A Light In a House

I've been wanting to make this project for a long time, and finally, here is a prototype!!  I made a template of my fold-up house, which is exciting enough, but then I made an LED light to go in it!  These are still in their developmental stages but I couldn't not share the progress with you.

My dad helped me to know what I'd be looking for if I went to Radio Shack. Indeed, I bought almost all the right stuff. I only needed a 2-battery holder, and the switch needs to be a bit bigger (the customer service guy at Radio Shack was completely useless).  But now I have a clue about what I'm doing and what I need.

The light is only a few components put together: a battery pack for 2 AAA batteries, some wire, a switch, and an LED "bulb." Isn't it fun?

Must Love Art

Barbara Gilhooly and Ayn Hanna must be two of my fave all time artists. Their work, their studios, their commitment to the local art scene, their personalities... they are just great and they both provide constant inspiration to me. Well, they just got married! And in honor of their union, they had an art show that featured a ton of work by both of them. It was wonderful.  Both their websites are linked to this blog over on the right, or you can follow them on Facebook.

For their show, they invited their artist friends to make a heart for their Wall of Hearts, a centerpiece of the show. In fact, they exchanged vows right in front of this wall!  Everyone's art heart was so unique. Here's a close of up of the one I did. I sure wish you could see it in person... this photo barely does it justice!

"Cloud Nine"

Cloud Nine was collaged in a way similar to the pear I made for my mom a couple years ago. The balloon's basket is woven paper. The clouds and balloon are suspended by clear thread in a white frame. You can't see this, but the frame sits off the wall about an eighth of an inch, and the frame can be attached to the wall by magnets on flat-head nails. That isn't how it was displayed for this show, but that was the idea.

Here was my favorite amongst all the other hearts. 

"The Wedding Vow" by Mary Bergherr (from Minnesota)

Below was my other favorite piece at the show! Haha. The works in the background are all by Ayn Hanna.

Holding You Over

If you're a regular follower of my blog, you've noticed a pattern in my posting behavior, I'm sure. July and January are meager months. Despite aspirations to do more, it just always seems like January and July are great downtimes for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm making art, but it's mixed in with vacation and birthdays and relaxing on the deck and mountain bike rides and design phases, so you don't get to see me much around this time of year.

To hold you over for a few more days, here is a fun thing, one of our last projects in the drawing class last semester.  We did a collaborative color project, where we each had a segment of a magazine page.  We had to blow them up to be the size of our drawing paper and collaborate with others in the group who had similar coloring in their segment. 

1. The magazine segments, reassembled
2. The group's pieces, assembled
3. My part
4 & 5. To show you scale...

Something funny that happened was after the semester was over, I was happily catching up on my Martha Stewart Magazines one morning during breakfast, and I came across our page!!!!! It felt like an seeing an old friend again.

Validation

 First, come in to this gallery!  I know I find it enticing...

Hmm, let's walk straight back to the corner. Whose piece is that right in the middle? Is that a cake?

Ah, It's a Cake Rock! Now you can see its scale. Wasn't it placed so nicely? Bonus news: it sold! I have a new collector!

Then, like in dreams, just blink and you're in a new location: Parsley Art Studio!

What's new this year?

 Outside, make your own bit of PAS-inspired art: a pop-up!

 Here are some samples (and the prototype).

Guests enjoying their Fort Collins Studio Tour visit!

The best part about this year? That Vine Arts helped to get more visitors up to our neck of the woods! It was fantastic! There were six of us neighborhood artists with open studios this year and as a result, I had over 100 visitors this weekend, as opposed to about 40 last year. It was so fun. I loved every minute. 

Thank you especially to my studio tour helpers (Kyran, Katie, Jane, and Brittany), and to all my guests. I loved sharing my space with you this weekend!

Now what shall I do next with these cute little things?

It's a Cake Rock!

The Fort Collins Studio Tour is coming up in a week and I hope you'll swing by! Here is the piece I made for the gallery exhibition at the Lincoln Center.

"It's a Cake Rock!"

This piece measures 20"x30"--big for me! I'll post a photo of it in the gallery soon to give a sense of scale and to show you how wonderfully placed it was next to other works from local artists. Meanwhile, here's some detail.

This is mixed media (collaged paper, fabric, acrylic paint and pen & ink) on foam core (which I wouldn't do again, by the way).