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Showing posts from August, 2015

Fill In The Blank - Exhibit for ArtEAST

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Paper mache' box supplied by ArtEAST As a member of ArtEast (a fabulous gallery and organization, by the way!), I was asked to participate in their "Fill In The Blank" exhibit.  Where the members (both artists and non-artists), were given  7"x7"x3" paper mache' boxes, and told "Your charge is to fill in this blank box in such a way as to represent yourself, spark conversation and inspire someone to declare ""You've got some explaining to do!"". Here's the blank box on my table (definitely needing filling!) 1/4 sunflower It sounded like a fun project, so of course I signed up!  But then I had to find something to fill it with. I didn't have time to create a new piece of artwork for it... but perhaps I already had something I could use!  As luck would have it, I had just taken apart a painting.  It was a 1/4 flower-face from an attempt to make a whole, interchangeable art piece... but I d

Tu-lips Are Better Than One (except there are 3)

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So the pun is horrible - sorry, but I couldn't resist (ha ha - resist... a play on words itself, if you're a silk painter).  OK enough of that! 12"x12" reclaimed silk, mounted on canvas with acrylic matte medium Anyways... thought I'd share a fun piece I just finished mounting.  I called it Stained Glass Tulips Demoplay because it is the same design as my Stained Glass Tulips, but I used it as a demo piece and let other people (mostly non-artists) play with it (hence the demoplay name).   The style isn't something that I would normally do, but I kind of like the watercolor look it has!  Plus the fact that at one time it was a pocket (albeit a BIG one) is kind of cool.  I did have to cut the bottom hem off because the piece would not fit onto the canvas otherwise.  My daughter informs me that all of my artwork names are dumb and that, while she loves my artwork, she is ashamed of the names.   sigh.  SO, stay tuned!  I may have some VERY interesting

Update to the 8/12/15 post "Just applied for 2 new shows - oh my"

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I have found applying for shows to be an interesting situation.  Did you title your piece correctly?  Do Rejected Also rejected the curators think it in some way, correspond to the theme of the show you're applying to?  Do they like your work or not?  If you're rejected... you never find out why.   If you're accepted, you may hear some positive feedback - but you may not. In light of the above questions, I have decided that IF I am going to apply for shows - I simply must be confident in my work.  If I am not, it will show through my art and my art will not get in. And IF I am confident in my work, then it doesn't matter if I do or  don't get in to a show - because my art pleases me and I know that art is extremely subjective.  This is a weird mindset for me!  I tend to be a people-pleaser/worry-wart.  Usually I tend to obsess a bit on the what-if's.   So to accept that my art may not get in to everything I apply for AND to be ok with it --- becaus

Jeanne Dana of PaperandStone.com

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Photo courtesy of paperandstone.com I met the most amusing man and (and his most-patient partner) yesterday.   Together, they form the creative group Jeanne Dana (He is Dana, she is Jeanne) of PaperandStone.com .  They make wonderful fine art castings and sell them wholesale (and at some craft fairs I believe) around the country.  I have a semi-annual tradition of going to the Seattle Gift Show - and have done so for about 5 years now.  I started going when I first created my business (Re-CoveredTreasures.com).   I originally went with the intention of trying to determine whether or not, my business could create enough product to sell via a wholesale venue like the Seattle Gift Show.  It was an amazing view into the wholesale/retail/business world - in fact I highly recommend you visit it if you get the opportunity!  lovely, but NOT antique! The Gift Show has changed (and not for the better, over the years), but it has been interesting to watch what businesses have suc

Starting a new silk painting - this time it's a collaborative piece (oh my)!

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The Laundry Line (to be a collaborative piece) Yes, that's right... I'm starting a new painting.  It's to be part of a collaborative piece done with 3 other artists (well 9 others actually) from the Fiber 19 Artist Group.   A picture was selected (The Laundry Line), it was decided that each completed picture would be sized 4 feet wide by 3 feet tall... and that the picture would be divided into 4 slices (with each 4th being 1 foot wide and 3 feet tall).  Names were randomly selected and assigned to a section/slice of the picture.  AND I (stupidly) in my infinite wisdom, signed up to do 2 slices so that there would be 3 whole, completed sets made.   Each artist is to interpret their assigned piece in their preferred medium.  Although certain marks must line up (the clothes line and the wood), the colors and medium are up to each artist.  It should be very interesting to see the end-results!  We have weavers, painters, quilters, collage-artists, and free-motion sewing

Just applied for 2 new shows - oh my

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Well friends, this year is turning into a bit of a trial for me as an artist.  I'm finding my time (as an artist)  severely limited and that is INCREDIBLY frustrating!  This year, my plan was to ramp up the business side of being an artist.  Get the blog going more regularly and modernize it Post on Facebook more frequently Get more involved in other social media (ie, instagram, pinterest, youtube, etc) Try selling more online Get in more shows, galleries, etc Sell more It all sounds great and I am getting some done (researching what I want my website and/or blog to look like, posting on my blog more often, applying to shows), but life has a way of throwing a monkey-wrench into the heart of things (for instance, having to get a full-time job in order to provide benefits for my family).  But I am working my way through it all, and squeezing in art whenever I can! MTB The Inner Soul MTB The Outer Shell To that end, I have applied for two more shows.  Another Un

So you're thinking of making your own World Globe Lampshade or Pendant Lamp?

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So you're thinking of making your own World Globe Lampshade or Pendant Lamp?   World Globe Lampshade with Beaded Trim My previous post talks about finding, selecting, and cleaning a World Globe.  THIS post will give you a basic tutorial of how to make your own lampshade or lamp out of your globe along with a few tips about using World Globes as lampshades or pendant lamps. To make a lampshade (or a pendant lamp) you'll first need to decide what size lampshade you want.  Do you want to open the globe at the equator giving you a half-lamp look?  Or do you want to cut along a latitude line below the equator to give you a taller lampshade?  Both look nice and it's just a matter of personal taste (although if your globe is falling apart at the equator, then it's quite easy to make it a half-globe lampshade!).  By the way, you don't have to do anything fancy - of course you can just slice open the globe and stick it on a lamp.  It just won't look as finished (i

So You Want To Make Your Own Vertical Stovepipe Steamer?

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I wrote a post on my other blog several years ago, but was just asked to create a new document for the Silk Painters group on Facebook.  So I thought I'd share it here! Making your own Stovepipe Steamer is relatively easy to do and certainly cost effective!  To buy one new (and made specifically for silk paintings) will easily cost you over $1000 bucks.... but making one yourself can cost under $100 (mine was less than $50!). I've had several people ask: Why do you want a Stovepipe Steamer?  Can't you just use a pot and steaming basket on your stove? Both are good questions! Yes you can use a pot and steaming basket on your stove.  But I personally, don't care for the idea of the chemicals/dyes/etc being in my kitchen. They are NOT good eats (to borrow from Alton Brown). Plus if you use a steaming basket in a pot, you have to constantly watch the water levels.  And you don't have a lot of space, which means you're probably only steaming 1 item at a time.