About Me

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I live in La, work full time and dabble in art when ever I can. I would love to be able to do my art full time--who knows, maybe one day I will. In the past year, I started doing Festivals, trying to sell my Art. It is A LOT of work, but worth it. I have met so many people with the same interests as myself.

Friday, March 25, 2011

"Vacations so close that I can smell it--and I like the way it smells" Stole that line from my son, Pau.


Today's the last day at work for two weeks--------------yippee!!! Jumping up and down and clapping.  I am so ready for it too.  I like my job--most of the time, but I LOVE my time off more.  There are so many things that I want to do and so little time to do them.  If I could ONLY dig into all of the little containers that I have in my studio--wipe the cobwebs from the top, explore the depths of the rubbermaid house and find out what's really in them--who knows what could be produced--the possibilities are endless,  There are a multitude of projects, just waiting to be thought of, fabricated and displayed. This vacation I will not have alot of time to explore the depths of the containers because we are going to be building a barn--but after the barn is built I can expand.  My studio can go from total chaos to liveable once again.  I will have more space.  I have been  thinking about how I want to arrange it.  As you know, from my last blog, my studio size is going to double.  What I want to do is create a work space in what now houses the horses hay.  I want a table that I can work on and have all of my tools in one place.  My drills, hammers, saws, vices, anvils, etc. can all be easily accessible.  That will make a world of difference.  Imagine--needing something and it being right there.  Ahhh......sounds like a dream.  I also want a bin for all of my rusty metal parts that I use in my assemblages.  When I am working on a piece, I can go digging through a bin of beautifully rusted treasures.  Then of course I will have all of the other over flow from my working studio in there.  Maybe I will be able to find my sewing machine again.I may be able to use it without climbing OVER the back of the chair because I can't get to it from the sides.  You know, I have been accused of being a hoarder (lovingly of course)by my husband and son.  But, in my defense I do use the stuff that I find on my daily hunts. I read somewhere that "if you use the stuff for your art--you're not a hoarder" :)  I live by that quote and I am going to stand behind it--use it for my shield.

Monday, March 21, 2011

I can see clearly now...............I went this past Friday and got contact lenses.  I have been fighting with glasses for years.  They are NEVER where you thought you left them, and you never have them handy when you want to read something.  So, after much contemplation I went to the eye doctor and got contacts.  I can say that the reason that I held off so long is because I just didn't know how they would do on a dusty construction site.  I guess time will tell with that one.  Well, my first trial was trying to get the little buggers in my eyes.  I had Lewis on one side of me and the Doctor on the other side of me, both giving instructions on how I should proceed.  How to angle my head, how to hold my finger, how to hold my eye.......whew, the pressure was intense.  Finally, I got the right eye in and attempted to work on the Left eye. Got that one right in--or so I thought, after an examination it was determined that I had lost that one somewhere...off to the well-lighted room again to look for the lost contact.  We finally found it and got that one in relatively easy.  I had a time Sat. morning, but finally got them in and out okay--or so I thought.  Sunday when I went to put my contact in my right eye, I felt something hard laying on the counter.  I picked it up and it was the shriveled remains of the contact that I took out the night before--I missed the solution container and it lay on the counter and dried out all night.  I thought that it was a goner but to my surprise after a couple of dunks in the solution it came back to life and I put it in--easier than the day before.  Seems like every day it gets easier to put them in and it is fantastic not having to wear glasses.  I should have done this a long time ago.I can actually look at the computer, read a magazine or dial the cell phone without having to look for my glasses first. 

On a lighter note, I did get up to my studio for a little while this weekend and got out a few pieces that had been waiting for the finishing details.  The alligator clips on the backs, signatures, isolation coats..........just those kinda things.  I did finish my "Don't Overlook Possibilities" piece  that is pictured on the top.  All in all, it was a good weekend.   The weather was awesome and it was peaceful--love tranquility.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Good Days Coming

Well--it is official.  My vacation will begin on March 26th.  I have so much planned--where do I begin. I know that Lewis, my husband and I, are going to begin building a barn.  When that is done the shed that houses my studio, tack room and feed room will be turned into my studio--that will double the amount of space that I have--Oh yes, it is much needed. My space is very confined right now--no wiggle room.  So, for a couple of weeks I will be out of the studio working on the barn, but hope to be in not long after that cleaning and sorting and making my life easier.  I am really excited about this and can't wait to start.  That will be our vacation this year-- a "stay cation".  Maybe we can sneak away for a day or two and find a flea market or antique store--that is one of my passions--searching for hidden treasures.  I usually look for things to incorporate into my art, but sometimes I will find an old rusty thing that isn't good for anything really--it just speaks to me.  What was it's life behind the rusty patina--what kind of history did it make, whose hands held onto it and are those hands still with us today.  I love old things and the mystery that surrounds them.  I fill my world with art-ifacts of the past--things that you would find in my grandmothers house or my grandfathers barn.  They make art that is timeless--that speaks of a different time, and a rebirth in being incorporated into a piece that hopefully, will stand the test of time just like it has.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Art Show

I attended a reception last night that the SRAC held  for their latest art contest.  The art on view was phenomenal.  There were so many genre's of art, with each having it's own special merits.  The jurors of this contest have quite a feat ahead of them-How do  you pick just one as being the best when they all have their own unique qualities.  There were portraits, figures, abstracts, sculptures and mosaics and the list goes on and on.  I had no idea that North West La. had so much talent.  I could have wandered around the walls of that building for hours, dissecting each piece individually--taking in every every detail--an Artist's dream.  I scanned the room, trying to pick out the artist's in the crowd, most were easily identified.  Not just because of the way that they dressed.  It was more than that.  There was an exuberance  about them-- an air that they projected.  I sat for awhile at a table and watched the people meander around the room, looking at the art.  Some spent long minutes gazing into the pictures- really looking into them, trying to find the story behind them, others strolled by without stopping.  I guess each of us appreciates art in our own unique way, we all express it differently.  How much does our background and our experiences lend to our art?  Do our daily, mundane jobs effect the quality of our work--sapping the creativity out of our core  or does it enhance it?  Does the bleakness from everyday life actually make us appreciate the opportunity to create something.  Something that may not actually serve any purpose except to create.  You can't eat it our use it really.  It is just something to hang on the wall. I don't see it that way though.  I see it as a chance to energize myself--to wash the cobwebs away from a part of my brain that I haven't been able to use all week because I have been working.  Walking into my studio revives me--the smell of paint and paste makes me want to dive in and get "painters fingers".  For now, I may only be able to get into my studio once a week but the time that I spend in there effects me every day. 

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Regeneration

Yesterday turned out to be another one of those rainy days--no worries though.  I left work early, at noon, and went home.  I didn't do anything earth shattering or even notable.  I sat on the couch with my hubby and my dogs and watched Jane Eyre.  I love the classic movies--they nearly always have a happy ending.  Wish that life was so predictable, that everything would fall neatly in place and you always ended up with the handsome Knight in Shining Armor.  It felt nice, sitting in the middle of the day, and watching a movie.  I rarely do that.  But, I guess, now and again, we all need a little respite, a retreat--to be locked away from the rest of the world to regenerate and refocus.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Pulling It Together

There have been several pieces that I have been working on lately that I just could not seem to pull together.  I would pick them up, play with them, arrange objects on them--shuffle, twist and turn.  NO matter what I did to the pieces, they just did not seem to make that connection.  In short, I had no inspiration, no vision for the pieces.  I would pick them up in the in-between time, while waiting for other pieces to dry and still--no luck.  Finally this weekend, they came together.  They finally began to mesh.  I knew just what I wanted to do with them.  I worked feverishly on them--afraid that if I put them down, afraid that  I would lose that long sought after vision of cohesion.  I drilled, and glued, and painted, and tacked and then finally (drum roll please)they were done--or at least, one of them were, and the other one is laying on my table, waiting for the layers of texture and glue to dry.  Am I the only one who looks at a piece that is in progress and think to myself that there are just no ideas left--the well has gone dry.  My creativity has withered and died.............I guess (or at least hope) that I am not the only one who looks at certain pieces and just cannot seem to move past them- for months they lay there, they get shuffled, manipulated and collect dust.  Just waiting for the moment that the light comes on and says "hey--this is what that piece needs".   I guess that we all have artist block sometimes.  I have a sketch pad that I keep with me, or try to keep with me, all the time.  I have found that if I jot down ideas and sketch the piece out--I can complete the piece much easier.  I also know that if I have my goodies in sight-my stash of found items, i.e. rusty hinges, bolts, washers, thing-a-ma-jigs- that the assemblage process moves along much more freely.  I am going to be in the process of enlarging my studio in the near future.  One of the items on my wish list is a large bin that I can put all of my found objects in.  Kind of like the one in the hardware store that holds an assortment of small tools and supplies.  Well, this one would hold an assortment of excavated treasure.  Items that have been unearthed and saved from the salvage yard to be used (I hope) in a piece of art.

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