have installed discretely on the bottom of the box.

there is really no story attached to this box, i just loved the pieces individually, and think they look really nice together.  sometimes when i create a box, i'm telling a story.  and sometimes i just like to play around with combinations of elements.  

here's an image of silverton from a 1950's postcard.  it still looks exactly the same!

silverton, colorado

"OCD", a new box in progress

messy studio

OCD

well, it's not quite finished yet, but i am getting close.  this is another box that includes cut-up prints and found objects from my collection.  i think i am in a red mode.  (i am concurrently working on another box with a red color scheme as well.)  the title, OCD, reflects the number and label theme.  as humans, we are always trying to put things in order.  the tags are vintage, and look like they were originally used to identify keys.  one says "K's suitcase", another "freezer".    the numbers (a personal favorite of mine) show up in a cool old ruler, some metal "numbering tacks" that declare on the package that they are "for marking screens, storm windows, bins. drawers, lockers, etc."  the red squares are from some sort of vintage game.  i have no idea how to play it.  the wooden box, divided in sections was obviously some sort of container for keeping something tidy.  lastly, the wooden nurse.  she works well with the colors, and she's the perfect size.  and she reminds us that there is a very thin line between order, compulsion, and medication.  ( i think about that every day when i count the 16 pieces of banana i put into my cereal in the morning.  i often tell myself that i'm not OCD, just a virgo.)

speaking of order, the top photo shows my messy studio in action.  just yesterday that table was pretty clean.  in hours it went to full-on crazy mess.  guess my virgo tendencies don't transfer everywhere.  the picture below shows it a little less chaotic!

clean studio

"mind of the president", a new assemblage box

finished this one up this morning.  how apropos.

i have had this figure of president taft for about 5 or 6 years.  i found it in the hall at grandview high school, and left it on my desk for several years, thinking someone would claim it.  it was one in a series of president figures made by marx in the 1960's.  i guess it was cool to collect presidents at the time!

originally i had this box covered (with an original monoprint) and ready to be assembled with an entirely different interior.  then yesterday a customer came in named barb.  she had given me some clock parts and an amazing clock case some months back.  her visit got me thinking about those parts, and when i got home from work last night, i pulled them out.  taft was sitting on the shelf next to me as i worked, and things immediately came together.  that's how it is with boxes sometimes.  the idea just happens lickity-split.  other times i hum and haw and struggle.  the original interior was kind of like that.  i didn't glue it for a few weeks because it just didn't feel right.  now i am glad.  i like this one so much better.

the background is also a monoprint, and the sides are an old letter from the 50's.  the clock face is from a coo coo clock,  i added the rusty gears.  taft is standing on a half of an old block, and a composition checker from the 1920's.  hopefully this will be one of the pieces in the show in october at shy rabbit.  if not, it will be in the shop for sale.  its' about 5x7x3".

i could get all political, and try and explain the metaphor here.  but i think i can leave that up to you.

new stuff

sissy and buddy

in the mirror

a couple of new pieces. 

first,  a print (about 8x10") based on an old photo of my parents from the early 60's.  although my parents went by fran & joe at this time, i named the print for their nicknames from younger times.  this one is a bit more graphic than the others i have been working on.  don't know why, it just turned out that way.  i also did the print in a green/orange color scheme, which i like as well.

the second photo shows a new assemblage box (i think it's 8x10x3", but i need to measure to make sure).  this is the finished box i was working on in a previous post.  i covered the frame with old tickets from a restaurant.  i came across two sets of them in different greens, and mixed them up kinda crazy quilt style. inside the box is a "household hint" booklet, taken apart and used for the sides.  the back is layered with: 

1)  a monoprint i made and then overprinted with a floral/star lino block print

2)  an old leather-covered compact with a broken mirror.  it was given to me by a very nice woman named lucy who has been a great patron of mine

3)  a barbie dress i got on ebay.  it still has the original barbie tag inside.  i didn't use any glue to attach it to the box.  instead i sewed it to pieces of stacked foam core, and glued the foam core into place.  that way it is removable for anyone who cares to take it out in the future ( but i hope not!!)

4)  the broken pieces of the mirror sit in the bottom of the box, loose.

the box is kind of an exploration of womanhood, and the way we, as women, try to balance all of the things in out lives.  the broken mirror is a symbol of how sometimes  that balance is a bit tricky.  part of my boxes are trying to say something, and part of them are about getting the perfect balance of elements. many people don't quite "get" the whole assemblage box thing.  a lot of customers come in and want me to put family items together for them.  i always tell them i can't do that.  making a box is not just the time spent gluing the pieces in.  some of the boxes take years of serious collecting to get the right mix.  i'm a very picky collector!

a preview and a good story

dress box preview

this is a very nice story.  it makes me smile every time i think about it!

at our last show, a customer named lucy came in and bought some of my art.  she was drawn to it, she said, because of the objects i had used.  so we spoke briefly (it was crowded), and she said she would be going out of town for a while, and would be back to pick up her artwork.  a few weeks later, no lucy!  so i emailed her to remind her i still had the items.  she emailed back, and told me when she came to get her stuff, she would like to let me look at some random "things" she had in her possession.  

 of course, i said "i would LOVE to see your stuff."  so lucy came in on a tuesday, and picked up her work, and bought yet another piece.  (she is an amazing customer).  she then carried in stuff by the armload for me to peruse.  my jaw dropped.  it was as if some fairy landed on her shoulder who knew my every desire and whispered in her ear what to bring me.  everything was wonderful--heavy patina, and in various stages of falling apart.  just how i like things.  turns out lucy owned an antique store in austin several years back. (did i ever mention that we lived in austin, too?  how coincidental!)  anyway, the treasures were amazing.  here is a short list:

doll/santo hands

old books with leather covers

fashion illustrations from france

a sketchbook from the 1930's from a graphic designer

old dress patterns

old pattern books

cracker jack charms

mirrors

old dog food bags (never used, with great graphics)

old photos and ephemera

i could go on, but you get the gist.  wonderful things.

now here is the best part.  she just gave it all to me.  she said she wanted to pass it on so that someone who understands this sort of thing will use it.  of course, i offered to pay her.  and she said "no".  so my trade will be that i will make her a box when the dust settles in october.  and that's that!

are you smiling, too?  sometimes the world is a very nice place to be.  people do the most amazing things.  thank you, lucy!!

ok...so here's a sneak peak at a new box in progress.  the background is an original monoprint that has been overprinted with a lino block.  the mirror is the part lucy gave me.  it's an old compact with a broken mirror.  the pieces will sit in the bottom of the box.  (obviously you can't see the actual box.  john is working on finishing it for me.)  i bought the dress off ebay.  it's an old barbie dress.  i love orange, and so i had to have it.  i'll take another shot when it gets closer to being finished!

nina lindgren, cardboard heaven

i want to make this.  unfortunately, nina lindgren went out and did it first.  it's the perfect balance of re-use, texture, and theme for me.  i mean, she must have thought it up just to make me happy.  first, she used all of that cardboard.  and then she assembled it just right.  and she made houses.  they are just about my favorite subject matter in the world.  there is something about roof tops that are especially appealing to me.  and look how many she included on my behalf!

here is a link to her site.  click here to see it!  

submission

shoot out, 12x12x4 inches

this is one of two pieces i will be submitting to the all colorado show.  i know i have posted this piece before, but i'm kind of in a strange place as far as work goes.  i have 3 new boxes that have never been seen in any venue, but am saving them for a show in october.  i have also been working on prints, but am saving them for october as well.  i made this box a few months ago, and thought it might be a good fit for submission.  john was nice enough to make the actual box.  he uses plywood, and then runs it through a dovetail jig to make the joints.  these boxes are very strong because of the dovetail joints.  i think they could probably survive just about anything.  anyway, on this particular box, i used old yard sticks for the trim on the front, and also to line the inside.  you can see the usual suspects in my choice of materials...old stuff, objects with numbers, metal things, boxes, toys, and old handwriting.  i'm not sure why i am drawn to those particular themes, but they show up over and over in my work.  i also like circles, and the outside of this piece is covered in them!  they also show up in the old ring toss target.

i read lots of artist statements, and everyone seems so smart, so deep, and so introspective when they write them.  writing the artist statement is really tough for me.  making art to me is explained simply.  i'm not trying to make a huge statement.  i like things with age and patina.  i like color.  i like to put elements together like a puzzle to make things that are beautiful.  i choose stuff because it calls to me, not because it is saying anything that is particularly significant in the world.  i also like a bit of humor, but not too cutesy.  hence, the headless cowboys, taking aim at one another, obviously beyond the point of no return.  i call the box "shoot out", but the name is really for identification, not to inspire deeper meaning.  

i don't mean to suggest that my work is uncomplicated.  i spend hours and hours getting just the right combination of elements.  assemblage, i think, is highly misunderstood.  many think you just stick stuff together, but it's a lot more difficult than that.  the magic word is puzzle.  it's a puzzle with no picture on the box top to help you get the pieces in the right order.  that's up to the artist to figure out.

finished a new assemblage box!

i finished this box this am.  it's got a lot going on, but i think it works together pretty well.  the papers are all hand-printed, and the objects culled from my vast collection.  it will hopefully be a piece in the show i have at shy rabbit in october.  it's 11x14x2 inches, and can hang on the wall or sit on a ledge or shelf.  i haven't thought of a title yet.  any ideas?

paper & clay 4

this is the image from "paper & clay 3" at shy rabbit in pagosa springs, colorado.  i have been lucky enough to get an invitation for the 2011 show, paper & clay 4, which will be from oct 1-nov 6th.  this is huge for me, as i have been trying my hand at monoprinting for the last year and a half.  i took three classes at shy rabbit, and have loved this process, created by d.michael coffee.  what i love about this type of printing is that it really works well with the kind of work i already do.  it's a process in which i can use what i know about collage, painting, color, layering, texture, surface, and patina.  and i have been also incorporating the prints into assemblage pieces.  i will be meeting online with michael to show him my progress.  i wish i could go down there each time i need to, but it's a 12 hour round-trip, so i think virtual meetings might serve me better.  

i have been making a bunch of prints experimenting with two themes, one being letters an numbers as design elements.  the other theme is "the diagram".  i have been perusing old medical and fitness books for ideas.  who knows exactly where this will go.  sometimes the first pieces of an idea look very different from the last ones.  i am hoping that i can keep a consistent string to keep everything looking like it belongs in the series.  sometimes this is my downfall...i get too excited about so many ideas, and the pieces don't feel unified.  so wish me luck.  i will be posting some of the prints as i go, so any feedback will be appreciated!!

new assemblage box

this is my new assemblage box.  it's called "x", for obvious reasons.  i found the hands at the local antique mall.  the letter has been hanging around with me for several years, waiting for its place.  the orange "halo" is actually a roll of elastic.  i got it at the pink attic cat in littleton.  i told amy, the owner, that i needed something round and orange.  and she had just the thing.  the print is attached to an old mint tin.  it has been covered with a thin layer of encaustic wax.  this is the second in a series.  i am working on others as well.  i don't think i can sell it yet.  i need to save it for a print show in the fall.  

on a very serious side note, things are pretty solemn around here.  my husband's dad, who is 90, had a stroke on wednesday.  john and his siblings are in wyoming with him.  if anyone is so inclined, a little prayer would be appreciated.  we just want the best for him, whatever that may be.  

we love you, jack.