Beep! Beep! Back Up!
May 5th, 2008, 8 Comments
This is a quick reminder to back up your files! My hard drive recently crashed. Boo! But fortunately I had everything important backed up. Yay! Thank goodness! I didn't have it done in a time capsule sort of way, so I've been uploading all sorts of stuff onto my clean slate of a laptop over the last two days. Not so much fun. But I did enjoy looking through old pictures as they got copied into my iphoto library. I need to re-install photoshop and dreamweaver, so no new photos today (instead, here's an old pic of y adorable snuggle cats, Emma and Sadie.) Hopefully, that'll be done soon.
I'm also so glad that I got Apple Care, as I've had to use my warranty twice this year. Along with my brand new hard drive came an updated system, which I wasn't expecting. There are some nifty new features on 10.5, although the hubster says that some of his software doesn't work with it, so far it's been good for me.
Tonight, dinner is on the grill...marinated chicken and fresh vedgies. Yum. And my icky migraine is just starting to move on. Another hooray!
Here's some inspiration to share:
- Over at Creative Construction there's a new weekly creativity contest. Each week a new prompt will be given and it can be interpreted however you like! And especially exciting for a bookworm like me, there's a weekly prize of a ten dollar Amazon gift card! Sweet! The first prompt is "View from the window" and entries are due tomorrow by midnight. I know that's coming up quick, so if you don't get something in this week, definitely try it out next go around!
- A new Creative Every Day Challenge member, Noel of Henna Rose, has some pictures of her gorgeous henna work. I so want to have this done! There was supposed to be a henna person at my bachelorette party, but she had to cancel. So one of these days, I'm going to have to go get it done. I think some lovely summer day might be nice.
- The talented Tammy Vitale won first place for her torso, "Cybele" at the Calvert Artists' Guild's May 08 Awards Show at AnnMarie Garden.
- I think everyone has heard of Twitter by now. Well, I decided to try it out and it is kind of fun! (Does this make me a twit?...Don't answer that. heh.) If you want to follow me, my name there is leahart. Now that I've tested it out a bit, I think I'll be adding my twitters to the blog. I'm working on an updated blog design, so I may wait til that's done. Speaking of a new design, if anything is confusing or weird or missing here on the blog, give me your feedback, so I can incorporate it into the updated version.
Creative Every Day: May 5th – May 11th, 2008
May 5th, 2008, 11 Comments
CED2008 participants! Feel free to leave a comment here with a link to post(s) about your creative activities during the week of 5/5/08 -5/11/08.
Happy creating!
A Lovely Day to Share Some Inspiration
May 3rd, 2008, 7 Comments
Last night, I started working on a new painting. It's got some very soft and summery colors going on, reminds me of a bleached out Grecian scene, which I'm enjoying thoroughly. Paint is yummy.
I've been noting some lovely stuff going on amongst the Creative Every Day Challenge folks and thought I'd pass some of it along. Sometimes there's almost too much inspiration out there! On occasion, I need to pull myself away just so that I don't spend all day looking at inspiration and not do anything with it! Well, some days it's good to be a sponge. Sometimes you do need to soak things in, fill the well. And then some days are action days, where you need to wring yourself out and see what all the various experiences, conversations, books, quotes, blog posts, art, design, nature, food, dreams and synchronicities will become when you stir them all together and create. So, are you ready to soak up some inspiration? Good, let's go.
- Jim (a new CED member) has a delicious recipe for steamed artichokes that I'm going to make this week. Artichokes are so beautiful aren't they? Jim has also joined in the May sketchbook challenge. They have a blog for it here and the pages look awesome!
-Hanna of iHanna's Creative Space moderates this awesome flickr group all about art studios! How fun is it to peek into other people's spaces?! I have a wild fascination with seeing the interiors of other people's homes. I love looking at real estate sites to look at potential future houses, but I also just love looking at how people decorate.
-Wendy has posted a video tutorial on making your own stamps.
-Have you heard about the 100 mile diet? Magical Muse is participating in a 100 feet diet challenge! She wrote about some of the things she's making at home (sounds yummy!) There's so much creative thinking going on with challenges like this. Very cool.
- Waltraud has made the loveliest little ipod bag for her daughter. I love the colors and fabric!
For me, this morning's creativity was expressed in a pancake sampler made with the hubster. We made plain, banana, and blueberry varieties. And oh, they were delicious. 
Hope your weekend is a wonderfully creative one!
Lady of the Lake
May 2nd, 2008, 18 Comments
So this is the painting I've been working on the last couple days. I believe it's done although I still need to paint the sides. I'm so happy with it though! It came straight from my intuition as I collaged, did transfers and painted. One thing led to another. The face came in because an image of birds I had transferred onto the canvas (using soft gel gloss medium) was in the shape of a face. I loved the idea of a face made up of birds, so I went with that. As the painting progressed, I noticed that a bit of gel had taken the shape of a feather on the woman's arm, so I drew that in.
I love how her face was just there, wanting to be pulled out. I drew in two other birds at the end that matched the type of birds in her face. And from the beginning, I've been calling her "Lady of the Lake," so that will be her name. She's 18"x18" on gallery wrapped canvas with acrylic and collaged papers (that mostly got covered up.) As for what it means and where it was coming from, I'm not sure yet. These things bubble up from my subconscious. I do know that birds are messengers for me. But I like to also leave things open for others to interpret and find their own meaning there.
It was nice to work a little bigger again. It's been a while it seems. I've felt somewhat limited by my space, but since I've moved some things out and re-organized a bit, things have felt more conducive to working a little larger. Plus, I got a whole pile of canvases real cheap from an artist who was moving to France and unloading their studio. I really wanted the ikea flat file unit, but the canvases were a fantastic bonus and now I'm very glad to have them.
It got so chilly here this week! After a week of summer-like weather, it's a bit of a shock even though we knew that those warm temps couldn't last. Time for some tea with honey, me thinks.
p.s. Have you seen Christine Mason Miller's new book, Ordinary Sparkling Moments? You can get a sneak peek here (go to the book link at the top of the page) and pre-order it on her website. From what I've seen, it looks simply gorgeous. There are only going to be 200 copies made, so you might just want to reserve your copy straight away. Her book will be debuted at Squam Arts Workshops (which I'm so bummed I can't be at...stupid weddings!)
p.p.s. (or is it p.s.s?, I can't remember.) Thanks so much for the well wishes. I'm feeling much better today. Much less clogged and no dizziness to speak of. Hopefully it was a one time thing.
Harumph!
May 1st, 2008, 6 Comments
This is Scragli (Scrag-lee with the accent on the lee), who the hubster and I named on our trip to Greece a few years ago. This picture cracked us up so much, that he's forever honored in a black and white pic on our living room wall. Scragli was an incredibly picky cat who had no interest in the cat food that we brought to the kitties living around the hubster's family's home. He would only eat people food that the hubster's uncle would serve to him (can't say that I blame him there.) He had the funniest meow. You can probably imagine what it sounded like just from looking at him...much like a cranky old man would sound like if he was a cat.
I was definitely feeling a bit like Scragli this morning. I felt dizzy again last night (nowhere near as sick as before, but still yucky) and then my laptop died on me. I have to take it in again (the second time in the last couple months) to get fixed and I'm afraid this time I'll have to start over. Fortunately, I've backed up most of my files except for the most recent stuff in the last week. But geez louise, how annoying!
The hubster started something with our cat Sasha who loves to complain. She has the whiniest meow you'll ever hear. He started telling her that when she meowed he was going to roll her over. So when she howled in complaint, he would softly push her onto her back and rub her belly. It was pretty funny. Earlier in the week, the hubster was feeling very cranky over some meetings he had to go to and I suggested that he needed to get rolled over. Hehe. Well, this morning, I could have used some rolling over.
The crankiness is passing and I'm working on a pretty painting that I'm enjoying thoroughly. Lots of layers, transfers and glossy glazes. I completely let this one come from my intuition which can be scary to do on a larger canvas (it's 18"x18"), but it's coming along nicely so far. I'll share some pics soon along with some doodles from my sketchbook.
And now I'm off to pick up my art from the coffeehouse show and then take my computer to the doctor. Things are looking up. Sadie just brought me her Space Ghost toy in her mouth and the sun is out. Looking forward to a sunny drive. I've got paint and glue on my hands. Life is good.
Things That Make You Go Hmm…
April 30th, 2008, 14 Comments
I have no clue what my cat, Tabbers is doing here, but he stayed like this for quite a while. Perhaps he thinks no one can see him since he can't see anyone with his head tucked under the shower curtain. Well, if that's the case, then I suppose I should tell him that his big orange butt and gi-normous fuzzy tail gave him away. Every so often he'd peek his head out to see if anything interesting was going on and then he'd go back to his hide-a-way.
I've felt a bit like Tabbers, wanting to pull the covers over my head, the last couple days. Especially with that weird vertigo attack, which totally threw me for a loop. I had my doctor's appointment and unfortunately, it didn't help explain what happened. I had some wax in my ears, which they kindly cleared out and then my doctor did all sorts of tests with reflexes and walking toe to heel and holding my hands out with my eyes shut, I suppose to test for neurological problems or balance issues or drunken driving or something. But besides having clogged ears, I felt fine today, so there wasn't much to test. And, once my ears were cleared of waxy build-up (yum), my doctor said both ears looked totally fine and uninfected. Good news for my ears, but unsatisfying to me as I'd really love to know why I got so ill out of the blue on Monday evening and I'd love to prevent it from happening again. From a couple comments on the last post, it seems that attacks of vertigo can happen to people without explanation. Yuck. I'd like to never experience that again, thank you very much! What if I'd been driving? Or even out somewhere? I was completely and totally disabled by the dizziness and nausea (and vomiting) for a couple hours that night. Also unsatisfying, is the fact that my ear is still totally clogged and ringing. My doctor says allergies are probably the culprit and to keep trying the allergy meds (which haven't helped at all so far). And of course I should call her back right away if the vertigo comes back. Hmmph. Well, I shouldn't complain. At least it's not an ear tumor or something. I had Arnold Schwarzenneger in my head all morning saying, "It's not a too-ma!" Hehe.
Since I didn't get any stickers from the doctor and I was already in the city, after the appointment, I got some lunch and then browsed around in Blick. I needed a couple things anyways, but I took my time enjoying the pretty papers, paints, and displays. Where you walk in from the parking garage, there's a display of children's art supplies and books which are so colorful, I almost always stop to see what they've got. Today it was the tubes of glitter that caught my eye and this great book, (which I stopped to read), Drawing for the Artistically Undiscovered
In the intro there's a section called, "How Do I Criticize My Art Properly?" The author explains that on each page there's an area where you can write your negative comments and then there's an a big arrow pointing to the microscopic square where you are invited to write your negative comments about that page, because that's how important they are. Hehe.
The book was part of a series from Klutz books and it looked like there were some other fun titles by them such as: A Book of Artrageous Projects
Ickiness and Inspiration
April 29th, 2008, 15 Comments
I was feeling good and productive yesterday, prepping an art print to go out, finishing up a proposal, and starting a new painting. The hubster got home late from a meeting and we were chatting about it on the couch, while I did a little work on the painting. All of the sudden my ear (which has been clogged all week, I believe due to allergies) felt especially clogged and was ringing loudly and I got incredibly dizzy. When I turned my head the room was spinning as if I'd had way too much to drink. I waited for the feeling to pass, holding my head still, and then told the hubster that I might want to lay down. He helped me walk towards the bedroom, but I had to sit down in the kitchen because I felt so dizzy, hot, and very nauseous. I wanted to lay down, but I also felt like I was going to be sick, so I ended up in the bathroom. I hate throwing up, but I felt like I was seasick and had no choice, but to lose my dinner. After that I got in bed, still feeling dizzy if I moved my head too much. Fortunately, after another hour or so, the dizziness subsided and I felt better and went to bed. Very weird.
Today I feel much better, though still congested and little icky. The hubster was super worried about me last night. I don't blame him as I've never been sick like that before and I can imagine it must have been weird to see me like that. He has insisted that I make a doctor's appointment and I will today even though I'm not excited about it. Too bad going to the doctor couldn't be more fun, eh? They should give out stickers to adults too.
Enough of this barfy talk, how bout some inspiration?
- Mindy of under a pink sky has started a beautiful new blogzine called wishstudio. I love the look of it and I know it will be filled to the brim with inspiration. There's also a call for submissions if you're interested in participating!
- I totally love this new journal made of magazine pages by Elena of Lunar Musings. It reminded me of writing letters to my best friend that were sent in envelopes made of magazine pages.
- If you have HBO, the John Adams series was absolutely fantastic. They have it On Demand, if you have that service and it's definitely worth watching. Fabulous acting, great story, well-written. The hubster and I enjoyed it. The series was based on the book John Adams
Planning to take it easy today. I have some errands I need to run, but I'm going to cut myself some slack if they don't get done.
Creative Every Day 2008: April 28th – May 4th
April 28th, 2008, 11 Comments
CED2008 participants! Feel free to leave a comment here with a link to post(s) about your creative activities during the week of 4/28/08 -5/4/08.
Happy creating!
Circling Birds
April 27th, 2008, 12 Comments
This weekend was a whirlwind tour to NYC to see the hubster's family for Greek Easter. It's an important holiday for them (the hubster's dad was born and raised in Greece), so we made the trip out and participated in the fun traditions (tsougrisma : egg cracking game) and ate some traditional Greek food (lamb roasted over a charcoal fire, Easter bread that has dyed red hard-boiled eggs on top, and Easter biscuits.) We had a great time, but it was a quick visit and now we're back home.
I meant to post this before I left, but ran out of time. I'm working on a couple more drawings with white ink on black paper with the little circles. A couple people have mentioned how the bigger circles that make up the leaves look a bit like bicycle wheels, which I thought was kind of cool as I seem to have some circle/cycle/bicycle themes going on in much of my art lately. Funny how symbols will pop up like that without you even realizing it. This one has two birds and I'm calling it "Two Branches."
Speaking of birds, when we got home, we found a bird wing and a bunch of feathers on our living room rug. Our porch door was open a crack so the cats could enjoy the fresh air. Either a bird was brought in from the porch or it flew into our apartment, which would be a huge mistake for any bird and a wildly good time for the four cats who rarely get to hunt something that's actually living. The hubster was totally grossed out, but I grew up with my cats bringing me mouse guts and such, so I wasn't too disturbed. The only thing we're wondering about is where the rest of the bird is. Hopefully it was eaten and isn't tucked away for us to find later. That could get stinky.
With these black and white drawings, it take some time to make up the trunk with all the tiny circles, but it's also a meditative kind of process. It's relaxing, soothing, and gives the mind space to roam. Good ideas often come in this space. All repetitive things can become like that, things like weeding, sewing, knitting, cutting vedgies for a soup, etc... Have you ever had that experience?
Circles and Cycles
April 24th, 2008, 21 Comments
Last night while unwinding on the couch, I felt like doodling, so I grabbed what was closest...a pencil and an old pink folder. I started to draw teeny circles which became a tree trunk and that made me want to draw it in ink. I went into my studio to see what I could draw this with and ended up grabbing a white gel pen and black paper. It was relaxing to draw all these little circles that made up the bark and the larger ones that made up the leaves. The black and white contrast makes me happy too. Earlier in the day, I did a bit of framing, some laundry, marinated some chicken and put it in the freezer and made dinner. All in all, a productive day.
I've got some major allergies goin on. I'm all clogged up which is making me feel super old. I've been saying "eh?" and/or "what?" whenever someone talks to me. Speak a little louder sonny, boy! But other than that, I'm in good spirits. Lil bro and I are walking the neighbor's dog a couple of times today while they're out and later we'll be going out to have a little painterly fun. The cats have taken a special liking to my little brother. It's so cute watching him cuddle up with them.
It feels so much like summer this week! Last night with the fan on in the bedroom, I couldn't help thinking about childhood summers. I fell asleep thinking about nights with the house fan on, red popsicle mouths, salt-crusted hair, water-logged ears, crickets and bare feet on pavement. Mmm.
