Of Mockingbirds and Flight

I recently purchased several blueberry plants, not a common sight in southern California.  Having no experience with these plants, I was amused when the flowers bloomed to look just like little blueberries.  While I was outside taking photographs of them, I heard a mockingbird once again, making the warblings of fifteen different birds. It's not that the diversity of sounds coming out of this bird is so very remarkable, but that he can make it sound like three or four birds at the same time. I began to wonder if this was the same mockingbird that I posted about on Facebook on the first day of spring. I have to believe that it was, because he was in the same spot in the same tree.

Why do I have a hard time believing that it is the same birds in my yard day after day? There is a hummingbird with a shiny red chin who squeaks mercilessly on a bush outside my back door day after day.  It must be the same bird, on a mission to slowly make me crazy with his squeaky gate noises. I suppose I have a problem believing they hang out because if I were a bird, I would use my wings and fly all over the place and discover the world. Perhaps these birds have nests and families keeping them here, like I do. Still, I am humbled that they have a choice, and choose to sing in my yard.

Follow me on Pinterest, or like my Chalk & Slate Facebook page!

Felting Dreams on Etsy

Swinging Tiny Mouse on Etsy

I can't get this sweet little guy out of my mind.  I ran across him on Etsy in a shop called Felting Dreams, and just laughed and laughed.  The artist is Johana out of Santiago, Chile.  I only heard of felted creations when I first saw them on Etsy, and did not know how it was done until I looked it up on YouTube.  Wow!  It truly is a whole new art form.  The woman in the tutorial said that it was invented in the 80's by a few artists who were observing a large machine felting some fabric.  I have never really been interested in sewing or textiles, but I may just try my hand at this art form.  It is literally sculpting using wool.  In the mean time, I just may purchase this little guy because I can't get him out of my mind.

Update: I couldn't help myself! He is on his way from Chile.  I hope he speaks English. 

Follow me on Pinterest, or like my Chalk & Slate Facebook page!  

Of Art Cards and Joy

Click to see this card in my shop - SOLD

I'm so excited.  I just made my first ACEO, and purchased my first ACEO.  What is an ACEO, you ask?  Well it's essentially baseball trading cards for artsy geeks.  The acronym stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals. These cards are miniature collectible works of art. The only rule is that the cards must measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches. What I love about the whole concept is that these cards are a great way to collect affordable art and connect with other artists. (The term ATC refers to Artist Trading Cards, which is essentially the same thing, only they are traded by artists. ACEO's are usually bought and sold.)

Purchased from JoyHanna

So while I have a lot to learn about making ACEO's, I am enjoying participating in this new adventure.  Here is a link to my first ACEO purchased on Etsy.  It is beautiful, but more than that, I love the artist's work in her shop.  And she is Canadian too, which is cool.  It's like an international adventure without leaving home.



Follow me on Pinterest, or like my Chalk & Slate Facebook page!

Sand in Hand

Click picture to enlarge

I went to the beach this morning on my way back from carpooling to take pictures of some art. I was sitting in the sand, and a gentleman who seemed to have been meditating earlier, came over and said I should take pictures of the clouds. I had been so engrossed in looking down that I hadn't noticed the gorgeous cloud patterns; I only noticed that the diffused lighting was perfect.

He inquired about how I made my cards, and how I came up with the Chalk & Slate name.  He called my worked "intricate" and looked at each piece. He assumed that I photocopied the artwork and put the photos on cards. That got me thinking a little bit the rest of the day, because it is tempting. But then I decided that it would defeat the purpose of my whole artistic premise. I am an artist, not a card maker.

After he continued on, I went to close up my camera. I heard the familiar and teeth-grinding sound of sand in the flip-out screen hinge. You know, it never fails. It doesn't matter what you do; if you go to the beach, you become intimate with sand. It's a love-hate for me (not unlike the hate-hate I have for glitter). When I returned to my car and brushed off what I could, I waxed poetic about the ridiculousness of the sandy encounter.

There is none more insidious than the sand of the beach.
Not the roots of the mint, not the suck of the leech.  

To venture the beach is to commune with the sand, 
No matter the safeguard you might have all planned. 

The sand is the Loki of ancient Greek fame, 
Bringing mischief no towel ever shall tame. 

The lens only wishes to capture the beauty, 
But the sand finds the lens ruination its duty. 


Follow me on Pinterest, or like my Chalk & Slate Facebook page!  

Life's a Journey

Click picture to enlarge

Life is a journey, so it is said. I was speaking to someone recently whose philosophy about creativity was that everything that we create is based on a memory. We are not inventing something new--only remembering something from another time and place, or perhaps an alternate reality. The wheels in my brain whirl like crazy to think about that. There had to be a first, an original.

I think about my children singing along to the cover of a song that I know as an original years ago. Even if I like the cover, I am saddened to think that my teens will only know the cover as their original.  Thank goodness for iTunes because I make them listen to the classic and learn the names of artists like Simon and Garfunkel. They invariably like the cover better, but that's okay. I imagine we are destined to reinvent over and over again.

Follow me on Pinterest, or like my Chalk & Slate Facebook page!  

Watercolor Series Complete

Click picture to enlarge

The watercolor series is complete.  I really enjoyed working with different materials on the same background.  I did not look at previous cards when I worked; I just used the same ink color initially.  It is amazing to me how different the cards are, and yet they blend so well.  I actually considered yanking off the happy birthday tag and framing them together.  All this from a juvenile watercolor that I had folded in half, ready to toss into the nearest garbage.  There's a lesson in there somewhere.

Click on these links to purchase the remaining cards individually:

Gears (back right)

Follow me on Pinterest, or like my Chalk & Slate Facebook page!

Gearing Up

Click picture to enlarge

This card is replete (love that word) with raised stamping.  I stamp the image with a slow-drying ink and quickly apply a clear embossing which is heated to a shiny, raised image.

I also enjoy working with rub-on decals, but alas, they seem to not be something available in the stores much anymore.  They are difficult to work with, in that they can tear easily and make it impossible to create a perfect image.  But that's why I love them so much.  Bring it on!  It's a rare smudge or rip or mistake that bothers me; rather, it adds to the charm.  I do however, insist on the perfectly clean and unmarred greeting card upon which the artwork rests.  I've been known to peel off artwork from a card that has a minuscule smudge.  So sue me.

Click here to purchase this art card.

Follow me on Pinterest, or like my Chalk & Slate Facebook page!

Sauer is Sweet

Click picture to enlarge

For awhile, I was seeing just about anything as the potential mixed media fodder.  I was ripping apart envelopes, stealing stamps, tearing off UPS stickers, saving the tags from my new jeans.  Then my embellishments box started looking like the garbage bin, so I got rid of most of it.  Now if I want something like that, I just go into the recycling and find it.

This real UPS sticker did survive the culling.  I think it even has my zip code on it.  While I do love "real" embellishments, I also enjoy using really well-done fake ones like these faux vintage labels.  It seems to be the "in" thing to be using vintage stickers and such on mixed media art, so they are relatively easy to find.  I rarely buy them, though, preferring to come across the real thing in an antique shop or the trash.

Follow me on Pinterest, or like my Chalk & Slate Facebook page!

Number Two in a Series

Click picture to enlarge

Watercolor paint is trying to wheedle its way into my good favor.  I keep denying it entry, but it is trying to convince me it has a place in my art (if not in my heart).  Maybe not in the traditional sense, with the obscure but beautiful renditions of a riverside town at sunset--but perhaps in an abstract backdrop way.  I do like its transparency.  And it does do lighter colors justice.  Maybe, just maybe, I'll keep an open mind.

I will call this number two in a series of four.  (Um, well, since I cut up my picture into four pieces.)  I'm loving the contrast of the dark ink against the lighter colors.  I'm also digging the piece of bark that my daughter and I heisted <cough> borrowed from a local botanical gardens.  It makes a lovely backdrop for my cards.  And a shout out to my mother for all the lovely gems she sends me.  The one on this card is a mother-of-pearl, I believe.  Beauty where there once was nothing: it all started with blank paper.

Author's note:  This one I knew would be difficult to part with, but it is easy for a favorite card to go to a favorite person, Aunt Penelope.

Follow me on Pinterest, or like my Chalk & Slate Facebook page! 

I Suck at Watercolor

Click picture to enlarge

I have determined that I really suck at watercolor.  Maybe it is because I really dislike not being in complete control of my medium.  Water is, after all, a free spirit.  Last year, I ran screaming from a watercolor class, and yesterday I stayed.  I painted.  I became depressed.  Then I left.  During the class, the teacher sat right next to me and created quite the lovely masterpiece, and my inner child (about age four) created mine.  As I walked out of the building, I actually had the paper folded in half ready for the nearest trash receptacle.  But then I realized that just like any bad--I mean incomplete--art that I had done, I can make lemonade with it.

So I went home and cut the watercolor into card size pieces and thoroughly enjoyed transforming my infantile painting into something really great. Here is the result, after inking, stamping, rubbing, heating, and gluing.  This one is up for public view, my first decent watercolor.

Author's note:  This card ended up going to my brother on his birthday. Keeping it in the family, I say.

Follow me on Pinterest, or like my Chalk & Slate Facebook page!