a little birdie told me...

don't you wish

 that we would stop and listen

 when something important

 is whispered in our ear?

my newest 'plaster on burlap' piece...

I do believe she whispered in my ear 

that she will stay and live with me.

making friends on the summer solstice...

ahh the summer solstice came and went

and I wanted to capture the excitement in a painting

so I mixed up some plaster of paris

and placed it here.

I am taking a wonderful on-line plaster class

from two very talented artists -

Judy Wise

(also took encaustic from her at artfest)

and Stephanie Lee

(bought my wonderful earrings from her at artfest).  

I am learning so many new ideas and loving mixing up

plaster and carving and just experimenting.

so here we go -

texture and layers emerge...

and then plaster flowers, stars and tennis balls were added...

and a little glitter and words

 and mica flakes and of course crows

and you gotta have some tennis balls for fetching.

 don't you just love the yummy texture...

 and colors?

well my son did 

so it is now his painting

which only seems right because it is his dog too.

so now back to the studio...

to work on the next 10 I have started.
Happy summer solstice to you!

chicken wire... who knew?

who knew chicken wire

could be woven

into beautiful sculptures

that bring to life

the spirit inside...
Ivan Lovatt knew it.

please come and "Create with Me"

some good reading arrived in the mail last week...

so Zoe even needed to take a break from fetching to see

what was written on pages 82-85.

"Yowzers my mom wrote this"

she declared with gusto...

then the blinders were lifted and she realized,
"No wonder she hasn't had time to throw me the ball!"


For any of you moms out there 
who love your kids but are feeling a tad panicked
(I have been there - it's OK to admit it)
with kids home from school who are already jumping on the beds,
and you are searching your brain and asking
 "what art projects can I create with them?"
then look no further -
your ship (well, really your magazine) has arrived.

 Stampington's new magazine
Create With Me
should be at bookstores in early July.
so set your timers, mark your calendars and hold your breath -
no not really...

 and if you flip to page 82-5 you should find 
one heck of a good article by me...

 and my art clubbers,

four of which are goofing around here

and putting the finishing touches on our collaborative book...

before we sent it off to Stampington

in hopes it would be published.

 I copied and sewed smaller books for each student to take home.
You can see the original post  here.


Stampington has put together the premier issue of
 Create with Me 
which is filled with fun, doable projects
to keep your brood happy all summer long.
enjoy and create and make memories with art this summer!
next week I will share the last two art projects from the year - 
3D Monet's garden for olders 
and butterfly blots for youngers.
happy summer creating!

welcome home!

I got the idea for this sweet project from 

Isabel's blog -

just love her art work!

as I had leftover wood from a home makeover project sitting there 

staring at me,

a the light bulb went on in my head 

and I heard a noise something like this...

"ding"

 "the kiddos can make something out of this", I said.

 so we made houses,

 cute tall houses,

perched on bubble hills.

-just the type of house I would call home.

2 more art club projects left to share next week,

then you will just have to settle for seeing my art this summer.

Right now I am taking a wonderful plaster class 

which I can't wait to share with you...

and some really big news to share tomorrow!

you will especially want to stay tuned 

if you need art projects to teach the kiddos who are home from school

for the summer.

take me out to the ball game, please?

I have been a tad busy

and as of today

'school's out for summer'.

so maybe I can pay attention 

to this poor little creature...

my graduate

oh happy day...

Nick is done with school

and now he can take long walks 

with his camera

while he studies clouds

and sips coffee

and is artsy

and draws

and finds a job...
congrats Nick -
you are awesome!!!
all photos and art by him except for the first by me.

sometimes I feel like this

sometimes I feel like this...

a happy cow

in a field full of green grass

who's just been made queen for a day.

Well my dad is visiting,

my son is graduating this weekend

and we have lots of parties and festivities

so I just can't get to all the blog posts I have started and  

I feel guilty and must not stress I tell myself.

you will be patient,

and after all,
 cows do not worry,

especially if they are wearing crowns.

Nick Cave at SAM

my Nick needed to visit SAM

for the Nick Cave exhibit

so I tagged along...

 all I could say over and over was "WOW"!!!

 this bear, 

made from knitted sweaters with

gap labels intact,

was my favorite I do believe.

and that is Nick (Cave that is, not my Nick).

 reminds me of a bee keepers outfit.

the buttons made me start to drool,

but I was cool and came to my senses.

his original "sound suits" as his work is called

were twigs.

this was my Nick's favorite medium.

and if the above ones weren't enough for you,

how about porcelain birds suspended from your shoulders?

pure genius or craziness?

show ends Sunday so hurry up if you are in the Seattle area...