Thanks For Stopping By! Artscape a Huge Success!

Well I'm back from the beach. Went straight from Artscape so I wasn't able to make any posts. Here are some great pics from tigerlily from the event! Thanks Allison! And thanks everyone who stopped by! It was the best show I did all year long! I'll be updating my shop...you can see how empty it is! That's how great Artscape was! Now onto Crafty Bastards in the Fall!

Trade Your Art Supplies for a 10% Discount!

Please help the BEST crew help Art with a Heart, Inc. carry out their mission by bringing craft supply items to one of the BEST artists at Artscape. As a "thank you" for your donation, BEST is offering a one-time 10% discount off a single item purchased at Artscape from one of our participating BEST artists. Please bring any unused craft (or office) supplies or gift card to our BEST tent at Artscape or to any of our participating artists at Artscape to receive the discount. One discount per person, and the offer is only valid on purchases made at Artscape on July 17, 18 & 19th. Our booths are located on Charles St. in the DIY section - we will be in booths 16-21 and also in the Artists Market along Mt Royal in booth E114. We look forward to seeing you there!

They need:

* Deco Markers / Paint Markers
* Elmer's Glue
* Erasers
* Fabric Glue / Fabric-Tac
* Hot glue guns and glue sticks
* Glue sticks
* Markers
* Masking tape
* Mod Podge
* Paint brushes
* Pencil sharpeners
* Pencils
* Single hole punchers
* Scissors
* Scotch Tape
* Tacky Glue
* Aluminum foil
* Beads
* Disposable/plastic bowls
* Elastic string
* Glitter glue
* Jewelry hardware
* Mat board
* Mat cutter
* Mini hot glue gun sticks
* Paper towels
* Puffy paint
* Screw gun
* Sculpey clay
* Self-hardening clay
* Tag board/poster board
* Thread
* Watercolor paper
* Wire

All donations will go to Art with a Heart, Inc. See you there!

New Stuff for this weekend!

Just a sneak peek of bags and future eyeglass cases. All available for purchase starting Friday at Artscape!

Doot Doot - Freur

thanks to the palmpre commercial...this is the song stuck in my head for the morning! Brings back some sweet new wavey memories!

Batches of Patches

In the studio today..birdy bird iron on patches.....the count down for artscape is on!

More from Art CAmp!

I wanted to post our last drawings of the week. Self Portraits! This group is quite amazing! I get a new batch this week.

Handmade Nation coming this Tuesday!

This is your chance to see the amazing documentary film by Faythe Levine. I saw it in DC was so excited to see someone put this movement into such a moving statement! This begins our artscape events for the week and its free! See you there!

Economically Friendly Items for Sale!

We're into the Artscape countdown! Jennyjen42 will be at Artscape, July 17 - 19, in the Mt. Royal area of Baltimore with her BEST buddies. Look for us in the DIY section close to Mt. Royal Ave on Charles Street. I will be posting items for sale as well as other attractions associated with Artscape all this week on my blog and facebook. Today's features are my economically friendly items that are $20 or less! Look for these birdy bird products:

felt lined padded eyeglass cases for $15

Lined zipper pouches $15

iron on birdy bird patches $4

set of 4 coasters $20

My New Group of Awesome Artists!

I started to teach another group of kiddies for the Summer Enrichment Camp for Baltimore County . This group consists of students going into 9-12 grades. Most are working on portfolio's for future applications and AP tests. Most of this group are going into 9th grade and have been going to this camp since going into the third grade! I have truly loved watching these budding artists grow. I hung up the laundry for them to draw today...and see for yourself..some pretty remarkable drawings!

The Mystery of the Boumi Temple

I spent a wonderful 4th. of July with my family in Catonsville. We had a great time eating crabs, drinking beer, watching the parade, more food , naps then the fireworks. An awesome day! This is my second Catonsville parade in the past 5 years and I have noticed the shrinkage of the Boumi Temple floats and participants. This leads to my ever curious question..."Who are the Boumi Temple ?" The Arabian Knights were missing this year. The guys on the motorcycles were there, as well as in the dune buggy's (they replaced the beloved little cars which I really miss), the old cars, the hillbilly shriner, the band on the double decker bus, the band on the other float, the guys with the bag pipes, the Clown Shriners....but I notice the not only lack of women of course, but the decline of participation..no young recruits? Half of the Shriner's look like they're pretty lucky for making it to the parade this year...what will happen to our future of men;s clubs they are associated with mysterious missions, guidelines and temples?

Happy 4th. of July!

Happy 4th. Everyone! Hoping your day is full of fun and family and good friends! I'm heading off today to spend the day with my entire family! I'm quite excited about it. The past years have been spent on the West Coast in the Puget Sound with my father-in-law. Not a bad way to spend the 4th., but I have missed my family outings on the 4th. A day in Catonsville with crabs, the parade that consists of a ton of Boumi Temple floats, bands, little cars and Arabian knights! Then its back to more food off the grill and then the fireworks! My contribution is the pasta salad. OK, I have to admit this...I've never made pasta salad..hence my morning project...I think I did a pretty good job ...penne pasta,cucumbers, red pepper, cherry tomatoes, red onion, fresh basil from my potted plant and some Newman's Italian dressing.

lesson of the bicycle tire switch

Where do I begin. I guess I start with me waking up wanted or needing an activity schedule. I've been spending a lot of time alone at home and have been in panic mode than calm, then panic. I woke up refusing to be in panic mode. I visualized myself riding my bike today through town..like I used to do when I lived in the Copy Cat building. I used to ride all over the place. Since moving to where I am these days, I really haven't ventured beyond the lake loop. So today was going to be the day. I needed to first address the fact that I only have one functioning bike right now and its my mountain bike. Works great but it has those knobby tires that really give me more of a work out than I really want to have right now. So my morning idea...lets go buy slick tires and outfit my bike for city riding! Well 2 hours later,a patched tube, 2 trips to Performance bikes , no make that 3 trips to Performance, a ride to the lake with a discovered flat tire, a nice walk home , hence the 3rd. ride to Performance ! I am going to beat this thing! I am determined to ride my bike to the farmers Market tomorrow morning as well as ride to Laura's pool in Canton on Sunday! Wish me luck on the second changing of the tube!

So long YPS Class

I'v spent the past two weeks teaching a painting methods class at MICA for the Young Peoples Studio Program. My group was an ambitious group of 11 hard working high school kids. Many never painted with oil before, some were more advance and working towards their AP portfolio for next year. Here are some pic from the class...I wish them all well in their artistic futures!

Observation of the Day: Andy Freeberg

I was looking on Beautiful Decay this morning and discovered photographer Andy Freeberg and his his series “Guardians” in which we get a look at the female guards who watch over the art museums of Russia. Freeberg says, “When you look at the paintings and sculptures, the presence of the women becomes an inherent part of viewing the artwork itself. I found the guards as intriguing to observe as the pieces they watch over.” Indeed, the contrast between these women and the work they’re sitting next to can be quite captivating. I love the fact that these women are dressed in their own everyday work clothes, not the stand by uniform that we Americans have to deal with.

New Products from Jennyjen

In these economic times, it's time to be more innovative and create more economically friendly products. I've been sorting through my fabrics and small swatches that I've accumulating over the past couple of years and voila! coasters! Birdies are machines stitched onto these fleece padded 4" squares that will come into sets of 4! $20 a set! Washable and awesome gifts! They will be premiering at Artscape this year in the BEST both, July 17-19..B-more!

Another Birthday under my Belt

Well.another birthday done.today entailed a a trip to the farmers market, the BMA, brunch, to the mall to buy a birthday present for myself, time spent in the sweatshop sewing birdies while listening to the Bad Brains, TSOL and Minor Threat! Punk Rock birdies have grown...then off to an excellent night with my BEST buddies, cake and many wishes from friends on facebook and on the phone. Not a bad day. I will continue to celebrate throughout the week. Thanks Everybody for all your love !

Good bye 45 ..Hello 46

Today is leaving very soon and tomorrow will probably come before I finish this..but I have been writing this inside my head all day. ..my last day of being 45...….This year has been a quite a bumpy one of many highs and lows…I would say most of my highs have come on my professional side ( great kids this year in school andjennyjen42 made it out of the state and into many homes this year)...and the lows in my personal life. That’s not to say that all is down…many lessons have been learned this year and I wanted to reflect and write about them..to passed them on to the next person facing 46, or any age in the same state…here are my lessons…you can only control what makes you happy….not others around you..so focus on what you can control…keep in touch with your friends that you had many adventures with and that knew you as an independent being..you know the ones that you went to hang out with in the club house, the ones that charter a bus to New York to go see Gray March at CBGB’s and the ones you shared ground breaking experiences with….hang out with your friends whenever you have the chance..stop making excuses to simply stay at home and watch TV…get out there and experience life…when you’re really stressed out, close your eyes and try to remember as many happy times that you can…my favorite times are when I was a kid..I was blessed with an amazing childhood full of play and imagination, forts in the woods, stories read to me at night, a sister who is still my best friend and a wonderful loving family…. find what is meaningful and engaging to you…and hold it close to your heart…live life awake and stay away from numbing times of sleep. Turn off the TVs and put on some music…get a tattoo that makes you smile…Do yoga so that you can always touch your toes…flexibility of the body translate into flexibility of the mind, plus you feel better after you do it….visualize that happy little kid that you were and live a happy life for that kid…DO what makes you feel better and stronger for everything that drains you...I am happy to be the age that I am, happy for the past experiences that I have had, the great people in my life that have come and gone, especially happy for my dearest friends that I love dearly…I have had a great history of wonderful events and happy times….I am looking so forward to many more amazing times and happiness! …I am very happy for finding old friends again…here’s for finding that club house to go hang out in again!

Intro to the Jackson 5's cartoon show

another memory of Michael for all of us 60-70's kids!