365/2013 - Day 124

arty errands and lunch and fun and GREAT news!

Whew -- long day!  This morning I ran a couple of errands before picking up Ruth to go out to lunch and go shopping and stuff.

After the bank I went to Home Depot to return some items I purchased for moving Greeny and Buckety (but Joshua had some with him), then I bought a quart of paint to match the color of my bathroom...luckily they still make the same paint in the same color name (Japanese Fern).  Then I went to the ever-friendly and helpful Northville Lumber to get a recommendation for shelving material.  I ended up with plain ol' pine and had them cut it to size for me.  I will (ugh!) sand/paint and put the L-brackets on them (that's going to keep me busy for a while!) and then Joshua can come over for a Handyman Day and put them up for me...along with a few other projects.  I just wanted simple shelves that would (hopefully) blend into the wall so I can display my bazillion vinyl toys.  I think all the colors will pop and look cool.  (Those errands actually took a little over 2 hours...EVERYbody in the world was at Home Depot this morning...and by the time I left there I was step-and-dragging it for the rest of the day...but no matter.)

anything anywhere near my studio bathroom gets a green aura around it

Then I picked up Ruth and we drove out to Brighton to go to lunch at The Wooden Spoon.  Our friend Peggy Kerwan has another exhibit of her paintings there.  Ruth has talked about how much she enjoyed her visits to the restaurant/deli and I thought this would be a great day to go out and try it...PLUS see Peggy's artwork on display.

We were seated at a nice table and it was easy to see Peggy's work from where we sat.  I was facing an absolutely delightful painting of two birds...the colors were just wonderful and the expressions on the birds faces and their body language really grew on me.  I am not generally a fan of small birds, but I really love Peggy's birds...I have another of her bird paintings in my collection.  ANYway -- I liked the painting right away, but the longer we sat and I looked at it the more I knew I needed it.  I was thrilled to learn I'd be able to bring it home with me today, too!  (And yes...the food was very good.)

Then on the way out of town Ruth was saying that there was a gallery that she has been dying to go to but she'd always been by it on a Monday (when they are closed) and could we try to see if we could find a parking spot and go and look around.  We got close and it turned out to be The Artisan's Bench!  I already "liked" them on Facebook and I didn't really realize where they were located.  And there were several synchronistic things that occurred.  One was that I have been thinking about these metal magnet boards and frames lately...I have wanted to get some to try to display Leann's postcards.  I have a couple of the artist's other metal designs in my kitchen already and I was thinking this would be a great solution...and guess what...they sell them there.  While we were choosing a board and magnets and frames, one of the owners started talking to us.  And it turned out we had a bunch of common threads, including a really BIG one that I am not going to talk about right now.  I need to see how it turns out first...but it was incredibly fabulous.  What a great day to wander into Brighton!  Oh -- these pieces are the creations of Metal Art by Cherie.

this is most likely where I will hang the magnet board, but hot HOW I will do it

the frames I was hoping would work with the postcards by Leann -- I already had the oval one

the openings are sadly too tight/small for the art on the postcards

I will need to figure out something else

but I still love the frames

another piece by Metal Art by Cherie that I already had

I moved the Kill Taupe magnets to the side of the 'fridge...for now

THEN when I got home a bit later I found that I had received the results of my submissions for "West of Center" at Northville Art House...one of my pieces was accepted!  "Quillz" will be in the exhibit -- these are the photos from the cd I submitted for consideration.  I am SO happy!  More about the show as the date gets closer.

2012/365 - Day 282

acrylic painting class 

Ruth and Carla and my sister Sue and I are all taking Julie Woodard's 3-week acrylic painting session at the Northville Art House on Monday(s).  I am so thrilled my sister is able to join us -- it has been a very long time since she set aside some time for herself and for art.

Julie is a really great communicator and teacher.  You know how much I dislike painting...well, Julie made it fun.  As a matter of fact -- I was so absorbed in what she was showing us that I even forgot to take photos during the process!

So here are some shots from after the class...while we were still hanging around and working on another project for next week.

Downstairs in the classroom area at the Northville Art House.

Julie Woodard showing what she showed us.

(Re-enactment)

Sue and Ruth

Sue and Carla

My painting -- not too bad for a first try.

After the paint had dried a bit more I found an inexpensive frame in the basement and popped my painting into it.  I switched another piece of art out for it -- in the guest bathroom.

I am happy with it for what it is...my first exercise in making an acrylic painting.

I am looking forward to next week's class!

2012/365 - Day 264

busy day

This morning I went to Juana's to assist her in making a casting of Doug's face.  

Twink jumped on my box of DIY Penciled In art packs (that is bound for Artists in Cellophane -- Art-o-mat HQ in Winston-Salem, NC).  I couldn't get a non-blurry photo of Twink because he wouldn't quit rubbing his face on the cabinet.

One step closer to the post office (in the backseat of my car in the garage.)  

(Which is where the box still is because we didn't make it to the post office, plus Juana wasn't totally ready for shipping just yet.)  

The time always flies by too quickly when I am with Juana and I wanted to beat the traffic back to my side of town before rush hour and the post office was closed by the time I got home....tomorrow for sure!
 

Juana (and Doug) asked if I would be the second pair of hands while Juana did a face casting of Doug.  I have assisted with breast castings (for a breast cancer awareness project) and I have been on the receiving side of the face casting process but I have never been the caster.  Of course I agreed without a second thought!

When my face casting was done and when we were casting derby girls' chests, just vaseline and plaster cloth strips were used.

Juana did some research and decided to go with alginate for Doug's casting...they have done this once before.  Afterwards Juana would be pouring plaster of Paris into the alginate and plaster cloth form to make the face.

Here Juana is mixing the alginate powder and water in a bucket with a mixing attachment on her drill.  

Once we started applying the alginate there would be no stopping for photos because this stuff sets up pretty quickly.  
 
So here is Doug with the alginate slathered all over his face -- directly onto the quickly setting up alginate we applied tiny strips of plaster cloth...making sure to leave room around Doug's nostrils.

Here is Doug with the plaster cloth on top of the alginate.

We sat with him while the plaster cloth hardened enough to be able to remove it.

He is so laid back and calm!

Yep...just sitting around the dining room table like any other day.

Doug is pulling off the remaining alginate after Juana removed the plaster cloth.

There's Mr. Smiley Face!

Juana mixed up some plaster of Paris and poured it into the plaster cloth and alginate form of Doug's face.  While the plaster of Paris was setting up she added a couple of screws so she'd have something to hold onto when pulling the mold away from the plaster cloth and alginate.

It was going to take 4-6 hours for the plaster to harden.
Juana and I went to LIFT in Royal Oak to check on the Art-o-mat and to have lunch.

But before we left I got a sneak preview of Juana's newest series for Art-o-mat.

This is a fabulous series of mixed media paintings of various collectible ball jointed dolls.  The title of the series is
"Doll Party!".

Each one is different and is painted directly on the MDF blocks.  They are gorgeous!

A very sneak peek of just a few of the blocks.

(Too much glare from the cellophane/acetate to show more photos.)

And here is a quick pic of a few of Juana's dolls from her collection.

I started this post with a blurry photo and now I'm coming to the close with another blurry photo...long exposures.














I had a great time today visiting with Juana and Doug and being Juana's assistant in the face casting session!

Tonight I saw Ruth for dinner and she had a package in her backseat that needs to be shipped.  I offered to take it to the post office tomorrow with mine.  (This will ensure that BOTH packages are shipped tomorrow!)

2012/365 - Day 252

a flurry of activity then home to slow down

Ruth and I got together this afternoon for a late breakfast (late for me, anyway) and then a trip over to the Northville Art House and a stop at Parmenter's Cider Mill.

The first thing I wanted to do when we got to the Art House was to deliver the sweet panda portrait to Joan.  This panda reminds Joan of Happy Bear.

This is one of the Penciled In collaborations between William Hessian and me for Art-o-mat.

Ruth was here to see the mosaics show.

I took the opportunity to focus in on a few more of the tiles.

This is "Bombyx Mori" by Cherie Bosela.  The current (as of this writing) bid for this tile is $155.

Under all of the glass and tile work is a photograph of mulberry leaves. 

I looked this moth up when I got home.  It is the silkmoth Bombyx Mori, and in Latin it's name means silkmoth of the mulberry tree.

 This is "Untitled" by Krysite Rose Millich and its current bid is $75.

I love the satin matte finish on these lovely colors.

This is "Blue Away" by Kelly Knickerbocker.

The current bid is $160.

This tile absolutely glows with inner light -- so wonderful!

(detail of Who Recycled)

My favorite piece in the show -- "Who Recycled" by Linda Pieroth Smith is currently at $135.

I am not an owl fan in particular but there is just something about this piece that really draws me to it.  I love the eyes and the colors.





You can keep tabs on the bidding on any of the fabulous mosaic tiles in the Beyond Borders exhibition by going to THIS LINK.  The tiles are on display at the Northville Art House and the auction closes at 9:00 on September 21, 2012.  All bids are placed online. 

What would a trip to the Art House be without visiting with Carla and checking to see what's new in the Art House Store?

And here is Carla packing up Ruth's purchase.

Oooh -- this is new in the store!

An incredible lidded mosaic box on ball feet with a tassel by Lin Schorr --  the artist/organizer of the Beyond Borders exhibition.

luscious sparkling colors...beautiful work

wow!

















Carla and Ruth












And THEN I noticed that the altered books were on display downstairs in the classroom/lower gallery!  Suzanne Schimanski-Gross is a teens services librarian at the Northville Public Libray -- across the street from the Art House.  On occasion some of the classes that the library offers are held over at the Art House.  This was the case with these marvelous altered books.  "Geek the Library" is a national program to spread awareness of the value of libraries and the critical funding issues they face.  Suzanne taught the class on altered books.

Here are some of my favorite altered books:

This is by Nicholas Bhandari

I love the colors and textures throught Nicholas' book.

The visuals are exciting and fun!

A well camouflaged/hidden pocket!

Another one!

These are a few pages from "Thoughts on Life" by Jane Berry.

I have to say that Clare Ramsden's book was the most intriguing and the collages were right up my alley.

The whole book reads like a fabulous murder mystery.

detail from my favorite page

closer detail

another brilliant page  (detail)

a

back cover











Next Ruth and I went to Parmenter's Cider Mill.  It was later in the day, so we were lucky to find that the line to get into the store wasn't too terrible...we were also very lucky to go to the cider mill on a blessedly cool and breezy day!  I love Parmenter's cider...it is refreshing and not too sweet.  And the apple cider slushes are divine!

There are vendors of crafts and jewelry and dog treats, a fudge hut, a nut hut, picnic tables (watch out for the bees), and the delightful hammered dulcimer and keyboard music of Hugh and Mary Lou Battley.

I put a tip in the cup and made a request for "Buffalo Gals" -- Hugh and Mary Lou play it wonderfully!  I love that song!

That little red barn is what REALLY brings me to the cider mill...

hot dogs, cider by the pint...but most important...

COTTON CANDY!!!!

And, take it from me -- it is GREAT cotton candy!

Parmenter's may not have a petting zoo (there are a bazillion ducks and geese down in the river behind the mill) but they DO have this giant raccoon!


Oh...and see off in the background on the left side of this photo -- you can put your face through the hole in the giant apple and take a picture!

What a fun day!