Studio Friday : Comfort

I've finally hooked up with Studio Friday. I've been an admirer for weeks now. This week's topic is comfort. For me, my comfort in the studio is my stash of papers, my jars of paper flowers, my favorite brush, gel medium and clip art. Whenever I'm stumped, I always pull this stuff out to play with - to see what happens. And I just can't live without my hello kitty slippers :)

New Look

Hey look - I cleaned up the place. I like the swirly colors of my previous template, but sometimes it was too distracting. I am in the mood for something clean and simple.

I'm trying to get caught up on my group participation. The posts below show what's going on. I'm a day behind on my 21 day challenge. Check out the 'art journal' link.

Today is Tyler's birthday - happy 16 baby cakes!

Self Portait Tuesday

Self Portait Tuesday
Originally uploaded by traSEAlee.

My fingers, in their chubby splendor, are my gateway to my friendships, my business, my art, my learning, my everything - all around the world.

Beautiful Sunday

birdcages
Originally uploaded by traSEAlee.

I'm late and trying to catch up. Here's my entry for beautiful sunday. My birdcage collection is something I treasure. My mom found almost all of them for me.

I hate goodbyes

I just hate saying goodbye to my kids. I have to get up at 6 tomorrow to get my son ready for the train ride back up to his dad's and it's 2:53 am. I can't sleep, thinking about tomorrow and having to send him off. It's been fantastic to have him home, I can't wait till he comes home for good this summer.
Today we drove up to Lincoln City to get out for the day. We spotted a fantastic rainbow on the way. I shot these from the car, driving down the 101.
We trompped through a thrift store while we were there... Here's Tyler trying on jackets. He wants a black suit jacket to wear with his t-shirts and jeans, but all the arms were too short.
I love his style - he's so confident - he makes me laugh.

On the bright side, Trevor, my oldest son will be here next month with his girlfriend. I'm counting down the days!

My Rock Star

This is Tyler, my rock star. Music is his life and I couldn't be more proud of his dedication. He's here for spring break, which is such a treat for me. I miss the stuff'n out of him the rest of the time, while he's spending this school year in Canada with his dad. The count-down is on till summer, when he'll be moving home again.

I made this collage for him today. I did some gel transfers to get that grunge look and he chose the color. I transfered the photos I took of him the first night he was here, added some vintage sheet music I had in my stash. He loves it.

Inspire Me Thursday : MONOCROMATIC ART : white

white
Originally uploaded by traSEAlee.

Here's a white altered book page I did in time for this week's Inspire Me Thursday.

I printed a freebie paper from Somerset Studio onto a transparency sheet and
used gel medium to transfer it to muslin. When it dried I frayed the edges and
made my doll from a bunch of printed papers, using silk hydrangeas as wings
(painted with a little pearl paint). I added lace fro her top and sheer strip of
ribbon for her skirt. The head is cut from vintage clip-art and crystals glued
on for her tiara. The stip of paper on top reads 'beauty comes from within'. The
bottom has a scrap of printed twill tape. White doesn't have to be boring.

Inspire Me Thursday : THINK BIG : Love Bird

Love Bird
Originally uploaded by traSEAlee.

I've been following Inspire Me Thursday for about a month and half now, but have yet to join in on the challenges. Today was the day though - the challenge is "think big"... to do something bigger than normal. Yesterday I happened to hit a sale at Micheal's and picked up some 16x20 canvases... much bigger than my usual small format stuff. I figured one day I would try something bigger. So early this am I was online and saw 'think big' as the new theme - so of course I HAD to give it a whirl!

I've been wanting to try some birds for a while so here it is. I painted the canvas with acrylics, adding in some printed papers to add some texture and interest. (grass, bird, heart & sun) Lastly the eye is a swarovski crystal and it's ready to go. I had a blast doing this and I think I might even try a series - who knows. All I know is that now that I've finally taken the Inspire Me Thursday plunge, I'm hooked.

My plea for hits

All right, this is my shameless plea to see how many hits I can get on my Art 2's monthly theme week auction. This month's theme is numbers. The rule to our theme week listing is the starting price is only $4.99 ... that's right sports fans, that's art on the cheap for only 5 bucks! So after browsing mine - feel free to put 'art squared theme week' in the eBay search box to see what others are offering.
So pass on the link to my auction and I'll be happy camper watching the hit counter rise. Thanks!!!

Sigh of Relief

I just returned from the artist's reception at the Florence Events Center. I was tickled pink to find out I had sold my letter K. A couple from Reedport purchased it... they shared a personal story as to why they wanted it - which brougt a neat connection to the whole thing. I couldn't be happier!
I sold a few necklaces too, but my friends bought them - so that feels strange.... like my Mom buying them or something. I am lucky to have my sweet friends who are supporting my efforts.

Side Effects

"Secrets"

Uggh, today I'm suffering from a side effect of a nasal med to help clear my ears. Nose bleeds.... gross and a pain in the butt. I was supposed to meet my friend at the coffee house but it started when I was getting ready. Drat. Next a headache, so I've been lying down trying to 'rest it away'. I'm up to take a quick peek at my email (I'm trying not to fall asleep, just rest). I found a little good news in my email though... I just sold my latest beeswax collage to nice gal in New Zealand.

Goals Met

I'm feeling pleased today that I've met my goals for the 2 out of 3 art shows I'm in. Everything is hung and on display. Yesterday I got the last of it made (below). The first pic is before I soldered on the jump rings and added the bead dangles, the second is after and unfortunately, badly lit.

The last show is not till the end of April and I want to work on some more beeswax collages for those - something in color, not sepia tones. I've got ideas swirling, so I'm excited to have the time to work on them at my leisure, rather than in my usual time crunch.

Pancake Meow

Look at this doughnut - doesn't just make you crave Krisyp Kreme? You can almost smell it, taste it.... but it's a necklace! Oh yes, you have to go over to Pancake-Meow and check out her INCREDIBLE mini food. You can even have it customized... choose your icing, sprinkles, etc and I haven't even shared the best part ... You can choose your SCENT! That's right... it will smell as good as it looks. Wow!

The Misadventures of Miss Mew

Yesterday, after the tough task of cleaning out my turtle tank, my cat jumped in it. She loves to sit on top of the screened lid and I guess she figured it was on. We had just put the tank back, and went to get the lid and sploosh - Mew went all the way in. She was out in a second, but her wet soppy trail was all over the house till we got her dried off. She blew out the computer monitor in her dripping path - let's hope it just takes a few days to dry out.
Here's her mug shot:

Is there a limit to happiness?

Is there a limit on how many happy days you can have in a row? I guess I reached mine. I was settling into the peace of closing my studio, enjoying working on my artwork, overcoming my fears and putting my work into shows, having fun seeing it get some press.... and then BAM!!!

Vultures swoop in, without just cause, to try to kill it. As I wipe away the tears from crying for 2 days, after taking the benadryl to calm down my hives, after seeking proper legal representation, I am trying to calm down. I'm trying to over-come. I'm trying to remember not to believe every word out every asshole's mouth - that I have people in my corner too.

You know who you are, Montana Monsters - I know you have found this blog. I've done nothing wrong, I've comitted no crime, the propper authorites are aware, and you aren't going to ruin me, or impose on me your screw-ups that are perhaps haunting you, which is probably why you are looking for a quick buck. Thank God I didn't take on your business name. It's mud and I had nothing short of a year of debt collectors looking for you, my first year in business. Perhaps they have caught up with you and that's why are intruding on my space. Leave me alone. Just leave me alone!