Switching it Up

 Found carving by unknown artist.

Time to switch it up in our little house.  Time to take down this painting and put this beautiful carving, found for a song many moons ago in an antique mall, away so as to make room for a fresh-cut tree.  Time to get up in the attic and bring down the holiday boxes in order to begin the process of metamorphosis.  Time to clear off the dining room table of fabrics -- laid out in anticipation of productivity -- and the myriad stacks of prints that clutter other assorted surfaces.  Time to switch out the current mix of CDs for holiday favorites and to keep apple cider and cinnamon on low on the back stove burner to fragrance the house.    And yes, I might be just a little behind . . .  :)



Hope the season is treating you well.

Cheers!

Teal Ribbon-Waves and Frosty Fog

"Teal Ribbon-Waves"

Mixed Media Collage

It's a beautiful foggy, frosty day in Portlandia.  No chance of seeing the full eclipse of the moon, even if one had wanted to arise in the early hours to behold it.   Still working on my numerous collages, but making a short foray into the realm of sewing . . . both by hand and machine.   Feeling the need to at least put some wintery/holiday music on, since there are no visual indications of the holiday season in our home yet.

Has another week really gone by already?

Happy weekend, All!

 



Piecing It Together. . .New Mixed-Media Collages

here



here

Last weekend, I laid out twenty or so potential collages to be made from assorted prints, remnants of prints, embellished papers and ephemera.  This weekend, I've managed to finalize these three and a couple more.  (These are spare, on creamy art paper -- not greyish at all -- and some of the fine graphite and ink has not been fully captured in the scans.)

Yesterday, I gave up a potential afternoon in the studio to go watch our neighbor's son play his final game as the hometown quarterback at Portland State University.  There was a chill in the air, and my husband and I were "on the fence" as to whether to go or not....all things considered  (which translates into "Gee, it would be great to go and support him, but there are just too many things to do in too little time.")   We were glad we chose to go.  It was great to drop down into the city, just ten minutes away, and take the brisk walk to the outdoor stadium.  Before the game, the seniors and their families were honored on the center of the field; a bittersweet moment, to be sure.  We've watched this young man and his equally talented older brother practice ball in their backyard and play assorted sports since they were in middle school.

It is gorgeous today.  Time to stop and head out to assist my husband with a major leaf clean-up.  (Just in time for the next couple of storms that are scheduled to blow in at the beginning of the week.)

Hope you've had an enjoyable weekend with a little time for creativity!

Thank you for stopping by!

:)



A New Look....

Oil pastel on paper

4" x 6"

If you've visited this blog before, you might be wondering if you landed in the right place today, what with the new look and all.  Thought I'd "switch it up" a  bit -- at least, for awhile.  Really, I was attempting to accomplish one primary goal:  I wanted to add thumbnail images from the many wonderful blogs I'm following, and to do so in a way that would create space for those images and mine, too.  So...some things were gained, (yay!  the thumbnail images) and some things are yet to be further tweaked.... Stay tuned!

And now, I'm off to work on those "paintings within a painting"  before transitioning to the week ahead.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wonderfully Distracted

Relief print on painted paper

17" x 23"

(The optics of this print really play havoc on one's eyes -- even online. )

I'm distractedly trying to work on my small collages today.   I've read many blogs, emailed an artist, purchased  a moleskin journal with a lovely hand-printed linen cover from Lotta of inleaf, talked on the phone far too long, and googled my own blog -- just because it's a responsible thing to do. :)  I'm glad I did, too, because I discovered  Jane Cabrera's delightful children's illustrations in the process and her flickr site with links to many other wonderful designers and artists' flickr sites. 

 

Relief print on painted paper

17" x 23"

Haven't forgotten about posting about the Portland artist.  Planning to post it very soon.  But now, I simply must go tear some Arches paper for my collage "supports."

Happy Saturday!!!