One of my favorite pieces.

Really? It's been 5 years? Ok. Let's try this again! It's Pinterest that has made me want to blog again. I freakin LOVE Pinterest! There are pictures I want to pin and while you can just upload pictures from a computer without a link, sometimes there are things I want to say too. I spent Tuesday this week at Grounds for Sculpture in Trenton with Kelly, Francesca and Jodi. It was a gorgeous day and we were there for 4 1/2 hours. There's SOOOO much to see.

 It's a bubbling cauldron filled with... grossness. I love it

A girlfriend was complaining about how she looked in some pictures on fb and I said "please, did you see that one of me with the double chin and fat belly? But I'm smiling and I'm happy and it makes me giggle, so I love it. And you look happy. Besides, we can't all be Kelly." And I made this pose. She's fabulous, isn't she?

More Starry Night

My first ever watercolor. I like Van Gogh. I think 'cuz he's messy. I can do messy. Note to self...pencil lines cannot be erased after you paint over them. The micron pen came in handy though. Fun. I like playing with art.

Creative Wednesday...Starry Night

Yesterday was my birthday! Now I have to change the "about me" section to make it 41 instead of 40.

Spent yesterday playing with paint and playing with photoshop. Mom got me a tutorial for my birthday. Thanks Mom! Going to play with watercolors today, I think. That's what the sketch is for. Not sure how to make it look "Van Gogh-y" with watercolors. Thinking about maybe using crayons or oil pastels first. Don't know, we'll see what happens. Also thinking of trying to do "Starry Night" with paper as a collage. I think that's my assignment for awhile..."Starry Night" in as many mediums as I can think of. Just to learn and play and experiment and learn and have fun without any pressure. How many mediums can I think of? Acrylic (I used oil pastels and a sharpie on that one but don't tell), watercolor, paper, crayons, oils, fabric, ummmm, painting on glass, jewelry (??? how? I don't know), clay, print block- either carved or clay-sculpted, yarn (I'm not saying I know how to do starry night with yarn, I'm just brain storming), diorama-oooh, that'd be fun, markers, colored pencils, watercolor pencils, oil-pencils, oil pastels, scratch art whatever the arsty-fartsy technical name for that is...scrafito?, whatever., beads...really? how time consuming would that be?-flowers, food-frosting on a cake... food coloring on bread..., ooh, Starry Night using only things found in my kitchen, Macaroni art! I'm amusing the hell out of myself. Photoshop...that would kill two birds with one stone. Just thinking on the page. Time to go play now...

Progress Check

More than 7 weeks into The Altered Life Project... Progress check.

House is cleaner more often. I am excercising at least 4 days a week. Doing my morning pages every morning. More in touch with myself, I'm a little annoyed that after almost 41 years, I'm still "finding myself". Discovering what I like, what I don't like and getting more vocal about it. Becoming a little more willing to experiment artistically. Willing to make 'bad" art in order to get to "good" art. Example...

Conversation I had with Kelly last week...

Kelly: "What ya doin'?"

Me: " Makin tentacles"

Kelly: "Tentacles? For what?"

Me: " A shit monster"

Kelly: " Oh. A poop goblin."

End of conversation. I don't know if it's good or bad that she gets me so well. Who's ever heard of a shit monster/poop goblin? I hadn't until I started making one. Didn't use the tentacles. At least not yet anyway.

Safer art...

Creative Wednesday

I spend a great deal of time avoiding doing what I enjoy. Why? What sense does that make? I was actually going to spend yesterday cleaning house. There's no reason at all why I can't clean thursday mornings. I don't go into work until 1:00 on thursdays. I did almost have to force myself to go into the studio. I chose something easy. PUMPKINS! Jack o lanterns. Pumpkins!

There's a couple more simple ones, but they are a part of something more that I will have to finish at work. The bases are candlesticks that the glass part broke off of. They were originally a taupe color. I thought they would make good skeleton cages. I was right. I've decided to scratch the big candleabra pumkin idea. It would be very cool, but in order to do what I've got in my head, it would take an enormous amount of time and end up being way too expensive. Maybe, I'll just put it on hold and work on it after christmas for next year.


Genius me! I just offered Maggie & Kelly $30.00 worth of pre-paid minutes if they clean the house today. So worth it. Kelly's asleep, but Maggie said okay. If Maggie ends up doing it all, she can have the minutes. She'll give Kelly the opportunity though. She's good that way. That means, I can go play. Or at the very least, clean up after myself from yesterday. Hooray!

Baby Steps

Self-awareness sucks. Tonight, I gave myself permission to create instead of clean in the "crap room"/craft room/studio. The desk is a mess. I'm embarrassed to post pictures, but maybe it will inspire me to stop doing this to myself...

There is a clean spot on the counter. I could work there. But at the thought of being able to do whatever I want... There's so much I've been wanting to try lately. I have so many supplies and so many ideas, but I panicked. I started cleaning off the desk and putting crap on the clean spot on the counter. I think somewhere in my head, I've convinced myself that as long as I have an excuse not to work, I can believe that "if only" then I could be an amazing artist. If I don't have an excuse not to do it, then there is the possibility that I will fail. Failing isn't so bad. "It is impossible to get better and look good at the same time." Baby steps. Stop making chaos. If I clean up my space, then when I have an idea or an inspiration or just the ability to let myself make "bad" art, I can play. Practice first, then discipline. Baby steps. Baby steps. Baby steps.

Nature Walk

So yesterday I talked to one of my very best friends, Barbara. I had been thinking about The Artist's Way for a couple of weeks and she mentioned that someone had suggested it to her. I don't believe in coincidence. So this morning I wrote my morning pages and took off for my "artists date". I went on a 2 hour walk in the park behind my house. Who knew that New Jersey could be like this? I did. But I forgot.

Left or right? Yes, that is a pile of debris behind my garden gate. My neighbor replaced her fence and it magically appeared. There's bricks in there and big chunks of concrete. They might be useful someday. That sentence right there is why I live in clutter and chaos. I can't throw anything away. Baby steps. I'm making progress. No beating myself up. Back to my walk. Right.

Walnuts and black cherry's. Yum!

If you stay on the asphalt path, you don't risk getting poison ivy. But you don't find black raspberry's either!

Or beautiful spiderwebs...or views like this...

There's a great big field of soy beans. Made me think of Kirby.

Found treasure! And somebody's idea of art in the park.