You Beta Bet My Ass!

I dont know what it is about lovely little blinking buttons saying "New and Improved" that make me think it is a good idea to click!

Blogger recently released a beta version of their new features. I am not sure when this happened. I only noticed it a couple of weeks ago. Of course I was curious! And that curiosity almost cost me my sanity! I came within 2 or 3 clicks of eliminating this entire blog! And that would make me sad! Because you see, I heart my blog!! So somethings are missing, and somethings are new. Hopefully one day soon all of the kinks will be ironed out. If you notice anything fishy, like a missing link, please email me or leave a comment. I want to make sure that the only thing that is annoying on this blog is me!

BTW-If you are having a hard time commenting on this blog, it may because of this upgrade. I dont think non-beta accounts can comment on beta accounts. Blogger says that this is something they are trying to remedy. It is a total bummer because I cant comment on other non-beta blogs, and you know how I like to put in my two cents! Oh well, I will just have to be patient!

Illustration Friday: Change

This week, the Illustration Friday theme is Change. This is "Allie", my newest piece. She is this weeks submission because the style is a little bit of a change from the norm for me.

The background is awesome antique pages from an old scrapbook I purchased at a flea market. I love the linear shapes created by the yellowed edges of the paper. I have been collecting the metal rings mounted to the canvas for a while now. The smaller ones are all found from all over. Overall, I am very excited with the end result!!

Rose Bowl Pics

Sunday was a great day at the Rose Bowl Antique and Craft Fair in Pasadena, CA. My friend Hannah and I got ourselves a booth there and it was tons of fun!!! We want to thank everyone who came out!! It was a great day. We met lots of people and everyone had such kind words for us. I love getting to interact with people and explain my work to them. Hearing first time reactions is always fun. You can see more images from the event here.

We had so much fun, we will be doing the event again in October. More info to come. We will be in the same spot we were in Sunday!

SPC-With Someone-wk 2

My second with someone portrait for the Self Portrait Challenge is a pic with my husband, Tom. I like to poke fun of him on my blog, with his funny bath bomb mishaps and the whole pond on top of the car schpiel , but really he is a good guy! Obviously he keeps me laughing! And if it weren't for him, I wouldnever have had the opportunity to pursue being an artist. All in all, I would have to say that I am a very lucky girl!

This picture was taken on a quick trip we took last month for our 1 year anniversary. We spent a few hours on a whale and dolphin watching tour, which basically turned into a really nice boat ride! Not a whale or dolphin in sight! We did see sea lions which reminded me fondly of when we lived in North Beach in San Francisco and could hear the sea lions from the wharf all the way up the hill in our apt just below Coit Tower. Their voices carry!!



The trip was lovely for us because we got to be lazy, sleep in the park, and walk around Dana Point with no distractions or pressures, schedules, deadlines . . . I can go on and on! In the evenings we got to sit out on the hotel restaurant deck bundled up while being serves Irish Coffees. It was a great, relaxing adventure!

(This was the only dolphin we saw!)

Even those of us without kids seem to still make a mental note of the time of year when school starts. I enjoy going into an office supply store and seeing the racks of folders and pens, rulers, staplers, and colored pencils. A few days ago I saw one of those sketch pads with the few solid lines with dotted ones in between, the ones in which most of us learned how to write our letters. I remember that there was a huge open space above those lines to draw whatever it was you were spelling. I loved these books. I really wanted all of my letters to be perfect. Wanted that back side of the capital B to be straight as a rod, and the two bumps to hit that dotted line just so. . . . I know, I have issues!

The drawing part, above the text, was always so fun! That was a time before inhibition. A time when if someone asked you to draw a tiger, you would draw the purplest kangaroo-looking animal and shout "ALL DONE!"

The best class I ever took in college was in my sophomore year called "Visual Literacy." I think back to the crazy projects all the time. Most of the assignments asked to have a phrase, or image, graphically depicted in several ways. It was always so hard to get the huge sheets filled in, to not automatically go for the obvious solution and to take the time to really solve the problem! The purpose of the assignment is much appreciated today!

I still get serious jitters every time I unveil a new piece, not knowing how it will be received. But one thing that I have realized is that individual aesthetic is a huge part of how each person reacts to art and imagery. I do not have to worry about the absolute perfect "text book" depiction of an image, but that the image I see in my head is equally as valid and that the final result is my expression and interpretation. I need to make sure that I am still, today, as carefree and un-jaded in my expression, as I was in those handwriting books! It is not always easy!