I'm so busy.....but not with art!

It's pretty sad to go months without posting anything artsy. Well, folks...that's called home construction! We've been doing tons of work on our house...with only minimal progress to show for it. Thank goodness we are finally getting to the point where we can close up the interior walls and get started on the fun stuff! Floors, cabinets, tilework, paint! Check out progress HERE

Needless to say, creative pursuits have taken a back seat to the house and motherhood. The pregnancy is going well, although not as pleasant and comfortable as the first one. Most of the morning (all day) sickness has passed and now I'm just expanding to unbelievable size. The most exciting part is that we have our 20 week ultrasound next Monday and will find out the gender of the baby! Woo hoo!

I picked up a bunch of little bamboo tiles and decided to give altering them a try (pictured above). They have been tons of fun and very easy, since they are quite small measuring only about 3/4" x 1 1/2". I have started over 20 of the little guys, most of them a series of little houses. I've also tried decorating some with embossing powders, wrapping others in dyed tissue paper, and some with just plain ol' acrylic paints. I'll post pictures of the completed projects soon!

Time has been at a premium lately, with construction on our house moving full speed ahead and the recent news of expecting our second kiddo. I don't know why they call it morning sickness, since I've been suffering ALL DAY LONG for the past couple of weeks. Makes it tough to get much done when the only time I don't feel sick is when I'm lying down or eating!
Needless to say, I've been trying to minimize my artsy commitments right now. I just finished up my "Pink" piece for the Color Collaboration at IllustratedATCS and got it shipped of to the host of the project. This project sucked all of my artistic energy for several weeks, but I'll whine about that more later when I post pictures of it. Yes, I'm kicking myself for not photographing it before shipping it off, but I'll do it when it gets returned to me in a few weeks. I am also finishing up a set up charms for a Purple Charm swap at ATCSforall so I can mail them off. I think they are so cute and am considering making some more in different colors. It feels good to get these obligations cleared up so I can regroup and consider what I'm going to tackle next.

Something to see...

I don't often check out youtube for things to watch, but it's a great place to go hunting if you have a song stuck in your head that you want to hear, often accompanied by some interesting home-made videos. This particular video caught me off guard. It's just edited movie clips, but beautifully done.

Enlightenment in less than a week

I went to ArtFest without any intentions or expectations. Nothing aside from the knowledge that I'd have three blissful days of uninterrupted art and some much needed decompression time. Little did I know that the way I approach art would make a drastic change.

I spent two days with Traci Bautista; painting, collaging, and playing with a wide variety of techniques and materials. Traci's style is so free and playful, very inspiring. I adore the huge book I made in her class and will continue to work on it until it feels complete.

The last day of classes was with Theo Ellsworth, an artist who draws with the most incredible detail and has imagination more vast than any universe you could think of. Listening to Theo speak about his way of experiencing the world was like someone defining the things that I already have in my own head with incredible clarity. I would never in a million years be capable of explaining the feeling of ease that I had during the entire class and how I drew without thinking . Put pen to paper. I felt at the end of the class like I had taken a very pleasant nap and kept that feeling well into the next day.

The most valuable lesson I brought away from Artfest is that I need to stop being so cerebral about my art and just create. I can go on that journey without a planned destination...just knowing that I will eventually end up *somewhere* is enough of a destination in itself.

Back to reality....sort of.

I'm feeling a little lonely today. No classes to attend and artful discussions to be had. No walks on the beach. I have a laundry list of things to do today but can't get myself out of that quiet head space that I've been in for the last five days. I will post again later with more details of classes and such. I just need a little time to wrap my head around it. More photos will be available in my Flickr gallery.

I'm so excited to see what I can do now with what I've learned. I feel like a changed person after attending Artfest and look forward to attending next year. Until then I will think of all the people I was so blessed to meet and the experience of existing in that beautiful and enveloping community of artistic people.

There's a tremendous comfort in being home and looking forward to developing my art. The best part of coming home is that I woke up today in my own bed , kissed my husband and cuddled my son as he watched cartoons and played with his bear. That is the most beautiful place in the world.

Ready for Artfest!

I'm leaving for Artfest in the morning and I couldn't be more excited! I've finished all the trades I'm going to make this year. Over 80 charms, several mini-journals, moo cards and a few photo prints of some of my favorite art will be up for swapping! I can't wait to see what others have to offer!

Pulling supplies together has been quite a job....I've only made it worse by procrastinating. I made my final supply stop to make copies at Kinko's today, which hopefully means I'm done!

I'll post photos of Artfest and my creations when I get home!

Rain, Snow, Hail....OH MY!

Tomorrow is April 1st and we have hail the size of peas coming down like crazy. It's so thick on the lawn and car that it looks like snow!

This is a picture from about 10 minutes ago next to our front steps. It's still hailing and the ground is now completely white with it! Yikes!