spring cleaning

i did some spring cleaning around the house the other day. moved some things around, dusted, swept, redress a manikin - you know fun stuff like that! but it's always good to freshen and change things up a bit.




here's a little vignette in my living room showcasing my Louis Sherry candy tins. Louis Sherry was a confectioner and hotelier during the Gilded Age. His name is typically associated with an upscale brand of candy and ice cream. my sister and i have been collecting them ever since i moved here and we found some at a flea market. i see them quite often at the flea markets still and they usually run a few bucks. i still have one more smaller size that sits on top, but it's in use right now. (they are great for holding crafty choctchkey stuff.) i also have one Louis Sherry tea tin. it is the only one i have ever seen; so his foray into tea must have been limited. (don't mind the blanket on the floor, it's my tacky draft dodger.)

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my "wallpaper people" art piece from Artfest 2 years ago. It was made in Anahata Katkin's class. it's been in a back room, kind of hidden away, since i couldn't find anywhere to display it. well as i started cleaning, i rearranged the stuff hanging on this wall to make room for it. i added a vintage spring hat to the top for fun. i also pimped it up a bit by sewing some sari silk into it and tying a bell at the end.

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don't you just love this boat? it reminds of Max's boat from "Where the wild things are". Stephanie Lee created it and i bought it at vendor night at Artnsoul in Las Vegas. it is so sweet and really adds even more charm to my house! i filled it with marbles to add more texture and color. i'm very glad it came home with me.

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here's the manikin that got a mini makeover. she was upstairs in my room and had been wearing the same outfit for a few years (how gauche!) so i changed her up a bit adding this awesome crinoline skirt (i use to wear it as it is funky and fun, but it is very fragile). i also topped her off with this vintage equestrian riding helmet that i got at the Country Living Fair in September. her necklace, by me, was made in a Sally Jean Alexander class.

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i have four spots left in Pamela Huntington's fabric journal class being held here at Lemoncholy's Studio on Saturday May 1st. email me for more details at keeshagirl4@aol.com or read the post here. this class promises to be a lot of fun, so hope you can join us! when i return from Artfest, i'll be posting my summer schedule of upcoming classes. i'm thinking of also doing some shorter classes, more in a make-in-take fashion, for those of you with busy schedules.

Journalfest cont'd

my first class at Journalfest was with one of my favorite artist/teacher, Anahata. she is such a sweetheart and her classes are so inspiring. our class was pretty quiet, with everyone working diligently and seriously in their journals (well, except keli and i!) i really love the look of her work and so of course, i just had a great time in her class.

my second class was with Stephanie Lee. we made soldered journals with paper mache pages and i really loved it (i keep saying that!) but she is another artist that i enjoy taking her classes as i get so much out of them and it is right up my alley.

it's funny, because after all the traveling i did this last month and a half (country living fair, artnsoul, art-is-you and finally journalfest), i was a little tired and second guessing myself about going to Journalfest, spending the money, feeling tired. i kind of thought, i really don't feel like going. but i know i was just tired. so fast forward to my time there and i am so glad i went. i got to reconnect with Jen, see old friends (keli) and run into new facebook friends and laugh when we didn't recognized each other, but sort of recognized each other, but didn't get it right away (Julie!). i enjoyed running into artists and friends at the grocery store late at night and feeling like, "these people get me" and enjoy silly laughs over silly things. i enjoyed embarrassing myself by not recognizing Traci and Marilyn Huskamp because traci was wearing the most awesome hat and coat and it just threw me and me, being a dork, saying"now tell me your names again" because honestly,my mind went BLANK! then to find out it was traci, was embarrassing! but you know what? these things happen and i'm ok with that. (please accept my apologies traci and see you guys at CHA and i promise i will recognize you right off!) i loved earning nicknames from my friends (Jane, calling me "The Ambassador" and keli & jen nicknaming, "julie, the cruise director" since i sort of just took over all the plans! so what is my point? it was great to reconnect on a level of me just being me (not a teacher, not trying to make money) but just relaxing and being the silly, gypsy girl that i am. it was a great time for recharging.
jen and i would get up early every morning and go out driving around Port Townsend taking photos and i got some AMAZING shots of the sun rising over the water. that kind of stuff makes me quite happy and i like to do it wherever i travel; seeing the backbones of an area; versus the token tourist view.

it was also super cool to get to have some great conversations with Tracy Moore about photography, in particular, about Lomography cameras. he's going to start blogging about them in detail, so if you are into them, keep an eye out. Although, she was a constant busy bee, i also got to connect with Teesha Moore, who is the brainchild behind Artfest/Fiberfest/Play/Journalfest. i am grateful for the few minutes i got her attention! she is an amazing artist and woman and we are all grateful to her vision of Artfest. She's just posted some incredible journaling videos on you tube on how to journal, how to create a journal, how to paint the pages, how to collage and more. if you have the time, go to her blog and see them. worth all the time you spend watching them! i've seen her journals up close and they are beyond spectacular.

my last class was with karen michel. she does altered imagery and mixed media work. she currently has a cool book out called "The green guide for artists". it is available on Amazon.com. my book is currently on its way to me. it's got great recipes for earth friendly paints and projects. anyway, jen was in the class with me and we spent a relaxing day learning various ways to alter our photos. it was the perfect way to end the retreat, with Karen being a very low key, laid back, sweet voiced and generous teacher.
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the above collage was photos taken around Fort Worden during Journalfest, lunch breaks, vendor night and any other opportunity we had to take photos!

goings on

well i am trying to get settled after being in Connecticut teaching at Art-is-you. i've got everything out of the van and for the most part unpacked (the worst part!). the rest of the stuff will have to wait until after i return on Sunday from Seattle. Oh, didn't know i was leaving again? well, i am - heading off to Journalfest to meet up with my friends, Jennifer and Keli. i am taking classes this time, so it will be nice to relax. i am going barebones with supplies. i am taking classes with Anahata (my favorite!), Stephanie Lee (another favorite!) and karen michel, so it'll be fun. jenn is in one of my classes and i think keli is in two of them; so that will be fun. my bags are packed and just finishing up some other things before i leave. jeff and i did some Halloween decorating today. just a few things on the front porch. it was fun. haven't decorated for Halloween in quite awhile. Dillon used to be so into it, but as he gets older, he's into other things. i think they are still going trick or treating this year though. he's going as "Wolverine". i do miss that little kid stuff though, their excitement about decorating and holidays. i have to work on Halloween at the shoppe in Pt. Pleasant, so i will be dressing up as a form of Friday, from the Adams family. i'll be wearing this red satin doll baby looking dress, black and white tights, my ghoul bride necklace and maybe i'll whiten my face a bit. so that's the skinny!

day two of classes, Stephanie Rubanio, "bedazzled butterfly box"

Stephanie Rubanio. Leighanna Light and me


Mr. Sally Jean (Brad)

Leighanna and her cute laugh. me and leighanna.

Glenny gets a dual massage.

my finished piece. me and table mate Diane (who i know from Tinsel Trading Co.)


Joyce Vance shows her piece (thanks for the image!) these are the saw blades i broke.

me using the jeweler's saw and my image mounted and cutting process.

today's class was with Stephanie Rubanio. i just love this girl. so down to earth, sweet, generous and a great teacher. i am so glad i got to take this class! i bought a piece from her last year in Portland. Then i got to see her at Artfest and she actually remembered the piece i bought (impressive enough, since i can't remember anything!). then on vendor night at Arfest, she came over while i was giving chair massage and asked for a few minutes since she wasn't feeling well. it was a pleasure to have her as a teacher. i just thoroughly enjoyed this class. everyone left that class with a beautiful piece. i mean really, see from the piece i made - just incredible.

"Z" had an evening class and Jean went out to dinner with her roommate, so i was on my own tonight. i had intentions of going back to the room and making another shadow box, but that all changed when i sat down at a table with Leighanna Light and Christine Hendry (no blog that i know of)- but she's Albie Smith's daughter! she is also a fellow Charmster. Pretty soon, Mr. Sally Jean Alexander stopped by the table for a drink with us, soon to be followed by Sally Jean and then Stephanie Rubanio and Glenny. what a time we had! our bartender, Eddie, was pouring heavy handed so everyone was feeling pretty content. Leighanna has the greatest giggle and she always brings her fingers to her lips when she laughs, which is quite cute. She is also a massage therapist, so the both of us were giving out some shoulder rubs to our little party. (especially to Glenny, who looked exhausted). Glenny is also going to Bali for the retreat with Anahata, so that will be fun to spend some time with her there. i bartered with Stephanie for some more "nuts and bolts" used in her boxes for some massage on her shoulder, which is still bothering her. it was a fun evening, which you will gather from the photos.

***i am having some mail issues with AOL, so please bear with me, if you are trying to email me and the email is getting "bounced". i'm not sure what is going on. i'll look into it when i return home. you might try leaving a message for me on my blog just in case.

day 3, artfest, Funky Wallpaper People

well, i just love Anahata. she is such a sweet and warm person. she's a wonderful teacher and gives so much to her students. i i've taken classes before where i felt the teacher was holding back a little bit on things (you know like sharing a receipe, but withholding the secret ingredient). i've never feel that she holds back when teaching. she really wants to see her students succeed and get the most out of her class. when she is done with a class, she always reserves time at the end to discuss each piece created. she gives great input and sweetly finds a nice thing to say about everyone's work. she is the geniune article and that's why i am excited to share that i will be going to Bali, Indonesia in March 2009 to take more classes with Anahata. it's 4 days of workshops and 3 days of extra curricular activities like

1.a day trip to a local textile weaving factory with excursion to Ubud, the culture arts center of Bali- with lunch included.

2. Group snorkeling, beach excursion

3. A private one 1 hour massage

4. An evening of Traditional Balinese Dance Performance

5. Bali temple excursion

6. Hiking through Balinese Rice Patties

i'd like to go a day earlier and stay one day later, but we'll have to see about that!

heading to artfest on tues.

thank you all for your nice supportive comments to me about the approaching date of Tucker's injury. I'm sure i will be so busy in Seattle on the 1st hanging with Andrew, http://www.urbanpaperarts.blogspot.com/ and my new BFF from Artnest, Jennifer that i won't have time be sad! unfortunately i do not think i will be taking my laptop with me on this trip as i just don't have the room. so you'll have to wait patiently for my return to hear all about Artfest!

Andrew is renting a car, so jenn and i are hitching a ride with him for day one and two in Seattle and then heading over to Port Townsend the next day. We have a great little schedule planned, thanks to the ever organized, Andrew. Upon arrival and finding our car, we are heading to a Target to buy a few necessities. This will be a quick in and out visit and there are more important things to see! Next we are heading to a store called "Impress rubber stamps" to do a little shopping. our next stop takes us over to Fremont Street so that Jen and I can grab a photo op with the Fremont Troll - a huge cement statue of a troll who lives under the bridge there. Then it's off to PPC (it's like a Whole Food Store) to pick up groceries. Then we will make our way over to the Archie McPhee store and maybe a few other stores if there's any time left. After that we head to our hotel to check in. we are staying at The Sixth Avenue Hotel, which is in walking distance of Pike's Place Market (my favorite place!). After checking in, we will rest, get cleaned up - whatever until we grabbed dinner at Pike's Chowder Place.

Day two gets us up early to head over for breakfast at Pike's Place Market at Le Panier bakery. we want to get there early to watch the vendors start setting up - putting out their flowers, the fish. maybe will get to see some fish tossing! After breakfast we head over to catch our ferry to Bainbridge Island. it will take us about35 minutes to get there. we will be making a stop after arriving to visit Poulobus - a rubber soul stamp store and art gallery that Andrew knows of. Next we head over to the town of Port Townsend to walk around and check it out. there is an art supply store, more galleries, a thrift store to go see and lunch to be eaten! Then we will drop off Andrew's luggage at his B&B before heading over to Fort Worden (as seen in the movie "An officier and a gentleman") to register. Jen and i will head to our house (5) and unpack. We will see Andrew later in the evening, i'm sure. We go to dinner between 5:30-7 and then the big trading frenzy starts! there is a kickoff meeting in the pavilion between 7-8. Sometime in there, i will be looking to meet my roommate, Sara, who will be driving in from Seattle.

Day 3 for me has me eating breakfast at my house (i didn't buy the breakfast plan) before heading off to my first workshop with Nina Bagley, called "gatherings". the workshop runs from 9-4 with an hour for lunch. dinner is at 5:30 and then from 7-10 there is a beach bonfire with hots dogs and s'mores. everyone brings their journal down to the beach. i'm bringing some warm clothes for that, as i heard last year it got quite cold! somewhere in there, maybe from 6:00-7:00, i will be doing chair massage in the Art Asylum room.

Day 4 i have another workship with Nina Bagley, called, "A wee book". it follows the same schedule as the other classes, so will be done at 4:00. Again, at some point, maybe at vendor night, i will be doing some chair massage.

Day 5, last day at Artfest, i take "Wallpaper people" with Anahata Katkin. i 've seen the work from this class and it is incredible. and i love Anahata since meeting her and taking her icons workship at Artnest. she's such a sweet person and a great teacher. we will be working on 6ft panels of wallpaper, so it should be really cool. i know a lot of people who are in this class, so i think it is going to be really fun. after dinner there is a worshop show and tell for everyone to see each other's work.

Day 6 - sunday, we leave the fort - :( . i will be hitching a ride with fellow charmsters, Michelle and Maya. We are dropping Maya off in Seattle and then Michelle and i are heading to Portland, where i will stay with Michelle. We hope to meet up with our friend, another charmster, Allegra before i leave early on wednesday morning.

icon of the day

she's pretty intense with that dark Bob and those ruby red lips

another journal cover

another journal cover, originally uploaded by keeshagirl4.

well, i definitely like this one better than Lady Garish! i think i didn't really like the other image to begin with, so no matter what i do to her, i still don't like her! she's not normally a picture i'd use, but i found her in a free pile and took the copy with me.

i'm happy to report that tucker is feeling much better after that stomach virus. he'll be going back to school tomorrow.

i call her Lady Garish

i call her Lady Garish, originally uploaded by keeshagirl4.

this is on the cover of a journal i altered today. i feel bad, no matter what i did to her, she remains so unattractive! "handsome" is what my husband calls her!

Icon

I just LOVED Anahata's icon class. i love collage and have been doing it for years. her icon class was very inspiring in ways to bring texture into a collage using various inks, etc. so i was fiddling around today and made another icon collage.

i used a leftover image from her class and then put it into a frame i picked up at a garage sale. this icon will be going into my etsy shoppe. the frame is plastic, possibly vintage - it is very ornate, but not heavy. the whole piece measures 10x12

My Anahata Katkin collages

here are the collages i made during Anahata's classes. i just loved that class. the rest of my Artnest photos can be found here, http://www.flickr.com/photos/lemoncholys/sets/72157603983764642/

i'm at the airport waiting to go home!

Well, Artnest has come to a close. it went by so fast! what an incredible weekend. i wish i wasn't so exhausted because i know my enthusiasm probably won't be so apparent as i can barely type! and unfortunately, i can't upload any photos until i get home. We stayed at a beautiful cabin deep in the mountains (elevation 8,000 or so....) of Utah -past Park City and near Hueber (sp?).

the line up for the teachers was unbelievable. it is in my opinion that that line up can not be topped! First day was Anahata Katkin, http://www.anahata.typepad.com/. What an incredible teacher and so sweet. Since i love collage, this was my favorite class. i learned some great techniques and fun ways to make some fabulous new collages. i can't wait to see her again in April at Artfest for her class, called "Wallpaper People".

second day, was Amy Hanna, no blog, but see her jewelry here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=65825. what a crazy day that was! i felt so bad for Amy because as you know, women love jewelry and the students all wanted to buy her stuff right away. So after the buying frenzy was over, we were able to sit down and create a beautiful rejunevated piece of jewelry (i made a necklace). I enjoyed this, but it is very minute, detailed work! it will probably be easier to do at home when i have all my supplies handy (soldering iron, dremel, etc.) i think my piece is absolutely stunning and can't wait to show it off!

the last day, we had class with Pam Garrison, http://pamgarrison.typepad.com/pamgarrison/. Pam does lovely journals (among other things!) using vintage ledgers. again we got to use paper and gel medium - so i was right at home. Pam is so funny and the doodle queen! that girl can make a page come alive and she never runs out of ideas. can't wait to show you my new journal!

during lunch on Saturday, we got to go snow mobiling and sledding. it was really fun! it was nice to get some fresh air. i went sledding with Jennifer, one of my new BFF's and i was so busy taking pictures going downhill that i wasn't a very proper co-pilot. we ended up doing more luging (sp?) than sledding! but it was a blast and i got a darling photo of us. i hate to admit it though, but i am a little sore today from our fun! i found out that Jennifer is also going to Artfest and staying in the same house as me! how awesome is that?

the food was incredible and so were the women. i was so amazed by the talent that i was surrounded by. everyone created gorgeous, beautiful things and everyone had their own unique look. people were so good about sharing things, which was really nice.

I finally got to meet my online friend, Maija and she was even one of my roommates! she is such a sweet, generous person and i was so happy to have spent time with her. There were a couple girls i had met at Artnsoul, Cheryl and Kelly, so it was fun to get to see them again. Then meeting all the other participants, Angela and Amy (more BFF's!), Elise, Laurie, Jane, Michelle (also from NJ!), Ananda, Dede, Lisa, Melinda, Amanda and Marina (gosh, i hope i didn't leave anyone out!)

and many thanks to our hosts, Julie and Candance. It was their dream to bring women together to create art - so their retreat, a little thing called "Artnest", was such an amazing weekend. they worked hard and planned to the detail. I am sure they are exhausted and even though it is sad to say goodbye, they are probably ready for a break! there are still openings for their spring retreat, so stop by and check it out - http://www.theartnest.net/. the teachers for the spring retreat are Stephanie Lee, Carla Sonheim and Alma Stoller. I will get to see these 2 girls again also at Artfest AND they are also staying in the same house as i! my Artnest photos can be found here http://www.flickr.com/photos/lemoncholys/sets/72157603983764642/

i did want to thank everyone for their sweet thoughts for my mom's dog, Muppet. i am sad to say that my mom had to put her to sleep that very night. It is hard to say goodbye to our sweet pets that bring so much to our lives. i'm am still quite sad over it.

going on etsy

here's a few things i worked on this weekend and will be adding to my etsy shoppe (today or when i get back!) guess i was in a Mona Lisa mood. the darker Mona Lisa has some wonderful crackling in the background that i did by hand (and it measures 8x8). i think the lighter Mona Lisa (w/ buttons for reference) is very "Anahata" (it measures 8x10)- i must be gearing up for her class! how cute it the little sprint time princess birdie sitting on her peat pot nest? i will also be adding some of my handmade bird nests delicately woven with all sorts of fibers and goodies. the base is a secret.........

I'll be at Artnest tomorrow thru the 24th. (i leave at 3am - horrible time huh?)