Art Show This Weekend!

It's 6:07 am. The car is loaded with art, prints, cards, books & t-shirts. We'll leave at 8:20am. and I'll set it all up.

Open Studio Weekend is today and tomorrow, 11 - 5pm, at ArtSpace, 555 Asylum Ave. Hartford.

It looks to be a rainy weekend, so if you're in town, why not come by and look at some art?

I'll post pics (maybe) tomorrow morning! Wish me luck!!!

Eyeglass Case

Because the theme for the art show this year is 20/20, the group running it (Artists in Real Time) wanted to try something different. They asked participating artists to decorate an eyeglass case to sell at the show. All the funds raised go to Art Space.

So here's my case:

I'm very happy with how it turned out but I will say it was a wee bit more time consuming than I originally planned. I was looking for something to take about 90 - 120 minutes. This probably took closer to 3 - 4 hours.

I was going to stop with the top and leave the bottom black - but the perfectionist in me just couldn't do it! I was COMPELLED to finish it.

But I'm happy with it and I hope it finds a happy buyer.

In health news, Magoo is back at school. I kept him home yesterday but he probably could have gone. His cough lingers, but by this point he should no longer be contagious, his fever is gone, and his energy is fine. I sent him with a water bottle and a good attitude for learning!

Countdown to art show: 4 days. My goals today: finish t-shirts and make wash & care cards for them .

Friday Art 'n' Stuff

Last night I read Magoo Seen Art by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. It's about a boy looking for his friend Art. The people he asks misunderstand him and direct the boy to NY's Museum of Modern Art, MoMA.

I love it, although I think the basic concept might have been lost on Magoo.

Anyway, we get to the painting above, Sea Grasses and Blue Sea by Milton Avery, and Magoo says, "It's upside down."

I'm curious as to what he thinks it is. So I rotate the book and say, "What does it look like?"

Magoo smiles, "Just right."

Unfortunately Magoo isn't feeling just right. He caught it. He caught the flu. I don't know if it's swine flu or regular flu, but he seems to have it on the mild side. He has a cough and a fever in the evening - although his temp is normal at present. I kept him home today but he's been a trouper. As long as he can watch TV or play a game, he's been in good spirits.

Which means I got a little work done. My goal today - make sure everything that is to be frames is frames and wired and priced.


I have twenty-one pieces, including the big ninja collage in the main gallery.

Now I have to finish the t-shirts, make t-shirt labels, price them, finish the cards, bag a few prints, make some signs, and pack it all up and I should be good to go next week.

November Happenings

It's crunch time for the art show. (November 14 & 15, locals!) My studio is a mess. In one corner I have a table set up that's collecting finished t-shirts, cards, books, framed art and unframed prints. It started off fairly organized - but, like everything else, the clutter - it does grow.

And because it's November, my writing crit group, The LitWits is doing NaNoWriMo - which stands for National Novel Writing Month. Last year I wrote a YA (young adult novel) which this year I am making into a graphic novel. So while other members have daily word count goals, I have art goals. I love it - but it keeps me busy.

AND I'm starting to think about Christmas. November is going to FLY by and then I'll be in my yearly scramble. I'm hoping by just thinking ahead I'll save myself some aggravation. We shall see.

I hope you all are having a lovely Wednesday!

Halloween

The day before Halloween, I finally got off my duff and carved the pumpkin. Every year I dread doing it. I do not enjoy the scooping of the guts. Then, once that part is over, I can have my fun. This year, since the movie came out, I decided to do Where The Wild Things Are. I'm a newbie when it comes to the shading part - but I thought it turned out pretty well.

Then it was THE DAY! Magoo went as Indiana Jones! (Cue music) Da-da-DA-duh, Da-da-DUH...

We have been SO LUCKY in West Hartford. We have had mild nights for trick-or-treating for, like, three years now, and last night was just lovely. We even had a full moon.

And since I was safe from the sun - I could show my true vampire self!!! Mwaaa-ha-ha! See how I put my son in a trace. Actually he's thinking, Please stop taking pictures of me.

I hung back and let Indie and Harry and Harry have a great time running from house to house. Magoo kills me because he can't eat candy, but that doesn't mean he won't debate - endlessly -between a Snickers and a bag of M&M's if given the choice.

When we got home, I took the candy and traded it for a big lemon cookie. He was quite the happy camper.

I hope you all good Halloweens too!

Wink Goes To Gaffney School

Yesterday I had the pleasure of reading Wink to the kids at the Gaffney School in New Britain, CT. I went as a part of Book Bash. What's Book Bash, you ask. Well, a group of honors students at CCSU (Central CT State University) wanted to promote literacy and home libraries for kids who didn't have as much. Philip Day, who ran the program, collected enough books so that each child in the school could pick out 2-3 books to take home. They were nice books too!

After I read Wink and went through my Powerpoint presentation on how I made the book, I taught the kids how to draw Wink so they could make their own bookmarks.

Here are some examples:

To be honest, when I found out we were doing an art project in the auditorium with 150 kids - I was a little wary of the outcome. That's the recipe for chaos and Crayola explosions. But the kids did a FABULOUS job! I did two groups and in each group there was one child who assured me that he couldn't do it. I just talked them through it one by one and every kid had a bookmark they were proud of.

I love talking to kids at school visits - but I think seeing the art projects is my favorite part. I am always so blown away by what they do.

Thanks so much to Philip Day for organizing Book Bash and to the lovely staff and students at Gaffney School who made me feel very welcome!

OH - I just remembered something. When I took a few questions from the kids, one child asked what the other three ninja students names were. No one had ever asked me before. The fact is, I've only named the girl. She is Fo. I don't have names for the other boys. So, for the boy with glasses, the kids suggested Tony. And the stocky boy is Sam (for now.) :)

Chicago - The Fun Stuff

I just read a post about how author's blogs should stick to the business stuff and not have a bunch of personal stuff on it. But I'm not famous and my readership is mostly friends and family so what the heck. Here comes some personal stuff!

These are my very dear friends Staci (necklace) and Kristine (bangs). We all went to Hope College together in the early 90's.

Staci has two adorable children and since the second one was born last December, I needed to get my tush out there and meet that baby! I made him some soft blocks (below.)

The animals are embroidered. Here they are being played with. (below)
I didn't include pics of the kids' faces b/c Staci isn't on Facebook or blogging or anything so I didn't want to plaster her children's sweet mugs all over the internet.

For her daughter, who is nearly five, I made an art bag and filled it with markers and blank books. Here is a drawing she made of me (in blue) and her. Isn't it the girliest drawing ever? I love it!

We ate out. We had our nails done. We shopped. It was great! And Staci is an AWESOME cook so the meals she made at home were even better than eating out. She made eggs purgatory, people! It was dee-lish!

Now, while I was out and about, I stopped in the lady's room. Have you seen these new dyson hand dryers? Maybe we just don't have them in Hartford, but these things are AWE-SOME.

You pop your hands in there and a wind storm begins. Seriously, Dorothy's house and a mean lady on a bike flew by in there.

And when you pull them out they are SUPER DRY! No wiping on your jeans - nu-uh. Hats off to you, dyson!