?seot ruo no su peek ot tsuj yad rehto yreve no sdrawkcab drow yreve lleps ot dah ew fi tahw

tahw fi i etorw ym elohw tsop sdrawkcab?

kceb .e .... taht si ym eman .....

ko .... ti si a elohw wen yaw fo gnikniht .... gnikool ta efil ni a tnereffid noitcerid .......

whew .... that's hard to do!

did you figure out what i was doing .... or did you think it was just more typos than usual?

i've been thinking about looking at things differently ..... even in all my artsy fartsiness, i still have my usual way of looking ..... and want to be more creative, more unique in my viewpoint .... i have no idea what that means, just that i've been thinking about it ..... change is good ... new outlooks are good .....

i was watching the amazing race last night with andy ..... i said, "i guess we won't be able to go on this show til you retire" ...... he looked at me like i'd grown another head ...... he said he could NEVER do the show ... that he doesn't think he'd be any help to me at all ... "i just don't think like that" ..... he went on to tell me how creative i am ... not just in art but in my approach to everything ..... and that would help win the race .... but not only is he not creative enough (he says, i argue that still) but also, he said he would NEVER be able to eat some of the junk they have to eat on that show .... so, there you have it ...... i'm now taking applicants for someone to be on amazing race with me ..... and you have to be willing to eat the gross stuff ... i've got a weak stomach!! .... but i would have been good at the mud pole vaulting yesterday! .......

and lest you think i didn't have an artsy day ....
i planned on doing my LONG list of things to do today ... including a quick trip into pottery to glaze two platters .... so, i did that, glazed my platters .... i also made six angels and six donkeys to round out my six nativities ... small ones ..... and then ..... like i hadn't already stayed FAR longer than intended .... i made a nativity for me .... with CUTE six inch FAT figurines ..... i guess i might give them away as a gift ... but my current plan is to keep them ..... we'll see, huh?

lovely sunday

today, i spent some time in my basement studio with sophie .... she was working on a wooden box and a good sized canvas .... with her newly cleaned room she wants more art for her walls, and more treasure boxes to hold her treasureful oddities .... while she did that, i worked on three canvases that i am doing for a commission ..... i'd started them already ... but got quite a bit further along in my process now ..... the red in these photos isn't as RED as they actually are .....



and this is a picture of my studio ... i usually show you SAFE shots ... of just a smidge here or there ..... but here it is ... and this is CLEAN!!!! ... just full .... i'm very obviously a collector of clutter!!! but it is ALL what i want and need around me to do my art .... so there ya go .... if you want to involve yourself in the minutia of the picture, over at flickr i've filled it up with notes ......



and here's my question of the day .... do you have a uniform? something that you wear always for something .... like .... always do housework in particular jeans ... always exercise in a white tshirt ... those are just hypotheticals ... but ... my actual is that i have art clothes .... in warm weather i have three pairs of shorts that are COVERED in paint ..... and i wear no other only my paint clothes in my studio... and four or five tshirts ...... i have more tshirts that are paint spattered cause all three kids occassioanlly wear my paint shirts ..... and in the winter, i have two paris of jeans ... jeans that used to be my SO very favorites .... until they got tattered knees ..... and now they are tattered and paint covered .... on friday i was wearing these jeans in the morning and sophie said "you aren't going to wear THAT to school are you!? " ..... so, to be a good mommy, i changed before i went to her classroom ...... what do you wear for your messiest endeavors ..... or, gasp, maybe you aren't ever messy?

yippee...yippee.... and yipppppeeeee

yippeee.....
this mosaic is made out of my blog winners prizes .... i sent all three of them a print .. they all chose different ones .... and they all will get happy doodle-iscious big envelopes in the mail......

there is something INFINITELY appealling about drawing on an envelope .... doodling around the addresses JUST so ..... saving a space for the stamp or sticker ....... filling it up ... but not tooooo full...... then going to the post office and letting the worker admire them ..... and talking about the doodling ... and , oh, i don't mind if you ask what's in them ..... yes, that's right, i AM an artist ....oh, why thank you ..... sure, next time i'll try to remember not to seal them up so you can see the prints ...



and then there is this mail loveliness:

yippee, yippeeeeeee.....
my pal jeannie sent me a present .... she found two antique skeleton keys and thought of meeeeee .... aren't i the lucky one??
jeannie darling, you rock! thanks, honey.....


and how did i spend my day????

yippeee, yippeeee, yippeeeeeeee.....
i was going to do art today, but decided to take a go at sophie's closet ..... and i gutted it ... and purged ... and made bag upon bag upon bag to donate .... and then once the closet was done, i did the bookshelves .... and then that looked great but the desk was a wreck .... and the baby dolls .... and the bin of stuffed animals ... and the drawers under her bed ..... and every single solitary nook and cranny and drawer and box and bin and basket and shelf .... CLEAN ....not just clean .. but SO clean .... and i put in a new bedside table and lamp .... and then one thing turns into another and we did a whole redecorate .... i think we hung about 20 things up on her walls ....go check out the tags on this photo in flickr ...... she is so cute and PROUD of her new tidy and decorated space ... and i am .... well....i'm proud too of all our hard work ... but mostly ....i'm just relieved!!! .... while i did her room, andy did drew and julia's closets with them....so ....winter? bring it on! our closets are ready .....

friday fun .... and shopping .....

i woke up this morning to my little boy crawling into my bed .....
i got up and dressed in my favorite art jeans .... that i haven't worn since march or so ......
sophie said, you're going to change clothes before you come to my class room... right?
we had breakfast...
i walked the kids to school....
i walked the dog .....
i came home for a quick email check before arting in the basement .....
but WHAM .... no quick email checking for me!!!
instead i had an email from jerry's artarama ... my favorite online art store .... GREAT prices ..... and i think, they must have had a corporate meeting and said, wow, e hasn't ordered anything lately .... we better send out a coupon ..... because i only shop with a coupon ... they have the best prices and then with a coupon too? bliss ... art bliss..... inexpensive art bliss ..... inexpensive art bliss with a coupon ..... a really nice coupon .... give them a try ..... i especially like the edge canvases .... you buy them in sets of three or six .... and they are SO worth it ...... well priced ... so .... i bought six by six canvases ... 12 by 12 canvases ..... 24 by 24 canvases .... and 30 by 30 canvases ..... i skipped my usual 18 by 18 cause i still have plenty .... and my new favorite game board thing doesn't work on 18 by 18 ..... i didn't get the other fave 36 by 36 ..... cause i think i have three still ..... and i bought some mats .... to see how they are .... with gift giving of my prints in mind .....

then.... because once you get the shopping bug, you have to keep going ..... i shopped for clock bits ..... so i could make my newly ordered 12 by 12s into clocks ......

then i went to the bank and the post office .... my blogorama gifts are in the mail .... to atlanta, new york and oregon ......

then i walked the dog again ....

and then ... FINALLY ... i got to my studio and did some happy art fiddling ... nothing photo worthy .... but i'm getting there ....

but i needed to stop and have lunch ..... and saw my computer ... and decided the sooner i sent out the coupon, the better chance that some happy reader will actually decide to use it ....

on saturday, my family is doing a lung cancer walk with about 70 people from church .... in celebration of a wonderful friend whose life was lost to lung cancer .....
i'm leading children's chapel on sunday ....
i'm teaching my journaling class on sunday .....
and, i SHOULD clean closets..... getting the winter clothes more accessible...
and, i hope to get in plenty of art time ....
so, click on the jerry's artarama link ....now happy shopping ... happy weekend ......

it was a day of writing lists and lists and lists .....

i have a commission for three heart arts on 18 inch square canvases .... i did my monthly studio clean and purge and am ready to go with a new round of artsy mess making ..... these are on their way to grooviness .....

also on my list .... address my envelopes for my three blog winners ....i'm going to the p.o. tomorrow ...... i'll do that tonight while i'm watching tv .... that's the perfect time for doodling ... because the envolopes aren't really about the address, they are all about the doodle!!

also on my list ..... plan thanksgiving ....
i am having thanksgiving at home with company .... mom and dad .... haven't had a turkey day here in YEARS ......

also... plan christmas art .....
who in my family gets art? the kids have each asked for a clock ..... like these .....

clock mosaic
Originally uploaded by eeeee.

what will our teacher gifts be? i usually try to make something ...... ornaments or pottery or doodads .... i have some ceramic crosses that my kids could finish off for their teachers.....

what about the neighbors? i usually make something ..... i have a GREAT idea ... but it will be tricky .... do i want to try it?

what about girlfriends? i usually make something ..... maybe the same tricky thing i'm making my neighbors?

what about my book club ... last year i made them each an ornament .... oh my .....

good thing it is still november, or a lot of these things would get skipped ... but.... since it is november AND i'll be home for thanksgiving, i think i can fit it all in easily .... hooray!!
tomorrow i plan on quite a few hours in my studio ... tomorrow's blog should be picture-ful with new stuff .... well, i'm crossing my fingers that it will be !

nostalgia ...... heart string scrabble .... SOLD

nostalgia ...... heart string scrabble
Originally uploaded by eeeee.

i've had an artistically significant couple of weeks here ..... i've been doing shows, working out the whole how to sell prints thing ..... and i've had a proliferation of sales .... and ... it feels GREAT ....

i got a phone call today .... from a man who had been at one of the shows with his wife ....kept my card .... because he knew he wanted to buy this piece for her .... and now he has ..... he's not going to pick it up for a couple weeks, cause it is THREE large feet square ...not easy to hide .... so i can enjoy it for a bit longer...then off it goes to its new home .... hurrah ..... LOVE THAT .....


i spent the morning at pottery .....
i bought a bag of dark chocolate clay to take to so's classroom this week ... we are going to make a nativity for the school auction .....
i bought a ba of grey speck clay also .... that's my FAVORITE, favorite, favorite clay body ... grey speck ... write it down, take notes... one day i'll have a quiz.... what's my favorite clay? grey speck.... that's right....glad you know it!!!
i not only bought a bag of gray speck ... but i used the ENTIRE bag in one day ... that is extraordinary! i have had entire courses where i didn't use a whole bag of clay, and here i went gangbusters and did a whole bag in one three hour class time ....
last week, i bought a cool roller with carvings in it ... today, i used that roller for seven pieces ... all with the same pattern rolled in .... i think i actually did one BIG platter, two big platters, two small platters and one mediumish bowl..... not bad, huh?
the tricky part is that i don't love glazing .... so hopefully a couple of these will still turn out well after the glazing process ..... i think the whole glazing thing is a bit to particular for me ..... to do it well you need to be kind of particular an careful .... do you know (after nearly 200 blog posts) that i'm not particularly particular .... or careful? .... that i'm kind of a loosey goosey seat of my pants kind of artist?
that's why i am not a full time ceramicist ...... cause i don' t ADORE every bit of the process .... i really just LOVE the messy wet clay part .... but mixed media? collage? i adore all the steps ... in fact .... i think i add steps in just to have more steps ... my background process is LONG just cause i love it SO much!!
anyway .. i'm feeling very enthusiastic and validated artistically right now ... LOVE that ....
andy just got home and i told him i'd sold a painting today ..... he said: are you on a roll ...... yes, i am !!! yippee .... how groovy is that?

i have a funny story .... and i should save it for a day that i don't have anything to blog about ....
but no, i might forget to tell you ....
i read sophie a book about how to be an author, illustrator, editor, book sales rep ...... we were all talking about it at dinner .... i've always wanted to write a book .... so we ended up talking about things i've done, job wise ... things i want to do ... things i'm good at ..... things i'm not so good at .... i was a teacher before i stayed home with twin babies ..... and i was a good teacher ... i was fun but effective ..... i was really fun ... so i was telling my kids some of the stories from my good old days ... and drew said he really wishes i'd teach at his school ... i explained that i really didn't want to teach right now ...that i'm trying to make a go at being an artist .....
oh, you love books, you could be the librarian .....
me: a librarian ???.... i don't think i'd be a great librarian, do you really think i would? (in my mind i was thinking about how organized a librarian has to be...not me!!!!)
drew: NO WAY mom could be a librarian
me: why?
drew: you are WAY too loud ....librarians have to know how to be quiet .....

so.... loud and happy and artsy ... things could be worse .....

so, what did you do today?

....ack .... it is 11.30 and i'm just getting to today's blog ....oops ... i had most of the day to do it... and didn't .... and then this evening i've had some internet access issues ...i.e., no access .... my wireless is being persnickety ..... oh well ..... no matter ....
i spent the morning recovering from the last few weeks of frantic art activity ...making and doing and creating ..... and then three shows fast in a row ... my studio was well past disaster stage .... but i've now moved it back to the just cluttered look .... ... and better than just cluttered.... my tables are completely cleaned off and ready to go ... the table was SO empt that i had to put out some fresh canvases, ready to go for my next grand project .... good thing i'm not intimidated by vast white emptiness ... cause those three canvases sure look vast and white and empty ...... i got a commission two shows ago for some collage heart art .... this will be that!
..... and here is a bit of my studio that i'm not sure i've ever really shown you close up ..... these are a favorite spot .... YEARS ago when i made this space my studio i got a set of great cannisters and filled them with all manner of little lovelies .... i wish i'd bought twice as many as i did.... cause i've since added more that aren't quite the same shape or stackable lovely .......but, today i even tidied over here ...... and inventoried ... i need mor bottle caps and keys ..... ebay is calling!!! but for now, i'll go to bed .... ebay will have to wait for another day ....
tomorrow i have pottery ..... i'll try to remember to bring my camera for some extra blog fun .... tra la la .....

blog o rama winners!!!

this is the print that i personalized for heidi ...winner of my last blog give away ...... she didn't get it personalized with her family name and bless this home, but with a bible verse .....

so..... the following fortunate folks can do the same ..... or something different ... pick a print ... i have five choices on my etsy site .... post in the comment section here, or email me which print you want and how you want it personalized ......

congratulations to those of you who guessed 25 prints:

jenna.....

corey.....

and oh amanda ......

y'all let me know what you want! congratulations .....

a happy monday .....

i woke up fresh! hooray for fall back and getting more sleep!

my kids don't have school today ..... hooray for waking up to happy children!

i have an etsy site ..... hooray for getting my things in the mail pronto .... i think my recipients will be getting their personalized prints in the mail TODAY .... yippee for that, huh?

here's a pic of the envelopes i sent out:


i'm off on a big adventure now... the grocery store with three kids in tow .... but first we have to empty my entire art life from saturday's show out of my mini van ..... tra la la .... and once i get the van unloaded i'll post the winners of my giveaway .... stay tuned .....

happy day, happy week, and happy november to you .....

oh my goodness!! even with an extra hour of sleep last night i'm going to need to go to bed early!!!

i have had quite the busy weekend!!!

friday night was a pirate party and auction ..... it was amazing fun AND my sweet husband bid on and won a folk art angel for me ...... yippee .....

saturday i did a market ..... here's what my booth looked like ......

the nice thing is that i've kind of gotten good at the set up and break down of the booth ... and can get a look that i like pretty easily .... i didn't take all of my wall grids .... took five of the seven because it seemed like since it was a smaller show that i didn't need to bring it all ..... and it worked out great ..... i sold some canvases .... i sold some prints .... i sold enough for the day to be absolutely worth while ....

my family helped me load the car after wards ... and, 24 hours later, we still haven't unloaded it ..... my van is sitting in the driveway FULL of art and grids and my receipts .... i know i sold prints in the twenties .. but i'm not exactly sure .... i need to got through my receipts .... so, someone won .... and tomorrow i will tell you if it was YOU ......

so..... a whole day of art sales and busy times .... but last night i thought we should keep the kids up a bit later than usual to help them adjust their sleep patterns with the end of daylight savings .... so .... we had a twister tournament (NOT my idea!!) ..... so, we are now on game 440 for the year, i think .... or somewher close to that .....

this morning my sunday school class was LOVELY ... someone very, very dear at church died last week ( on all saints day) so our conversation and class discussions turned away from the topic at hand and more towards him ...... the funeral is tomorrow ..... i had to get a sitter since the kids don't have school .....

and then i just did HOURS of bowling with some wild and wooly children ..... so ... a busy weekend of fun and frivolity ... and not ONE SINGLE SECOND in my studio !!! i'll get right on that ..... i have some commission work to get to ......

have a happy week ....
come back tomorrow for the blogorama extravaganza giveaway winner ..... ok?

two posts in one day .... hip hooray .... it's gonna be a grand month, i believe ....

guess what ..... good news, bad news... whaddaya want first ......

did you say bad news? .... you're always supposed to get the bad news first ... my kids always want the good news first .... but maybe cause when i ask them good news/bad news... my bad news is always crazy, not bad ....so they get the good first cause they know that's the only worthwhile element to the conversation ... anyway .... i digress .... no surprise there, huh....

ok.... good news, bad news?

all right .... i actually should say good news, i'm a dope news .... what's that make you want first ..... i'm sticking with good news last as the best option .... so i'll go with the oh-dopey-me first .....

a day or so ago, on the blog post that apparently nine hundred and thirty seven people have read and 68 folks have commented on (!!!!!) ..... i announced to the world that i had just MISSED noticing and celebrating my two hundredth blog post by a couple posts .... and ... well ... that's wrong ... i was adding the year and october together ... but apparently since october is actually a part of the year, i was counting all those posts twice ... duh ..... so ..... one day, when i say, yippee, 200th post, will you just smile knowingly and not think mean thing about my iq? ... thanks .....

so....
good news?
i sold another painting .... i'm feeling a little giddy with success ....
this is what sold, purple heart:



it was at lola's .... i think i had three hearts there .....
i really love these hearts .... i think over the course of two years i've sold about 20 or more ....
i originally made a set of twelve and hung them over my fireplace .....



then, i kept making new batches ...and selling them in sets ... and made em and sold em and made em .....
i have six hanging above my desk now ... the last two sales i've done, when i strip my house of art, my kids have asked, are you taking those, you should take those, those always sell so you should take them ... but ya know, they are HIGH on the wall above a tall hutch on a tall desk .... hard to hang straight... really, hard to hang at all .... nope, i'm keeping them and i'm done with hearts .... BUT ......



i had ONE left .... a blue and green one ..... with very chunky bold strokes .... dark .... a solo piece of heart art that was originally intended to be part of a set .....



and i donated it to marist for their raffle ..... and the woman who won it LOVED my work, had bought a piece last year .... and commissioned me to make three more hearts to round out the set .... how's that for good karma? i donated something quite a bit pricier than required ... and looky there .... made an extra sale ... to, actually, a way groovy woman .... perfect ..... so now i'm thinking i should be making more of these hearts, huh? not just for the commission, but for their grand potential ..... so, that's what ....

was all that worth a second post in a day?

tomorrow, i'm setting up for the pirate ball and auction at church .... at church we often discuss giving your time, treasue, and talents for good works .... so the pirate theme is perfect because we are all giving our time, treasures and talents to make it happen AND ... we are auctioning off treasure boxes ..... so, setting up for that party and auction.... then setting up my booth for saturday .... then going to the pirate ball ..... then saturday morning, the market place ..... i'm more excited about the market place than i otherwise would be because of my blog contest.... have you voted? have you guessed? how many prints am i going to sell? don't miss out ... scroll down a couple posts and find the contest if you haven't already .....

now, to watch survivor .... i taped it .....

happy november! hooray .... what a great month!!!

i love november ....
it's not crazy like december, but it is still all full of excitement and potential and happy holiday cheer ......

my day is packed so i'm doing my organized bullet point blogging of all the things i HAVE to tell you ....

1 .... i have not eaten any candy yet today, and it is already ten o'clock ..... my kitchen table is one thick layer of candy, and yet, i am exercising restraint ...not sure why, but might as well, while i can ....

2 .... i let the kids sleep in an extra thirty minutes this morning ..... try this ..... put your wrist on your forehead, palm of hand facing out ... tilt your head, moist eyes, fluttering eyelashes ...... squeak: no, no, i just can't wake up yet ...... did you do it? then you did the perfect imitation of sophie ......
me: sorry babe, you gotta get up
she: is it monday?
me: no, it is thursday....
she: then why does it feel so horrible this morning .......

yup ... that' s what a sugar hangover can do to you .....

3.... yesterday, with orange hair on my head, i walked into the school to host drew's class party .... and saw a friend ... a decorator friend .... a decorator friend who had a painting on consignment for a client .... a decorator friend who had a painting on consignment for a client and told me that yippee hooray they bought it .... rock and roll, i sold a humongous painting without even trying ..... how groovy toovy is that ...... here's the pic... four feet high, three feet wide ....


4... i 've just taken pics of 35 boxes that are for auction on friday night.... i have a million chores to do for that ...... i have a humongous weekend of activity planned, so might be blog slack ..... forgive me if that is so ....

5 ..... my blog contest is still open .... there are already more than FIFTY entrants .... the contest is open til saturday at three when i'll know how many prints i sold at the marketplace ..... so far, i think the lowest guess is two ... and the highest is in the thirties or so ..... two entries down, and you can sign up too ... make your guess .....

happy november ..... what are you going to do this month?