I Won A Blog Giveaway....!

Just a little shout out of thanks over to Melissa B., money-saving and debt-reduction blogger of "Mom's Plans".   I've been following Melissa's blog for some time now -- she and her spouse had incurred substantial debt via student loans/credit cards, but successfully turned that ship around and are now working aggressively toward becoming debt-free.  And while they still have some ways to go, they've made great strides in a short time and are so committed in their repayment efforts I've no doubt they'll reach their financial goals. In any case, I do get a kick out of entering blog giveaways when I stumble across them, but of course rarely (if ever?) win -- so what a hoot....!  (Plus a nice little 'cheer-me-up' after a sad week having lost our little dog.)  And so just what prize exactly was it that I won, pray tell....?   Apparently 4 dozen bars of a snack item from a company called 'Vitalicious'  (the original giveaway post on 'Mom's Plans' here) -- how cool is that...???  I've requested they actually be sent to my teen son, who, as I've written previously, is away studying hard at ballet school -- thinking they'll make a good snack for him to grab and go, and I know he'll appreciate the treat.  So thanks again for hosting the lovely giveaway, Melissa/'Mom's Plans' -- fun times indeed....!

Hard to say Goodbye....

Sigh.   I'm writing this with such a heavy heart.  Our little old-lady dog, much beloved and cherished by my family for so many years, is ailing, as she has now for the last two weeks.   I've been nursing her to the best of my ability, but without improvement -- as such it's clear to us all that she's just not going to pull through this.  With her quality of life in question, we're likely going to make the very difficult and painful decision tomorrow to have her put down.  And while she is 15 after all, and has had what we know is a long and happy life with us, it doesn't make it any easier to say goodbye.  In fact it breaks my heart, but we have to be strong and do what we understand is best.   In any case, I know everyone is always declaring one's own dog as extra special, but trust me when I say that our little Katy truly is and always has been.  Such a good, super sweet temperament all these many years, with amazing patience and loyalty, complete safety with kids, and real smarts.  Never a speck of trouble.  One of these days soon when I'm more collected I intend to compose a blog post in tribute to her....

In the meantime, on a happier note, I'm posting pics taken during my family's little weekend excursion to the megalopolis of Chicago last week (where, indeed, I got my Big City fix on.  It had been awhile)....

Don't know what Chi-towners refer to it by, but I call it the 'Big Jelly Bean'.  In Millennium Park.

My Daughter, next to The Bean

My daughter's and my reflection in the Bean, looking like a fun house mirror...

The view from our downtown hotel, from the 24th floor (you can just make out the River in the distance)

Waiting to take a downtown architectural river boat tour....

Making our way down the Chicago River.  We were lucky the weather was so lovely.

Passing by the well-known Tribune Tower, with its gothic topper...

One of the newest additions to the CHGO skyline, the Trump Tower......

Marina City Towers -- I've always loved these....

Chicagoans call them the Corn Cob buildings --fair enough (but when I lived there I always referred to them as the 'Jetson' Buidings)....

The massive Merchandise Mart building, in all its fine, Art Deco glory.....

The Building Formerly Known as Sears Tower....

Another funky, round, reinforced concrete apartment complex, by the same architect as the Marina City Towers earlier....

Another view of the brand spankin' new Trump Tower....

The building here in the middle (behind the other two), called Aqua, is also new, and significant in that it's the tallest building in the world to have been designed by a female architect, by the name of Jeanne Gang (our hotel was across the street)...

After our river boat tour, we took a stroll along Navy Pier, taking in the gorgeous Lake views....

We enjoyed the Stained Glass Museum at Navy Pier -- so many gorgeous examples of Tiffany Glass, and all of it backlit....

Another Tiffany glassworks, so pretty....

This caught my eye...a vintage glass window piece made from a collection of glass pot lids -- how cool is that...?

There was a collection of these cast iron pieces for weary walkers to rest upon.  Wish I could have a few for my yard.

The Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier that, despite the earliness of the season, was up, ready and running, thanks to freakishly nice March weather.....

And but of course we had to go on it.

View from up in the ferris wheel, looking down on Navy Pier.  Glad I'm not bothered by heights...

What a great weekend trip....!

My Upcycled Painting Support Project....

What is this, a torture rack...?  But no, it's an Art of Patience DIY upcycled picture-frame project!

So, as I have stated in my blog numerous times by now..., for the last several years I have been participating in my very own personal art supply shopping moratorium.  As explained in this older post, and this one..., some time ago I came to the conclusion that most of what I need to create meaningful and interesting art is already in my own possession -- by way of the art supplies I'd collected over the years, materials that pass through my life and hands during the course of an ordinary day, and, most importantly, my own ingenuity.  A wish to turn away from our culture's rampantly excessive consumerism, and a will to avoid excessively contributing to our nation's waste stream, has lead me to get creative in finding alternatives to the purchase of certain traditional art supplies.  One of these has been coming up with my own  alternative painting supports, typically involving the recycling/upcycling of old picture frames and such like that I acquire second-hand, often just prior to their final destination, the local landfill.  Here is a wee photo essay of one recent DIY upcycled frame project:

A few years back, at the end of a charity rummage sale for which I'd volunteered, I was invited to take this red...whatever it was..., home with me:

A 25' x 14.5" Red...Thing.

I think it's possibly a chalkboard-holder thingie (by which one can remove a chalkboard from a slit in the top, write a menu on it and then replace it)?  In any case, with no chalkboard it was pretty much useless as it was, and clearly unwanted.  I was attracted to its elegant dimensions (25" x 14.5"), plus the sumptuous little curvy shapes at the top, which called to my mind something akin to Mexican Retablo and Ex Voto.  I decided the Red Thing had potential, and schlepped it home determined to turn it into something useful (or in other words, 'make something from nothing')....

I finally decided recently to give it a go, which required breaking out tools:

Hand's On Project

In addition to tools I grabbed some scrap wood found in our ancient garage (that had been in there since we moved in over a decade ago).....

I decided to cut the scrap wood to fit into the space where the chalkboard (?) would have fit, in order to fill in the space as well as to create a  more elegant surface upon which to paint:

Trying out sizes

My carpentry skills leave much to be desired I'm sure, but I can at least manage the basics....:

Fits well enough...

Once the wood was cut to fit it was just a matter of gluing it all in securely, and applying the wood clamps:

Handy things, wood clamps

Success!  I now have a new 'canvas' all ready to paint, making use of what was essentially useless, unwanted stuff...!

I did rather like how it looked, with the different wood colours, etc -- however I don't care for painting on naked wood, so decided it best to give it the black gesso treatment:

Now I have only to decide my subject matter (and hmm, I'm thinking perhaps another Frida tribute portrait/piece might be in order.....?)....

My usual blurb about my use of old frames:

I have recently begun painting almost exclusively on supports I create myself utilising the old, salvaged, wooden picture frames that cross my path from time to time (usually for free). I feel good about giving these unwanted homeless items a second life, not only because trees were cut down at some point to produce them, but also because by the time I get my hands on them they are usually destined for the landfill. The process of recycling these vintage frames into painting supports/canvases can be a lengthy one -- in this case cutting scrap wood to fit and gluing it all into place.  The end effect is an unusual, one-of-a-kind and ready-to-hang 'canvas' which will ultimately add interest and depth to my painting, complete with a built-in frame....

My Tableau, 'A Bird in the Hand', Featured on EBSQ's Front Page for March

'A Bird in the Hand': 12 x 16  Sculptural Relief Tableau

What a lovely surprise!  It seems my sculpture relief piece, 'A Bird in the Hand' (as I wrote about for Day 21 of the Challenge) is being  featured for the month of March on the front page of the EBSQ (the online community for self-representing artists) website:

Screenshot of EBSQ's Front Page, featuring my Tableau, 'A Bird in the Hand'...

.

I think I understand it will be up for the duration of the month -- at any rate, I'm tickled to have been chosen....Thanks so much, EBSQ...!  (for a link to EBSQ, click here)....

Side View

Side View

Day 29, of the '29 Faces in February' Challenge: Last, But Not Least.......

Day 29 of the '29 Faces in February' art blog Challenge.....! 

I can hardly believe this is to be my last post, and last Face...!   Well strictly speaking of the CHALLENGE, that is -- because there will still be plenty more 'faces' and posts from me to come.  After painting daily for an entire month, with all the focus and intensity that the Challenge afforded, I'm very much looking forward to continuing my full-time art studio ventures post-challenge.  I have all matter of concepts and ideas swimming round my head now, for which I have the Challenge to directly thank. It really was such a good exercise for me, not to mention educational and productive, and I wish to thank Ayala of Ayala Art, for initiating and launching such a great concept in the first place, as well as for all her behind-the-scenes organisation and promotional work.  A big thanks also to all my fellow Challenge participants for sharing and inspiring me with their fabulous art, and to everyone who followed along with my progress this month, and who took the time to contact me with such lovely comments and kind words.  Thanks so much, Everyone -- your interest in my artwork is truly appreciated.....!

And so, without further ado, my Face for Day 29, last day of the 

'29 Face in February' Challenge,
a Work-in-Progress entitled "Urban Currents":

"Urban Currents": 15 x 17 WIP on self-made support incorporating a salvaged old picture frame

One thing I am so grateful to the Challenge for, was how it provided me with the structure I apparently needed to finally get serious with so many hanging projects of mine (see my 'Pile of Shame' post), and this was yet another.   Using as I do old, found picture frames that I stumble across and salvage to create my painting supports, this particular frame is exactly the same size and shape as the piece featured for Day 16, 'Forgiving River'.  Therefore, as its default companion piece, I felt compelled to give it a somewhat similar theme,  yet also very different....

As many of you can probably guess, I'm a nature lover at heart, which I believe is often reflected in my artwork.  However, contrastingly  I also adore cities, even very large cities, having lived in the great megalopolis of Chicago for a time, as well as within the major metropolitan area of Milwaukee, WI, and finding as I did all their many cultural amenities highly stimulating.  Both Chicago and Milwaukee, like most big cities, have large, fast moving rivers that wind their way through their city centers, and so I decided to go with a more urban flavour here in contrast to the natural setting of its companion piece, using the shape to help dictate my design.  Thanks to my canvas-building technique, this piece is loaded with  texture, which adds a lot of depth and dimension, and while I can't yet officially add this to my list of completed works, I did get a heck of a lot farther along it while painting today than it had been ever been before the Challenge.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
My usual statement regarding my incorporation of old 'found' frames into my artwork:

"...have recently begun painting almost exclusively on supports I create myself utilising the old, salvaged wooden picture frames that cross my path from time to time (usually for free). I feel good about giving these unwanted homeless items a second life, not only because trees were cut down at some point to produce them, but also because by the time I get my hands on them they are usually destined for the landfill. The process of recycling these vintage frames into painting supports/canvases is a lengthy one, typically involving stabilizing the frames (which can be quite rickety), cutting thick paperboard to fit, securing it all and pasting and building up a painting surface with layers of overlapping scraps of paper. The end effect is a highly textured surface that adds dimension and depth to my paintings, complete with a built-in frame (onto which I often extend my painted images, incorporating the frames into the overall piece) into one cohesive, ready-to-hang whole...."

Nibblefest Art Contest: 'MoonShadow' wins 3rd Place....!

"MoonShadow" places Third in Nibblefest...!

Good news!  Just found out  my entry, "MoonShadow", won Third Place in February's Nibblefest Art Contest -- hooray, I'm thrilled....!   Thanks, Nibblefest!  (See Nibblefest's Facebook Fan Page here)

Day 28 of the '29 Faces' Challenge, and Now For Something Completely Different: UNpainted Rocks....

UNpainted Rock People, in the Raw.....

Day 28 of the '29 Faces of February' art blog Challenge!  We are finally here, the second-to-last day of February -- who can believe it all ends tomorrow......?

Aside from being Day 28 today, it was also Tuesday, which happens to be my busiest day of the week.   Today was no exception, as I was out of the house for most of it.  So while I wasn't able to spend a lot of time in my studio today, I do have some Faces I took photos of tonight to share that I'm hoping will be of interest to many of you.....

As most of you must know by now, I love painting what I call "Rock People" -- the little faces and figures and such like that I spy hiding within the natural bumps, cracks and crevices of ordinary rocks.  I'm always on the lookout for these especially characteristic rocks wherever I happen to be.  Only, in my dozen or so years of searching however, I've come to realise just how rare and extraordinary they actually are.  By far most of the time, a rock turns out to be just that....a plain old, ordinary rock.  But I'm going to share with you here two rocks I have that are as yet UNpainted, just to demonstrate to anyone what these rocks look like in the 'raw' as I find them.....

The first one is a chunk of what I'm guessing to be limestone (yes, I took ONE course in Geology in college).  I think it's a pretty incredible find because it has not one, but TWO faces that are very clearly and obviously carved into the stone, by Mother Nature herself.   Everybody I show this one to is always pretty astonished -- the faces are simply THAT apparent, for all to see (here's hoping my photography tonight doesn't fail me!).  Note especially  that unlike all the other rocks I've featured, this rock is completely UNPAINTED -- I used only a bit of graphite pencil this afternoon along some of the cracks and edges of the rock just to help distinguish the features for the sake of photography:

Meet the 'Old Man/Old Woman'.... 

Two Faces clearly carved into the rock, one on each side.

Do you see them too?  The 'Old Woman' on the right, and the 'Old Man' on the left....?

Here with slightly different lighting....

Let's take a closer look at the Old Woman shall we...?

Just look at that eye socket and nose.  And that beautifully unmistakable CHIN...!

So much character, and in a rock!

She has a lovely jawline and hairline too -- really, can you describe this as anything other than Nature's Sculpture....?

 And now, let's take a look at her companion, the 'Old Man'.....

Nostrils, eyes, mouth -- it's all there. And dont' you love his pensive expression....!

A very sumptuous lipline.  Please tell me you see it too!

A little on the tipsy side, I'm making this rock stand upright for optimal pics:

This angle shows off his sculpted nose pretty well....

I see them as an old married couple, bonded one to the other, for all eternity....

A truly amazing find, in my humble opinion....

Pretty remarkable, no?  So special in fact, that though I discovered this rock ages ago, in the decade or so that it's been in my possession, I've never been able to bring myself to actually paint it.  And don't know if I ever shall.  They just seem so perfect in themselves, y'know....?  I like to tongue-in-cheekly refer to what I do as 'liberating' the Rock People -- but really, when it comes down to it, these two don't need any 'help'  from me....

And now for fun, another very special 'raw' rock, that was 'hiding in plain site' on me, for who knows how long....

Meet, 'Elly'....

"Elly', the wee elephant rock....

'Elly' the Elephant was (re)discovered only recently.  Let me explain.... As you can probably imagine, I'm pocketing rocks all the time to bring home.  Even though precious few rocks actually contain these perfect wee figure that I'm constantly searching for, I'm still always on the lookout for them should they cross my path.  Even when in doubt, with nothing immediately jumping out at me on a rock, if it happens to be shapely...?  My gut compulsion is to bring it home anyway.  As such, I've amassed quite a large 'reject' rock pile in my yard, to be incorporated into my garden landscaping.  Well it was only a few months ago, one day in late fall, when I was raking some leaves off our patio.  I felt a rock tumbling under my rake, caught up as it was in some leaves I was raking, and so I reached down to pick it up and toss it back onto its pile.  Only as I did so, I was stunned to look down and see an elephant face pop right out at me...!  It was especially stunning, because, being outside and all, it meant that this particular fellow had at some point been formerly REJECTED by me, possibly years ago.    How I missed seeing this little guy before is beyond me, because it's as plain to me now as the nose on my face!  (Or the trunk on an elephant, whatever metaphor you care to use).  I guess it just goes to show you, when in doubt, don't throw it out....!  (and it makes me want to revisit ALL my yard rocks again, just to see what else I've missed!).....

Elephant Face!  Her Left Side....

Her Right Side....

She looks a little like a wee shy baby to me -- with her ears and trunk all really apparent....

Remember, raw rock here, unpainted -- but can't you see her too...?

So here's hoping you enjoyed my especially Special faces for Day 28 of the Challenge....!  (and for any newcomers, here is my usual blurbie about my painted rock art....):

Typically, a rock... is just a rock. But sometimes, when luck smiles upon me, very special ones reveal themselves. Then I 'see' Rock People, little figures hidden within the naturally formed bumps, corners and crevices of ordinary stones -- Nature's very own sculpture. With the help of a bit of paint, I enjoy 'liberating' these unique wee folk for others to enjoy as well.....  

 (To see more of my painted rocks, click on the 'Painted Rocks' label for this post -- as well as visiting my Painted Rock Gallery on EBSQ)....