Hook, Rack, & Holder

I installed my sister's easy gift: the sanded branch with a painted popular aesthetic. Now she can hang her skivvies and earbuds from it. I went with the less dramatic hardware, due to the shells and turquoise hunks wired through the centers, with a few feathers on the end. 

Next was a solution for bracelets. I like a lot of the DIY "movement's" solutions for all things that get tangled and are tiny, and are almost always in a woman's room. This one is pretty obvious. Glued wood (Forrest abandoned our mailbox sign), with knobs on sale from Anthropologie. They can be knobs from the dumpster, it doesn't matter. Let them hang out far if you have a lot of thick bracelets. My cousin Deanna made me the dreamcatcher in 1994, a great artifact. 

Another part of this non-tutorial: The Necklace Frame. There are so many gorgeous frames circulating in the world, but even an ordinarily plain one you can paint or metal leaf. Attach chicken wire or a mesh metal, like window screen. If you don't have chicken wire because it's expensive to buy a bolt when you need only a foot, you can attempt making it (see below).

Side note: I found it much easier to lean than to hang, so I attached a small foam pad to the back upper side.

 And here's an extra Indian print bag in green! I've noticed for some reason this is a popular previous post...

Paper 20

("Go to town")

This may or may not be my handwriting, but it was in the stash, and can mean absolutely anything.

Avocado Update

The original avocado tree is finally developing tree bark, and the leaves are bigger and better than ever! Four pits are in the germination jars ready to go.

Tables: Part 1

I refinished my great aunt's telephone table a few seasons ago, and though it is still serving the purpose of yellow in my life, it was long before the time I've spent in a woodshop. My currently convenient  knowledge of dry times paired with clear coat sanding might have prevented the chipping. Still thinking about coating the pulls with tiny broken abalone shells. Look at my shark!

From old scrap particle board (from an old crappy job) came my new favorite table. I've always been partial to the corner table with rounded front. It may not have been the best move to make an outdoor table with less than real wood (I do know better), but I just wanted to put it to decent use, and employed a generous amount of sealant; at least the legs are real. Needing to fill the space on my porch, I forfeited the learning process of continual legs (through tiers) for time. One summer later it looks naturally distressed, reminds me of the Greek flag, and holds my rubber tree plant perfectly.

This small fold-up is my most recent assignment. A very thrifty find from my new favorite antique shop in Annapolis. Several coats of a light and dark blue mixture, while sanding in between the stages for a galactic, layered result. Now I have to decide if a mosaic of foreign coins will still look good lacquered onto the top, (a few beautiful ones from a friend's African journey pictured).

Pete, following his greatest love The Flower.

And by the way.. notice these strange and lovely little cicada soaps, a gift from my aunt! 

The Cape, Boston, and the Mapparium

Last month I took Forrest to Boston for his 30th birthday. One of the most unique and outstanding features was unexpectedly the Mapparium. This is a multi-story, stained glass globe that was built in 1935, and correct politically to the world map at that time. You aren't allowed to take photos; so that's why I'm attaching this link "Mapparium". Not to mention that this whole thing is in the Mary Baker Eddy Library, which taking the time to read the tour signs, I found there to be a more complex rise of a religious movement than expected. The acoustics on the glass bridge of the globe were also surprising; you can hear yourself whisper in surround sound. 

While in Boston, we stopped at the site and love abounding memorial to the Marathon victims. On the 6th, Forrest was king of champagne and lobster. We stayed with the lovely Heather Falardeau, my roommate while in Savannah (and half of Two Girls Making Stuff)! I wish I had a photo of her very accurate studio. We also made it to CAPE COD. Warm enough to swim, smelled good like blankets of seaweed, awesome coffee shops. That last photo is some type of metals studio/renegade apocalypse shelter outside of the Cape. *ALSO* I was working on The Sketchbook Project during this trip-  more posts on that to come.

(instagram by Heather)

Sugar Farm Productions

A few photos by my friend Alison Harbaugh: photographer, videographer and the girl behind Sugar Farm Productions and Freckle Photography. Her work is fantastic and worth checking on often to see what new things are coming out of that Sugar Farm. Recently Alison shot a short bio/intro film for Makeup artist Rachel Leight (Rachel McKnew) of DaintyArtistry (Redding, CA). As part of the trio, I had my makeup professionally done for a day, and we all got to bask in the beauty of this woodland pond, though it was deceptively cold out.

Avocado Tree (and Coney Island)

Previously I began germinating an avocado pit, and for the first time received actual results:

Several weeks in, the pit was ready for dirt. COMPLETELY UNRELATED- I sprinkled the dirt and my pit's new home with beach glass gathered from Coney Island. Featured on the glass is the Wonder Wheel, Tower Swing (to the right), and the creepy-wonderful 'Steeplechase Funny Place' face, each in black ink and then clear coated.

Gorgeous days make for new healthy leaves.

Paper 19

("just somewhere that has palm trees and monoliths")

Robin Lea Pope

Robin Lea Pope 1961-2013, forever adored.

Robin on her wedding day. Acrylic on canvas 18"x24". 

 Detail

 Detail

Glass Palette

A glass-front dresser in the woods behind my house = a new glass palette! At 16"x28",  I'm oil-ready once again.

Wolf Boots and Gel Transfers

Before I got rid of a very beat up pair of old "casual" boots, I decided white wolf boots would be a much better fate. Here is a very brief description involving a gel transfer method. First I had to prime and paint the boots white. Cheap white acrylics and glazing liquid to stretch and smooth (avoiding water) gave the boots a thick and heavy sheen (I did about four coats). Transferring images can give you amazing results. This is my least favorite method, but I didn't have much of a choice. Using xylene or another [dangerous] transfer chemical usually gives a better, clearer, and hassle free result (AND YOU CAN SIMPLY WEAR A MASK AND GLOVES). Since the boot surface had become non-porous and very un-absorbant, ink from the image slid off using xylene, so it was not worth the battle. 

When I had toner based images prepared, I coated both the application area and the surface of the paper with Golden's regular gel and slapped them all over the boots, (flat with no air pockets) and allowed to dry for several hours. If this is for a paper on paper project, or anything 2d, it is an easy and beneficial method. Some people might even use a brayer to flatten. 

This is the part that is BS: Spend the next several months dampening the back of the paper and gently massaging off the fibers from the image -now simply just the toner gelled to the surface of the boot. You will have to do this in agonizing rounds of drying and re-dampening to see where the fibers that you still need to remove are located. When the images re-appeared to my liking, I clear-coated the boots. Note: this doesn't actually take literal months unless you take frequent hiatuses.

Then I wore the brand new WhiteWolfBoots to my sister's house, and she wanted a pair so badly I agreed to make them for her. Repeat process. 

Wolf boot love.

Forrest in turquoise

Currently proceeding forward with my 12"x12" gouache "quick" line drawings; I don't really have the broad spectrum of colors I want to use in gouache. A little acrylic gets mixed in, I have to keep the sheen down. As always, so pleased to be an artist alongside of Forrest Anderson! Our studio and practice sessions should coincide more often. Below: four attempts at one desired color. Lightest on the left wins.

Intuitive Henna

My Hand! Also my first valid henna, done by Christalene Karaiskakis, who does beautiful work on multiple levels of body painting. I do love repetition in art, and the skeletal system.