For Now...

The healing continues; the new blog awaits...
In the meantime, I AM posting on the Underground Artists blog, here.

This is the blog for my art group, and features events that we're involved in, places to find our work, and news about other local Tahoe artists. Come visit me over there!

Celebrating a Year of Underground Art

Okay, well, it was more like last week, BUT, the Underground Artists have been meeting for a year now, and as the founder, I felt like it was reason to celebrate. The group has been the most amazing experience, and it was important, I felt, to mark this anniversay, with, say, wearing a bowl on one's head.

Or, an Art Helmet.

These are the surprise I mentioned; I couldn't post photos here this week because Kristen would be reading. I made three of these; one for each of us. They're my unique brand of recycled paper/papier mache/mixed media art. On the backs, they're personalized. I'm actually running out the door right now, but here are pics!

This art group has been a huge gift for all of us. For anyone aspiring to move towards greater creativity, I highly recommend getting together with other like-minded creative people. It's been an amazing experience, and we can't wait to see what this year will look like...

Schedules are Meant for Breaking

Yesterday, I set up a schedule of sorts for myself...at least for the next few months while my husband has his mid-week days off, and the temperatures are hovering around 0 degrees in the early mornings. My intention is to utilize my time better by being better organized...

To that end, I'm going to try to blog only on certain days, and today is not one of them. But I did post here today... I guess that blows the whole plan... oh well.

Rearranged, or Deranged?

I had a nice time at 4:00 am, tossing and turning and designing necklaces and making mental notes of changes to the Underground Artist blog...

Good ideas, all. And all written down on the pad next to my bed. Surprisingly legibly, I might add. I even sketched the necklace design in complete darkness, with all the parts in the right place. Hopefully the piece will look as nice as the sketch. In the middle of the night it also occurred to me that I need to mention that this Sunday's Open Studio involves all three Underground Artists (Kristen Schwartz, Barbara Wesson, and myself).

In order for all of us to fit our work into my small studio, I re-arranged earlier this week. Allow me to describe this deranged process to you...it began simply enough:

I had move my comfy chair into the house. But let me be more specific; this involved an ENTIRE day, beginning with: moving the comfy chair out of the studio, taking apart the computer that was on the oak desk, moving the entire studio around to make room for the oak desk (in order to provide a place to put said chair in house), moving the computer into our new "computer room" (aka laundry room), putting the computer back together, and finally moving the chair into the corner just in time to run out the door for Gordie's aikido class. There was extensive dusting and vacuuming involved, and I didn't get to shower before running out the door, but the studio cleaned up nicely and there's more room with this new arrangement.

I heard from my North Shore artist friend, Carole Sesko, yesterday; she's got her second Open Studio scheduled for Saturday, and sounded so excited about her decorations that she actually inspired me to string up some lights, at least. I love her work, and if I've got myself all set for Sunday, I may just head up to Truckee to check it out. If you can't make it, at least take a look at her website if you have time.

I was going to pop another earring shot in here, but for some reason Blogger has decided I can't. Maybe later....

There's Something Fuzzy...

on the Underground Artists' blog.
See photos of the mysterious Walter and other friends at Kristen's Open Studio/Holiday Sale by clicking here.

There Are No Words

Okay, well, there's a few. But I can't really think of any good ones that don't sound trite.

xxx

Our first Holiday Open Studio at Barbara's was yesterday. Good food, good friends (see? trite.) Wonderful people who wanted to come see us and pick out fun handmade gifts for their loved ones. All three of us Undergrounders had an amazing experience. My thanks to everyone who showed up! You made it happen (trite! I know!).

xxx

Everything I do with the Underground Artists turns out to be more than it seems. Each experience brings out some issue I have, or somebody has, and it feels BIG. The dynamic of being part of a group is very powerful. I highly recommend this sort of "group therapy" to any artists out there, especially women who have been mothers and as a result have a somewhat skewed idea of our worth...and what our time is worth.

xxx

I saw a very funny print ad today, for Absolut Vodka. It's a husband and wife standing together in their living room. The woman is slim and smiling, glass of vodka (presumably Absolut) in her hand. Her husband is standing besider her, looking a bit rumpled, with a huge pregnant belly...ha!

can you picture it?

But I digress.

xxx

As moms, we're used to working literally 24/7, with no pay. (I laugh when my husband comes home and complains about his job...(I think: "YOU'RE GETTING PAID FOR IT... how bad can it really be?") And really, my mom job is great. I'm not whining. It's just that we're used to our time being worth "nothing": no money. So to get back into this art thing, this business part of it, we really have to change our thinking about what our time is worth. What WE are worth.

xxx

Just an aside: Why does Google's Blogger do away with the spaces in between my paragraphs? And where do they go? Does some other blogger get them...loads of space between her paragraphs? Anyone know the answer to this? I am forced to resort to creative measures to make it look like there's a space in between them. Like so:

xxx

And speaking of answers: the question I asked in my last post, about the ridiculously irrelevant tag in my hat...my husband figured it out. He held it up to the light: it had a microchip in it, to guard against stealing. Luckily it didn't guard against "shoulder shopping".

UA Shows

It's been a long week, and between the holiday and not feeling too "yippy-skippy" (I'll spare you the details!) I haven't written all week. But I'm back on my feet, and looming large on the horizon is...



our Underground Artists Holiday Open Studios (or "Triple Holiday Sale", depending on whom you talk to...). We're hosting a series of holiday events, for three Sundays in December: December 2, December 9, and December 16, from 1 to 6 pm. All three of us: Barbara Wesson (pottery; pictured at left sporting an art helmet), Kristen Schwartz (fantastical illustrations) and, of course, Yours Truly will be at each date. Our intention is to feed you lots of sugary items, or at least some wine or appetizers, and entice you to purchase various wonderful handmade gifts for your friends and family. Or, if you're like me, for yourself. If you live in the Tahoe area, or plan to be in the area then, please email me for more information.



I recently sent out a mailing and included a link to this blog... If anyone reading this is new to the blog, it's EASY TO COMMENT. Really. Just click on the comment link and register with Google if you haven't already. (Google is going to take over the world, so you might as well just go ahead and register with them now. Go ahead, get it over with.)



I tried to create an avatar (isn't that a great word?) for my Etsy shop yesterday. Yes, I should have been creating things for the first Open Studio this weekend. Why wasn't I? Well, I, um... I was also adding a couple of pieces to the Etsy shop at the time, and my little "avatar space" was looking rather bare and depressingly empty. So I thought, "how hard can it be?" And then I found out: impossible. At least for me. But I had alot of fun taking photos of myself, using a mirror to see what the camera screen was showing... This is the one I liked, but couldn't get it to work. That is why, if you go to my Etsy shop, you will see a BIG BLACK SQUARE where the avatar should be. I'll try again someday... but not now. NOW, I have to get back into the studio and make some more pieces for this weekend.

Fighting "Brain Spiral"

The Underground Artists saved the day, once again.


How did I ever get anywhere without this group? The answer is, I didn't. At least, I didn't move forward very quickly. I spent alot of time going around in circles, as I remember... sometimes even spiraling downward into my own tangle of negative thoughts. (how poetic!) But it's true.


This past week I had to put in alot of computer time: domain name changes, email changes, website stuff, mailing list, etc... Plus, I was alone; my husband took the kids on a short vacation, and I opted to stay home to get some work done. I LOVE being alone, but after a few days, I can get to the point where it's NOT good because I'm thinking too much. By the time our UA meeting came up, I had been to that point, and beyond.

Turns out, we'd all been in a similar place, mentally. This happens alot. Then we all talk it over, eat some chocolate, and Voila! Sane artists! Well, not really. Ha ha! But it's a close facsimile, and we end up way, way more comfortable with what's going on than we were before. One might even say we're feeling inspired to keep going, in a more or less straight line, rather than back around again, in those circles I mentioned before.

What a relief.

Gesso Love

Today I fell in love with black gesso.

It's true.

It goes on so easy, covers so well... and it's going on the back of the new work, so I'm not concerned about fading. I never planned to fall in love. But I started some new forms this week, to be used specifically for the earrings. (Except some of them looked distinctly like candy dishes, so I'm going to let one of them go ahead...) After I'd already gessoed the forms with white, I thought I'd do the inside (what will be the backs) with black. I'll only have to paint the front of the jewelry pieces this way, and nobody sees the backs anyway (unless they're standing very, very close to you and staring at the back of your ears... and that would be creepy).

When I was done, I loved the way the black looked. LOVED it. The forms are so graphic. (once a graphic designer, always a graphic designer...) I think I could go off on some different directions here, but for now I'm going to focus on the earrings and necklaces (okay, and the candy dish) because my Underground Arty friends and I are going to be doing some holiday Open Studio dates very soon. (I'll post dates here shortly.)

I'm also in love with my new bike. It's so pristine! I can't imagine taking it out and getting it dirty, but it IS a mountain bike, so I guess there's nothing for it but to get on it and ride! Maybe tomorrow. My kids are still off with my husband, riding their bikes in the bay area. (There's tons of trails here, but he's on "vacation" (between the seasonal jobs) and I guess he feels like he has to go somewhere...whatever). That leaves me alone to work in blissful, uninterrupted quiet, and do things like eat cookies for breakfast. Not that I would. I'm just saying.

Synergy Requires Sleep

I've been out at Valhalla with my UA sisters almost every day this week for the "Synergy" show. I've found it exhausting, and rather emotional for some reason; plus, it's been slow. On the up-side, we're learning how it works to show together. Our work compliments each other, and we're getting a positive response.

I managed to finish a collection of necklaces before the show, and added a few pairs of earrings (a trial thing) that I completed on the day it poured...I even finished my second and elusive "mantle" clock that I've been working on for almost a year. I'll post photos of those another time. Here are a few pics from the show...

Computer Hell

Every time I turn on my computer these days, it makes a VERY LOUD humming noise. And it's been turning itself off at random moments too. So, if I fail to blog as regularly as I've been doing, please know that I am in computer hell.

(Also, I'll be out at Valhalla all week, or at least most of it, for the Underground Artists show.)

Sun! Sand! Art!

Just a quick reminder about the Underground Artists show this coming week. We'll be at the (variously named) Viking Gallery, new Twin Cabins Gallery, small building in front of the Grand Hall at Valhalla on the lovely shores of Lake Tahoe. One or all of us will be there each day from 10 am to 4 pm. The show runs from August 27th to September 3rd. Visit the UA blog for more details...
Hope to see you down there!

Inspiration at Your Fingertips

I recently subscribed to a newsletter (thanks to Luann Udell!) by a painter named Robert Genn. This is a link to a page on his site containing an impossibly huge collection of quotations related to art. Every week I'm posting a new quote on the Underground Artists blog; this will definitely help! That, or I"ll waste alot of time reading quotes.

Peeking Out

Underground Artists rock. (that will take on a deeper meaning soon...but that's still a secret!) We had another meeting yesterday, and I mean to tell you that I could not survive without this group of women. Three of us are artists and moms (and one is "mom" to her dogs...) and that helps too.

It's like this little spot of sanity and grounding in my life, and I couldn't stay as focused without it . We are going to be starting an Underground Artists blog soon, and will be working on the website too. We are underground, but everything I'm reading says that, as artists, we've got to "show up". So, we're peeking out. But stay tuned.

Underground Artwalk

This is my answer to the Artwalk that happens at the other end of town, and the other end of art...and no, we don't go underground to do it. This is the Underground Artists in action, above-ground. On the ground. On the beach, to be specific. A walk, a bunch of spontaneous creativity, and a hell of alot of fun.

Going Undergound

I wore the dress today (see last post). And if felt good. We had an Underground Artist meeting, and it was a sort-of birthday party for all of us. Pie, cupcakes, presents (well, I forgot to give them out until after...)

This group is small and powerful. It took a while for it to manifest; but I'd dreamed of it for years. It seemed so impossible, and then, it just worked out. I'm watching incredible things happening with these women, and it's so amazing to be there to support them, and to receive the support I need to. It's as if, by coming together, we're speeding up the process of whatever it is that we're going through. It's so awesome. Plus, there's usually some chocolate involved. I love it.