As Promised--Another Giveaway

And this time, it's a 2 for 1.  There'll be 1 winner who will receive 2 things.  The first is a print of my

Queen of Hearts--

I put her on a 5 x 7 canvas and then framed her on an old frame that I had and collaged and embellished it.

And the next is this great book ( I'm trying to "downsize" my book collection--that's a laugh)

This is a wonderful read  for any type of artist.  It's by Rice Freeman-Zachery.  She's interviews 15 different artists on how they go about creating in hopes to inspire you to create.  A couple names that everyone will know are Claudine Hellmuth and Michael DeMeng.  This is a very  informative book and also great artwork inside too!

So all you have to do is leave a comment on this post, and if you're a follower, let me know, and I'll put your name in twice.  You have until next Wednesday, the 26th.

This is my way of saying a big THANK YOU to all of you guys for encouraging me with your comments, and also for helping me do what I set out to when I started this blog--to learn and to grow!!  Good luck everyone!

Back From The Festival

And Holy Moly--look at the people--

I think it's safe to say that half the population of Rochester was there, plus surrounding areas.  These shots were taken on Saturday.  It was cold and later overcast, but okay,  considering how it could have been.  Yesterday was one of the most gorgeous days I've seen in a LONG time--it was perfect.  And people were definitely out enjoying the beautiful weather.   Sales weren't great, but they never are for me on a Sunday, but I didn't care--I was just enjoying the day. 

So, I wanted you to meet a couple more of my artist friends.  First of all, I had to get my booth all ready--

And down the same row that I was in, was Jen.  The name of her businsess is P.S. Enjoy Your Life (how much do you love that title?!)  I met Jen  last year at her very first art show. She may be just starting out, but you would never know it.   When we first met, we just  clicked,  and all I have to do is show you her art, and then you'll know why (you can click on the photos to get a better view)--

The smaller pieces are prints on 3.5'' x 4.5'' resin coated woodblocks, and don't you love that large piece that she had on the outside of her tent. It's always good to display an attention-getter like this to get people inside your booth. And underneath the painting  are these--

These are resin-filled coasters with vintage bottle caps!--Cool!

So at the end of the show, we bartered, and this is what I picked out from her--

And now you know why we're kindred spirits!  And she does have a website---p.s.enjoy your life--just click on the title.

And then, at the end of my row, was Roland.  Roland is a metal artist.  My husband and I met Roland back in the 90's when he was just starting out also.  I remember--he had all of his work and tent in the back of a pick-up truck.  It was a craft show, and to this day  it's in  the top 10 list of one of the worst shows that I've been in, BUT,  it's  also in the top 10  list of one of the most enjoyable shows that I've been in because Roland was our neighbor, and  all we did that whole weekend was laugh--Roland is one of a kind.  His booth  is a double one, so it was hard to get a good shot--here's the front--

So-this is what he specializes in, and I'm taking this description right off of his website--Roland's creations are constructed from metal spikes, rods, rivets and other pieces of steel.   And they're all of different professions, and also custom ordered too.  And I mean EVERY profession--

Are you kind of getting the idea of Roland's wit?  ; )

And every year, he features a couple of larger pieces that he's designed.  This year it's a spider monkey and owl, and notice the spiders next to the owl--

This next photo is Roland's personal favorite--

And I can't talk about Roland without mentioning his wife Maria--I'm pretty sure that she is his rock.  She's great, and I'm thinking a very patient person (I may be wrong, but I think you might need a little bit of patience with Roland.....but in a good way : )  It was so great to see them both.  Roland's website is (and again, just click on the title)

roland metal art

So, as you can see, I had a great weekend, and I could go on, but this post is getting WAY too long.  I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm going to have another giveawy in my next post--just to thank everyone for following and stopping by to leave comments.  I always, always appreciate this!!

Ready To Go & I've Been Featured!!

And I have a few more pieces that I finished before I leave--

Okay,  can you not tell the I've been watching The Tudors (I love that series!) She is reminding me of Jane Seymour--that would be Henry's 3rd wife after he "got rid" of Anne Boleyn.  Jane's body is actually an old bottle that I altered--she was fun to put together.  I think I'm going to do this again.

And I finished my magazine stand--

I'll be leaving tomorrow morning, (so far, the weather is looking better) and won't be back until Sunday night, BUT I will be packing the internet with me so I can check in from time to time--I love my little Dell!   Don't you just love modern technology?!

And lastly, yes--I am featured on Mixed Media Artist's blog today--Thank You Cyndi--this makes my day!!!  Go check it out everyone--just click on her blog name.

My Weekend

I hope everyone  enjoyed  their Mother's Day weekend.  Last year on Mother's Day, I was in the Lilac Festival, but this year , for some reason,  (and I'm thanking God for this one) they're starting it a week later. On Saturday, both here and Rochester, there was a high wind warning and later rain, of course. And yesterday morning in Rochester (I checked their weather--this is the time of year when I go into my weather obsession mode-- when I start doing outdoor shows) it was in the lower 30's with light snow. So, needless to say, I'm glad that they changed the weekend. 

I just basically stayed home and went into "production" mode for next weekend.  This happens all the time --I know I have a show coming up, but I still take my time, you know,  just enjoying the process of art making, but now I have to start "working"--but don't get me wrong,  I love my "job"!!!

So this is what I did this weekend, I did this mirror (boy, it's hard trying to get a good photo of a mirror)--

I've been finding these jewelry embellishments at Michael's for the last couple of months that are on clearance. Everytime I go there, I'll pick up a few. They still have a good amount left. I just added color to these with alcohol inks to match the piece.

Metal washers make really good flower centers!

And I finished my box--

Inside and out.

And I started this--

I'll post this again later when I finish it.

So as you can see, I had to "work" this weekend, and I was as happy as a clam!  My daughter and son-in-law did treat us on Saturday to  lunch at a local family restaurant with great food.   And I figured as long as I was out that I would hit some garage sales even though the weather was horrid--and I'm glad I did--look what I picked up--

Three cupboard doors for a grand total of 50 cents! 

Work In Progress--Taking What I've Learned

I've had to put my online classes on hold for a while so I can get ready for my show next week.  However, I'm taking what I've learned so far and putting them in my art pieces.  I started this box--

First thing I did was take this old box (you know how I like to take the old and make it new again)

The front of it is perfect--it  has a textured design right in the wood already, so all I did was layer some paint on it.  And then I made a background from what I learned in Sharon's class--All Norah's Art.

 

 Then I transfered the inkjet copy of this castle, which is another technique that I learned from her class.  I actually like to do inkjet transfers better than the toner copies. I seem to get less of the fuzzies. I found this free image on Artefacts blog.  Actually, it wasn't the main image--it was in the background, but it's what I was looking for. This is a great blog with alot of vintage free images--just click on the name.  The reason, I wanted to use this castle-like image, is that I wanted to keep up with the Tudor theme that I'm learning in Suzi's class.

When I was creating this face, I was also watching the lesson of Suzi's, and she was well into her painting when she decided to change the features of her face, because she knew they weren't right--so she fixed them.  Well, I wasn't liking my nose (I'm having SO much problems with these noses at this angle!) I watched how she did her corrections, and I followed along, and now I'm happier with the nose.  Normally, I would have been afraid to do this, but I just watched her and I was able to do it! 

So this is Mother's Day weekend in the U.S., and I hope everyone has a wonderful day on Sunday.  Our weather isn't looking too promising, but it's Spring, and that's all that matters!  So happy Mother's Day everyone!!

The Lilac Festival

That's the name of my next art show  that I'll be in.  It starts the week after next, and it runs for 10 days.  On both weekends is the art show, but I'm just doing the first one.  If you like lilacs, then you would love this festival.  It's in Rochester, New York in Highland Park--with 1,200 bushes and over 500 varieties of lilacs.  Martha Stewart even went there in 2007 and enjoyed it very much, from what I hear.  So what's the 

Lillac Festival without some kind of lilac art?--

I started out with one of my favorite surfaces--an old cupboard door that I painted and then I collaged the outside border with my papers and also some handmade paper that I had--

I didn't even remember that I had this pack of handmade paper.  I love it--it's very textured and it has dried leaves and flower petals in it.  I stamped on it--you can't really paint on it, unless you spray some sort of sealer on it.

 Just great texture!

I really like working with these doors, because they have their own built-in frame.

And I haven't just painted in a while--so that's how I wanted to complete this --just get out the paints and go!

 

A Thank You To Jane

Like alot of you out there, I am a self-taught mixed media artist. I  never attended art school --  so I was never really  taught  about compostion, placement, color, etc. etc.--whatever--I'm glad that I didn't, because then I would feel that I was breaking the "rules" of art, which we all know is silly--there are no rules to how we make art--we just listen to our creative spirit and create!

But that' s not to say that I've never needed to be taught anything--I have, and I'm grateful for everything that I've learned with my online classes.

But I've also learned   ALOT  through art books.

And the artists who write these books are my teachers.  One of my favorite teachers is Jane Davies.  I have both of these books by her--

Collage Journeys is her latest book, and whenever I need inspiration, I'll always go here.  It's page after page of wonderful collages by her and other collage artists also. She shares many techniques, and the last chapter is about journaling and she even includes directions on how to make your own journal.  I just love looking through this book over and over again. 

And another book of hers  that I have is  Collage With Color, and it's exactly that--colorful

 collage!

How can you not be inspired by this?!  This book is my workbook.  She talks about color and compostiion, and she has a chapter on making patterned papers with different painting techniques, which  I've  used  to paint my papers.  There are even more that I've yet to try. So Thank You Jane Davies for being one of my favorite teachers!  And she is coming out with a new book soon!!

I also wanted to tell you about a fantastic giveaway on Laura's blog Found Memories Art.  If you are a collage artist, you will love this giveaway.  She is filling up a box with collage items--you would not believe all the goodies that she's giving away--so go take a look.  You have until noon, May 4--just click on her blog name, and it will take you right over.