Author Archives: Sheba

Perhaps my art twin?

I apparently have found my art twin. Over the years when I was primarily working with collage on glass, and showing… I always wondered if someone else was doing the same type of thing. I had seen painting on glass… but never collage. So today this guy, Mike, from France posts a comment on my blog and it seems that around the SAME YEARS as me, he was also doing collage on glass.

Then as I look to his bio I see that he is born in a year and date very close to me. So we are both 40 something geminis (me: 05/25/67 him: 05/27/65) He also does performance and installation arts, both types that I admire and he writes quite a bit. He is very diverse in his creations as I have been… we just went off in different directions.

So anyways, for the time being I will think of him as my art twin… and I will continue to keep an eye on his work. You should check it out as well!

Beaded Journal Project September 2008

Sept2008

So this is the first of my 12 alter/door style journal pages. I am still up in the air as to how I am going to finish/back them. If I will do the sculptural approach in which case I will need to do more work on this one.

So I am a teacher, a middle school art teacher. September always means fresh starts, new kids, new lessons. I like endings, but more I like fresh starts. that is why September is one of my favorite months EVER. perhaps this was wired into me at an early age, since we moved every 2-3 years and I had to start over, make new friends. I always thought I would reinvent myself and start over. becoming the me that for some reason I had not been in the place before. We always moved in the summer with September being that moment of the fresh beginning…

This piece is 11″W x 8″H at the peaks. It is made from a ‘novelty’ fabric (one with the teachers, combined with a separate one of the flowers and edged with a third of the measuringtape. I included the tape because I have been working hard and lost 13 pounds over the summer. Plus it looks like a school type thing.

The ‘crazy’ art teacher has red hair (like me) and I added a fuzzy yarn to give it dimension. She also wears funky shoes, apron and glasses…like me too now (the glasses are new)

Sept2008DT

Now to go figure out October’s page….

PS I would LOVE to hear feedback, as I am pretty much new to the beading thing…

Message In A Bottle

Message in a Bottle is a Mail art project started by Lisa Vollrath. These pictures are some of the fun goodies I have recieved in my bottles. I got a new bottle today from Corrine with some great handmade papers.

The project is no longer accepting sign-ups at Lisa’s Site (due to people not following directions.) BUT as the directions say, check the blogs of current participants to get included in the project. I am ready for 4 new addresses to add to my next round of bottles.

How do you play? If you send me your address via EMAIL (shebaduhkitty at yahoo dot com) then I will add your address to my out going bottles. This will result in you recieving a bottle from the next person. This will then GROW by two bottles for every bottle that you send out, so BE PREPARED! You need to be able to make cool little items of art, and add some extra fun art supplies and then pay up to $2 per bottle at the post office for EACH Bottle. Coming up, some pictures of my outgoing bottles.

Carving out your Space

collage desk

I remember when I lived in a tiny studio apt and I made all my art sitting on my bed/couch because I didn’t have a table or even enough room on the floor. All my supplies were in bags and shoe boxes. I am glad for real tables now. But it was still a fun time of art making. When I was finally able to afford a one bedroom apt, I kept the same bed/couch in order to sleep in the living room and made the bedroom my art studio. This allowed me to work much larger.

I was reminded of these small work spaces where I made it work, despite it all, when I read today’s episode of The Pulse. Artist Kelly Kilmer, talked about working on the floor and shared a pictures of baggies filled with supplies. It almost makes me nostalgic for the past.

Usually, I am envious of the art studios I see when people share pictures of their spaces. Wood floors, super organized shelves and drawers, clean walls with good lighting. But when I think of the spaces I used to have and the space I have now I need to consider myself fortunate.

If you would like to see the studios of some great artists then check out the Pulse!

TopFlight Websites: Checking in on The Pulse

More great news from The Pulse (This collaborative project aims to introduce you to new artists, help you get to know familiar faces even more, and allow you access into the creative hearts and minds of a very talented crew of individuals.) 

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Today’s question: At least for today, your can’t-live-without blog or website is…

It seems like so many artists have difficulty picking just one website. Although, so many artists pick Flickr as a daily top pick, must-see, website. Always the perfect site for the eye candy junkie. And though it will take hours of webtime, I am determined to check out all the suggestions in this four day long quest for the best websites. Needing some new eye candy in your life? Then check this out!

Marilyn Gallas loves to visit Kelly Rae. As soon as I clicked the link, I realized that I have stumbled across Kelly Rae before. I have seen her book cover, seen photos of pictures of people taking classes from her or being inspired by her work. Her backgrounds are a rich tapestry of luscious color and texture (my two favorite elements of art.) Why she wasn’t already in my google reader is a mystery that was quickly fixed. Then when I went to go add her to my flickr favorites, I saw she was already there! No wonder her art was wonderfully familiar. Now where can I order that book…

Michelle Ward is an artist I have followed on and off but didn’t know she had numerous blogs these days, including one that has some great challenges and tutorials.

Stephanie Hilvitz (BTW…who’s aprons and tablecloths are flirty and wonderfully colorful!) is inspired by Elizabeth’s site Be…Dream…Play… I can see why Stephanie likes to visit Elizabeth’s site. It is filled with a color and vibrancy of life that is infectious.

When I followed Canadian Artist Kate Strickland’s favorite link to an Austrailian based blog by printmaker Jo Horswill, only to I find my friend Bridgette (who just moved from my neck of the woods in Seattle, back to her home in Chicago) It made me realize first how easy it is to get lost in a string of links AND how small and strange the internet world can be.

After looking at a growing list of art websites that are filled with colorful photographs, smiling kids and artists, along with proud displays of creativity, I just had to chuckle to see that James Michael Starr’s favorite site is http://weather.com.

On the whole, I am more visual than verbal. But I was very intrigued to see that Shona Cole’s pick was a Poetry site that hosts podcasts of and about poetry. As a teacher, this is a site I will have to find a use for with my students. I will also have to return to Shona’s sites. I am so impressed with her publication resume.

It is also interesting how many artists listed their own blog or site as a go-to link. I do check on my blog regularly, sadly mostly to delete spam comments, but I wouldn’t have thought to list it as an answer to this question. I am curious as to why they did list it. It makes me think that I put some extra meaning into the question. But with over 80 participants in the survey, the questions are bound to be interpreted in many different ways.

If you haven’t made it over to the Altered Page to check the Pulse… I highly recommend it, as this month it is MY daily go-to site.

Quirks?

Tagged by Cynjon

Here are the rules:
1. Link back to the person who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell about some (6) unspectacular quirks of yours
4. Tag Some (6) bloggers by linking to them
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged bloggers blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

Quirks? I think I am somewhat boringly normal so not sure if these will count…

April 2008

1) I can’t really sleep without Charger snuggling with me. He loves to snuggle, but is having a harder time getting up on the bed, so sometimes I snuggle with him on the floor for a little bit.

2) I read several books at a time, mostly young adult fiction with a few art related non-fiction and an occasional adult Scifi in the mix. So the stack of books by my bed is often quite tall.

3) I almost always sleep with ear plugs. Not that my sleeping partners or neighborhood are terribly loud, but they do snore and I am a light sleeper. So I always take them with me when I go on trips too. But I always seem to take them out at some point in the middle of the night, unknowingly and in my sleep. So when I wake up, I have to rescue them from the cats, who think they are toys.

4) I recently organized the books on my bookshelf by color. It looks really pretty.

5) My legs are so short that they don’t reach the ground when I sit in a chair. SO I almost always sit with my feet tucked up or crisscross on the chair. This is probably not good for my posture.

6) I am not usually a big meme/quiz/blog-game person. But will play is tagged.

I will tag

Medium Well: Checking in on the Pulse

Seth at The Altered Page continues his mass undertaking of sharing the thoughts of over 80 artists, on such topics of favorite art media, favorite links, and methods for getting into the mood for creating. Medium Well is a series of 4 posts on the question, “If you could work in one medium or format that you haven’t yet tried, tell us what it would be and why.”

 


Courtney making a stain glass state ornament, originally uploaded by justgrimes. Flickr licensed under the Creative Commons.

For many years I have wanted to create art in the medium of Stained Glass. My glass window collage series was aiming to have the transparency and feeling of stained glass. Many of the pieces look wonderful with light shinning behind them. I like the compartmentalized look of stained glass and have even tried to translate that idea into fabric.

What medium would you experiment with, if you had unlimited time and resources? What fears are holding you back?

What If?

CQR_sept, originally uploaded by Charger’s Mommy.

Crazy Quilts Revisited a new challenge started by Jude Hill at Spirit Cloth asks us to as “What if?”

So my first What if? Crazy Quilt piece came from:
What if I pieced together fabrics that are really different in texture? This has fun fur, Corduroy, silk, linen, taffeta, felt, and tulle combined. Then I asked, What if I made pockets in the tulle and sewed in beads? Only one pocket is filled so far, because this is still a work in progress. Finally I decided, What if I added a cut out window in the middle? Which is a new technique for me.

SO I will start by saying I don’t like it. It is all scraps so I haven’t lost anything by trying. It was hard to sew through the layers since I started with the thickest stuff towards the middle and used felt as a backing. I am not sure if this block will go any further. Or I might have to ask, What if I kept working on something I didn’t like and finished it anyways?