Snow in the Sierras

Here is my summer place! A friend took this (thanks Sally).

Homeless project update Jan 29

Saturday I was one. Today WE are 23. There is strength in numbers. The more people we have here, the more we can accomplish. Each in our own way.

Mixed Media Artists of Northern California monthly challenge

My good pal, Bobbi G, sets up a challenge for our group every month. Each person creates something using the designated item or theme. She likes to keep us on our toes. This month it was altering a CD. I made two. Here are the pics.

Homeless project update

Saturday I was one. Today WE are 16.
I knew I wasn't alone.

Homeless Project

Since setting up the yahoo group for the homelessness awareness project, I'm thrilled to say I'm getting good responses. Yesterday I was 1 - today WE are 8 with more ready to sign on. The new group site is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ArtAwarenessHomelessness/

Please join us on that site to keep up with how it is progressing.

More on Homeless

I was reading online about someone in SF who carries one dollar bills and gives them out to anyone who asks, or anyone he feels needs it. I decided to do this also. Frankly, I don't see a lot of poverty in my life, but I am now prepared. Yesterday I got to put my resolve into action for the first time. It was gratifying. I am trying to be less judgemental. The homeless are not in that state of being by choice. Somewhere along the line, something went wrong for them. I don't know what. But it feels right to do a little something to help. And at the same time, I offer a little prayer of thanks for being able to help, and for all that I have.

Homelessness Awareness

For some time I've been contemplating making an altered book with the theme of poverty and homelessness. An art friend, Wendy, was cleaning out her studio and giving things away right and left. I brought home a shelf unit with narrow shelves about 1 1/2 inch deep. I also brought home a bunch of Altoid tins and cigar boxes. Driving home it occurred to me that my homeless project could be constructed with these items. Here is the plan.
1. Houses made of the little boxes, altered to look like small shelters. Interiors to hold images of homeless people.
2. Shelving unit to be painted with magnetic paint so the Altoid tins can be magnetized and held in place.
3. "homeless" art dolls placed here and there on the little shelves.
4. Statistics, text, quotations - now in the research phase.
5. Table top display to hold larger boxes altered in the same manner and theme as the Altoid tins.
6. Contact other artists and solicit their art to show in this exhibit. Set up Yahoo group to facilitate communications.
7. Collect the other art and prepare flyer crediting the creators.
8. Collect ATCs and other works on the theme to sell, with 100% of proceeds to go to homeless shelters.
9. Exhibit this at La Selva Beach Art Show in July. Later to be shown at University of the Pacific and San Joaquin Delta Collage.
10. Photograph each piece, and have brother make video slide show of work.
11. With a little help from friends, hopefully to have music composed to accompany the slide show.

Back again.

I've been on the coast a few days. Here are pics.

More Valentine themed projects

Using more of the red scraps from Joanne's - I pieced together a 12 x 12 inch square backed by a piece of heavy weight paper. Why? I don't know. The machine was there, the paper was there, the fabric was there. What can I say? First I thought I'd cut it up into atc sizes pieces, but then it occurred to me that it would make a nice book cover by folding it in half. That way the inside cover would be just as beautiful as the outside. I plan to put pages into it that will follow the theme and hold pockets for my favorite Valentines.

The Valentine Paper dolls are for a swap. They will soon be finished off with some more trims and be off to the swap hostess and I'll never see them again. I wonder where they will go? In turn I will receive three others picked by the swap hostess. This is such a fun way to see other people's art and to share what I love to do. Many of the online art groups through Yahoo have swaps of all kinds of art projects. It's a lot of fun - and always surprising!

Gone but not forgotten

Today, my dear friend Frank passed away. He was very, very ill so losing him is a blessing for him and a sadness for those he leaves behind. Thank you God for taking him home.

fabric scraps

Remember those fabric pieces I stitched together? Well, I decided to cut them up into ATC size (2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches) and make Valentines with them. First, let me tell you a secret about how I collected these bits of fabrics. At Joanne's in the upholstery and finer fabric section there are racks with rolls of fabrics. When the new Joanne's opened they always had little plastic holders with scraps from each roll as samples. I started collecting two color palettes. One of sea colors, and the other - a group of reds. These are from my red stash. Each time I go to Joanne's I cruise the fabric aisles and pick up a few at a time. I never would have had any of these if it weren't for my "secret" source. Now, you know and you can start your own collections. My local Joanne's is not as generous as they were, they don't do all the rolls, only a few. But some days they put out bigger scraps - maybe as big as 5 inches square. Here are some of the results.

Valentines

Valentines Day is not that far off, and so I've been making ATCs with that theme for swaps and friends. Here are some pics. They still need finishing touches before they are done, but you get the idea what I'm doing. Don't you love red and white? and sparkle?

Sunshine on my shoulders

Happy, happy day. Sunshine. I had to drive 75 miles to find it - but there it was. Here I am approaching my little hide-away at the end of the road. The air was so crisp and clean and clear - it was blissful. And by parking in the sun, when I returned to the car it was toasty and warm. I hope you all have some sunshine in your lives.

Fabric swatches

What do you do with little scraps of fabrics? Thinking ahead to Valentine's day, and looking through my scrap bag - I pulled out the red pieces and stitched them, crazy quilt style onto paper. I'm not sure what will become of this next, but I got a lot of little pieces used up. Here's a pic.

Beachcomber journal ready

I just put the last touches on the first of the series of Beach Journals. It is called Beachcomber Journal.
It has lots of textures, including some things picked up at the cliff overlooking the beach at La Selva - a eucalyptus leaf, a sprig of something that came home stuck to the dog's coat, and a piece of eucalyptus bark. Everyone in town loves to go and watch the sunsets, or to walk with their dogs or friends to enjoy the spectacular view of the ocean and beaches stretching from Santa Cruz to Pacific Grove. The photo of the trees was taken at La Selva. The beach debris and bird footprint photos were taken at Pacific Grove. The photo of the walkway to the beach was taken at Rio Del Mar. Here are some pictures.

It's a grey, grey day.

The sun must be shining somewhere, but it's not here! I awoke to a grey morning, and the day is passing and not a sign of the sun. I'm craving warm sunshine on my shoulders. How about you?

Beach journal

This is the double page spread in my beach journal. You can tell I've been reading the journaling books where the authors and contributing artists cover their pages with either images or text. It's not like me to clutter up the page, but this seemed like a good candidate to try it out on.

My Fair Lady Altered Book

I put the book I finished last year on my PictureTrail site, so if you care to see it all - you can pop over and take a good look. I recommend using the slide show feature. Hope you enjoy it. www.picturetrail.com/artsngardens