265/2013 - Day 232

whoa -- full day

Wow I nearly slept through my deadline...thanks a lot, Benadryl -- and thank you for real, whatever woke me up.

This morning (seems so far away now) Leann came over.  Joan couldn't make it today.  Leann was folding origami birds and I needed to take photos of 4 pieces I am submitting to an upcoming local show.

one of the collages I am submitting to a local show

(Man...I am losing it...nodding off...having to re-type the same sentence over and over again.

Then I put my submission packet together, burned the CD of images, ran the packet over to the venue, came home and did two loads of laundry, put together all of my materials for tonight's Exhibit Committee meeting...attended the meeting -- a really good, lively discussion with everyone participating.

my bag of stuff for the meeting tonight

 Okay, okay...see you tomorrow!  Time to sleep now.

365/2013 - Day 115

oh well -- maybe next time

I said I'd report back on the two shows I submitted work to.  The results were posted tonight for The Scarab Club's upcoming exhibition "2013 Blooms, Bugs, Beasts".  The three pieces I submitted for consideration were not accepted.  I didn't really think any would get in, but I wanted to give it a shot ...maybe next time!  

Congratulations to the artists whose work was accepted!  I'd like to go and see the show during its run.

Here are the photos from the CD I submitted.

"Djubi"  (view B)

"Djubi"  (view B)

"Foxish Thoughts"  collage

"Keeper of Secrets"  (view A)

"Keeper of Secrets"   (view B)

The results for the other show will be announced next week (I think).

2012/365 - Day 234

free art materials and dropping off a submission CD

This morning I got a call from Joan and Scout when they were on their walk.  A house near their house had hard cardboard carpet tubes out at the curb.  

I thought about it for a few minutes and then decided I'd pass on them because I still haven't done anything with these yet, beyond covering them with masking tape in preparation for the plaster cloth.

I thought about it a little longer and I had to call Joan back and get the location of the tubes.  At that point Joan and Scout were just coming up on a whole treasure trove of stuff!  Joan was describing things to me and saying how great they'd be for me.  Then the taking-away-the-good-stuff truck was approaching and I made a mad dash up there.

Here is my haul (back at my house).  Three good carpet tubes, a wooden table base, a wooden lamp base, three old yardsticks and some sort of framework thing...maybe a kid's easel or paper holder (?) -- I am sure these will ALL come in handy in future projects.

I think all of the tubes are going to turn into an army of cool snakes...but we'll see.

 Today was also the day before the deadline for submissions to the 20th Annual Canton Fine Arts Exhibition 2012 at the Village Theater at Cherry Hill in Canton, MI.

Peggy had a fabulous solo show there a short while ago -- it is a really nice space.

A couple of days ago I was having trouble printing the entry form and juror's results card/return postcard from the PDF file and I suspected the form was some sort of larger two-sided thing that wasn't translating well into a printable form.

Luckily, Peggy had also entered and was able to tell me about the form.  I called Joan and asked if there were any at the Art House.  Joan checked the next morning and YAY there were!

So I was able to pre-fill out my forms and put my submission CD together.   I dropped it off today.  (Plan B was going to be to fill out the forms at the theater when I arrived.)

This is a shot from my car of the Village Theater at Cherry Hill (across from where I was parked).

I will take more photos when I go back to see the show -- fingers crossed one of my three submissions is accepted!

2012/365 - Day 188

getting a new/used chair, mailing our entries, and hanging some art

Part One:  This morning Sue drove me in her truck to pick up a recliner for Twink's room/the new sitting room.  

Twink's room was pretty bare and really needed something soft for him to land on for those occasions when he jumps directly down from the catwalk instead of taking the stairs like he should.

I used to be a volunteer for The Detroit Derby Girls.

Sass Knuckles (Detroit Derby Girls / Pistol Whippers) and her family had a yard sale over last weekend and on the first day she (due to the weather) she was only able to tell about some of the items on Facebook.  She mentioned several things, including a recliner.  Later in the day she posted a photo of it and it looked like it would be a great fit for Twink's room.  She saved it for me and Sue and I picked it up today.  It is perfect!  

This room is pretty small and has a fairly narrow doorway and then you have to navigate the stairs to the loft as soon as you enter the room.

This chair is the perfect size!  

Twink checked it out immediately.   

I wasn't sure if he'd like it because it rocks...

He likes it.

You can tell when Twink is really happy because he flips around on the floor -- I call it floor dancing.

He loves this chair.

Yep -- this chair is a winner for us!!!

Part Two:  The deadline for that upcoming Collage/Assemblage/Construction Art show is today.  Leann already mailed her entry earlier in the week.  Peggy,  Joan,  Ruth and I all sent ours together in one package.  I put Ruth's cd together yesterday and I also did mine yesterday.  Last evening Peggy dropped hers off.  Today while I was out picking up the chair, Joan dropped hers off in my non-mail mailbox.  

It probably wasn't really necessary, but I put some cardboard on each end of the stack of cds for some support.

This is the show we are submitting our cds to.

YAY -- ready to go!

When I got back from the post office I phoned the LowellArts! center to let them know the package was coming with four entries in it.  I also told the lady on the phone that another friend had sent hers in already.  The lady on the phone sounded really happy that so many out-of-their-local-area entries were being submitted.

Part Three:  I felt like I needed to add some art to the room now that there was a new chair.

I have to admit that in this heat (this is the time of day when the house is really HOT even with the a/c on) I only did "for now" fixes for the art I put on the walls.  I did a decent job, but really it is only a temporary fix.  I will re-do them later as I add more art to the room.  But for now...

I put "Time for a Nap" into the frame that the canvas came in when I got it from Salvation Army.  I used another piece to get the gist of the hardware placement (Leann did that one a while back).

I may alter this frame, so I only put on two offset clips to hold the canvas in place...it is actually pretty secure.  I didn't feel like pulling out the electric drill so I just put in one screw in each of the wire hook things.  I also didn't do a permanent job on the wire.  But for now it is really good.

Twink ran up to the loft ahead of me and did his daredevil act that worries the bejeebers outta me.

Ahhhh...a new chair and a new piece of art!

And yes, I do like the collage better now that it is in a frame.

Ha ha ha.

I put some tacks in the wall to see if this is where I wanted to hang these three collages. 

Twink played in and out of the house on the catwalk.  He is checking on his octo-mouse toy up there.

I actually did measure the first hook thing, then I used the others as a guide for the ones that were close enough.  I measured the outside ones.

Again, I don't think this is a permanent thing for these wonderful collages.  I will fix them better later on down the road.

Hey -- not bad for eyeballin' it!

You know how much I hate to paint?  Well I hate to measure and hang even more.

 These are those three beautiful constellation collages that artist (and fellow Art-o-mat host) Bonnie Pfingst made.  I got them at her Tiny Studio in Kalamazoo during the return trip home when Ruth and I took that road trip out to South Haven for other Art-o-mat opening reception.

I LOVE these three collages!  Here they are up close:

In my grouping this is the one on the left.

This is the one in the middle.

And this is the one on the right.

After I had taken the photos of Bonnie's collages, I turned around and there was Twink -- in the new chair.

I think this room is going to turn out really good.

2012/365 - Day 148

practice, practice, practice...

Today while working with paint on canvas #4 I decided it was time to make a decision regarding the two upcoming shows with the closest deadlines.  I care more about one than I do the other (submitting-wise) and I think I am probably pushing too hard to fit into the "other".  I am going to drop submitting something to that one although I really want to go and see the exhibit during its run.

The biggest reason is that I am not a painter...I am someone who stumbles onto things on occasion that work out at that particular moment.  It can be a bit frustrating at times, but mostly I am fine with that.  I really do understand that it is something that I can learn and it is something that takes lots and lots and lots of practice -- especially for someone that it just doesn't come to naturally.

LOL -- I think I like the idea of painting much more than the actual process of painting.  I sure know I enjoy acquiring paint and looking at the tubes all spread out.

This is an area of the foxish-creature's face before I tried to add shadow to it.

This is the area after I was done (for now).  It isn't horrible, the problem is that is the best area...the rest is pretty messed up.

However...

I did manage to mix some colors together that I added over the top of his hat and over his shirt.  You can still see through it in person and I really like the color.

 

But now I am back to several of my "normal" painting dilemmas.  Again, I realize this is a problem mainly for me and it is probably not as bothersome to the viewer.

• I feel like the more I add to the piece, the even more I will need to add...color-wise
• Now I feel like the color I added to his hat and shirt draw my eye more than I wanted
• I am thinking (now) that he probably needs an eye color -- how do I choose one that isn't too distracting but that stands out enough to distract from his shirt and hat?
• he still needs all sorts of shadow work

An artist friend is coming for a working visit during June.  I think I will set this canvas aside until them and perhaps he can coach me with the shadowing.  We'll see...

In the meantime, it will be a plaster cloth (and then painting) crazy place around here while I pull things together for the show I care more about submitting something to.

2012/365 - Day 139

looking ahead, planning, etc.

 the view from my desk

Tonight I am sitting here in the studio lining up the pieces (and projects) I want to submit to various upcoming shows.  A few of the deadlines are still comfortably far away and absolutely doable.  A couple of the deadlines are quicker than I realized but I think I might be able to manage them...I hope so.

This is the one Sue and I made the road trip to Muskegon for -- the results notifications were mailed today...fingers crossed!  34th Annual Regional Exhibition -- Muskegon Museum of Art / Muskegon, MI

Here are the upcoming ones:

Paint Creek Center for the Arts / Rochester, MI -- 2012 PCCA Members Biennial

Grosse Point Art Center / Grosse Pointe, MI -- Realism and Surrealism

Northville Art House / Northville, MI -- Thoughts With Thread

LowellArts! / Lowell, MI -- Collage, Assemblage & Construction (Art) Exhibition

Smith Theater Gallery at Oakland Community College's Orchard Ridge Campus / Farmington Hills, MI -- From Our Perspective: A National Women's Art Exhibition

South Haven Center for the Arts / South Haven, MI -- 3rd Annual Regional Juried Exhibition

I have a pretty good idea of what I want to submit to each show...now I just need to get my act together and make the deadlines!

ALSO -- I really need to get back to making my Art-o-mat series...Artists in Cellophane/HQ is totally out of my stuff.  The DIY version of Penciled In is ready to be put together and I need to assemble & sew the finger puppets for Tookies. 

I have PLENTY to do!