if you happen to be in brooklyn...

if you happen to be in williamsburg, brooklyn that is, on june 22 you can wander on over to the opening of the limited edition sketchbook project at the brooklyn art library and see mine in person! (call number 174.7-10) 

 here's a page from my sketchbook

here's a quick little video about the sketchbooks

have a great day everyone!

its in the mail

it was a crazy few days trying to finish my little sketchbook before the deadline and afterward i felt a bit hollowed out inside.  i mean, i never wanted to walk into my studio again.  and not just because it was a disaster area.  deadline day saw me dropping paper scraps on the floor, stacking books precariously on top of water jars, painting with my gluey fingers...  it was insane.  but then, i was insanely happy that it was done, mailed to the brooklyn art library, never to be mine again.  it was liberating.  i'd never been so happy to let something go.  

following this, middle son came home from college, we repaired some sagging front steps, and then you know, laundry, dinner, chauffeuring, etc.  so i didn't have a lot of time to go into the studio anyway.  but one day i was coming up the stairs and i passed the open doorway and waded in.  didn't even clean up, just started working on top of the mess, on a small canvas.  then dug out a shadowbox i'd been working on forever and another canvas.  seems i'm ready to start again.  boy i'm happy about that.

here's a couple of pages of my little sketchbook.  you can see more here

i'm calling this navigate.  its got old poetry pages underneath and pretty blue paint and part of a vintage map (of course) that has been stitched with vintage thread. maybe one day i'll stop being obsessed with these images - maps, constellations, ways of navigating.  but for now, you can find this here in the shop.

it's very late here kids so i'm going to bed... sweet dreams.

another big smile

i've been working like crazy trying to get my book done for the sketchbook project which is due in six days.  yes, six days lisa.  yikes.  so what a happy surprise and needed distraction to wake up this morning to find that i've been featured in another treasury that made the etsy front page!  i'm thrilled, excited, re-energized.  many thanks to joana at trincaruvas for creating another lovely treasury.  she makes brooches and pendants that may remind you of a game you played with as a kid.  i love her color combinations, some subtle and some graphic and vibrant.  i've been following her blog for awhile now and i was first drawn in by this poem, that resonated for me in that moment. then there are her photos... lovely. 

here is some of her work

mini breastplate necklace

spirography necklace

wrap around bracelet

and here is the treasury with my little sticks and stones shadow box

sticks and stones

could this possibly mean that some of my photos are getting better?  somehow i can't believe that.  taking photos still feels like a complete and utter crap shoot to me.  whatever it means, i'm happy!

thanks joana!

celiac disease and some work

gluten free chocolate banana bread

in our house, everything i cook and bake is gluten free.  my youngest son has celiac disease, which basically means that when he eats gluten it sets off an immune reaction that damages his small intestine and causes malabsorption among other things.  bad stuff.  the only cure is abstaining from any and all gluten.  gluten is the devil in our house.  the prevailing wisdom is that anything over 20 parts per million will cause the villi in the small intestine to begin to flatten interfering with the absorption of nutrients.  how much is 20 ppm?  how can we measure that?  i have no idea, so at least in our home, we try to minimize the risk.  i am allergic to wheat which is a completely different thing, but having a celiac in the house makes it easier to avoid it.

since this is a blog, i thought i'd share a couple of excellent blogs on how to live and cook gluten free.  some you may have heard of and some maybe not.  first is the gluten free goddess.  karina's blog is just a feast for the eyes, with so much information, beautiful photos (she's an artist) and equally beautiful stories to tell along with her recipes.  she's also dear to us because when middle son was starting a gluten free blog, he reached out to her and she reached back, emailing and helping him learn the ropes of blogdom.  next is another biggie, the gluten free girl.  recipes, photos, videos, and a love story are all here.  elana's pantry uses almond meal and flour for baking.  celiac chicks has restaurant and bakery reviews and more.  then there is book of yum for the vegetarian celiac.  one more and i'll stop, i promise.  i just found roost, a gorgeous blog about a young woman's quest to treat her husband's crohn's disease naturally by going gluten free among other things. 

here's some photos of the progression of one of the pages in the sketchbook project i'm working on.  i finally chose a theme for it from the provided list - learning how to spell and other lessons - something like that.  i'm liking parts of this page and i may make it into something more at some point.

so how's your week been?  passover starts on good friday and then easter sunday, what a weekend!  i haven't even decided what to make for easter dinner.  any ideas?

beautiful things and a little progress

beautiful things

blobhouse
emawilliamson
TheVintageParlor
annamagruder
handitdown
EatGreen
PaperTurtles
ViasVintage
LitPrints


and here's the progress

i started a spread for the sketchbook project book and at least have ideas for a few more pages.  yippee!  i find that i have to be working on multiple pages or projects at once.  it sometimes takes me days before i finally feel that something is right, or just decide that i'm sick of it and move on.  do you work that way - working on a few pieces at once?  i'm always so interested in how others work.   well no more work tonight, it's off to bed for me.

sweet dreams...

scary white pages

the other night, when i should have been in bed i posted about a drawing challenge and half committed to it.  this is the reason why.  have you all heard about the sketchbook project?  basically it's a 32 page blank book that you get to make your own using whatever mediums you choose.  you pick a theme which can inform what you do, or not.  the sketchbook then gets cataloged in the brooklyn art library where it can be viewed by anyone and everyone. thousands of sketchbooks will also travel the world to be viewed, making this a really cool, global project.  the art house co-op, the group that came up with this nifty project has others for you to do to that combine this global, collaborative art idea. 

so... the deadline for this is april 30th and it's fast approaching.  i have started working on one page.  i have some thoughts for others.  but right now 32 pages is scaring the (bad word) out of me.

sooo many blank, white, spotless pages.

here's the page i've started.  i'm still deciding between 2 themes - the secret and how to tell it or how to spell and other things to learn.  

oh my...  so i will revisit the 30 day drawing challenge when i'm not quaking in my boots.  if anyone else decides to do it please let me know.  i would love to see your work and link to it.

managed to get past the scary little white canvas and made this.  it contains the first lines of one of my favorite emily dickinson poems.  here's the complete poem

hope is the thing with feathers

that perches in the soul,

and sings the tune - without the words,

and never stops at all,

and sweetest in the gale is heard;

and sore must be the storm

that could abash the little bird

that kept so many warm.

i've heard it in the chillest land,

and on the strangest sea;

yet, never, in extremity, 

it asked a crumb of me.

and i'll leave you with another favorite

ample make this bed.

fill this bed with awe;

in it wait for judgement break

excellent and fair.

be its mattress straight,

be its pillow round;

let no sunrise' yellow light

interrupt this ground.