Fishcious Cycle

That's the name of my friend Fish's RAGBRAI team. For those of you who don't know RAGBRAI is a bike ride across Iowa at the end of July. This video is the best explination I have ever found about why people choose to participate in RAGBRAI.

So I got to design the t-shirt for her team this year. I also get to host her team in my house overnight because the first night stops in my town. Which is quite a bit of fun. I only get to see Fish maybe once a year as it is and the visits are always way too short .

 I have not done any design work like this in a very long time. I used to design t-shirts all the time. I forgot how much I enjoy it. The fish on a bike is hand drawn- the only thing done in photoshop was the lettering- I hate hand lettering!

So looking forward to getting my t-shirt! Thanks Fish!

Oceans, mermaids and crowns

For someone who is afraid of water and does not know how to swim I sure have a fascination with the ocean. I have only visited ocean three times twice off the coast of New Jersey and once in Italy. I am afraid of swimming pools but not afraid of the ocean. I could watch it for hours. My love of the deep blue is reflected alot in my work. I once created a mermaid out of Plexiglas, wire, copper screen and aluminum that was 7 feet tall.  Those seas shells were bigger than the palm of my hand. Here is is 10 years ago hanging in the window of The Lagniappe . I think someone bought her and took her to Kansas City.  I make "Zombie" fish and frequently use the beach as a theme when teaching drawing to my students. This year I have created a n exhibit for my Student Art Show called the coral reef. All year my students have been creating pieces just for the roof. Origami clams, branch coral and sea stars, sea turtles, jelly fish, sea urchins and tropical fish. Very nice- but then I had to add a twist to it- this exhibit will be viewed under black lights. I have been working on it the past week.

Another project I have been working on are crowns. Love, love, love crowns. I am pretty sure in a former life I was a princess. So here is my mermaid crown using Plexiglas, wire, beads, cheese cloth and RHINESTONES! Pretty cool huh? This one isn't perfect and I need to tweak the bending process some but I am pretty pleased with the results.

Where the sidewalk ends...

 and becomes a msterpiece! I love sidewalks. When I was a kid the sidewalk was like far away from our front door and close enough to the street to feel like you were someplace else. We always had a lot of yard around our house and the front yard in the Des Moines house was three steps above the sidewalk so there were steps at the end of our front walk. Best place ever to hang out and play. We didn't have a fence but a 30" cement retaining wall all around the front yard. The sidewalk is where we played hopscotch, and jacks and jump-rope. We dragged our dolls out and pretended they lived in apartments -each step a different apartment. There were flower dolls to be made out of hollyhocks and tooth picks and crowns out of white and purple clover. And when the people next door remodeled their house we discovered that there was 'chalk' in the walls just waiting for us to peel the paper away and draw with it.

When my kids were young the sidewalk and driveway represented a huge canvas just waiting for us to make our marks. On really hot days all it took was a bucket of water and a paint brush. Pictures would magically disappear so we could start all over again. We used sidewalk chalk by the pound. The cement around our house was always filled with colors and images.

 Last week I ordered a case of sidewalk chalk. For the next two weeks my students and I are going outside the studio to draw on the sidewalk. Of course I won't let them draw just anything. My students will be re-creating some of Van Gogh's masterpieces on the sidewalk. Here is the first third of Van Gogh's "Iris" from 1889.

Norah's Jewells

This summer I have made a commitment to be at the Carroll Farmer's Market on Wednesday evenings selling bracelets for my grand daughter Norah Jewell. Norah has Type 1 diabetes- she was diagnosed in October. She is only 3 years old. So far it has been a roller coaster of events for Norah, her parents and her little sister. Hospital visits, doctor's appointments and getting her finger poked several times in a 24 hour time period. So far I have made 150 bracelets. I am selling them for $6 each or 2 for $10.

My goal is to raise at least $1000. I better get back to making more bracelets! Stop by and say hello if you happen to be at the Farmer's market!



Fabulous Bags and Earth Day

The first time I became aware of Earth Day was 22 years ago.  I was visiting my sister in Philly and everywhere we went there were signs for the 20th anniversary of Earth Day. So Earth Day was a topic of conversation for us as we explored the city together.

I've been trying to do my part to be environmentally friendly for over 35 years. In my class room I try to stay away from art supplies that are toxic. I don't wash leftover paint off the pallets. I let it dry and then peel it off and throw it away. Sometimes those pieces of dried acrylic paint end up in another art project thus staying out of the landfill. I don't use paper towels but washable rags for clean ups in the studio. There aer live plants in the studio to help keep the air a little cleaner too. I also frequent thrift stores for things we can use in class instead of always buying new. So many people discard so much stuff- unused paints, slightly used pastels, artists brushes, paper- the list goes on. Anyone who is an artist can tell you that supplies are expensive and when you are working with children they get consumed quickly. This thrift store mentality on my part has helped me stretch my art supply budget by quite a lot.

This of course has spilled into my art making as well. I am drawn to vintage jewelry and old glass and crystal beads. I will often pick up a vintage strand of beads, break it apart and incorporate them into a new necklaces using a mix of trend colors and sterling silver. Or I would buy an old wool sweater felt it and make mittens or slippers out of it. Storage was a problem in my first house so I used old suitcases to store seasonal items like Christmas decorations and then by stacking them would also have an end table by the sofa.  Little did I know that what I was doing was going to become a part of an art/lifestyle movement. I don't like calling what I do recycling- to me that means that you are taking something cutting it up, breaking it down and totally making something different out of the raw material- like soda bottles into jackets. What I do is re-purpose or alter an item. Give it a new purpose and extend it's life. So what does this have to do with Fabulous Bags? Well....

The Octagon contacted me last month about having a trunk show. They love my Fabulous Bags and thought a workshop plus trunk show would be great fun. I agree! So on June 25th I will be in Ames (one of my favorite destinations in Iowa) all day doing what I do best. Sharing my creative talent with people. When it says all materials provided they mean it. I have a confession to make here- I have about 75 vintage handbags stashed away at my house in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. These are all thrift store finds and aer in two very large tubs in the studio. What each bag has in common- besides being vintage and a thrift store find - they all stand up on their own. So the bag can be used as an actual handbag OR it can sit somewhere and make a statement. 

What's so great about a Fabulous bag? It still fits even if you gain 5lbs!