Happy, Happy Heart Day!

It's time for an announcement!

Click the above image (or HERE) to be directed to the announcement of the

website for the Cigar Box Shrine Auction to benefit the Street Children of Oaxaca!

Over 80 artists worldwide have generously donated their time & artistic visions to the cause. Be sure to check out the amazing contributions

&

get your bidding hand ready!

... And just in case y'all thought I was darkness and dread during this proclaimed happy heart day, here are a few scribbles that just might change your mind ... or not ...

"Since you, the pieces of my heart are coming together"

"My heart without yours" ... is blue

"It was a good day when your heart colided with mine"

"May you enjoy a Happy, Happy Heart Day

filled with lots of love, love, love"

Always, ~M~

With thanks & an update

I'll start with the update. As you might remember, I added washi papers to one side of the heart and all I have done since was coat that side in gloss varnish and paint the flip side white:

and here are a couple closer shots:

Feel free to click on any of the above images to see an even larger view. Next step? Not sure, but I think it includes seed beads ... when will I actually have a few hours to spend on these?!?

also,

I truly appreciate all of the wonderful & generous support

& kind words you have showered on me. It has made a world of difference.

thank you

I'm going to be extremely busy during this job transition ... I'm not the only one moving and have offered (been hired) to help the others with the transistion, too. If I seem to have vanished, it's only an illusion ... I'll be back ... have to be back on the 12th if I want to enter something in this:

... and there's still time if you are interested in submitting something to the contest, too.

Just click on the button above to get the whole scoop.

Plus, in my non-copious spare time, I still need to finish up my mock-knit-up for:

... at least this one is already in the works ...

and again, there's still time to join!

Finally ... thought it was time for another

Cigar Box tease ....

ready?

are you sure?!?

cool ...

on the left is a small notebook with the ring on top (handy for lefties like me)

the moleskin notebook on the right is really small, but soooo ready to be marked up.

Be well & dream BIG!

Always, ~M~

In my Attempt to Avoid my Heavy Heart ...

I'm feeling a bit heavy hearted. I decided to take another job and had to give my boss my two weeks notice today ... this would have been a lot easier if I didn't care so much for her. I feel a bit fragile & pretty raw ... so ... even though I have a feeling this is going to be an exercise in twisted delight, instead of working on this:

I thought I would take inspiration from Robyn (click HERE) and post this:

Don made this bronze heart for me (Valentine's '99 - it should be noted that we aren't big into V-Day celebrations, so this was a huge surprise). We were living in Baltimore, MD. He was working at the New Arts Foundry, so was able to make the casting & soldered the "broken lock" part after it was cast. I'm not sure what the material was he used to sculpt the heart, but I am fairly certain this was a one time casting - I don't believe there is a mold of it. Before it was cast, he inscribed the back:

It's really hard to read in this photo ... it says, "Baby, you didn't need a key, you broke the lock to my heart".

*sighs*

If I don't say it enough, I know that I am a lucky, lucky girl.

When the new job opportunity came up, I had a lot of soul searching to do to make my decision. One night I broke out the Sculpy and the next thing I knew I had these:

a bunch of freeform hearts. I wasn't thinking about them as I was forming them - the hearts just seemed to happen. I also had no clue what I was going to do with them. On Saturday I cut out hearts from some of my favorite washi chiyogami papers and attatched them to one side:

I will varnish this side to protect the paper ... but then what? I don't know. I have a feeling I am just going to go with whatever happens ... maybe they'll turn out to be happy little hearts of hope. Guess we'll see.

"Nothing is so strong as

gentleness and nothing is so

gentle as real strength"

Ralph W. Sockman

Mandala

In case you're curious, here's a close up view of my profile pic:

I have a girlfriend in Phoenix that was redecorating her bedroom (this was actually about two years ago). She mentioned that she was looking for a print of a Mandala and I thought ... hmmm ... I can paint one! So, I did. This was the first one that I had ever attempted and I was really happy with the results ... she was too as it is still hanging on her bedroom wall.

This was one of those paintings that I really enjoyed working on. I broke out my ruler and a sharpened pencil to lay down the design - it started with the eight point star in the center and radiated out from there. I used acrylics on an 18"X18" canvas. Shortly after I finished this one, I painted another that's 12"X 12". I'm not as fond of the second as I am of the first (go figure, I still have the second hanging in the house). It's got a simpler design and the colors don't appeal to me as much ... but, I have been thinking about painting another one. I would like to revisit the first design again - or something similar to it. I just need to figure out the colors that I want to use ...

In the meantime, I have to set the art doll aside (I have done a little more beading since the last update, but it's dark and I prefer to photograph it in natural light). The more I look at it, the more it reminds me that I really don't know what I am doing. :) That's not really the reason that I am setting it aside ... I recently visited Monica's blog and saw mention of a Black and White charm swap ... I've never made a charm, so I am not sure what possessed me to add my name to the list, but I did. Now I actually have to create something - EEK! I contacted the host and let her know that I would work on something this weekend and would email pics so she can decide if they are acceptable for the swap. Since then, I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what I am going to do ... I have a few ideas:

1) I can "macrame" black and white embroidery thread (love that 100% cotton feel over rough hemp any day of the week - no offense, hemp) over wire, embelish with black and white beads and bend into a heart shape.

2) Make the charms from wood and paint - I'm thinking geometric. I kind of see a half inch square base with a quarter inch square attached (in the center and at an angle) on either side of the base ... i think just paint and no additional embellishment

3) making little frames from sculpy and printing off pictures of the elephant that I did last fall to set (and somehow seal) in the frame ... here's the elephant that I mentioned:

Considering it's Sunday night, I don't really have that much weekend left. I've got to get started. Wish me luck - I could definitely use it right about now. :)

Sadie's Hand - age 2

I love this little piece. When Sadie was two -2001 - I made this hand for her papa (aka: uber-spouse) as a Christmas gift. I traced her hand on a piece of sculpy and then trimmed it out and decorated it with dots, a heart and Runes (an ancient Germanic alphabet, used for writing, divination and magick). Then I baked the piece, gave it a sort of tea bath and finished it off with some black paint. I've always loved letters and symbols, so it's natural for me to be drawn to Runes ... it's an added bonus that each letter (symbol) actually represents something. If your curious what's inscribed all over the little hand, start at the top left (thumb), move right through each finger and end at the palm (above, inside, below the heart):

Fehu (F: Domestic cattle, wealth.) Possessions won or earned, earned income, luck. Abundance, financial strength in the present or near future. Sign of hope and plenty, success and happiness.

Wunjo: (W or V: Joy.) Joy, comfort, pleasure. Fellowship, harmony, prosperity. Ecstasy, glory, spiritual reward, but also the possibility of going "over the top".

Uruz: (U: Auroch, a wild ox.) Physical strength and speed, untamed potential. A time of great energy and health. Freedom, energy, action, courage, strength, tenacity, understanding, wisdom.

Ansuz: (A: The As, ancestral god, i.e. Odin.) A revealing message or insight, communication.

Gebo: (G: Gift.) Gifts, both in the sense of sacrifice and of generosity, indicating balance.

Raidho: (R: Wagon or chariot.) Travel, both in physical terms and those of lifestyle direction.

Kenaz: (K: Beacon or torch.) Vision, revelation, knowledge, creativity, inspiration, technical ability.

Eihwaz: (EI: Yew tree.) Strength, reliability, dependability, trustworthiness. Enlightenment, endurance. Defense, protection.

Tiwaz: (T: Tyr, the sky god.) Honor, justice, leadership and authority. Analysis, rationality. Knowing where one's true strengths lie.

Othala: (O: Ancestral property.) Inherited property or possessions, a house, a home. What is truly important to one.

Sowilo: (S: The sun.) Success, goals achieved, honor. The life-force, health.

For the complete definitions, I do recommend doing a search on Runes. These are based on the Elder Futhark. My first stop when searching info on Runes is Runes, Alphabet of Mystery - there are tons of links and no crazy pop-ups.

YOR Swirl

I thought I was going to start a Mandala next, but I think I need to do just one more checkerboard. I'm waiting on da mahn to cover the hearts canvas. I'm planning on revisiting that same hearts background and either using circles (like this one) or hearts in the checkerboard ... the main difference is that the checkerboard will cover the entire painting rather than be quartered.

The Pink Artist Doll: The Reveal

You just gotta, gotta, gotta go check out the reveal of Love Squared ... I'm pretty sure that your health and well being depend on it.

OK, maybe not, but I sure do think it's worth your time to check out what a vision and 180 participants can do.

Hearts - 12"x12" on canvas

I'm calling this one done. I can't say that I am thrilled with the results. Doing the checkerboard freehand was a lot more difficult than I had anticipated ... there's an obvious area where the design got off and I wasn't able to correct it. Ah well. Good for practice, I suppose. I do plan on doing another one similar to this. I'll definitely use a finer brush to lay out the grid lines ... I think I'll try a crazy more colorful background ... maybe I'll even take a shot at it tonight. :) ... or maybe I'll entertain myself by doing that list-o-things ...

4X4 Friday - 03/07/08 - Pets

The Friday, March 07 4X4 Friday challenge was ... pets!

How fun is that? I decided to go a more literal route for this weeks challenge. The above is composed of pictures of our very own wonder-dog, Fern. She's a pound puppy (at about 8+ years old, at this point) and since bringing her home, we've been advised that she's actually a "puggle" - mix breed of pug and beagle. Talk about a terrific little critter - everyone that meets her, loves her - she really is that great. She's sweet tempered & has a tongue that's too big for her mouth. :)

The central image is a photo that I took in 2006. I used Jasc Paint Shop to give it a weave affect and then made a copy of that and flipped the image (to achieve the mirror image). The banner of Fern at the top and bottom is the image you'll find on my blog. (I printed the images on 30lb Business Gloss paper.) Love that face! At either edge I globbed on some Liquitex Iridescent Rich Gold acrylic paint (to cover the little bit of white space that the images couldn't quite reach). The heart that surrounds the mirror image is also Liquitex acrylic paint, though it's in Quinacridone Rose with the Rich Gold dots. The whole piece was rather quick and simple, but I have to admit that I'm happy with the results.

Thank you for stopping by. Comments are most welcome. :)

Art Squared (4x4)

My intentions are good, but time refuses to slow even a little ... just in case I can't finish what I have started in time for Happy Heart Day, I dug up these to share:

"Since you, the pieces of my heart are coming together"

"My Heart Without Yours"

"It was a good day when your heart collided with mine"

They are Art Squared pieces that I did in 2006.

I am currently working on another series for this year (also colored pencil and Sharpie on Bristol board - like above) ... I just don't know if I'll actually get them done before Thursday. My skills at waiting till the very last moment rival the most practiced of stallers!