falling behind

note the last two weeks.

empty.

I need to get back on track.

thursday... a day for art.

i was worried leaving my little plants for a month, but they seem to have survived.

tomatoes are ripe.

lavender is blooming.

but the poor potatoes are floundering.

i was investigating the container where they are all popping out of the soil

and discovered one little potato that wasn't even connected to anything.

i held it in my hand like a little bird egg.

and then ate it.

and it did not taste good.

today is my art all day - day.

but i couldn't seem to get started.

so i rode my bike between the two thunderstorms.

and got re-inspired.

I made my favorite card to date.

designed a tag for when I become a graffiti artist

i cut a stencil of it and tested it. it looks good.

(but it will remain unseen incase i decide to go rouge and tag up charlotte. I don't want to be tied to it.)

then started two other secret projects.

for some special people.

maybe for you.

A full day's work

Lots of work.
art. work.
building and finishing four new frames.
getting caught up on my cards again.

Starting work on a longboard for my friend jon.
handywoman skills being put to work.
removing hardware
goo-gone-ing like crazy to get the grip tape stickyness off
a quick sanding.
an acrylic base - and it's ready to paint!


a summer full time job.
art all day.

I finished something.

last night,  I built these frames. and this evening framed two of my cards. I finished them and couldn't stop smiling, because I rarely actually see things through to completion. and I thought these turned out pretty nice - a little lopsided, but that gives them character.

My new summer goal is to build frames for all of my cards. I imagine they would look amazing all on display together.  Maybe I'll need an art show. I have ideas. wheels are turning.

New Works

card from last week

 Cath and I bought this old window to make into a glass table. but first, I painted it.

a work in progress

carded.

Week 9 :: Feb. 28- March 6 :: pushing the curtain up to reveal life.

Week 10:: March 7 - March 13 :: mapping life in interlocks.

this is the first week I've finished before the week was over. and it was finished on Tuesday. I was inspired.

cycling

Feb 21-27::
last weeks card is about cycles, breaking cycles, turning things on their head and re-imagining the way that things could be.

New space, new thoughts

I moved yesterday to a new house. and I have a new desk. I feel completely inspired again.

I finished my latest card for my card project, and it might be my favorite one yet. I'm still taking blurry pictures of the cards. I need to get out my tripod and put it to use. There are two other cards that are "finished" from the two weeks prior, but I'm not ready to take pictures of them yet, because I'm not happy with them.

I was thinking about my art today while sitting at church, and the way I approach the idea of finished work.  The sermon today was on growing in a relationship with God, and that we're a work in progress - an unfinished work - we are striving toward being finished, but will never actually finish - or reach that perfection, and that it's frustrating sometimes when we see things wrong with ourselves, but can do nothing to fix them - especially in a relationship with God - where we are so flawed.

So I was thinking, if I project my spiritual life - my relationship with God into my paintings, then maybe that's why I have a hard time creating a finished work, because I -as a person - am never finished. In my paintings I white wash, paint over, re-draw, leave parts of paintings exposed, change and cover other parts. Just the same way I approach my life - always looking for a way to move, challenge the way I think about things, re-create myself - look for change and movement in my life... I myself am a work in progress, so that is reflected in my creation. I guess this is one of the ways that I insert myself into my art. I'm still thinking about this and working out what it all means, but I think it might lead to something interesting with my next cards. I always like to think about my art in new ways, and what it all means, and why i create the way I do - and why I create at all.

so much fun...

a new season of Girls on the Run started today and I already love my team. it's true, girls on the run is so much fun!

 and i finished my card from last week, and then took that blurry picture of it. I got a little worried because I didn't start it until Saturday and as of 7:30 tonight it was unfinished, and I was contemplating quitting the project - yes, 4 weeks in and already ready to throw in the paintbrush. But due to some things I've been thinking about lately (as in yesterday and today) I realized that I cannot keep starting projects and not following through, so I finished it. I don't love it, but it's done, and I can move on to this week's card.

and last Friday after school I had girly craft time with some fourth graders. We made bead and feather earrings. they turned out kind of amazing.

Progress

the first three weeks of my project.
without intending it, the first two cards ended up with the upward pointing arrows. maybe it's telling me to look up.
last week i cleaned my acrylic paint palette and modge podged the paint onto the card for the week.
i decided not to limit the materials that i use in any way - or the subject matter. i have given myself complete freedom to complete each card however i feel like.
when each card is finished, i've been pinning it onto a black foam core board.
and this week...i've been carrying my card around with me in my purse, but haven't been inspired yet. it's a second half of the week kind of card.

a project for 2011

it's in the cards

Last year, I started a project on twitter: draw 365 - a challenge to draw every day, and post it to my twitter. it was great... for about 150ish days (I would link to my twitter for the documentation of this, but sadly it was all lost with the deletion of my account - go figure... some pictures are here on flickr.)

So this year, I needed a project that would give me a little more grace - a weekly project, rather than daily sounded good. 52 works to complete in a year. ok, I thought - there are 52 cards in a deck of cards - and a small painting a week is totally do-able.  So I bought a deck, gessoed the fronts, and labeled the backs with weekly dates for the year. And so far, so good. 3 are done. One is on my desk ready to start for this week. Project. begun.