new pillows

somedays you have these amazing days in your studio when everything seems to fall into place. i started yesterday around 8AM, and this new line of pillows emerged. i wanted to take advantage of my last weekend with no distractions to get as much work done for Artscape that I possible could make...patrick will be back late Wednesday night..he has been in Whistler for the past week...the longest we have been apart. so in order for this time to past I've been coup up in the sweat shop sewing my butt off and going to the gym. finding 44 to be a pretty depressing age if you're not feeling fit...so fit is my choice. and lots of conversations with the cats..louie has learned to play catch!
so here are my new pilla's. I really love the cardinals...these feel more modern , especially on the tweed fabric.these will be on sale at Artscape!! hoping all can stop down and visit. Tricia and I will be in the Peas & Carrots booth close to the MICA store, on Dolphin Street. July 20-22, noon to 10 on friday and saturday, noon to 8 on Sunday. Lets hope there's good weather!

Artscape 2007

Transparent Dialogs

The Gallery at CCBC Catonsville

800 S. Rolling Road

July 15 - August 10

Opening : Saturday, July 14, 3-5

410-455-4246/ www.ccbcmd.edu / http://adim.ccbcmd.edu/

Curator: Osvaldo Mesa

Artists:

Seth Adelsberger ~ Tom Block ~ Abigail Donovan ~ James Long ~ Jennifer McBrien~ Matthew McConville ~ Michele Montalbano ~ Steven Pearson ~ Brooke Rodger ~ Rachel Schmidt

just checkin in

just checking in
latest updates:
Tricia and I went to buy peg board for our display at Artscape
the business cards came in and they look great!
I've been slowly working on my etsy shop.
only one item is posted
thought I'd wait till after Artscape until I post whatever I don't sell
dropped off paintings to CCBC for a show there. Opening is July 15, 3-5..Catonsville Campus More info will be posted later.

laura's hat

we went out to celebrate bday's last night at Rocket to venus in Hampden.i gave laura one of my new hats for her bday. had to have her model it so you can see how the hat looks on an actual head. i can't take credit for the pattern nor the fabric....its a pattern from Lotta Jandotter's book: simple sewing....a must have! the packaging is great, with beautiful photo's, clear written and hand drawn directions and pattern pieces included! the fabic is denyse schmidt of course! these will aslo be at the artist market at Artscape!

sneak preview

so here are some quick shots from the sweat shop...a variety of birdy tote bags, pillows and hats!!!! i found a good use for the left over fabrics from my aprons.
remember...all will be for sale at the peas & carrots booth at Artscape: July 20,21,22.

happy 44

sorry i haven't posted in a bit. its been the end of school, leave for Williamsburg, come home entertain family guests, off to the Eastern shore, back to school for 2 EYE days, then busy in the sweat shop. i've also been scanning the family slides and i found my two favorite birthday pictures from the past. my hair was so white!!!! i was my pop's blondie. you can see him and my other great grandfather in the one picture. i love the dress my mom is wearing in the other picture. i love that neck line as well as that shade of green. i love that everyone was so dressed up to sit in the back yard. i think we kept our dresses on for the first five minutes before they came off.
birthdays at 44 are going to the Y to have the turnstile sing you Happy Birthday and dinner out with my guy!

Charley Harper

today was exam day #2, and i gave my three remaining studio students their questionaire of an exam that i give that simply ask students to respond honestly on how they grew as artist, who inspired them and so forth. In reflection i must say that Charley Harper, who i only discovered this past year, thanks to Todd Oldhamwas my biggest inspiration for my bird party series. i sadly learned today that Charley Harper. passed away over the weekend. I happily learned that Todd Oldham wrote a book on charley that just came out ! I'm going have to ask real nicely for this one for the up and coming bday! You can check it out here.

Creature comforts (talking politicians)

i was motivated after watching tonight' s episode of creature comforts...to look for a good one to post. i thought this one pert-ti-nent...enjoy

Women In Art

thanks jo for putting this to my attention...a great little history in art, amazing transitions....

a new inspiration

i'm finding that one of my difficulties of being a painter, is well, when i don't paint, which i must confess hasn't happened seriously since the painting studio went to the basement in pieces, about 6 months ago, i tend to feel like i'm not an artist. i feel guilty. i feel like i am a phoney studio art teacher and i hate that. but just because i'm not painting doesn't mean i'm not being an artist. i make stuff now. i make bird pillows and tote bags and eye glass cases and pencil and brush cases and aprons....and i draw and plan in my sketchbooks and i do some printmaking..and i try to make all of my units of instruction based around a form of art that i need practice in and i do those assignments, not just to practice but to reinforce why i give such assignments to my students...and to prove that they are possible to do in a certain frame of time in a certain high level of quality. i really love the feeling of production. and production of a well crafted craft! its a different feeling from painting. not as selfish. you think of who is going to wear this apron and how will they put it on and how will they use this pocket and adjust the straps.

it is how artist are i tell myself and my stundets...we go off on tangents, experiment, try new things....but to make what i now do feel the same way, the same satisfied feeling that one feels once completing a successful painting....that is what i'm shooting for.

so thank you design*sponge in introducing people who do the same ...art work, live and make "craft" their art. thanks for introducing Laura Normandin. i love her work. i love how beautiful and simple her "mersey seat" series is. this is some of it here. check the rest of her work and what she does here.

new blogs

after graduation today, I've been mainly sewing and procrastinating by searching on line. i love how the web works..you go to one site and it leads you to hundred...no thousands of others. my most recent finds have been in my looking for crafters in near-by cities...philly is my recent location i found many more links from the Betsy Ross site. as i find those i like i add them to my links for easy assess. having a fascination and a strong attraction to the aesthetics of the 40's to the early 60's.....i am drawn to any thing related to such especially in design. i found a great blog called book-by-its-cover.com. i posted pics from the children's book section that most appeal to me. i love the green and red...i can't seem to get away from these two compliments of The Lollypop Factory by Mary Elting/ Jeanne Bendick. i do not recall this particular book but owning many like i from my childhood. having a teacher for a mother insured you of many books!

the marraige of denise and betsy

so i thought i would make a new dress to wear for graduation tomorrow...have to have someting to look forward to. anyway i bought this great fabric from Denyse Schmidt called Katie Jump Rope - Daisy Bunch, Geranium, from Cia's Palette. i had this great girlie dress pattern from betsy ross. i made some adjustments making the straps a bit wider to pass the dress code. i really love following betsy ross patterns. they are very user friendly with room for adjustments...plus you follow a simple step by step book with hand drawn illustrations !

new pencil...brush cases

i made these for my neices and nephews for christmas this year and filled them with good paint brushes and drawing pencils and such. great for make-up brushes too!

feelin' like summer

so i've been working in the sweat shop, bought a new oscillating floor fan which helped a tad by moving hot air around while my exhaust fan attempted to push the hot air out….i think I’m going to be working a lot at night this summer! Trying to wait until I just can’t take it before the AC gets put in the window. Anyway, worked on some new products, watch for new post soon, and started to scan our family slides that I finally got from my brother Scott. I wanted to post these three….my sister and I are cooling off in my Maumau’s backyard in Hagerstown; Loving the bib I got on for Christmas at my Aunt Anna’s house with my cousin Cathi and loving that wrapping paper from the sixties while looking at my sister’s goods from Santa!

peas & carrots

spent yesterday home sick. worked on the press kit for peas and carrots. what do you think? are we ready for an etsy shop?

Lolly Lolly Lolly Get Your Adverbs Here

got this tune stuck in my head today...listen, watch,re-learn, hum along

more from the birdy collection

padded eyeglass cases with felt interiors and birdy exteriors! look for them this summer at the peas and carrots booth at Artscape!

cool dig at SCAD

Found some excellent finds on SCAD on line. Found amazing pillows that are inspiring me to work in my sweatshop this weekend. Amelia Allen's Love Me. Love Me Not Pillow is such a girlie girl pillow, you can check it out here, Pamela Wiley 's Sew forth and sew on 's this site, silk pillows by Paige Hathaway Thorn are here, and Circle Pillows by Working Class Studio are here one of my little lovelies, mr. dan is going to SCAD next year as a Parkville High graduate. i've only heard amazing things about that school.

a tweetie site!

check out this site by thomas paul i love the new paper line that he sent design*sponge, the pillows are just as sweet. the site is very musical!! check it out! especailly if you live amongst concrete and need to hear the tweetie tweet sounds!

Chair-e-ty..a great success!!!

we had a great turn out and an amazing group of chairs. You can see all of them here. we raised over $700 towards our scholarship fund. thanks so much for all who participated and supported our event.

another one!!!

a well padded chair by Alessandra Vadala! I'll post more tonight after I take more pics. Our event is tomorrow night at Parkville HS....2600 Putty Hill Ave...Balmore hon