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Monthly Archives: December 2007
new year
a partial scan of an experiment…
I had fun painting this one and layering in things. My intention was to add textured ghost prints of antique lace such as in The Bear, Moth and Ghost Wolf. But when I tore up the lace it did not leave and imprint like it did in the previous piece….it just tore up the support paper and made a huge mess! I left the lace and imagined doing encaustic over the whole thing so I got out my wax…but after some research I discovered that encaustic waxes can not be done over acrylics. The piece ended with me deciding to put a thick layer of Golden gels over the entire painting, attempting to create a faux encaustic finish. Well, it turned out very plastic-y as a result of the yucky gels (which I can’t stand in the first place). I used gels previous to this but now they have lost my attention forever. I am happy becasue they have a terrible chemical smell anyways and they make my fingers itch. I am sticking with glue.
So where to go in 2008? My head is spinning with ideas (and I am literally spinning here in the playground, funfun!)
I love to paint detailed little scenes from concept sketches, but I also enjoy working more organically with collage more tactile materials such as papers and old lace. I would love to be able to fuse the two and create lots and lots of pieces in the new year. So now I am creating lists and doing little sketches. I am going to rework the painting above too, hopefully someday maybe.
Happy New Year!
Works in progress
Spent another afternoon in my snug painting room. I have multiple pieces in the works, mostly lush, layered and textured paintings with supports made from antique lace, canvas and papers. Work in progress (and the second one from the right is almost done and ready to be made into a print, very soon)
My work table
And obviously inspired by the texture and color of this broken dinner plate, unearthed behind my house in the bed of a little stream.
Tomorrow we are going to the Whitney and the Guggenheim mmmm!
A little bit of sewing projects
I spent a wonderous afternoon working on some paintings and sifting through little lacy bits and fragments of fabrics. Which reminded me…
I have this pile of vintage dresses, skirts and long wooley sweater coats hanging from my easel in the corner of my studio that must be tended to very soon. It consists of all my goodies from Etsy and Salvation waiting for more desirable hemlines, interesting buttons and sewn lacy brooches.
I bought the prettiest mocha caved floral buttons from The Hemline and they arrived the other day. They will be the perfect addition to a blah winter coat.
I started to bundle up my fabrics, tieing them with strands of lace and ribbon. I found these little dutch ceramic shoes somewhere in the mix, I think they would look so splendid patchworked with fabrics just like my teapot from a past giveaway
And finally, something that looks as though it needs to be sewn but no, it’s staying this way. A assymetrical, frayed chocolatey jacket on my manequin for inspiration with other goodies.
Merriness and other little bits of joy
The last few days in pictures…
My feet in the rainy, mossy snow:
Leftovers:
Newest find, closeup:
The sweet, sweet pair:
Sketchbook inside cover, shards of old plates and teacups found during scavenger hunt and the most whimsical little bear bottle top bought the other night at anthropologie. They had a bin of these little creatures.
I hope everyone had a merry, merry holiday.
Now its raining and I am sitting here dreaming up new ideas. Very, very excited about the coming year.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Fluttering Away print
Finally finished this painting! It’s quite fitting for the day, except its raining here and I wish it was snowing! A print is available in my shop.
last day of fall, bittersweet
Taking it all in…the last day of autumn. I spent the night in my studio working on a new painting. Here is a little teaser:
Cold, cold hands. Winter came early this year. My hands are cold but my fingers are very very happy thanks to a beautiful ring by jade scott jewelry
The ring is sterling silver with a bit of red lace captured in resin. Its just big enough to be noticed without being too big. Please do check out her store…she is a girl on a quest to make pretty things!
I think that bittersweet berries are so pretty. These lost their little golden pods but are as bright as ever despite the snow and cold. I picked a few vines to make a wreath.
On a walk today, melting ice and the greenest moss…
I got home early from work, bought a gingerbread latte to sip and keep my hands warm and went for a walk. This time I walked along a little stream and it just so happened that my walk turned into a treasure hunt! Along the bank of the stream in the cold water were shards of old tea cups, plates and other victorian goodies long broken and forgotten (some might be even older too!). The colors, floral motifs and crackles on the shards are so, so inspiring. I even found a little glass doll (head broken off though). Oh, I need to take a picture of all my goodies! I’m going back tomorrow when more of the snow and ice melts to scavenger hunt some more. Tomorrow measures the start of winter!
sepia rose sketches and other Tuesday things…
Yesterday I sketched this two page spread in my moleskine. If you look carefully on the left side there is a garden behind the woman. In the garden are three sleeping foxes amongst paper ephemera sepia colored roses. They blend in all too well!
Right now I am jumping for joy! I have been eyeing these vintage lace up boots for weeks now. I could not get them out of my mind (yes, they are the reason my favorites were set to private!) I like to try on so I scoured the stores to find new ones like these but no luck anywhere. They are from one of my favorite vintage stores on etsy, Salvage Life. The store is blooming with subdued colors, my favorite. These boots are just what I need to wear with all my winter skirts, and I just love lace ups!
Etsy is just blooming with the best vintage things! Two other vintage items on Etsy, still for sale at JohnDoeDress. Lovely, lovely colors and shapes, lots of pretty things in the store too.
warm pumpkin and golden tones like those above have been inspiring me as of late. I guess its warmth that I seek. It is COLD here! Everything is covered in a thick layer of shiny ice. I am looking forward to the holidays when I can hibernate! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Under the Cold Cold Earth print
Now that the original sold I have decided to make this little one into a print. Here’s a little snippet, see full print in my shop.
forest walk
The weekends are spent meandering around and exploring in nature. Now that the days are short, dark and chilly I have to squeeze in my long walks on saturday and sunday. I think in the wintertime I need to look harder for inspiration, but when I find it I am so happy! The sky is gray but the crabapples are plentiful…their ruby red fruit is a visual feast! Yesterday when I was walking I stumbled upon this tree…just look at the fruit!
The trail in the woods where I walk…
It was so snowy and magical the other morning!
A new favorite wool sweater to keep me warm. Not vintage but vintage-inspired and perfectly faded and soft. The colors capture my favorite tones as of recent. Reds, grays, brownish-greens.
When I walked by the crabapple tree on the way home there was a flock of blue jays and other little brownish birds perching in its branches. I stood quietly trying to get one to come close so I could snap a picture. This little gal was perched above me and againt branches and sky she was so pretty!
I’ve been collecting little nature things along the trail for inspiration. Usually when there’s snow my treasure hunt is useless, but yesterday I filled my pockets with these seed pods. They are so delicate! I put them on my book shelf
On a side note, my vintage dress came in the mail! It is so pretty and feather light, a billowy shimmer of gray with burgandy accents and cute little buttons. I am going to make a deep red sash for it. Its from the Etsy store of Stephanie Bracciano (and thats her in the photo below, modeling my new lovely dress!) She was such a doll and included two pretty little prints in the package as well.
And here we are…Monday. I have to admit that not all days are full of walks and seedpods. Some (or should I say most?) are full of to-do lists and trying very hard to squeeze even a sketch in. And here they are, scanned, to-do lists and sketches, worn and crumbled from my pockets:
~*~*~*
A catch-all of sorts…
I keep a spiral bound book to record my ideas as they are unearthed…mostly ones with snippets of fabric and papers and such (these are too bulky for my hardcover sketchbook…it would never be able to close!) . Yesterday I bought some yummy golden printed fabric snippets and glued them on the page (along with a piece of favorite paper) and sketched a girl with a fox-like mask. These little experiments help so much with my painted images. And its fun to rummage through treasures in dusty corners for inspiration!
And here’s a glimpse of fabric from a vintage dress I got in the mail…the twig-like cotton fabric is divine.
Oh, it is snowing and icy outside (again!) Very happy indeed, an excuse to stay in!
~*~*~*