What I've Been Up To

It has been WAY too hot here to do anything but sit still. And you know me, I don't do still very well. Plus, I haven't been able to do anything creative in the kitchen. I really want to try out a new recipe for breakfast bars and a new recipe for Chocolate-Peanut Butter Bomb cookies, but that would require turning on the oven and that's just not going to happen until Saturday. At the earliest. So I've been getting creative in other ways.

After a little bit of this last weekend:

"Trust the Mess" workshop in Santa Monica with 16 wonderful artists. Photo courtesy of the talented Christine Mason Miller.

I've been inspired to work on something new:

Collage pieces (in progress) which will be used for an exciting project I'm diving into.

And I've just learned about this crazy-awesome art form called zentangle:

My very first zentangle. So. Much. Fun. I know. It sucks. But whatever. You gotta start somewhere.

If you want to see how the pros do it, check out this video:

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How cool is that lady? Dang, she knows how to zentangle. (It's so fun to say that word to0. Go ahead, say it. You know you want to. Zentangle, zentangle, zentangle.)

And since I discovered this gem of a website:

I haven't been able to stop checking it every day. These people MAKE things and then SEND them to others. Art + Snail Mail. I think I found heaven.

And finally, a week of triple-digit temps in a house with no air conditioning wouldn't be complete without cat naps. Literally:

Trying. To. Stay. Awake.

Surrender.

Update: Moss Beach Collage Book

Last Thursday, I worked on another page of the Moss Beach Collage Book. This one was dedicated to the sea anemone, or "a-nen-o-me" as I always mistakenly pronounce it. No one should create a word with all those Ns and Ms so close to each other. Too much coordination between the mind and tongue is necessary. I'm just saying...

Anyway, I wanted to use some different art materials, something other than the acrylic paint I have been using lately. A long time ago, I bought a lovely set of colored pencils, based on the recommendation of my then-boss's husband, who was an artist (the husband was the artist, not my boss). I love my colored pencils and have used them here and there but never with a lot of intention (or confidence, since I can't even draw stick people). This seemed like a good opportunity to do that.

I wasn't satisfied with any of the photos I took of my beloved anemones. The glare off the water dulled their colors, angles weren't right, things blocked my shot...at the end of the day, none of my photos made me happily recall the beauty of these wonderful creatures. So I made a black and white copy of one of the photos I took of a giant green anemone (which was eating a crab) and decided to color-pencil it in.

And I'm so glad I did. Outlining and coloring in the tentacles was a blast as much as it was tedious, but it left me appreciating, once again, how magnificent these relatives to the jellies are. All those little arms swaying gently back and forth, each in what seems like their own little world, and then suddenly, WHAM, dozens of arms instantly synchronized in action and taking down its prey! How cool is that?!

After liking how I transformed the photo, I needed to figure out how I wanted to display it on the page. I'm really into texture right now; I like things to look and feel "not smooth." In museums or at shows, I'm always drawn toward the artwork that makes me want to touch it, that redefines what "surface" is or looks like. So for the border immediately around the photo, I glued dried fruit seeds (or whatever they are) that are falling off our Chinese elms in our front yard (and all over our porch, table, chairs, candle holders, etc.) And then around that border, I filled the rest of the page with torn cardboard, hoping to create a pebble look/feel that resembled the sea anemone's natural surroundings.

I'm not sure I'm done with this page yet. I have a feeling I'll be adding something more to it as I work on the rest of the book, but for now, I'm quite pleased with where it is at.

I have something really fun planned for the next few pages, which I'll be working on this week. Stay tuned for more from the great Moss Beach Collage Book!

Work in Progress: Moss Beach Collage Book

I’m going to be attending this two-day workshop in a few weeks and will likely be surrounded by 15 professional, semi-professional, or just plain ridiculously talented artists so I thought I better get the creative juices flowing a bit so as not to totally embarrass myself amongst them. I think I still will (embarrass myself, that is), but at least they won’t hear the creaking sound of churning wheels in my brain as I desperately try to keep up with their creative ideas and flow. That sound they hear will just be the howl of frustration that often escapes from my gut when I fall short of my own expectations. And that happens all too often.

Still feeling the love for Moss Beach, I decided to take an old children’s book (the kind with the cardboard-like pages) that I bought used from my library and turn it into an homage to my Thoughtful Travel Adventure. I have the cover, and the first two-page spread done…and I have to admit, I like it. No howling here. Yet.

Board Book Class at SFCB

Earlier this month, I took a wonderful class at the San Francisco Center for the Book called "Board Book with Layering Techniques" with Marsha Shaw. Marsha was spectacular as an instructor...so encouraging, incredibly talented, and inspiring. You could tell she not only loved teaching, she loved being creative. If you get a chance, check out her website. You'll be dazzled. This is the second class I've taken at the Center and if I lived closer to San Fran I'd take every single class they offered. No kidding. Their facilities are nice, the range of classes they offer keeps students challenged whether you're a professional artist or hobbiest, and  students and teachers alike seem to thrive off one another (no sense of competitive one-upping that I've experienced).

Below are some hastily shot photos I took of the board book I made. (Click on the first photo to take you to a slideshow with larger images.)

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