this coming monday....

i didn't mention this before but i will be a guest teacher this monday with kathy o. at the stamp addict -on el cajon blvd. san diego (619) 667-5060. we are putting together a small book with stamping and a few surprise applications.
www.thestampaddict.com for info. it is a pretty inexpensive class. you will learn some stuff and be entertained too.
maybe i will see you then.

speaking of applications, have you seen the art coming from artists who have iphones? there is a brushes application that permits an artist to have some pretty awesome looking art. there are no pigments, brushes, paper and other things to carry around, just the iphone. and the clean up is nil.
i heard it costs just $4.99.
check it out on youtube.

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computer work...

our netgear expired. it died. so we were on only one computer with internet for over a week until my husband had time to get a new one and install it.
because the computer was down - my daily life changed. i suddenly had time on my hands. i didn't realize how much time i actually spent on the computer. don't tell my husband because that would prove he was right. he is always saying that i spend too much time on (that damn) computer. humph. i told him i do a lot of my work on the computer - i am not just socializing, i am networking!

what does he know, anyway? he never even reads this blog! i could be talking about him and he wouldn't know it. like i am now.

i love it when he is talking to someone, like a client, and that person tells him about things they read on my blog. things about our family. like, how our daughter has done is a swim meet or that we have relatives visiting --- he always looks puzzled - how did you know that?

i read your wife's blog.

ahahahahaha!

i asked him one time, hey, how come you have never read my blog?
he said,
"i don't believe in blogs."

what kind of answer is that?
you don't have to believe to read.

so some of his colleagues read it. many of our mutual friends read it, too. of course.

when he learns of things that involve our weekend - upcoming receptions, shows, swim meets, from clients--- not only is this embarrassing - it kinda snaps him into reality! this proves i am the queen supreme communicator in our family.
that's what blogs are for, aren't they?

i find that we communicate better if i email him at work. the point is understood this way better than face to face or on the phone. i suppose if i wrote him a letter and mailed it, it might work pretty well too.

Dear Gastone:
Tonight we are having roast chicken, please bring home milk.
Sincerely,
The Wife

nah, i would never get there in time.

so, does this happen to you?
come to think of it - it is best to communicate with my kids by texting. they respond much faster than if i phone them or email them or use facebook to talk to them. forget writing a letter - for some reason those are hard for them to read - even if typed.
just texting. try it, it works.

the kids: they read my blog too. they read it to see if i have written something about them that i should not have made public. like i would - er, well, not on purpose anyway. : )

blogs are empowering.

canvas shopping today...

with my new friend -- my new collector!

i'm not rich, but i don't mind it being this way because.......my collector is!

sometimes i am totally floored at the wealth there is around us - i mean, i see people doing "just OK" near my neighborhood in nice houses that probably cost a couple of mil.
but then there are people who own entire city blocks, like my new friend.

then there are people - well maybe only one - that my artist friend joan irving recently finished a large glass public art project for - the one who owns the empire state building, NYC.
yep, the building is owned by one person - can you imagine?
this is what it must be like to meet him.
so mr. $$$, "do you own any property?"
"well, yes, i own a building in downtown manhattan."
"wow, a building in manhattan, must be nice - where is it located?"
"oh its easy to spot, it's the building with a pointy top - you know, the empire state building."

okay, i can't even write a good fake converstaiton about this it is so - well - beyond me.

the fat roll must go!

ARGH! i just saw a photo of myself on jenny doh's blog, www.jennydoh.typepad.com with ruth rae (a true sweetie pie)and all i can see is that damn jelly belly roll. argh. it is so stubborn. i have been swimming everyday and weight lifting (and situps) a couple times a week and walking up my huge ass hill e.v.e.r.y f-ing d.a.y and there that damn roll still sits. so annoying. i almost wish i was not such a (big fat)chicken - and get that belly liposucked out. but i can't --i'm too afraid of going under the knife - i mean, even if i had the extra $$$ to do it.


ok beyond the shock of seeing my own belly - i had a great time at the launch at barnes and noble in orange county. i had a great long visit with ruth rae and jenny doh and then 10 of us went to dinner together, which was a real treat and fun.
-- my family came with me - i mean: barnes and noble - there is plenty to do and its air conditioned.

which kinda reminded me of an old "married with children" episode - when the weather got really hot the "family" went to the local supermarket and found some lawn chairs and parked it with cool drinks (beer) in the refrigerator section for a day. sorta like that.
********* tomorrow:
i'm looking forward to having this big time collector come to my house tomorrow. i'm a bit anxious, but who wouldn't be. good thing the cleaning lady comes in the morning. not that the collector cares, i'm sure. i made a joke on facebook that i was worried what i should wear when a collector comes calling. i thought i was so funny because - of course a collector really couldn't care less about what i wear - or do they? i hope the joke is not on me.

did someone suggest diet?

orange county has weird people

ruth rae and i were sitting together (ruth had her sewing machine out) this lady who looked a bit "off" came up to us and just starred. there was a little box of dove chocolates being offered - she was eyeing that. finally ruth got into a conversation with her - explaining art quilting. ruth is very polite. but the lady wasn't tracking really you could tell. so i asked her, "do you sew?" oh yes she says very proud and suddenly inflated. i sew my husbands costumes. he is a clown in the mall - he does balloon animals.
now i really don't have anything against animal balloons or men in clown costumes hanging out in malls. er, per se.- nor the women who love them. i just couldn't see the connection with art quilting.
finally she asks, "are these chocolates for anyone?"
"yes, help yourself", ruth said.
she popped one in her mouth and was gone.

join me for "launch"...

today, sunday, i will be at the Orange County Town and Country Barnes and Noble for BOOKSIGNING for this new publication. join me, Jenny Doh and Ruth Rae! and others
it's at 2:00 p.m.!!!!

i will be in Orange County sunday

BARNES & NOBLE (HEARTS) ART QUILTING STUDIO
On Sunday, July 12th at the Orange Town & Country Barnes & Noble (791 South Main Street, Suite 100, Orange, CA 92868) ...

Cover artist Ruth Rae and Jenny Doh will be on hand to sign copies of the premier issue of Art Quilting Studio from 2:00 to 5:00 PM.

Hope you'll come by to see some of the fabulous art quilts live and in person, and to help celebrate the launching of Art Quilting Studio ... the heart and soul of art quilting.

paintover workshop

for instructions on doing paintovers you can still order this publication from stampington. i have 30 pages in there.


click sidebar image or

http://www.stampington.com/html/somerset_workshop_0801.html

it's somerset workshop vol. 4 from spring 2008.

summertime.......

my art work has a rhythm. creative juice often ebbs and flows - sometimes i have so many ideas they converge one atop the other - when this happens i have to make notes, sketches and to do lists. other times i feel the challenged to come up with something new. i get painter's block. i have a few tricks i use to overcome artist block. i will share them with you here.
first you might ask, why do you even worry about it - you don't need to be painting 24/7 - you are supported. why stress - if you have a block just wait for it to clear itself before moving on ....like, paint only when the mood is right.
well, this is not how i feel. i feel that i must be working at it constantly - i am very driven -too driven. probably.

besides i have assignments from the somerset studio publications - i am an artist on call for them, so there is deadline work.
which i love.

but overcoming a block --- most people who collect my work know that when i get "stuck" in a painting - i will just incorporate a fish. that's right. i will paint a fish into the composition to get me passed the "almost finished - only it just needs one more thing" feeling. i don't labor over the many, many possibilities, instead i give myself freedom - freedom in the form of a fish. any fish will do - mostly they are of the made up sort. recently i did an entire painting in fish because i was stumped before i started! that piece was recently showing at the escondido arts partnership show called "art and science". the piece was entitled "swim school". the fish were actually painted over photos of myself and others receiving swim awards, circa 1967. fun.

here are other ways i combat painter's block:


1. put the painting away for a day, use the next day's fresh eyes to crack the mystery.
2. make sure there are not too many conflicting colors fighting for attention. if this is so, i paint out one of the offending colors and then look at it with fresh eyes.
3. throw it on the ground, then throw magazine cutouts on top to see if one "works".
4. doodle on a separate piece of paper.
5. find my personal center - sometimes i can't finish a painting because i am not clear in the head. when i realize this, i take some time off and make a to do list.
6. look through my vast collection of artbooks, photography, graphics, letter forms, collage sheets, family album, cartoons and textiles. usually something will grab me - unfortunately what gabs me is not always what will work in the current painting - makes me want to start anew.
7. make a random mark on the painting and then work to resolve it.
8. paint at a different time of the day. usually i paint from 9:30 to 4 with an hour swim break. if i get up earlier - this often helps to break the block. sometimes, i wake up in the middle of the night and resolve my block then.
9. look at other artists work - those artist whose art i cherish - this isn't always paintings, i like to look at photography, dance and listen to music. sometimes i go to barnes and noble to see if there are any interesting new books.
10. go to an art store (very dangerous) look for different tools, different mediums and additives...
11. change up paintbrush size or use a different tool.
and the best way to over come painters block is to ask another artist for a critique.
so, what's your fish? some people use horses, hats, shoes, words, houses, embellishments, transparent papers or scrap papers, certain markings like watermarks, etc.