Headed to Aberdeen...

35 pieces of artwork, most of what has been watched progress on the blog...representing nearly every discipline I study.

I was surprised when I packed all the work into the vehicle that I had this much to offer the museum for this show. It worried me a lot, I didn't think I had very many pieces to resent a single artist show.

Plus I didn't finish the couple of dramatic pieces in time for this show, I am disappointed with myself for not making the time to finish them.
Maybe they might want me to show again in a couple of years.

I will be 3 days behind in the soul journal now... :(
I have kept up really well considering I start these things and get sidetracked.

I will definitely go down the list when I get back though and check every ones progress.. :-)

So off to Aberdeen to the Dachota Prairie Museum I go....

//// (waving atcha)

It is Wednesday morning and I just peeked at Sarah's blog and she posted the list for pg 3/4 that I took my notes for but, a point I picked up she made, is not being influenced from seeing other work...to make it for sure my own I won't peek at the pages from the participants on her list until I post my spreads
and that will be later than everyone
since I am already 2 days behind...tomorrow will make 4...
being away from the studio is saddening...
but I can ponder and prepare for how I will go about creating the spreads when I get back...

Happy Creating...

Howdy

Everyone has been so kind visiting my blog and leaving such lovely comments.
Thank you to EVERYONE!
I plan to get a picture of me up before we move onto the next spread :-)

I usually respond to each person who comments...but I might have missed one so, IF I didn't make a response please forgive my slack in netiquette...for it truly was not intentional.

I have greatly enjoyed meeting everyone involved in our SJ project...this has been the best perk in our venture.

So until we blog again...

Later...

Family

I didn't make dolls.

I have to go to work (one of the "other" jobs)

a lot over the next few days

and in addition to that

I need to

get everything I plan to take to the museum weds ready and then go to set up for my show there (in Aberdeen SD)

and since I won't have too much time to devote to the journal...and I didn't want to fall to far behind....

I just made a cutout to represent the body and painted color on that then cut out a picture for each person...but myself

I don't have a picture of me...I am always on the other side of the camera I guess...

I will have to get a picture in the next day or so and finish the envelopes contents...in the meantime

here is the family...

Craig (my husband) is to the far left

next to Charlie the baby

Steven.. Jens eldest

then Tristan

and Hannah

Jen (their mom)

JR (the dad/husband to Jen and Craig's and my son)

SJ Days End

Here is the days worth of additions to pages 7-8. Not a lot of difference from the last picture but different just the same....

The doggies wanted you to recognize them WOOF

the top window is where I keep my office..hence the computer (the life line)

the numbers are 2 for craig and me, 3 for when craig JR and myself moved from VA to SD...6 is JRS brood, then 8 for the total of my immediate clan.

The trees are very few in SD...mostly they exist only if planted. We have planted over 10,000 trees since we moved here in 1998.

:-)

COOL STUFF

yesterday while I was at the Creamery (and art gallery/antiques collectibles store) where I work, HW brought in his box load of stuff. I was putting it out and lo an' behol' what do I see

STUFF!!!

Old skeleton keys...old records book...REALLY old photographs and album of them !!!

and a door knob bracket holder thing...

COOL HUNH!!!

Soul Journal continues

Here is how far I have gotten with these 2 pages on home.

Pages are drying then I'll probably add more.

Journal Book

And here is the back of the Journal.
Read from the bottom up.

Added the pages.

Here the creasing is making the book take form.

Inbetween working on my soul journal pages, I worked up one of the journals from the selection of covers in a previous posting.

Here I am affixing my binding.

Soul Journaling Continues

I am catching up with the SJ group.
We are customizing the next 2 pages, I think we are on page 7-8, day 11 or it might be 12. Anyhow, we are working on our safe environment.
Home is my safe environment.
I have had several homes and each one feels safe for me.
I am happy wherever I call home so one place will be as good as the other.
I chose my current place.
We live in the barn made over into living quarters.

The wing off to the side are the dog kennels. They are our live at home children.
The silos are my neighbors...so they represent the neighborhood.

What makes me happy is my studio is in the same building.

JR and Jenn live just a few miles away and that keeps my core family unit close by. Hannah, Charlie, Steven and Triston are the grandchildren.
I named everything with my decoration, which I used the telephone book pages and they are the lines of the buildings...(the bones).

We have awesome sunrises and sets around here...they tend to have an orangey glow to them.
We grow and harvest grass for seed and hay.
The colors i have started represent the sky and the grass.
Silos are metal and welded together in sheets...so the mosaic represents the construction for them.
Welcome everyone...to my home.

Inchies Revisited

I like that I saw this page being called the inchies page...it fits. Here is my page revisited.

The next step was to circle 1 image, place a messy square around 4, dotted surround around 2 and a stitch line around 1 then write 8 words...

here we are:

Kiln 2nd Firing

Nope it isn't broken. There are a couple of layers of glass fused together, clear is the top one.

So it is one piece. I am either calling so many directions or stressed.

I am not sure if it will be a platter or a vase.

Kiln Work

Yesterday I worked probably 4 hours making pieces to fuse in the kiln. I over fired and ruined the entire days effort. Today...I have this piece in the kiln firing. I wanted to make a note to myself that I did do something! I chipped several colors of glass and I am fusing them together for a slab that will probably become a platter. We will see how it does. Looks like a happy piece the other 3 pieces will be barrettes.

Soul Journal pg 5-6 part 2

The application to Page 5-6 in my soul journal after taping, is to paint with gesso 1 side in white the other black. I don't have black gesso so i added carbon black to the white gesso and applied that. I don't know if it would have been a different finish involved but i get the idea. Then apply a color

I applied copper then touched it with peeled paint (a green color) stamping ink. It doesn't show up as well in the picture. The effect was like an aged copper. I liked it.

I am supposed to find a flower. You might think this should be an easy task. I don't have any flowers. my closest neighbor is 2 miles in any direction...this should be interesting.

COVERS

The journal covers i am working on are taking shape too. The beginning is shown a few entries below and here is what they look like today.

SJ-pg 5-6

Connie that didn't work so well for me...I wrote out my addition to the edit on the last journal post and added my picture


only the picture went to the top and didn't stay with the post.


I couldn't even get it to delete...i am computer challenged... :-(

BUT

I DID get pg 5-6 done.. yea (i am on the same page with our challenge group now!)
I am not sure what we are doing with the tape but we all get to find out tomorrow...
it is such a pretty picture we can see it 2 times
:-)

http://alteredroute.blogspot.com/

In the meantime go to Connies Blog THE ALTERED ROUTE well worth the trip!

SJ-Page 3-4

Our soul journaling continues...page 3-4 were given up to a list of items to scavenge from magazines...cut to around an inch in square then affix them to our pages. I am actually keeping up with our assignments.

Page 4-5 will have our journaling entries then we are to cover them with tape.

To me this is like writing it down then letting it go...it happened and is recorded but the author moved on maybe not wanting to visit there again....or it could be so sacred a thought that the author might not want it spoiled by sharing with all...

or

it can just be a decorative exercise...

???

anyway....that is the next assignment

If you haven't checked out Sarah's blog yet to see what the Soul Journaling entries are about,

then please hop over there and take a look...visit the growing list of participants and perhaps become a participant yourself

:-)

DeSmet Art Showcase Show

This weekend 4 artisans got together and put on a sidewalk showcase of artwork for sale.

We intended to take advantage of the Laura Ingles Wilder Homestead pageant that is going on this weekend, and the influx of tourist to the town to visit.

Yesterday we set up.

We are, Janet Carroll, works with metal and lampworks beads to make jewelry, and is involved with me doing other shows. (Ours is the middle tent)

Carol Green from Mellett SD is a fabulous mixed media artist.

One of my favorite combinations that she brought, is painting on a slice of a tree (walnut, oak) stained and then she has the painting, in this case pheasants, framed in feathers (pheasant feathers) just lovely!!! and textural.

She will take eggs and use them with a thicker product (looks like plaster to me) and build the "mountains" then she painted the carving from mount Rushmore over the egg...incredible.

Her use of mixing elements is done with a delicacy that evokes the gentleness of the woman herself.

Diane worked in fibers. She crochets, knits and embroiders like the women of our ancestors onto pillowcases and towels. She works off her own sketches and keeps the needle work alive. Lovely work from all of them!

I didn't attend today and I won't tomorrow because of my "other" jobs.

These pictures show our "store" on a lot lent to us by Diane...Thank You Diane ;-)

The lady with the long dark hair with the camera...was photographing us too...come to find out for a newspaper article! very cool!!! exposure is everything.

The stylish little girl with the orange jumper...her mom...and her dad looking at Carols booth, were from South Africa!!!!

They come a long way to South DAKOTA!

Soul Journal-ing

The finished page 1 and 2 spread and closeup of my armour. Then page 3 and 4 ready to begin the next segment of our journey. I have the pages ready to rip and place from our gathered list of items. Found on Sarah's blog

http://sarahwhitmire.blogspot.com/

This challenge isn't a challenge at all but an exercise in journal preps and how to go about expressing your thoughts. EVERYONE is encouraged to participate.

Come and join!!!

Covers

This picture is showing journal covers I am making to use for journals I am making.

I am in the process of decorating the pieces.

I took an old painting I did a long time ago for practice. It is of horses in a field. I cut the canvas up to make 4 journals. I used tissue paper glued onto the painting so I an use acrylics as my means of paint. The painting was done in oils and acrylics and oils don't mix. Now I am ready to decorate.

The background I began with coffee to stain and I affixed a few elements then wrote a message around the page...

Soul Journaling Challenge

http://sarahwhitmire.blogspot.com/ In addition to viewing a terrific blog Sarah is challenging Soul Journaling. Read about the experience on Sarahs blog and follow the participants as our journals take shape. I played catch up so my pictures and blogging will look all together as 1. It took me a couple of days to catch up and I only did because she gave us 2 days for page 2, which i am still not finished the details but it is affixed.

The purpose of this activity is to re-claim our journals and motivate us to practice what we might teach/preach/or learn to become journalers. It is also a thinking project. So go read all about the project and then join in the activity and learn more about the practice and perhaps yourself but definitely follow along.

Day 1

Pick out a journal. I am using a small 4 x 5 book I made a while back. The pages aren't as heavy as water color paper but heavy enough for decorating in a journal.

Tear up pages (such as from a old dictionary, magazine...) and glue to pages.

Write your feelings for the day and then dry brush with gesso. (Use a dry brush dipped into gesso then brushed over the pages) to obliterate or mask the words. Leaving as much to show as you want or none.

Day 2

On page 1 we make the book ours with our name filling the page. Page 2 is really for the next day Day 3. We add our artist armour. Sarah gave us links to pull images of armour we could print for this exercise.

I have mine cut out and in place.

I now need to decorate my armour...

Lecture and Demo

The Red Hatter's came to the studio for their outing activity. The date was set several weeks ago with a probable attendance of 6-8 members. I would explain the different processes I used for teaching classes and creating artwork. I am most familiar for working with glass and they wanted to learn about the other media I worked in as well. Monday a call came that there are 17 currently signed up for the outing. This is fine as I have a large studio and I can accommodate many bodies, only I did not have enough chairs to accommodate seated bodies.

I forgot to get a picture of the attendees of which 24 were counted!

This picture shows the table of interest to show and tell and then I demonstrated how I mix the mixture that I use as paint for glass and I showed how to solder. The rest of the lecture comprised different classes I offered and what a person can expect to come out of the class with.

2 women approached me for lecturing their women's organizations and 2 others are interested in class taking.

PLUS they left a tip!

This might can be something big!!!!

A New Student

I have a new student that wishes to better their skills in drawing. I haven't taught drawing and perspective in a long while so this will be different and fun for me. I like teaching stained glass but, I can offer as much in other areas and finally someone wanting more. So I need to plan some simple lessons...6 of them and they won't drag out for months either!, she wants them within a week during her visit home.

YES!!!

I am catching on.

I have sign ups also for a journal making class, a bead making class, an intro to stained glass (they make a sun catcher in a day), and a metal clay class.

Busy month with 3 shows and I need to take the solo show up to the Dakota Prairie Museum.

Busy is good..

Letter Suncatcher

I began doing sun catchers again. Something more affordable. While I don't care to do anything really small, I like to do these letter sun catchers. The letter is fused into the glass with the crushed glass paste that comprises the "paint"...and then the surround. This one is a dark blue with crescent bevels. I thought it gave the piece a more neutral or masculine feel. Since a male ordered the letter.