This Week in Review

We made a stop to one of Tyler's favorite used bookstores in Minneapolis the other day. At first I didn't even want to go in but I'm glad I did. Look at the goodies I found! I'm especially interested in the book on creativity.

I found some time to work on my travel journal and make some mixed media collages as well. I'm so glad I brought my art supplies with me, even a little bit of time making art helps keep me balanced.

I downloaded the "a beautiful mess" app on my phone and had fun playing around with it yesterday :)

We took a hike along the St. Croix River with Tyler's parents yesterday afternoon. It was a lovely hike along steep cliffs that overlook the rushing river. After, we headed down to Stillwater, a cute river town, to have dinner.

I hope you are having a nice week too and that you are finding time to be creative, be outside, and be with people you love!

xo

 

On the road

I haven't had too much time to blog lately, Tyler and I have been on the road. We started a month long road trip last Monday. The first leg of our trip brought us through Ontario, up around the northern coast of Lake Superior. It was quite spectacular! And we saw a moose!

We dropped back into the States and have been in Minneapolis spending time with Tyler's family. It's been fun and busy. This weekend there were two lovely and generous wedding showers for us. It was so nice.

I've brought some art supplies with me and intend to journal along the way but it's proven difficult to find the time so far. I've done two pages, highlighting our days driving through Ontario.

I hope to fit in a bit of journaling time tomorrow. I'm going to try to be better about blogging along with our road trip. I imagine most of my posts will be travel photos and less art but that's ok. I'm so excited to be able to travel and see the country. There are so many places I've never been!

Shared to Creative Every Day

xoxo

Seth Apter's "Buried Treasure" online collaborative project

Mixed Media artist, author, and teacher Seth Apter is hosting an online collaborative project called Buried Treasure. Seth asks artists to repost a favorite blog post from their own blog to share again as many of us have a hard time keeping up with all of the wonderful blogging and art that is being shared out there. I think this is a fabulous idea and I'm excited to participate. I'm reposting a link to a process post I wrote in April when I really began to explore using wood panels to create wall hangings and banners. I hope you enjoy looking at my process! Thanks Seth for once again finding ways to support and connect mixed media artists.

Here's the link to the post: Inside a Process- banners and wall hangings

I'm headed over to Seth's blog now to check out all of the other buried treasure!

xo

Art from over the years

I thought it would be fun to go through my files and look at the art I've made over the years, starting in 2010, when I first got into mixed media art. Here's a look.

2010

 

2011

2012

2013

It's fun to see the evolution of things. To see how things are related/connected or not. There is so much possibility in art!

Have a great weekend. xo

Shared to Paint Party Friday. Happy PPF!

 

 

My First Publication

I am very excited to share with you all that I've had my first publication in Somerset Studio magazine! I am beyond thrilled to have an essay and a picture of my artwork in the May/June 2014 issue. I am a hug fan of Somerset Studio, and all of the Stampington publications, and this really is a dream come true. Thanks, Stampington!

The funny part about this is that I had no idea that I had been published until a blogging friend wrote to me to congratulate me. Stampington must have wrote to me and somehow the emails went to my junk mail folder. The other funny thing is that I subscribe to Somerset Studio but this issue was sent to my Brooklyn address just after I moved out. I thought that the magazine would come before I moved out so I didn't bother to change my mailing address before I moved. My bad! So, I would've found out a month ago had I been smart enough to change my address. Oh well.

When Tyler and I drove into Syracuse last Thursday we went straight to Barnes and Noble to pick up a copy. Here I am in Barnes and Noble, overjoyed and excited:

Here is a photo of the artwork that is featured:

It's a bit scary submitting your art and writing to publications but if you want to do it there is really no reason not to. The worst that happens is they don't use it! And that doesn't mean that what you wrote or made is "bad".  One of my goals for 2014 was to put my art out into the world more and this certainly feels like I've accomplished that goal. But I don't plan on stopping now, I'm going to keep creating, writing, and submitting and see where the rest of 2014 takes me.

xo

Shared to Creative Every Day

I found an old painting

As those of you who have been stopping by here to read my posts know, Tyler and I have been spending the past 4 weeks out at my parent's camp. It's been amazing and more than I could have ever asked for. One whole month dedicated to making art, taking walks, unwinding from our life in NYC. I feel truly blessed.

There is a painting here at camp, hanging above the fireplace, that I painted about nine years ago. I made this painting in 2005, the summer I graduated from college. At the time, I did not consider myself an artist. That year I had occasionally felt the urge to paint and had let myself explore a bit with oil paints and tried to copy some of JMW Turner's paintings.

The painting above the fireplace is my copy of of Turner's "Sun setting over a lake". Here are a couple of photos of my recreation

I'm not sharing this because I think it is a "good" painting. I'm sharing because this painting is evidence to me that the spark of my interest in art and my desire to make art has been around for a long while. I'm so glad that I finally realized that I didn't need anyone's permission to make art. It's all about the process, it doesn't have to look good it just has to feel good to make it. Just remember that when you find yourself worrying how something is going to look in the end. It's not about the end, it's about the making.

xoxo