Trying to catch up on blogging after a non-stop schedule…dramatic pause… It has been cra’y. I would venture to say it has even been cra’y cra’y. There, I said it. The last time I sat down to write was last Wednesday, after I got home from the second basketball game for the week. Thursday was conference night at my school and I knew I would not have many folks stopping by so I brought plenty to do…well, I thought I did. I get to school, check my bag and... my current pad of Bristol board is not there. Now, not a big deal…but to me…kind of a stressful situation. By kind of I mean- I WAS STRESSED. I like to pull all of my paper from the same pad of 11x14 Bristol Board until it’s all gone…and…I had tucked away twelve 4x6 angel sketches that I intended to paint for Atlanta…all left at home. You would figure, no big deal, right? My job is in an ART room for crying out loud. But…it just wasn’t the same…I needed my Bristol board pad…sigh. Luckily, I found a pad of 11x14 watercolor paper probably one I had tucked away for such an occasion. I made myself get over the fact that this paper had a texture to it and moved forward. Instead of resketching my angels to paint I had the idea to create collaged angels, so I proceeded to paint solid pieces of paper, to cut out angel pieces and then construct. I think in my mind I was thinking that this would not take as long. Ummmm…no. Not only did it take just as long, but I had a blister on my hand from cutting the angel parts out by the time I was finished. On a positive note, the angels turned out pretty good, and I did finish twelve to take with me to Atlanta. More on that later. Next up…inventory. I haven’t completed inventory yet this year, haven’t even started my new spreadsheet. Now that I think about it…might want to check and make sure I did inventory for December 2012…oh man… My pal, Nottage, stopped by to help me take pics...here is what inventory looked like... Next day...it was a half-day of teachin' and then I traveled to Atlanta for CHEERSPORT Nationals. This was my sixth year judging. I had to double check- six years?! Yep. Judging this particular competition is a big deal for me, it is probably one of the largest if not the largest cheerleading competition going on right now. This year there were almost 1000 teams. I get to see awesome cheerleading routines from across the United States...see my 'cheer family'...and...there are vendors there selling sparkly thangs. Wait...and I get paid? What.... Oh...and I got to visit with our cousin Jen and her family. Done deal! Pic with Shelby and Stuart A highlight of judging CHEERSPORT is finding Shelby Stout for my annual hug. Shelby and her husband, Stuart, started the March Forward with Hope Foundation, an organization that provides financial assistance to families battling cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Stuart and Shelby started this in memory of their daughter, Hope Stout, shortly after she lost her fight with cancer. I met Shelby that first year I judged nationals, I think. It has been so long...anyway, I felt a connection to Shelby. I think it is from losing my best friend, Amy. Now, Amy did not die from cancer, she was killed in a car accident...but I have witnessed firsthand the struggle that her parents, John and Jennifer, have gone through losing their daughter. I can relate to wanting to see the memory of someone you love live on, even when they have passed. So every year I seek out Shelby Stout, sometimes with art in hand, always ready or my hug. I am so inspired by what Hope's family is doing in her memory. Makes me want to do something in memory of Amy...wheels are turning in my brain...will have to think on that a little... So this year, my gift was one of my small angel-collages. Then I started thinking...I need to make a bigger one for the Stouts, they could auction it off...or reprint and use it...something. So I made an 11x14 angel painting and delivered in on Sunday. I hope they can put it to good use : ) Speaking of angels. I left some angels in Atlanta and FINALLY...someone let me know they found one! Yay! I got a notification via Instagram that someone found one of my paintings...hooray! I posted a few pics of my 'angelbombing' from the weekend...I even 'angelbombed' my roomie, Karen! One thing that I was thinking...besides I LOVE the idea of leaving art everywhere for folks to discover...I may have to rethink what I am calling it...now, I picked 'angelbombing' because I was inspired by 'yarnbombing'. I just worry about the negative connotation of the word 'bomb'. For example, when I was leaving my angels in the Georgia Congress Center, I made sure not to use #angelbombing in my Instragram posts, fearing someone might read and just see the second part of the word and panic. Silly? Maybe. Anyway, something that I am considering. ...alright...trying to wind this looooong blog post down, gotta go to the gym and it's getting a little late if I want to get some sleep. (or come home and make more art!) More things worth mentioning...I started some new pieces...one drawing was inspired by the cheerleaders and their big ol' bows...and...ummm...I started a new mini-series on the way back inspired by the ladies I saw going to the church service on Sunday...all bundled up in fancy coats and (hopefully FAUX) fur hats. They looked so glam. I tried to sleep on the plane, but then the word 'baboushka'...it's not the right word, I know...but in my head I thought of that word and I made the connection to these ladies...so I started five new pieces... So...that's about it. Oh, wait. I also may have met a contact on the plane to get get some of my work printed on shirts...hoping that will pan out, fingers crossed...and...about to send some designs I have been working on (not shown on the site) to my contact in CA...again...send me some positive vibes, folks!
To end...here are the pieces from my 6-day hiatus from my blog...just posted 'em tonight to the site and to my blog, FINALLY!
0 Comments
Where to start? Well, I wasn’t able to update my blog, but I did make my daily pieces over the past few days- even threw in some extra pieces. So…let’s back up, travel back in time... Thursday, Feb 7th… I went to the Armory with the Art Hive girls as press for the first annual Fashion ARTillery event. It gave me a chance to wear the super sparkly necklace I made on Wednesday night, to look at fashion/art creations and to hang out with my friends- all good things. One thing that was not…one of the main reasons that I was excited to attend the event was that Iris Apfel, fashion icon, was the Honorary event chair. Seriously, version of who I want to be when I grow up and I was so excited to have a chance to see her in person, or maybe even meet her via Art Hive official business. But alas, no Iris. At the start of the event they announced that she had been called back to NYC unexpectedly. I imagined her hurriedly packing some LV luggage, her rings on all fingers making a gentle clinking sound as she quickly folded silk blouses in vibrant colors, textured scarves, a motley crew of multi-hued and bejeweled bracelets and baubles…tipping her thick black glasses down as she did the once over and then dashed out, designer shoes clacking as she walked away. Yeah, it was probably just like that. Wait, where was I? Oh yes, there I was, in my black dress, crazy necklace, red heels, channeling my inner fashionista. Trying to fit in at this fancy event. Iris or no Iris, might as well make the most of it. So we did. The first look down the runway- literally, there was a gasp from the audience. This was my first runway event, I watch them all the time on TV, but I wasn’t prepared for the real-time reactions, and it made it that much more exciting. Literally- a gasp. The first look was a wedding gown made of coffee filters. It did not look like coffee filters- the artist had manipulated the material to have the hand of fabric. The piece really moved as she walked down the runway, and had the appurtenance of ruffles. I was in heaven. What a way to kick off the event. What followed was a mixture of looks, some more wearable than others, but each representing someone that had taken the challenge to create a piece for this event. There was an evening gown that included roving and felted wool, an AMAZING gown out of trash bags with canned soda tab embellishments, structures made of wire, and bodices constructed of ceramic tile pieces…hand dying…sigh. I was in my element. Jess and I vowed that next year we would make pieces for the show- and we will. Expect- sparkle and shine. Iris, please let me be you when I grow up. But again…no Iris. On my drive home I decided I needed to pay tribute to this lady who I had hoped to meet. So…as soon as I got in, I bolted to my closet, grabbed some chunky bracelets, layered on a few more necklaces and found a pair of black-rimmed glasses leftover from Jess’ birthday party…and…I did my best ‘Iris’ as John took a picture. This is the picture I posted Thursday night before I cried myself to sleep. Sigh. I.heart.Florida. Then, I rotated between finishing up my art piece for the day and packing for Orlando. Friday, February 8th…off to school to teach a half-day and then I was on the road to Orlando to judge the National High School Cheerleading Championships. This was my second time judging this event. The first time I judged NHSCC was back when I lived in NC, when John and I were in grad school at ECU. I remember taking a flight on a small plane out of Greenville (that was SO scary) and then after another flight I was in Florida, walking around in 75+ degree weather in February. They put us up in the same place, Coronado Springs resort, I can remember walking around by the water and talking to my husband on the phone and commenting that I could get used to living in Florida. Well, a couple of years later that’s what I am doing. Living in Florida. Funny how things work out. Umm…so…drawing by the water judges meeting…took myself out to a fancy dinner and drew while I waited…then came back to the room and got some sleep. That was Friday. Saturday and Sunday...a blur of sparkle, cheer and art. Saturday and Sunday were filled with cheerleading and whenever I had a minute- art. Add my own sparkly accessories and the glitzy uniforms and poms and all of my favorite things were in the same room- art, cheer and sparkle. The only thing missing was my husband and the cats, but they aren’t as into the cheer and sparkle, so it’s best that I enjoyed it without them. So..here are the pieces from the past few days. I made the work and posted the in-progress pics on instagram, but I just did not have time to sit down and blog and to take my final pics for the web and FB album. But..here…they…are. And this week? Wow. It is going to be busy. Two basketball games at IMS, parent/teacher conference night and another full weekend of judging cheer in Atlanta…and I need to take my husband out to celebrate the fact that he passed the first part of his dissertation defense last Friday…I am so proud of him!
Mackie, on the interwebs. The last days of January were...a blur. Teachin, artin', travelin'...it just escaped me and I didn't MAKE time to blog. (notice I didn't say 'have') In my defense, Mackie was always on the computer when I did want to blog, so I am not totally to blame. Look, I even have proof! So, uh...here's a wrap up of the last bit of January. Last weekend I traveled to Daytona for a Florida Art Education Association board of director's meeting, John came along and we stayed an extra day to have a mini-vacation. Some great networking for next year (more on that at a later date), planning for conference and gave my Youth Art Month report and then, just some quality time with my husband. Good times! One of the biggest take-aways from the weekend (beside a little tan!) was meeting a very special lady. On Sunday, per usual- I am up way to early...and John, well..he is not. So I head out with my art bag to find a spot to draw and while I was wandering around I stopped in the hotel gift shop to look for my mandatory jewelry purchase (I buy a piece of jewelry every time I go on a trip, at least one piece...uh, sometimes more) and I met Alma. I knew there was something special about this woman as we quickly bonded as I looked for jewelry. Turns out....she had experience in the jewelry industry, designing and was the perfect person to help me select something- we chose a bracelet in a gunmetal mesh with sparkles all over it. Her husband was also in the industry, and she also worked with galleries and spoke candidly of selling work and attending gallery parties. We talked fashion, of silk scarves by Lanvin and Bottega Venta, her love of green to compliment her once auburn hair. I could clearly see that hair in my mind, this amazing woman before me with an amazing head of red, sassy hair. Alma asked me if I was an artist, and I said yes. When she asked if she could see my work I happened to have the pieces I just finished with me, so I took them out and put them on the counter. She loved my work. I talked to her about trying to do this whole art licensing thing...and she told me to keep going, not to stop. She said many encouraging words, and it was such a sincere moment. There were a few times I just had tears in my eyes, that I had by chance come into contact with such a kindred soul. So, we went back before leaving Daytona, after lunch on the pier and some 'angel bombing'...and I gave Alma the last of my angels that I had with me. This angel, in a zebra dress and red heels, was reaching for a star inscribed with the word, 'inspire'. How fitting. I promised Alma that I would see her again in the fall. And I will. I had these intentions to write this big ol' diatribe of my work for this month, what I was inspired by...to try to explain it all...but well, I have two unresolved pieces I want to complete and another one for February (more about that later)...and that is all I can think about...how to come to some closure for the month of January...so here is just some rambling comments... ...started with the idea of 'darkness'...I interpreted it as ladies with dark hair with tattoos and piercings, which I think is lovely...in the 6th piece of the series I added a peacock feather tattoo which prompted me to go off on a tangent with a peacock feather motif...then I tried to reel myself back in, only to get distracted by calla lilies and dragonflies in my tattoo designs...then I started thinking, 'I need to work with my backgrounds more', so I focused on that...then I kept thinking about a phrase I love from an Avett song...so I started working with text...and then, another piece of text, a quote I love: ...so I started thinking about light and dark, and duality...how within each one of us we have the potential for both good/bad, light/dark...and I guess the Louis Vuitton Spring 2013 fashion illustrations I completed this month, heavy with black and white graphics and pops of yellow were still in my head and inspired my colors...so I created a piece that included a portion of the text, and then went on to just the idea of the duality...and then, wait- I met Alma and she inspired me to create a picture of a fiery red-headed muse whispering in my girl's ear...then back to my black/white/yellow images...and now I am trying to close up the series. I have the last two pieces, still painfully unresolved. My goal is to include many of the elements from this whole month...don't know how it will turn out...but that is where I am at. Enough for now. Gotta go make some art. Will post final pics tomorrow for the series as well as the first piece in the new series and all kinds of other things related to art, cheer and sparkle...
First, a little background. I am way too into my planner. I love it. I love the planner...I love to plan. Finding the perfect planner each summer is something that I both forward to and dread each year. And I know I am not alone, there are others (who shall remain nameless) that also celebrate the planner as I do. Everyone's perfect planner is different. For me...I prefer spiral bound. I have tried working with the various binder style planners in different sizes with all the cool page inserts...they never work for me. They are too bulky, the metal rings hurt my hand...they just don't do it for me. I don't like any color on my pages because I do all of the color coding and also if I erase it makes the color look all faded. And I love tabs, even if I have to make my own. A few years ago, I made my own planner and it worked great for me...but it was hard for me to figure out how to put it together...it took me forever. Plus, I made it specific to a time frame so if I were to reprint the pages I would have to go in and individually changes pages then print. So I started from scratch for this new DIY creation. For this planner...I wanted to create pages that I could reprint from year to year without having to stress about dates. I wanted a planner with big boxes in my monthly and weekly views, and lots of room everywhere for to-do's, doodles and dreams. So here is what I came up with, shown step by step with pictures and descriptions and links to the PDFs I created. NOTE: The pages are already set up in the right order based on printing them front to back.
Here are some additional pages that you could print out and include in the back of your planner;
Just to let you know, this did take me some time because I was creating the templates and figuring out how to put everything together, but it should not take you long if you are making your own, as I have done all the work for you (lucky you!).
And cost? Minimal! I printed the pages front/back on our (laserjet) printer at home, so that just cost paper and ink, which luckily we already had. (score!). I already have a ton of papers and collage items here from making art, but you can get a good selection of scrapbooking papers for under $5 from Michael's or your local art/craft supply store. I used the glue, paper cutter and scissors from Kinko's. The laminating and spiral binding were less than $10.00, also at Kinko's. So this endeavor cost me personally less than $10, but if you have get the pages printed and buy some decorative papers it might cost you $15-$20. Totally worth it. Special thanks to my husband for pretending to share my enthusiasm for planners, going to Kinko's with me and taking pictures for my tutorial...you're off the hook, until next year! If you want the original Word documents to edit them, please email me and I will be happy to send them to you. And if you read this post and make you own planner, please email me a picture- I would love to see it! (jll1203@hotmail.com) Ed and his fiancé Sarah, went back to New Jersey today. After a fun week hosting out of town friends, fourth of July festivities and general merrymaking...it is quiet here at casa de Gironda, except for the occasional meow from one of the cats. By the way...posting in purple in honor of Ed, a fellow ECU grad (Go Pirates!) Visitors or not- I still made time for my art, and I am proud of that. I just finished up CED #188, and now I guess I am deciding what to work on next.... Some things that I have been thinking about...
...so that is just me, kind of creating my little list of what I need to do...not sure what I will start on first... Mixin' it up Well...June is over as of twenty three minutes ago. We had a good run, me and June...June and I. Today was busy, but I made time for my last CED, #182...and then had a VERY productive art night with Jessie, Sof and Jen. (thanks for the inspiration, ladies!) It was such a cool feeling, everyone off in their respective areas...Jess standing in front of her giant canvas, attacking it, standing back, talking fast and passionately about what ideas she had for the background, etc...Jen at the laptop, working on her writing...Sof working on her presentation materials, which of course included her artistic touch. .. as for me, I painted my last Orion Slave girl. Now they are complete. I may do some touch ups, but for the most part...done. And I decided not to submit them to the show that I had in mind since I can't make the reception...will save these for something else. In the mean time, I guess I will just hang out with them, looking at the glitter and the sparkle. One thing that I tried to incorporate with these was some flexibility in arrangement. I used the hair as a design element to connect the three pieces, you may not be able to tell from the photographs I took, but you can actually put them in any order and they line up. Just for fun, I made a collage of how they look in different arrangements (left) You can't really tell from the photographs, but they are so sparkly, hints of fine glitter and small crystals all over...I like how they turned out, but I sure am glad they are done. I was starting to feel like a slave to my Orion Slave paintings! First attempt, self portrait After finishing up the Orion Slave girls I moved on to my next project...re-doing my June self portrait, which I had kind of already completed. I posted a graphite/watercolor drawing earlier this month (June 22nd) that I had completed based on one of my 'angel pics' from our recent trip to San Diego. I liked the concept, but was not 100% on how the finished piece came out. I think I will revisit this image, and I will also revisit the idea of using some digital magic to play around with the idea of the 'picture inside of the picture'...but I just wasn't satisfied with this as my June self portait. June Self Portrait So...around 10pm (?) I started a new piece. My concept was to draw myself looking into a mirror, and the image of me in the mirror to show a little of Bettie's sassiness that I have been drawing and painting all month. I also wanted to work with the materials that I used all month; graphite and watercolor. So I did. Jumped up on Jessie's bathroom counter with my camera, started taking pics, had Jen help take pics...and just started the piece. Now that I have gotten over the idea that my self portraits will not all be the same size (last month I went larger and with a different shape in my monochromatic portrait) I was more comfortable with a piece on 18x24 Bristol. I was a little nervous that I would not be able to complete this larger size, but I did. I used the techniques that I worked with all month, and the work just happened. The homage to Bettie in the piece is the red lips, other than that it is a fairly straightforward portrait. And now... I am pretty exhausted, but I did take a peek at the theme for July...it's 'round'. I don't know what I am going to do. No idea. I guess I will sleep on it, maybe something will come to me. In the meantime, here are some pics from our 'art night'. . I am an early riser. I really do have a hard time sleeping in, regardless of how late I stay up. 8am this morning- I am up. Per usual, I get up and start my day…but the mix of the early start and the blah weather brought spurts of productivity. (Right...randomness at casa de Gironda....Mackie thinks he can fit in this box. I didn't have the heart to tell him otherwise. It doesn't have much to do with art, but it was pretty cute.) ...uh, I digress...this is what my morning was like...easily distracted... I don’t know where the time goes…all of a sudden its 12pm and the new canvas is set up on the easel. I must say, it felt like Christmas morning taking the wrapping off of the canvas, it is a bit of a chore since it is larger than I have been working…30x40 to be exact. Grabbed my pencil and my Sharpie marker and just started drawing…pretty soon I had the beginnings of a tree. And somewhere along the way the word LOVE appeared on my tree. Then I stopped around 1pm…at some point I sketched out a few designs on some small canvases (posted farther down) ...and now here it is 8pm and that canvas is still in the sketch phase…not a scrap of paint on the surface. But I did do some art-related things today, the usual trip to Michael’s (I insist that I do NOT need a reason to go there…) and…oh yeah, WE LAUNCHED TIPSY ART TODAY! Yes! Now that is where some of the day went. It feels great to have set out a little over a month ago and today make that idea and reality. The website is live, the Facebook page is ready….sure, we will add some things to both, but it’s really there. Don’t believe me? Go to www.tipsyart.com. It is for real. We did it! (Right) A few little things I quickly sketched out...will be examples for the T'Art site at a later date.... Preparing for the week…Halloween tomorrow, my favorite holiday…gotta get ready for FAEA conference in St. Petersburg, I can’t wait to see the new Salvador Dali Museum…but I know my mind if going to be on this new painting…my eyes living in each shape, wondering what colors will live there…and where this work will take me. I love this feeling…inspiration. My friend, fellow artist, and muse Jessie posted this on our new web and the truth in the statement haunts me, so I will share it; "If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."-Vincent Van Gogh Yep, it’s kind of like that. So…our AC is out. Boo. The repairman is coming on Monday…until then…just trying to stay as still as possible and as close to the fan as possible. Painting seems to work, not a ton of movement. I even got a table easel so I could sit and work vertically and be more comfortable. As for the fan…staying close…only problem is it is drying my paint faster so …got..to..speed…up. I took a few pictures as I worked, I like seeing the lighting change…makes me feel all disciplined and stuff. Still working on the ‘word fixation’ pieces. I had worked on these a bit last weekend during a blur of creativity known as the infamous ‘girls art weekend’. Wow, I really got some work done. Didn’t have time to work on these during the week, but I feel like I got a good start…just waiting to see where it goes. PRODUCTIVE. Yep, me. Productive...producing...making...creating...could not SLEEP because I was feeling so inspired...going to sleep at 3:00am only to wake up at 7:45am to paint some more...That was my weekend. I made some art, looked at art, talked about art, and figured at a new business related to art...more to come on that one. For now...here are the pics from a great weekend... It has been a busy week so far...teaching my 8th graders how to stipple, making a contour line drawing of a shoe into an imaginative piece of art with 7th grade, learning about line with 6th grade, teaching how to create values with tempera paint with 5th...and my JV cheerleaders have their first game tomorrow...yep, that has kept me busy. But wait, this is an art blog. Why, yes it is, but it is also a 'hey, this is what my week is like and this is how I am trying to find time to paint despite it all because if I don't make art I will burst' blog...so, a minute to paint here...a minute to paint there...and little by little, progress, at least in my classroom studio...
|
AuthorArtist and Art Teacher
|