30 days of get your ART on!

Beginning October 1st, I'm joining traci bunkers in 30 days of get your ART on!!!  I need to jumpstart my creativity and the timing is right.  I'll be at ART IS for the first few days of October so i'll have some momentum going in.  wish me luck and if you can, join me!  

cherish mother earth

my latest painting, cherish mother earth, started with a sketch in my art journal.  i sat down and just started drawing. i was thinking about global warming and all the harsh weather systems that have passed through lately. I thought about all the tornadoes, heavy rain, hurricanes, heat, and the snow we had last october (which caused power outages for days, very unusual for metro NY).  i couldn't help but wonder, "Is there something to all this global warming?"  

original sketch in my art journal

I liked how this sketch made me feel, so i decided to paint it for the upcoming LIVING LARGE show.  I started painting and thinking about the natural elements of air, fire, water and earth.  I thought about global warming, I thought about mother nature.  The finished product is this.  When you look closely you can see drips here and there, that represents the melting, or global warming that is occurring on our planet.  

cherish mother earth
acrylic, 30"x40

me with my painting at the NRAA's LIVING LARGE exhibit
 part of the New Rochelle's ArtsFest 2012

Paper Source opens!!!

There's a NEW playspace in town!

Yesterday was my annual eye exam.  After it, i decided to take a walk and do a little window shopping.  well, my window shopping turned into real shopping when i discovered what opened! As an artist, imagine my excitement when i saw this:

Paper Source!  YaY!  I am so excited!  It's like a playspace for me.  When I need inspiration, I often will go to a bookstore and scour the books in the art section or I'll go to an art supply store and shop (A new pen or paint will work wonders for artist block).  That is exactly what I did at Paper Source.  They carry such beauty as this...

I just love handmade papers, japanese papers especially!  the colors, textures, feel..yum!

They also have a wonderful space to have classes, birthday parties and get togethers...

Who wants to come here with me and have a Friday night art journaling party complete with wine and cheese?

Something I liked was the look of these stamps together.  I've always had a fondness for typography and this just appealed to me.

I really don't use stamps in my art, but how cool is this?

Paper Source also carries stencils, gel pens, micron pens, bind it all machines, beautiful art calendars, fun little books and all kinds of little gifts.  They also have cardstock in a variety of colors with matching letter weight, and envelopes of various sizes.  good to know when you are planning a party.

But my latest guilty pleasure is washi tape and tissue tape.  Paper Source has it!

(some of this is fabric tape :) oooohhhh)

Another thing I found hiding on a table was this wonderful game:

I didn't buy it, but i think I'll be going back for it.  I'm thinking it will be a fun start off point for a crazy art journaling page.

And when I return, these guys are waiting for me...

 I think I'm going to need to get them too!!!

art trips with mrs pom

i am so fortunate to have found a friend, an art friend, who lives close by.  loretta aka mrs pom is that friend for me.  when neither of us is bogged down with work or family or school, we grab the chance to go on little art excursions.  in the past 2 weeks we have had 2 outings!  

first was our labor day trip into the city.  destination: the bowery.  we left early in the morning so we could go to a special coffee shop.  to our disappointment, it was closed! on labor day! imagine? so we settled for this:

the neighborhood around bond street is lovely.  you see this

and the most amazing building - the george frankel theatre.

 outstanding gardens with birds

and lovely piles of rock!

and much to our chagrin, john derian was closed! not because of labor day, but it's closed on mondays!! i was so disappointed. guess i'll be making another trip to bond street.

but dick blick was open, so some damage was done there.  i was so busy shopping i didn't take any pics.  trust me, art supplies were purchased and have already been put to use.

next on the agenda was a class with mixed media artist, seth apter. i had never met seth before, and am so happy i finally did!  he is an amazing teacher and so nice to boot!  

 it was held at litttle bird creations studio owned and run by michele luxenberg whom has a lovely little walk up studio on the west side. 

my partner in crime, loretta

my gorgeous friend betti, who catered dinner for loretta and i (xo)

  the class was titled, text tiles, a play on words.  we created on small pieces on cradled wood.  it consisted of layer upon layer of acrylic paint, manipulating each layer to create amazing texture.  

step one - basecoat

a few steps in - layers upon layers of luscious color and texture

seth demonstrating with gesso how to emboss and deboss

about 7 or 8 layers in

text added to make a statement

and photo opps...michele and seth

BZ with her finished piece.

it was a fun friday night outing! just what this girl needed!  thanks all my art friends, i couldn't survive without you!!!