art in the garage

An Instagram Photo

2011-11-15T19:21:00.000-08:00

Frazier Valley in the fall...

Finished Painting

2011-11-15T08:14:00.000-08:00


"With Folded Hands"

Finally finished this piece. It's been floating around the studio for eight or nine months, first as a sketch in my sketchbook, then as a shaded sketch on a large piece of watercolor paper, and then as a partially painted piece.

I like her.

2011-11-14T12:58:00.000-08:00

Did this piece for the "Twenty Minute Challenge"--you can find it here.

Love love love working like this--no time to think or agonize or get it perfect--my handy dandy hairdryer was awfully, well, handy, for drying the paint. I left time at the end for colored pencils, charcoal, and a white Sharpie Poster Paint marker.

The whole concept of perfection really bugs me. We emphasize it so much in the schools, especially in regard to art and writing. Don't get me wrong, public writing needs to be perfect, and you want to be happy with your art before you send it out into the world--but in emphasizing perfection throughout the entire writing and painting process, we create children who think they can't write and can't paint/draw/create art.

In the beginning stages, all creation is about experimentation and expression. Finetuning and chasing that elusive beast, perfection, comes much later.

I'm Learning to Knit!

2011-11-14T11:40:00.000-08:00

Jenny modeling the brioche stitch headband.

Happy girl modeling one of my favorite hats!

I actually taught myself to knit a couple of years ago. I learned how to crochet when I was a little girl, but my grandma and aunts had trouble teaching me to knit (maybe because I'm a leftie?) A couple of years ago I got kind of ticked off at myself, thinking "If everyone else can learn to knit, surely I can, too!" So I learned to do the basic knit stitch and made a few scarves.

Fast forward to this summer: my son's girlfriend wanted to learn to crochet so she could make some booties for her new little sister. I got all my knitting/crocheting stuff out, and once I'd showed her how to crochet and she was working on her booties, I picked up the knitting needles and started messing around. Then I bought Amanda Keeys' wonderful book on knitting hats for babies (see the sidebar), and I was off and running.

Let me explain something I've discovered about myself: I don't like not knowing how to do something. I will grit my teeth and do something over and over again until I figure it out. Not sure whether this is stupidity or persistence, but it's served me well in the last ten years.

Once my dad wasn't doing as well, I felt more obliged to stay in the house, rather than spending my days down in the studio, thus the long break from blogging and painting, etc.. Knitting to the rescue! It's something I can do up at the house, during the day and in the evenings when everyone's watching tv. So in the past few months I've been knitting up a storm. I've made a small stack of newborn hats for the local hospital to put on the new babies for their trip home, and I've made hats and headbands for my own girls. I'm doing some of my own patterns now, and I'm thinking I'll start putting up some of my knitted pieces in my Etsy shop. I'm hunting for a baby to model some of the baby hats, but luckily I have a lovely preteen model right here in the family!

My ATC's

2011-11-14T09:30:00.001-08:00

My ATC's, a set on Flickr.

A Find...

2011-11-10T11:31:00.000-08:00

I've been browsing Abebooks for the past few months, looking for falling-apart, pre-1922 books that I can use in my art. It's a great way to buy used books--I've had lots of success purchasing out-of-print books for my dad at very reasonable prices.I'm especially interested in dictionaries since I'm kind of a 'word person,' and 19th century dictionaries are fun to read, coming as they did before the advent of the truly modern dictionary. Many of them use a form of the word they are defining in the definition (and that's a big no-no, as we all remember from sixth grade vocabulary tests!)

A couple of months ago, while browsing, I found a German Lexicon that was published in 1751! It had been damaged in a fire at some point, but the man who had it was actually using it as a reference book. He'd found an undamaged copy, and was about to chuck this one into the recycling bin, but decided someone else might want it. I got it for a dollar plus the cost of shipping!

It's not in great shape (obviously, since it's TWO HUNDRED FIFTY years old). Some of the sections are loose and the cover boards are plain boards with no leather or cloth covering them. The paper is amazing; more like fabric than paper, actually. The pages are foxed, and a bookworm drilled through a section of it at some point, as you can see below. But its age and condition are part of what make it so fascinating and lovely.

Keep That Pencil Moving!

2011-11-08T22:42:00.000-08:00

A continuous-line drawing from yesterday. Here's what I find most useful and intriguing about this:
1) there's a complete lack of expectation about these--it's an exercise, not intended to be a finished product--and for someone like me, who struggles to let go and just make art, this is huge.
2) these make me focus on shapes rather than line. I can see the planes in the face--

I'm Ba-a-ack

2011-11-08T11:11:00.000-08:00

Things have been kind of hectic and discombobulated around here for the last six months or so, but I'm trying to get back in the swing of making (and selling) art. I've posted some of my new metalwork in my etsy shop, along with some new paintings and some packages of vintage papers from 19th century books, and Katie reminded me that I need to start blogging again, as well as revamp my website... so there's lots to do (not to mention the two kids at home, the one kid in college, the hubby, and my 85-year-old dad, who lives with us now. Plus five dogs, six cats, six chickens, and the three horses that are boarding in our pasture. BUT NO GOATS!!! I knew there was a bright spot there somewhere! Some of my goat adventures are chronicled here and here and here and here)

Cold and cloudy here today. I finally dragged out the heater in the studio and it's happily heating right next to my legs. I never can get it what I would call warm in here during the winter, but it's a vast improvement over my old studio in the garage, so I can't complain.

Here's a picture of one of the jewelry pieces I've been making. I love that the image is from one of my collages!

Back to work--I haven't been out here as much as I'd like, so there's lots to choose from!

Homemade Drying Rack

2011-08-18T13:53:00.000-07:00

And yet another use for those wire cubes! I've been working on paper a lot, but have learned (the hard way) that wet painted papers STICK TOGETHER. So, my drying rack. It's only attached at three corners so that large journals and papers can fit it, and once again it's held together with zip ties.

When I get back to painting on canvas, I'll just turn it on its side to hold even large canvases comfortably.

Space Saving Storage for Paint

2011-08-17T13:46:00.000-07:00

I've been frustrated with my bottles of craft paints--seemed like they were always getting buried on my table under papers and books. I hated wasting time searching for the right bottle, and after some thought I made this to hang on the wall and store my bottles of craft paint.

I started with some pieces of those wire cube sets that they sell at Target and WalMart:

Two whole pieces made the front and the back, and then I used my trusty hacksaw to cut the side from one panel.

You can see in this closeup that there is a one-grid-wide strip running down the side:

I held it together with zip ties (love those things!), strung wire from the top, and hung it from two Gorilla hooks. I used the connectors that came with the set for the back, so that the whole thing would be a little bit removed from the wall. That way, there are two squares holding each bottle.

Craft paints fit in nicely, but my one-ounce bottles of Golden fluid acrylics fit perfectly, since the shoulder of the bottle catches the front grid.

It's been up for a couple of weeks now, and I love it. I can see the paint color from the dabs of paint on each cap, so it's easy to find the right color, and it's vertical storage, which saves space--love it!

Another Journal Page

2011-08-08T17:25:00.001-07:00

A Journal Page

2011-08-08T17:24:00.001-07:00

This is from a while ago--time's kinda been slipping away from me around here this summer.

Internet in the studio hasn't worked for months (someone ran over my Ethernet cord with the lawn mower right where it came up at the edge of the grass), we are trying to get Joel set for the start of college, my dad has had some health issues, so lots of doctor's visits, and last weekend Richard may have had a TIA (small precursor to a stroke).

I'm feeling a little bit overwhelmed, but hopefully everyone will stay healthy and eventually I will get out in the studio to paint and answer emails!

Whoops!

2011-07-04T22:29:00.001-07:00

A Journal Page

2011-07-04T12:16:00.001-07:00

Playing in My Journal

2011-06-25T16:46:00.001-07:00

More New Work!

2011-06-11T18:08:00.001-07:00

Today...

2011-06-09T19:43:00.001-07:00

Some Sketches

2011-06-09T09:43:00.000-07:00

Just Beginning

2011-06-08T14:49:00.001-07:00

An Experiment

2011-06-06T21:03:00.000-07:00

From Today

2011-06-06T20:40:00.001-07:00

In Progress

2011-06-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

Finished (I Think)

2011-06-06T20:32:00.001-07:00

Oh, The Things That I'll See!

2011-06-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

Look where I'm going on Sunday! I'm so excited.

Some New Work

2011-05-25T14:04:00.000-07:00

In progress...

2011-05-11T20:17:00.000-07:00

Made with FX Photo Studio

www.artinthegarage.blogspot.com

In the Foothills

2011-03-16T22:42:00.001-07:00

Some Jewelry Experiments

2011-03-16T18:31:00.000-07:00

A Work in Progress

2011-03-11T10:03:00.000-08:00

I've always been fascinated the hidden things--as a child I gravitated to the odd little spaces, behind chairs, under staircases, amongst the shrubs outside...Don't know why, but that's me.

Lately, I've been really drawn to the idea of hidden things in paintings. I've often started painting by writing some words or a quote across the canvas, knowing that by the time the painting was finished, no one but me would know the words were there. Now, I've been enjoying the freedom of realizing that PAINT COVERS! and knowing that anything I do can be undone, or redone, if I don't like it. And even better, that it all contributes to the final painting.

Just realized that that kinda applies to life, too. Hmmm. Too much philosophy for a cloudy Friday morning...

From My Journal

2011-03-11T09:32:00.000-08:00

Page Three

2011-02-08T15:20:00.000-08:00

Page Two

2011-02-08T12:28:00.000-08:00

And more...

2011-02-07T18:33:00.000-08:00

And more...

2011-02-07T16:33:00.000-08:00

Page One

2011-02-07T13:19:00.000-08:00

Altered Book Cover

2011-02-07T13:18:00.001-08:00

Altered Book Front Cover

2011-02-07T13:18:00.000-08:00

Sketching...

2011-02-07T13:16:00.000-08:00

Another beginning

2011-02-07T13:15:00.001-08:00

Painting again

2011-02-07T13:15:00.000-08:00

Sketching in the doctor's office

2011-02-04T13:32:00.000-08:00

Beach glass charms

2011-01-30T15:46:00.000-08:00

Finally getting the hang of soldering!

Lenten Roses

2011-01-29T14:27:00.000-08:00

Morning Fog, Clearing Now

2011-01-28T14:09:00.000-08:00

Snow on the Sierras

2011-01-27T14:08:00.000-08:00

Waiting...

2011-01-26T14:08:00.000-08:00

Ooooh a secret!

2011-01-25T08:06:00.000-08:00

All rolled up in a soldered glass vial! The page is from a 1869 dictionary page, but I won't tell you what it says because--it's a secret!

Lovely Tangle

2011-01-20T22:09:00.000-08:00

Soldered Charms

2011-01-20T12:09:00.000-08:00

Texture of ??? I Don't Know What

2011-01-19T22:09:00.000-08:00

Pretty Pattern

2011-01-18T22:09:00.000-08:00

From the Getty Garden

2011-01-17T22:09:00.000-08:00

Pomegranates

2011-01-17T18:38:00.000-08:00

Etched copper

2011-01-17T17:26:00.001-08:00

Another experiment. Having lots of fun!

Etched brass

2011-01-17T17:26:00.000-08:00

Created the resist using a rubber stamp and solvent ink--I think the unique background texture is because the ink didn't completely cover the brass...

Etched Metal Sheet

2011-01-17T17:24:00.000-08:00

Etched nickel-silver--first experiment with etching!

2011-01-16T10:09:00.000-08:00

2011-01-15T22:08:00.000-08:00

2011-01-14T22:08:00.000-08:00

2011-01-14T13:48:00.000-08:00

Sunset through the Trees

2011-01-10T21:01:00.000-08:00

iDroste app

2011-01-09T20:59:00.000-08:00

Very cool, isn't it? I took a picture of the clock we have over the mantel, and then used an app called iDroste, which turns the picture into a spiral. There are sliders for choices like iterations and centering and transparency--would have loved to have something like this when I was teaching geometry and trig!

A Driveway Puddle

2011-01-08T21:50:00.000-08:00

Drain Cover

2011-01-07T21:48:00.000-08:00

A (Brief) Break in the Rain

2011-01-06T21:49:00.000-08:00

Sweet Little House

2011-01-05T21:47:00.000-08:00

Funny how some houses just capture my imagination...

High School Hallway

2011-01-04T21:47:00.000-08:00

More Berries

2011-01-03T12:13:00.000-08:00

The Old Dance Studio

2011-01-02T16:15:00.000-08:00

Winter Branches

2011-01-01T22:03:00.000-08:00

Fall at the School

2010-12-31T12:14:00.000-08:00

After the Rains....

2010-12-29T12:13:00.000-08:00

At the Corner

2010-12-28T07:21:00.000-08:00

On the Way Home

2010-12-27T21:41:00.000-08:00

I've been (I thought) posting these automatically from the Instagram app on my phone. I didn't have it set up right, and so now I'm going back and reposting them...

Pistachio Berries

2010-12-26T17:39:00.000-08:00

On the Brick

2010-12-25T10:39:00.000-08:00

Down the Road

2010-12-24T17:38:00.000-08:00

Lovely Gingko

2010-12-24T12:59:00.000-08:00

View From My Kitchen Window...

2010-12-24T12:31:00.000-08:00

Having lots of fun with Instagram app on my iPhone...Will continue to post pix...

Fun With the Girls

2010-12-24T12:12:00.000-08:00

We made graham cracker houses yesterday!

Grilling Steaks

2010-11-03T17:53:00.000-07:00

The view from the back porch…

The Flapper

2010-11-01T17:44:00.000-07:00

Jenny in her costume. Ain't she sweet?

Took the picture AND edited it, all on my iPhone!

Illustration Friday: Spent

2010-11-01T15:25:00.000-07:00

Her heart was spent. She had no more to give...

Zentangles and Hundertwasser

2010-11-01T14:23:00.000-07:00

More connections...

In the Studio

2010-10-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

I've been out in the studio the last couple of days--yesterday I turned on music and painted a dreadful painting, then painted over it (very happily, I may add). Today I came out, painted a little bit, and then set to work re-organizing my computer files. While I'm waiting for files to move from one hard drive to another, I'm sketching out ideas for new paintings.

Mmmm. Nice day.

The Big Draw: Day 23

2010-10-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

There's something bizarre and yet attractive about these drawings...

It's All Connected, Somehow...

2010-10-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

I remember the first time I realized this--I was a freshman at Michigan State, and something that one professor said just made everything click into place, and I could see--I could actually see in my mind--all the connections between everything I'd ever learned, both in and out of school, in my whole life.

It was a marvelous feeling, somehow larger than life. I remember walking home from class that day, my brain simply fizzing away, zipping back and forth between seemingly unrelated bits of information, and the dawning of this huge revelation that it was all related. All of it. Everything. And, for a short, magical while, I could see all the tenuous threads that held everything--every thing, every one, all of it--together.

The feeling diminished over the next few days, as marvelous feelings often do, but every now and again I bump into some paler version of it when seemingly disparate items reveal an unforeseen connection. It happened this past week.. Somehow, while making zentangles and doing contour drawings for The Big Draw and looking at my drawing books and working with the high school kids I had an aha! moment. Texture, pattern, contour, light, dark, shadows, reality and imagination all somehow connected in my brain. It's both more complex and more simple than words can express, but that connectedness still gives me a jolt of pleasure, and I think that it's probably one of the most profound truths of all. I know that if I could only retain that incredible feeling of connection to every thing and to every one all the time, I would be a better, wiser, more complete and kinder person.

Here's hoping that all of us experience more of those amazing moments...

The Big Draw: Day 22

2010-10-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

I quite like him..

And More Zentangles

2010-10-21T17:16:00.000-07:00

More Zentangles

2010-10-21T14:31:00.000-07:00

Catch Up on the Big Draw...

2010-10-21T11:20:00.000-07:00

As usual, things have been hectic around here... Sometimes I wonder what I did with all that time before I had kids.

Joel's football team is currently ranked number 5 in Central California (all divisions of schools) by the Fresno Bee! The boys are having a great season and have knocked off a couple of teams who have traditionally been bigger, stronger, and more athletic than the Porterville teams...It's very exciting.

Katie's choir just had their first concert--wonderful wonderful! Tennis has just ended for her, so she's very sad as she absolutely loves all the girls on the team, but basketball starts in a couple of weeks, which should perk her up considerably.

and of course, I've been ripping up carpet, laying laminate flooring, painting, and cutting new baseboard moldings. That's been a huge job, more hard physical labor than I could have imagined, but soooo worth it! With three dogs, three kids, and three adults in and out of the house all day long, laminate is a much better choice for us than carpet.

Here are some of the pages from my sketchbook during the past week or so. I'll try to scan more and get them up soon.

Laminate Floor in the Diningroom!

2010-10-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

Ripped out the carpet in the diningroom and laid laminate flooring--then Katie talked me into taking down the plate rail and painting, which meant I had to cut new molding...Katie is a force of nature--you can't stop her! But this room is done--Aaaah.

New Zentangles

2010-10-13T13:22:00.000-07:00

Here are three new zentangles. I went to Art Club at the high school yesterday and we all did zentangles--the kids loved them! they are going to make them into cards to sell as a fundraiser for their trip to the J. Paul Getty Museum later this year. Next week we'll continue to work on zentangles, as well as making our own envelopes for the cards. Should be fun. It's a great teacher with a great group of kids...

Livingroom Is Done!

2010-10-12T08:06:00.000-07:00

Still lots to do--paint and put up new molding, paint the walls (but what color? Joel says pale yellow/gold and the girls want a room painted red...), and finish sewing the new fitted canvas slipcovers I'm making out of painter's drop-cloths... but it does look very nice!

My helpers

2010-10-10T18:39:00.000-07:00

Jenny (top) and Katie (bottom) now officially can lay laminate flooring. Between the three of us, we each laid about a third--could not have done it without them! Joel helped lots too, moving furniture and doing all the transport of the boxes of flooring. He is also our resident expert at putting down the foam underlayment--all in all, it was a family event!

Ripping Out Carpet

2010-10-09T09:21:00.000-07:00

Jenny and I ripped the carpet out of the livingroom today. What an icky sweaty dusty job! And--even after you get all the pad and carpet out--you still have to pull up all the tack strips, pry out all the staples, and take the molding off! Jenny and Katie are doing that part :)

Tomorrow we're going to put down laminate flooring. It'll make much more sense with three kids, three adults, and three dogs going in and out of the house all day... We did the same thing to the family room last month (see the pic above), although that was a much bigger job because we also painted the pecky cedar on the walls--now THAT was a lot of work! Thank goodness for my little helpers--it turned out so well...

The Big Draw--Day Eight

2010-10-08T08:30:00.000-07:00

All done with my right hand! It's like it shifts my brain into another gear.

Second-hand Store Find!

2010-10-07T19:02:00.000-07:00

$5 at a local thrift shop. It's quite lovely; a bit worn around the edges, delicate and ethereal…

Blind Contour Drawings: One Step Further

2010-10-07T14:47:00.000-07:00

Using the techniques outlined in the most recent Cloth Paper Scissors, I experimented with turning this morning's blind contour drawing into 'something more'--in this case, a 'faux silkscreen'. I like it!

The Big Draw: Day Seven

2010-10-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try an experiment with this morning's drawing--Will post more soon, I promise!