Earth Day Activities

The City of Lawrence celebrated Earth Day on April 16th with a parade down Massachusetts Street and lots of information and activity booths in South Park.  Across the street at the 1109 Gallery (The Lawrence Art Guild) I set up tables and brought tons of supplies and glue guns for people to make art from recycled bits and pieces.  I had boxes of electronics, broken jewelry, puzzle pieces, pogs (some sort of trading image circles...) ribbon, beads (thanks to a great donation by Anchalee of Newelry Jewelry), super glue, mixed decorative and ephemera papers, and miscellaneous textured plastic packaging.

People of all ages made AMAZING Creations!  I provided brooch backs and barrette hardware too, so lots of people left with one-of-a-kind accessories.  Sculptures, bugs, animals, and even a few robots were constructed as well.


Thanks to Tami, Karen, Susan, Frank, Linda, Bob, and Larissa for assistance with this public event!


Here are some pictures of the Earth Day Recycled Art project...

Yes, I wore my fantastic crown I picked up from Biz Baz last year !

This was the final event for the Lawrence Art Guild's Globally Green show which ends today... Picture from the April 2nd Opening Reception below...

From the left: Karen Roberts, Jill Tichenor, Malissa Martin-Wilke, and Liza MacKinnon in front of our collaborative piece.

Thanks for checking in!

Here's a sneak peek at my work space and of one of my life sized mannequin pieces IN PROGRESS....

So, this is what you end up with if you're so excited about getting to the sweet part of the art project that you forget to research adhesives... this batting material and fabric is held to the peg board material with Goop glue, white duct tape, straight pins, 3M 77 spray glue, and elmers.... if only i had gone to "this to that" first!!

This piece - (the white or wedding piece) is finished! and it looks pretty snazzy - I used garage sale batting, vintage white tablecloth (Thanks Aunt Mary), donated beaded decorative patch thingies (Thanks Nan!), and some super stiff tutu netting left over from being a stitcher for the Pacific Northwest Ballet in another lifetime....  These pieces will be shown at the First Friday in June event at Krzyz Studio in Kansas City.

April Dress-Up Challenge: Submission

Art Deco
Art Deco
Art Deco
Art Deco

A time when every line was geometric, there was no dirt or poverty, everyone was witty and waif-like, Fred Astaire tap danced through swanky white suites, and Georges Lepape reigned supreme....

Yes, it was a glorious and clean and upward-looking era, nevermind historical accuracy or heavy reality... let's just float back in time and imagine a sweet, crisp dream of a time where gravity, scale, proportion and physics were no obstacles to perfection.

Having adored and copied Georges Lepape's fashion drawings since before I knew his name, his work was a natural "go-to" for this month's challenge.

Sporting a soft chin and a great sense of humour, this talented designer worked in Fashion, Interior Design and Theatre with great influence and success.

I wasn't sure where this project would lead so I just put paint to paper and let his work inspire the direction and composition.  I first worked on a background panel, using some of his classic huge windows, giant pillows and flowing curtains with geometric shapes....

I used acrylic and markers, letting the natural black of the construction paper create the negative spaces.

Then, I made the figure... named her "Georgie", isn't that sweet? >>snort<<

Dressed her in a nightgown with an art-deco style neckline and then made some paper doll clothes to match.

Since I was not planning anything out in advance, I did not notice that a long nightie would make trouble in the future if I wanted her to wear anything showing her legs... ergo the floorboards painted inbetween the legs on the dresses....

Note: this paper doll collection is available in print in my Etsy Shop!



Here is the inspiration for the second dress...

...and my version...



Here is the inspiration for the third dress.... (the gal on the left)

and here's my third dress, placed on the doll and in set in front of the background...

Anyone up for playing paper dolls?

I'd like to think that I'll keep making new outfits for her...we'll see... you know how it goes!

Thanks for taking a look at my April Dress(s) and be sure to check out all the other wonderful submissions on the Sew Loquacious Blog


A few more dresses.....

Artistic Update

What's happening?
Too much, I tell you, too much. I suffer from the disease of over commitment...
Here's a few things I've been working on....all the while NOT attending to important things like:
A Business Plan
Goals
Product/cost analysis
Budget planning
you name it, if it's related to big picture planning and strategic thinking, I'm not there!

In the mean time, I've donated a year of cards to benefit Hope Harbor Catholic Charities,

donated a red plaid Chibi-head to the the BT Cruisers who are raising money for Northeast Boston Terrier Rescue , and

Painted a pot for the Van Go Mobile Arts annual benefit,

 

I finally started the life size mannequin project (thanks Tami for the use of your band saw!),

I'm now in the 6th week of Little Bostons: an art class for very young people, where we've worked primarily in beginning bookmaking, but have also branched out into painting and collage, here is the brochure!

I finished up bookbinding class a couple of weeks ago and have made a few more books since then....

also my niece Ruby made this fabulous green velvet board book for her father,

Speaking of Ruby, she and I are sharing a show space in the Lawrence Public Library, where She has these great multi-media shadow box creations,

and I am showcasing some of my prints from the Prokrasso workshop and my new painted albums,

I've been accepted into the Strawberry Swing Festival in July and the organizer is putting together some lovely treasuries of our creations on Etsy,

Pretty much every day, I wake up feeling like I'm losing the race, that I'm already behind.... no matter how much I get done or how many things get crossed off the list.  I know it's just a mindset and that achieving a feeling of inner peace probably means being LESS productive and having more of a balance to my activities.  With that said, I'm still excited to report that since most days I am lucky if I can make about 20 cards or so, the other day I got on a roll and made 60 Apron cards! a record setting day... 

and yesterday (and a little of today, and with the help of my Intrepid and Lovely assistant: Ruby) I completed 41 hair accessories.  Now why can't I do all that EVERY day?! (plus mothering, dog training, cold calling, business planning, shopping, laundry, etc. etc.!)

You've got to love the direction she's steering this batch... very grunge, steam punk, petite.

We really got into burning the edges and she experimented with alternative fabrics including lace - achieving these really interesting effects.

Much of this is in anticipation of two upcoming shows: Art in the Park, May 1st at South Park in Lawrence and the two day extravaganza: Kansas Sampler Festival on May 8th and 9th in Leavenworth.

Have a great week!

And.... become a fan on Facbook!!