Free Vintage Holiday Printables!

Yes, it's time again for the Ten Two Studios Holiday Printables Countdown, now through Christmas. Check http://countdown.tentwostudios.com/ everyday for a new download from Lisa Vollrath. She just asks that you spread the word by sharing the link on your blog, Twitter, etc. And while you're there check out all the cool Christmas products and Ten Two Studios design team projects posted on the main page!

ARTibles Holiday Bazaar at MARN

Happy Thanksgiving! Tomorrow is traditionally "Black Friday" when we're supposed to all go out and do our Christmas shopping (even though many businesses have started holding their Black Friday sales early). If you're in the Milwaukee area, be sure to check out the ARTibles Holiday Bazaar at the Milwaukee Artists Resource Network (MARN), 5407 W. Vliet Street in Milwaukee (conveniently next door to Four Corners of the World). ARTibles features handmade artsy gifts, ornaments, and accessories by local artists (including me). A percentage of the sales also benefits MARN, a non-profit organization serving the Milwaukee arts community. After Thanksgiving, regular ARTibles hours will be Thursday & Friday from 11-7 and Saturday 10-5 through December 24, 2011. Go shop!

Warped Milwaukee Fiber Art Show

I'm in a fiber arts show! If you're in the Milwaukee area, check out the Warped Milwaukee show at the Jazz Gallery, 926 E. Center Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, presented by the ABK Weaving Center and Riverwest Artists Association. The other participants are Harmonie Baker, Ellie Brooks-Derzay, Pame Bueno, Susan Buss, Taylor Easton, Jan Falk, Kari Garon, Betsy Hoover, Kathleen Hughes, Mel Kolstad, Shannon Molter, Jane Moore, and Stephanie Ponto. The show is up through December 4, 2011, and the gallery is open Saturdays 12-5 p.m. with other dates to be announced.

There are some stunning pieces on display, including this giant wing by Stephanie Ponto:

and these printed pouches by Susan Buss, entitled "Not Just a Bunch of Old Bags."

My friend Mel has a cool mixed media piece combining embroidery with vintage anatomy illustrations:

I have one of my mini Dia de los Muertos art quilts "Amigos" on display:
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You can see some more photos on Flickr.

September & October workshops & artsy stuff

Life has been busy this fall so it's time to catch up on the bloggin'! Since my last post in mid-September, I took two workshops organized for the Milwaukee Artist Trading Card group by group member Gary). MKE ATC member Lynne taught an ATC background workshop before our September meeting. We had a lot of fun making colorful serendipity collage backgrounds, and as a result I got a lot of ATCs made for our future trades!

These use images from the Ten Two Studios "Tinted Twenties Cuties" image CD. You can see pix from the workshop and complete set of ATCs in my Flickr photostream

In October we met at RedLine Milwaukee, a wonderful non-profit community art studio that includes a print shop and paper making space. Artist Dara Larson showed us how to make ATC-sized papers and carve printing blocks to decorate them. Here's Mel pulling her first set of handmade paper ATCs:

And my paper "wet off the press"!

(I still haven't decided what I'm going to do with them.)
Since Halloween was fast approaching I made a Day of the Dead stamp design, of course, inspired by the figure they had on display in the print shop.

More photos are here. If you live in the Milwaukee area be sure to check out RedLine's upcoming workshops.

Wisconsin Regional Art Program

Thanks to my friend Gary's encouragement, I submitted two pieces to one of the Wisconsin Regional Art Program's regional exhibits in Greendale, Wisconsin, this summer.  WRAP was started in 1940 to "encourage the creative growth of Wisconsin non-professional artists from rural areas." ("Non-professional" in this case defined as not making the majority of my income from art, which is definitely the case.) Last weekend was our workshop day, featuring a lecture and demo by jewelry artist Brenda Schweder and a critique of our art by Chad Lindemann.

I was very happy to learn that my collage "Once Upon a Time" (above) was one of seven pieces chosen for the State Exhibit Award, which allows me to participate in the statewide show in 2012! If you are a Wisconsin artist, check out the information about upcoming exhibits/workshops to see if they have a program in your area.

Art Trader, Pinterest & other Distractions

I realized that I never posted back in July that I was interviewed for the Summer 2011 issue of Art Trader Magazine, the FREE on-line 'zine for all things mail art. You can download the PDF file here. Be sure to check out their site because they also have contests and offer on-line workshops. (I took the Fantastic Faces workshop in the spring.)

Also this summer, I am attempting to reorganize my office/work area, though no one can tell when looking at the space, because it looks as messy as ever. I keep getting distracted by looking at other people's beautiful work spaces on-line and browsing for storage ideas. My friend Mel got me hooked on Pinterest, a site which allows you to "pin" links and images to your own themed boards. So perhaps I spent more time pinning inspiration to my Art Studio Ideas board than I should have....

And two of my Pinterest boards on cats and Edgar Allan Poe translated into my first Etsy treasuries. (And I was not in anyway procrastinating the cleaning and organizing when I made these.) And one of my minor accomplishments this summer was getting a few more of my quilted ornaments listed on Etsy. Now back to work...

Art Journal: What I Did This Summer

Somehow the summer has flown by and next weekend is already Labor Day!! I have been a negligent blogger and will try to catch everything up in one post via my art journal entries:

At the end of July I worked on a spread incorporating all the 12 plants/flowers associated with the months/suits in the Japanese card game Hanafuda. (If you've ever wondered how Nintendo got its start, the company originally manufactured hanafuda cards.) I drew these while attending the Inspire Your Life art retreat organized by Kim Geiser.
I took workshops in Interactive Art Journal techniques taught by Kim Rae Nugent (see sample at left) and Renewing/Redoing Your Wardrobe taught by Geri Justinger, and I taught a class on making Faux Tintype ATCs. We were in Kim Geiser's store/studio in downtown Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and you can see photos from the weekend on Flickr.

The August Sketchbook Challenge theme is "Every Day Objects" so I started this next spread with a staple gun, chicken wire, popcorn and Kleenex:

But summer is the fair & festival season in Milwaukee, and we hit the Wisconsin State Fair in early August, and the farm animals took over!

I'd been meaning to make sketches from all the photos I take of my sister's horses and chickens, and I finally did! In addition to State Fair, we also hit Summerfest and Irish Fest to see Gaelic Storm, which is probably the most festivating we've done in one year. (Sure, that's a real word.) So I leave you with my favorite Gaelic Storm song: