Alchemy Studios

Art Journal Page, "Intuition"

2009-11-08T15:43:00.001-08:00

Art Journal Page, "39"

2009-11-01T07:56:00.001-08:00

Swap-Bot Art Journal Round Robin Page, "Moment"

2009-10-24T11:12:00.001-07:00

Creativity status: recovered. Thank God. Hate feeling lost in limbo. Finished the pages for this round of the art swap; working on my I Heart Zines swap; gearing up for NaNoWriMo; feeling like I'm back in full gear. Aren't you glad?

Uh oh, creativity lurch.

2009-10-15T12:31:00.000-07:00

So I was humming along, making stuff, writing stuff, working on this new blog I have in the works...doing my eight pages for a Swap-Bot Art Journal Round Robin and getting slightly frantic about the upcoming I Heart Zines swap for Alma Stoller, which is not as far along as I might like.

Then today I sent the kids off to school and planned to do a bunch of work and there is nothing in my head. Nothing. I've stalled on the art journal, can't think of anything to post about, and want to turn the fabric art journal I have in front of the sewing machine into a big ol potholder and be done with it. Do not even discuss the zines I'm supposed to be making.

Is it because it's October and grey and all the leaves have fallen off the gum tree by the side window? Or because I have fished out my little trout pond of creativity? Or is it just natural to stall out? The terrible thing is that it feels like I'll never make a damned thing again, ever. I know this is crap but it still feels like that.

Gah. And that's all I have to say about that.

Accepted

2009-10-10T20:33:00.000-07:00

This is the piece that got me accepted into my first-ever juried art show, the Central Washington Artists' Exhibition at the Larsen Gallery in Yakima. I'm still kind of stunned! In a good way.

Fun with fabric scraps...fabric keychain!

2009-10-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

Art Journal Page, "In Her Hands"

2009-09-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

2009-09-02T20:38:00.000-07:00

Michelle Ward is at it again with her "Knock Yourself Off" challenge. The idea is to look at the way you once made a piece of art, and re-work it with your evolved artistic style.

This challenge invited me to look at my early collages, my favorites of which are in a small notebook--an early art journal, I guess. I saw that my artistic progress has been all about layers and blending images. At first, I just laid the images on top of each other; now, I try to blend and work them into a more cohesive whole. Also, when I started out I used a glue stick and a blank white page; now I sometimes put more work into the background than the focal image, and I never part ways with my gel medium.

In the end, this challenge was satisfying if for no other reason than to see a glimmer of artistic growth. I guess all that fooling around is paying off!

Sewing on Paper ROX

2009-08-22T10:21:00.000-07:00

I love making new internet friends, especially when they send me really cool craft projects like this one. Su included this super-cool bookmark with her zine in a recent swap and I knew on sight that I was going to have fun with it. See for yourself!

Progress on the Use It Up Challenge

2009-08-22T10:15:00.000-07:00

Here's how things are going with that plastic cup full of beads.

Feeling Just a Little Bit Famous

2009-08-17T07:13:00.001-07:00

Somerset Studios just released their second issue of Art Journaling and lo and behold, on pages 132 and 133 are four pieces of my work! How awesome is that! I actually laid awake a few nights concocting inner dialogues that featured them sending back my journal with scolding notes never, ever to bother them again. Or maybe they'd just have a good laugh over a few margaritas. Not that I have a complex, or anything. Anyhoo, there's me, out there in the world. Feels pretty nifty.

Be Yourself

2009-08-17T07:13:00.000-07:00

In my life, I've made a lot of mistakes. I've done just about everything the way you're not supposed to do it, and have made learning the hard way a personal art form. Growing up in a clean suburb surrounded by brick-face office buildings, my path was made clear: finish college; find a job in a cubicle; farm children out to daycare providers; take two weeks of vacation in the summer. I screwed it up completely.

If I had done things the way I was supposed to, I'd be well on my way right about now to a well-funded 401(k) and I'd probably have great dental. Instead, I have chosen repeatedly, and often at some personal cost, to be myself.

It's not that I didn't try. I spent a goodly share of my early life in a series of office jobs, stuffed into pantyhose and suffocating in the dead central air. I went to college only to be thrown out for concentrating my efforts on partying instead of studying (I finished much later). I still suffer from occasional spasms of guilt for failing to discover and pursue a "career", and I have the thinnest wisp of a retirement plan, mostly aimed at convincing myself I'm getting somewhere.

Yet in lieu of doing life properly, I have opted to do life vitally. I have repeatedly chosen what truly interests me instead of what I "should" do, and as a result, my life is pretty freakin awesome. I'm self-employed, with all the attendant risks and rewards. My kids have never gone to daycare; they stay right here at home and annoy the crap out of us. I have the time and the energy to pursue the whims of my spirit--playing with art, with writing, and with travel usually tops the list. I have been to all 48 continental states, as of this past week, when I knocked off Nebraska. As an adult, I have taken piano lessons, horseback riding lessons and learned some HTML, all simply because they caught my whim. I also learned how to run a cleaning business, how to do BodyTalk (a form of energy medicine) and how to do gel medium transfers in my artwork.

Some may say (and do say) that I'm irresponsible. But it seems to me that being "responsible", at least as it seems to apply to the rigid masses, is a life of postponement. Who has the time?

So I say to you: be yourself. There's no good reason to stay in a job you hate, a marriage that's dead or a study program that makes you want to hang yourself. Honest. When you're down there in the trenches, there's a thousand hands hanging on to your ankles, keeping you there. Shake them off. Do your thing, man. The world needs you.

If you had six months without commitments of any kind, how would you spend them? Traveling? In a silent retreat? Baking cookies with the kids? Learning Finnish? Answer this question, and then take one step today. Today. Because I'll tell you a little secret: tomorrow never comes.

And I, for one, can't wait to meet the real you.

Art Zine Swap Magic

2009-08-08T13:24:00.000-07:00

This post's a shout out to the fabulous zinesters who have made my week: namely, the brazen souls who participated in the Swap-Bot Art Zine Swap. These fiesty chicas hail from all over the States and the UK, making our swap a truly global experience.

And here, a brief zine review. Tuppence Coloured by Lynne McFarlane is color-printed on heavy paper, bound with ribbon, and jam-packed with tutorials for working with paper, journals, ATCs and felt. I love her rich colors and clear instructions. Her zine came with a dimensional ATC and a handmade card featuring her locale. Fun, fun, fun.

Karis West sent in Fairies of Disorder: The Art Issue. This one's 34 collaged, black-and-white pages. It's got handwritten text (which I always love...can't get much more personal than that), lots of artwork and more tutorials than I can shake a stick at. I've been savoring this one slowly. Karis, it's okay if you couldn't print in color. Your zine still rox.

Vicki Hobb contributed her super-colorful zine, Art in Small Doses. It's loaded with high-resolution copies of her own (small, thus the title) artwork. It's absolutely gorgeous...and she included an art piece and a bag of nifty goodies!

Yet I save the best for last. (Being hopelessly American, I can't help but label the best and the brightest.) Su Mwamba's zine Contours snapped up my heart and won't give it back. Contours features the little-celebrated art of doodling, but beyond that it's an exploration into the creative process as a whole, and into how our unconscious artistic drives reflect our true natures. It's printed on recycled paper, comes loaded with extras, and is an absolutely charming juxtaposition of clean, black-boxed text and hand-added touches. Plus, it came packaged in a small paper bag, which had me charmed from the start. It was Su's idea to expand the Art Zine Swap to international waters, and I'm sure glad she did. To see what Su has to offer, I heartfully encourage to you visit her Etsy shop.

Thank you to all of you bold, creative, fiery zinesters. You have added grace and depth to my creative world.

Creative Challenge: Use It Up

2009-08-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, while rooting through my stash collection for zine inclusions, I came across this plastic tub of random beads, mostly seed beads in a hundred different colors. I've been toting this particular tub around for, oh, fifteen years or so. Really. While I do like the silky way the beads feel when I swirl my fingers through them, that's not much of a reason to keep hanging on to them, especially not when I'm in the throes of deep de-stash.

I decided then and there that I would institute a project for the sole purpose of using up these beads. Currently I'm thinking of beading some kind of wall hanging type thing, but we'll just have to see.

Won't you join me? I know you have a bin of beads, stash of fabric, basket of yarn, or envelope full of collage clippings. They're just waiting for that special day to use them.

Today's the day! Here's the challenge. Take a picture of your stash, then make something out of it and take a picture of that. Post both to your blog or other linkable account (like Flickr), and then comment on this post with your URL. I'll list all players on the sidebar so you can feel special!

At the end of the challenge, the most creative use-it-up player will get a pack of art zines from me, your humble host, which of course you will love so much you will want to have them bronzed.

More importantly though, you'll have the chance to actually enjoy those art supplies, instead of wait to enjoy them. And that makes all the difference.

New Zine!

2009-08-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a super cool Swap-Bot swap, I got crackin and made a brandy new zine. As previously mentioned, the deadline made me get my butt in gear, and I worked hard to make sure it has lots of layers, color and good information. Also, every zine comes with inclusions! Click on the Etsy link in the sidebar to see more pix and to pick up your very own copy!

I love a deadline

2009-08-02T09:19:00.000-07:00

I remember reading once in a book on writing that the "dead" in "deadline" is the active part of the word. Not so for me. This week I have been going like gangbusters, working on not one but two deadlines--a zine swap and a real, true art show--and it has made me feel deliciously alive.

I have discovered that if you set me against a ticking clock, I throw caution to the wind and create until my fingers bleed. Not only that, but I manage to turn out some interesting stuff. Of course I turn out some crap, too--but instead of agonizing over the crap, I just keep moving. Creating.

My friend Christine, knowing this, used to invent deadlines for me. I think I may have to re-institute this tradition. Cause all this art-making just feels mighty fine.

5x6 inch fabric art, "Understanding"

2009-07-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

Art Journal Page, "I Want To"

2009-06-17T16:30:00.000-07:00

What happens when I play

2009-05-31T10:21:00.000-07:00

As promised, I got out my art journal just to play. I ended up working--I mean, playing on a page I really couldn't stand. I like it better with the circles. I like circles just about anywhere.

Living the Handmade Life

2009-05-30T13:29:00.000-07:00

There's two ways to live the handmade life.

You can spend your days making things by hand. This is a pretty awesome way to live a handmade life, especially if your greatest source of pleasure and inspiration is making stuff.

The other way to live handmade is to actually create your life itself--day by day, choice by deliberate choice. This is my favorite way to live. Since I quit my Serious Job almost two years ago, living a handmade life has been my modus operandi--and I have never been happier.

Today it was a gorgeous Saturday morning. Eighty degrees, light blue-sky breeze, smell of cut grass. The kids and I took a walk down to the library but the hours had changed and it was closed. Instead we went to the Farmer's Market, where Maya got her face painted, Jordan got a balloon animal shaped like a dog on a leash, and I got two pounds of local asparagus. As we wandered back home, ducking under the low-hanging leaves hanging over the sidewalks, it occurred to me that when I was still living the Serious Life--a well-paid, well-insured life with funded retirement plans--then Saturdays like this were pressured and intense. Back then, I had better by-God enjoy this sliver of life, because who knew when I'd get another chance?

But in my handmade life, a life that is supported with a cleaning business and energetic healing and artwork--a life that strikes an easy balance between parenting and self-care, between earning money and serving the world, between growing and playing--I don't have to panic about a Saturday morning. I can just wander in it. And I've found it's the very freedom to stop and smell the roses that allows them to bloom.

Artwork Vs ArtPLAY

2009-05-28T23:42:00.001-07:00

I am a very lucky person. Not only does my life usually kick some serious ass in the fun department, but I am surrounded by great people. Evidence: the new Artist's Way group I'm glad to be part of. For the next 12 weeks, we're going to go through the chapters of Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way. And we're going to do it together.

Tonight we ended up talking about the idea of play. Now, I just told you my life is seriously fun (and it is), yet I discovered in the course of conversation that I'm not always much for playing. Even when I mess around in my art journals, I call it working. I work in the garden. I work on my writing projects. I work at my sewing machine, trying to finish an art quilt before a submission deadline.

Where's the play, here? Is it just my Puritan roots? Must I kid myself that everything I'm doing is industrious? No wonder I get stressed out over things like ATC swaps.

I think I will give play just a little tiny try. Maybe for an hour or so. I think I'll get out my art journals and just goof off with some paint. See what happens. If I don't upload a picture, it's cause it was particularly serious crap. Is that okay? I hope so.

My best zine review ever

2009-05-17T19:24:00.001-07:00

What's this? You haven't picked up your copy of A Handmade Life Issue 4 yet? Well, just ask Pattie why you'll love it!

Read Pattie's review here. Need I say she made my day?

To take a look-see at HL Ish 4, please click on my Etsy shop window in the sidebar. You would extra super duper make my day if you did.

A Handmade Life Ish 4 is HERE!

2009-05-12T21:38:00.000-07:00

Yes, my friends, after many long months of hard work and anticipation, A Handmade Life Issue 4 is here! And what with the amazing artwork and essays by Pattie Mosca, Amanda Jolley, and Dawn Rice and poetry by Jim Dubois, I gotta say, Ish 4 ROX.

If you are looking for just the thing to catapult your creativity, look no further! Click on my Etsy shop in the sidebar and take home your very own copy! The Handmade Life awaits you!

Time to Show Off Your Stitching Chops!

2009-04-26T08:51:00.000-07:00

Okay, now I've done it.

After months of innocently swapping on Swap-Bot, I decided the time has come to actually create my very own swap!

I'm kicking off my hosting career with the Embroidered ATC Swap. That's right, one ATC per partner...embroidered. Or, more accurately, done in any kind of needlework. You can use one of those little cross-stitch patterns you have...do some free-form embroidering...break out the punch needle kit...draw a picture and satin stitch it...or do what I plan to do, which is finally break out one of those Sublime Stitching patterns I have and stitch away.

ATCs must be mounted on heavy interfacing or light cardstock so that they're not, you know, all floppy.

This is going to be the coolest swap EVER. Ever!! Believe it. Click on it. Join it.

Sew Saturday

2009-04-26T08:00:00.002-07:00

Fable, 9x12 inches

Yesterday was a cold, nasty, blowy day. I put in my required outdoor time by spending an hour clearing one of the last flower gardens in the back yard, and escorting my kids in a bike ride around the block. Then it was sewing time!

I have been tinkering with this mini art quilt for a while now...and finally, yesterday, the last components came together and I called it a victory. My husband said it would really look cool if it was a full-sized quilt. I gave him a dirty look.

House, 1x3 inches

Meanwhile, my 7-year-old son Jordan decided it was time to learn how to sew. I thought he meant sew like sew on a button, but actually he wanted to take on embroidery. This house is his very first project. He conceived the idea, designed the house, picked the colors and spent two almost-quiet hours with me in my sewing room working on it. Several times he said, "You know, I'm actually pretty good at this!" He actually is. I would never have considered trying to turn him on to embroidery, but it was the most peaceful Saturday afternoon in recent memory.Moms, give this one a try.