Wine and Cheese Picnic in a Bag!

In September we went wine tasting in Palisade, CO on our way home from vacation. In a shop there I saw a wine & cheese picnic in a bag... all it needed was wine glasses and the wine & cheese! It was a really neat idea, so for a gift for a wine-loving friend, I tried making my own version. All closed up, the bag measures about 12x16 inches. Inside, you'll find a corkscrew, cutting board, napkins, and a knife, and the bag then serves as a small picnic blanket for laying things on (grapes? Chocolate? Nuts? Mmmm!).

It actually was a good challenge for me, working with ties and pockets. The cutting board pocket was the most challenging. The knife and corkscrew pockets have darts to allow for bulk, and they needed top flaps to secure what could easily fall out if the bag tipped for some reason. With all supplies, it cost more than what I could buy it for in the wine shop in Palisade, but mine was much cuter and more personalized, with nicer-quality accessories.

(Remember to click on the image for a better view!)

Making It My Own

Introducing my new header introducing me and my art! It was great fun to make it. I went through all my collage materials, so many things I've kept over the years. I selected things I felt best represented me (including things that just make me smile) and attached them to a bit of paper I've been playing with paint on... experimenting with color and gradient. I've thought a lot lately about how to make this template blog more my own, and knew this would make a difference. What do you think? Am I better represented by this collage than I was before with the pretty floral blue?

Everything Has Its Place

I recently read in the "Studios" issue of Craft, Paper, Scissors one woman's philosophy that all art deserves to be made. I thought a lot about that as I made this piece. Mixed media collage in the style of the "Evidence" piece I made in August, though I feel I'm moving more toward my own style in this one. I started the base of it just days after that workshop, then came back to it--to add layers and depth--after our company left in late September. I am still not where I want to be as far as what my style is, but I am closer than I was before.

I went to a great art show a couple of weeks ago and saw lots of paintings, one of which was called the Red Canoe (I wish I had written the artist's name down), which inspired me. Also, while enjoying a coffee at a local coffee shop with Paul, I was inspired by a tiny painting by a local artist named Betony Coons, who calls her business Gray Sparrow Art (check out her neat website!). Both the Red Canoe and Gray Sparrow's mini painting "Story" helped me to see more where I'd like to go with my painting, so I am going to aim for what I envision what my painting could be, and mix it up with the collage I so love.

Just the fact that there are so many other artists out there is inspiring. They have forged the path ahead for me to follow. I have the courage to create and push my envelope and then share it with you all because they do. Thank goodness for them!

4th Year - Linen

Each year for our anniversary, I've made Paul a card out of the traditional material usually given for a particular year. First year was paper, second was cotton, third and fifth I got mixed up (leather and wood) so I made a wooden card, and this year, linen. I enjoy reminiscing about the past year and all the stuff we've done together, and usually I include photos. Well, the cotton card from two years ago looked a lot like a book, so for linen I wanted to do something totally unique. So I used iron-on transfers you can run through the printer to make the photos and around the photos, on a long piece of linen, wrote about our memories with colored Sharpies. I then installed it to hang from our ceiling, with tendrils of other strips of linen around it. To present it to Paul, I had him shut his eyes as I led him to a chair that faced it, and when he was settled, he opened his eyes and he loved it! Yay! Happy Anniversary to us!

Something New

While on vacation last week, I spent another hour or so on the collage I began during the Lynne Perella workshop I participated in at the beginning of August, and got to a point where I felt I couldn't add any more. Complete? As Lynne said that day, "Nothing I make is ever complete!" But I am satisfied. She read a poem to us that day called, What's In My Journal, by William Stafford, and then assigned each of us a line from the poem to inspire our piece. The line I got: Evidence to hang me, or to beautify. This piece is about 24" x 36", big for me, but her final technique was folding it up into a book, sectioning the piece off in eighths, which made the whole experience different. You notice such different things, and knowing that the piece was created with the "big picture" in mind, turns out there was a lot of detail I didn't pay attention to until I got to see it sectioned off. I've attached some smaller snapshots of the piece below.

I love the concept but feel that I do need more practice with paint. So I'll keep working on this style. I'm very inspired!

(If you click on the image, you'll see it in bigger form.)