Over the weekend we celebrated the 92nd Birthday of our dear Friend, and art sister. Maxine never fails to bring to us her inspiration, and creative energy. How she does it, I do not no, but I want to be just like her when I grow up!
Zebra Designs & Destinations is a great place to get inspiration from, take a peek!
October 18,2014
What happened on Saturday night, October 18th?
The middle of October, Art Beat on Main Street in Vista, Ca. had a reception for our dear friend Maxine Custer. The entire show has been in the making for months, and was spearheaded by another dear friend, LaRetta Small Zamora. It became clear recently that LaRetta needed the help of three of the Fabulous Five Divas to pull it together. That meant that with the exception of Maxine providing her paintings for the show, the remaining four of us needed to share in the pulling it together!
Only part of the food!
And…..
After dividing up the catering responsibilities between Karin deBaay, Susan Kopp, LaRetta, and myself it made it much easier on LaRetta, and was actually fun. One person would have gone crazy…ier than they already were, so it worked out perfectly.
Maxine Custer, LaRetta Small Zamora
After placing announcements on Facebook, and group emails, not one of us even had a clue as to how many people might show up. So many invitations went out, that we lost count. But we were ready for a fabulous party!
For those of you who couldn’t make it, you missed a great party, but you still will be able to see the show!
This gallery contains 1 photo.
For the past few weeks I’ve been working on a paper painting. It isn’t something I want to do for the rest of my life, but I did have fun doing it! On course, as always, it’s a never-ending project. The more paper you glue to the surface, the more it needs….Until the piece is […]
Anyone who knows me, knows I haven’t been very productive in quite a while. I’ve tried, but somehow I just haven’t been able to find inspiration…until now!
A couple of months ago, I signed up to be part of the Sketchbook Project!
For the last few summers I have watched each year as this project unfolds, and in the back of my mind, thinking one year I would join in. This was that year! Of course, I needed another project, but what better time to start an art project than when you’re busy, right? My thinking was that it is only 32 pages, and certainly a little project like that would be a snap for me! The other thing is, we are all busy all the time anyway, so why wait?
After getting back into our home since having bamboo floors laid in the entire house (studio included), I think I’m ready to start thinking about putting pen to paper, and leaving my mark on whatever community it will be going to. That’s not to say that everything is perfect in our home. After all, some of the paintings still remain stacked in the corner waiting to find their rightful place on the wall. The livingroom looks new, and fresh. I’ve changed things around, replaced some things, and gotten rid of others. It feels like a new home to me, and now I’m ready to get back to sketching, and painting!
It’s interesting how something like this can give us an entire new outlook on just about everything, and I find myself energized, and inspired!
Who knows how long it will take me to complete this sketchbook. The project needs to be mailed back by January 15, 2014, so I really do have plenty of time. Anything goes this time, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do, anything, whatever feels right! Poetry, sketches, collage, ink, pen, you name it.
In the next few weeks, or maybe I should say, next couple of months, I’ll be posting the pages I work on, and you can tell me what you think. Make suggestions, I’m always open for comments, in fact I love getting comments, it keeps me motivated!
Sketchbook Project
This little Sketchbook will be going to the Central Part of the Mid-West!
So for now,….. Start a project, and share it with me! I’ll be back!
My stash of stamps is numerous, and some of them spoke to me big time! Things like XOXO, Friends One Of God’s Greatest Gifts, If The Shoe Fits Buy It, and several more. I used paisley stamps, elephant shapes, and on and on. When they were all baked and finished, It hit me! Almost every heart shape would be perfect for a girlfriend, but not for my grandchildren!
Now What?
One might say, “It’s back to the drawing board!” By golly, I think you’re right! I can only take so much clay, but it’s still fun to work with now and then, so it’s back to Michael’s for more clay. I hate going in there because Michael’s always carries things that call to me, and I rarely come out of there with only what I went in for! I really do try, but things just grab me! So on Wednesday, I dragged the pasta maker out once again for yet another go at the heart-shaped clay Valentines!
Somehow I was Having Trouble Getting Back Into The Hearts!
In Michael’s I found about six more stamps (on sale for 99c) appropriate for little ones. The old standbys like, Be My Valentine, or Will You Be Mine! That’s more like what I wanted to put on Valentines for a three, or a six-year-old. The girls are easier to make Valentines for, but the boys just have to get use to them also! Boys will be getting Valentines for the rest of their lives!
Again – Now What?
Since there are all kinds of projects going on around our house, I’m going to pack up all the “Stuff,” and take it for an Art Day with the Fabulous Five this weekend! Every month my girls and I get together to share, critique, and play with ideas. Sometimes we get really into some project, and sometimes we sit and throw ideas around, discussing technique, or problems we’re having with some specific piece of art one of us is working on. Whatever happens, we all come away from our day together feeling full of creative energy, and more ideas than we could have even imagined! All of us agree, that the single most important thing an artist can do for themselves is to share creative energy with other artists. So yes, I have a great support system, consisting of four other artists, each bringing something different to the table. Not one of us creates the same way, but each of us is inspired by the other. I couldn’t ask for more!
What did you create together?
Nothing! We hadn’t seen each other in quite a while, so not one of us could stop talking long enough so we could get some Valentines made. And after I bought über amounts of clay to make them with! The clay will go back to Michael’s just as soon as I’m finished. All in all, we had a great time together with many ideas (not involving Valentines).
Once Again – Now What?
Now it’s back to the drawing board to finish the Valentines on my own. I’m happy to report that after baking dozens of heart shapes, and stamping into them, I’m so finished!
With all the hearts completed, put together, wrapped, & addressed they are ready to go out the door. The pictures above are of the four sets of Valentines that are finished! I don’t want to see another Valentine until I get that box of See’s Candy from my husband in a few days!
I’m so ready to get back to organizing the studio, and to painting. Mostly Painting…
What Are Your Feelings On This?
This is the perfect time to start experimenting with our art! Certainly, if I don’t experiment, I won’t grow. I have a ten pound box of Cotton Linters sitting in my garage, still in its original box, and waiting for me to decide what to do with it. The Linters were shipped to me many years ago when I was in my paper making phase, and since then it has been given away (still in the original box), and found its way back home (still in the original box)! I can’t seem to get rid of them! But for the last year or so, it has been calling to me….
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Cotton Linters, they are the cotton fibers pressed into large sheets of rather soft paper. It is easily torn up, and run through the blender. The pieces get pulverized to the point of being put on a screen, filtering out the water, and dried flat – making handmade paper! (This is the simple version!)
10# of Cotton Linters just waiting for inspiration!
What on earth could it possibly be saying?
I only have vague ideas of what to do with it, but that ten pounds keeps just on the edge of my creative mind. There isn’t any way I still want to make paper, but I was thinking of preparing it the same way, and putting it into a mold of some kind to create a raised, molded image to place in a mixed media piece. I know this sounds vague, it does to me too. But like I said it seems to be circling the creative mind constantly! If it can be pulverized in a blender, why can’t it be pressed into something with a shape. Now I’m thinking if I put Elmer’s Glue with it, i could make some harder shapes.
OMG, just think of the possibilities!
This is how we come up with new ideas that haven’t been done before, this is how art is created! Trial and error!
Has anyone tried to do anything like this? I’d love to hear about it, or your thoughts, and ideas…
I’ll definitely get back to this subject at a later date, but for now, I’m letting it simmer, and marinate up there in the old cabasa!
Old as Dirt and Proud of it! 
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